The Alpha's Unwanted Mate: (BWWM) Paranormal Romance Standalone (2 page)

However, being a dutiful daughter and a member of the sect of which her mother was the leader, there was little she could do besides follow regulations. After all, according to the matriarch – and the woman who had raised her – they were the “lucky” ones; the privileged few.

As Samantha rummaged through her things, Angeline took a look at her own image in the mirror. She appeared tired. She’d spent the past forty-eight hours helping her friend get ready for her “wedding” and was thusly operating off little sleep.

Her dark brown eyes had slight circles under them, and her normally flawless complexion gleamed a bit with excess oil. She wasn’t as beautiful as Samantha, but she supposed she’d do. She had a full mouth, which was usually painted with her favorite red lipstick, and her mother’s elegant bone structure.

Her own hair was cut into a short pixie that framed her face becomingly, and though she was more on the slender side, she had enough curves to fill out the dresses that she liked to go dancing in.  Drawing the skin beneath her eyes back, she bit back a groan at the state of herself. She needed a quick shower, which she would see to as soon as she saw her friend out of the chapel.

Angeline had already met the wolf Samantha was meant to be mated with. He was a gargantuan, blonde pillar of muscle by the name of Asher. Her friend had gone starry-eyed over him the moment she’d seen the muscles bulging from his t-shirt, but Angeline had been more focused on the lecherous glint in the male’s eye when he’d seen her friend.

She heard little from girls who hated mating with wolves, and as she’d never been allowed to the settlement herself, she didn’t know if they were being treated right, if they were happy, or, indeed, if they hated their new lives. It was all a big secret. And now, she was losing one of her closest friends to that secretive machine.

Her lips curving into a thin smile, she crossed the room to draw Samantha into her arms, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. “Promise me you’ll call and tell me how everything goes?”

“Of course!” Samantha laughed softly, embracing her companion in turn. “Don’t worry Angeline. Have you seen the man? It’s going to be
amazing.”

The young woman nodded stiffly. She certainly hoped so.

CHAPTER TWO

One year later             

“Clyde?”

He was in the middle of the circle, faced with no less than five eager pups. None of them were over the age of four, but already, their strength and speed far outpaced that of his sons and the pups born a generation before them. Clyde eyed the children one by one, taking in their gleaming eyes and restless feet.

He was one of many in the pack who would teach them how to spar, and ultimately, how to fight for their lives. However, it was evident that these pups already had the natural blessings that were needed to succeed in hand-to-hand combat. What he would show them was just technique.

“Clyde?”

The second time his name was called, his head jerked up to see Lex advancing on him towards the edge of the clearing, his expression grim. “You’re needed back at the settlement. Leave the pups to Liam and come with me.”

He glanced back at a younger wolf that still bore the scars of a run-in  with a rival pack years ago. The male pups liked Liam because he looked rugged and dangerous. For the barely thirty year old male, however, his scars were merely reminders that he hadn’t been born a member of the new generation, and had to fight for his dominance.

Liam nodded when Clyde handed the pups off to him before he made his way toward the edge of the clearing. There, Lex had already transformed, his immense, raven-furred canine form fairly bristling as he stalked back and forth. In an instant, Clyde transformed as well, his own form covered in mahogany-hued fur. The two wolves had eyes of the same color, announcing them as kin, and the moment he was in his natural shape, Clyde met his brother’s gaze.

“What is it?” His voice came out a growling, shrieking contortion, barely understandable by human standards. “What’s happened?”

“Your son.” Lex barked into reply. “Elias went looking for trouble and found it in a pack of Reef wolf-lings.”

Clyde’s blood froze in his veins. Without a word, he turned on his heel and streaked through the woods, heading back for the main body of the settlement. He didn’t think, he barely breathed, his heart in his throat as he ran faster, even, than the wind. He didn’t stopped when he reached the edge of the settlement, instead transforming mid-stride as he headed for the building that served as their hospital.

Inside, there were more than a few males who had been victims of recent Reef pack aggression. Their injuries ranged from lacerations to broken bones to lost eyes and limbs. However, Clyde only had eyes for his son, who was seated on the examination table at the side of Liara, their resident healer.

His eyes ate up the sight of his son whole, alive and well, seated sullenly next to the healer, who was dealing with a few superficial scratches to his face and arms. For a moment, Clyde let relief flood through him before his face turned downward into a deep scowl.

He stalked across the hospital to Liara’s side to glare down at Elias. “What the hell is all this?”

The dark-haired female glanced up from where she was working to take in the six and a half feet of furious male beside her and arched a brow. “What does it look like? Your son decided to go pick a fight where he would be at the most grievous disadvantage.”

“You went
looking
for Reef wolves?” Clyde demanded, his voice low and dangerous.

Elias’ green eyes gazed up at him defiantly. “They’d been attacking us! They need to be taught a lesson!”

“And you’re the best one to do it?” Clyde thrust his hand at the wheelchair in the corner that was  open and waiting for its owner. “I don’t have to remind you of your weaknesses, Elias. What were you thinking? Those wolflings are twice your size and mindlessly vicious!”

“Yeah, well what are you doing about it?” Elias demanded, his cheeks reddening. “They’re hurting members of our pack, dad! They’re
killing
us while you and Uncle Lex stand by and do…what, exactly?”             

Rage and frustration welled in Clyde’s chest as he stared down at his oldest. Ever since his mother had died, he’d grown bolder and bolder with each passing day. Now, he was starting to get stupid. Clyde had enough on his hands trying to make sure Ian was in order. His oldest son fighting him every step of the way wasn’t helping in the slightest, and every day he missed Leila like an aching wound.

Before he could come up with a retort, Liara’s hand zipped through the air, popping Elias on the side of the mouth. He stared at the female in shock, his lip welling blood. Liara went back to treating him as though nothing had happened, her blue eyes gleaming in disapproval.

“Do you think that no one will discipline you because of those legs of yours, Elias?” Her voice was firm as she began to wind bandages around the young man’s arm. “You’re not too old for a good hiding, and what you did was supremely idiotic. You’re lucky Lex was there, or you might have been killed.”

The sharp reprimand seemed to cow the wolf-ling for a moment and he looked away, his mouth turned downward in a pout. Clyde merely sighed, shaking his head. “When you’re finished with him, Liara, send him home. We have a lot to talk about.”

“Of course.” Nodding, Liara moved on to working on the lip she’d just split herself as Clyde turned to exit the hospital. He found his brother waiting for him on the bottom step, frown still in place.

“Your son is reckless, Clyde. He went after three Reef pack wolflings,
Three.
” The Alpha huffed a frustrated exhalation. “I swear he’s the only one who seems to forget that his legs are weak. His heart is strong…but I’ve seen stronger punctured by Reef pack claws.”

“Don’t remind me.” Clyde sat down heavily on the bottom step, running hands through his unkempt dark hair. “Christ, Lex, what am I going to do? He gets wilder every day.”
             

The Alpha sat next to him, his expression thoughtful. For a moment, the larger wolf said nothing. When he did speak, however, his words were careful. “Maybe he just needs a touch of feminine influence.”

Clyde stiffened, looking over at his brother in suspicion. This wasn’t the first time Lex had broached this particular subject, but it didn’t mean he wanted to hear it any more than he had the last time. Clyde knew what was coming. “It’s been a year, Clyde. I know you loved Leila and I know you always will. She loved you. But I’ve seen how unhappy you are…how the weight of your pups tires you. You’re a protector and a valued member of this pack. On top of that, you’re my only brother. I just want to see you happy.”

“And you think finding another mate would make me happy?” The words came out sharper than Clyde had intended, and he was immediately embarrassed. He knew Lex was just trying to help him. In fact, the Alpha hadn’t been the only one to make this particular suggestion. Alicia had hinted that it might be time for him to start looking for female company. Liara hadn’t outright said anything, but she’d inferred that it wasn’t too late for Ian to adopt another mother figure.

Clyde could only imagine the flack he’d catch from his oldest son, who still held his mother close to his heart. There was that…and he wasn’t quite sure he was ready to give up his treasured memories of Leila.

“Clyde…no one’s going to push you. You know that. I’m merely reminding you that it was
you
who made the arrangement with the woman in Atlanta for females. The system works. You’ve seen how many males have found happiness with their women. Our pups are getting stronger with each passing year. I know you adore your sons, and they love you. But…it’s not too late for you to have another. To find a woman who could help and support you.”

Clyde knew that his brother was speaking both as Alpha and as his closest friend. His duty dictated that he ensures the longevity of his back, but his heart wanted Clyde happy, healthy and well.

Clyde exhaled, slowly. “Lex, I’m not like the others. There has already been one great love of my life, and I’m not sure there can be another.”

Leaning over, his brother clasped his shoulder reassuringly. “That may be. But how will you know unless you try?”

*

Two weeks later, Clyde found himself on his motorcycle roaring towards the distant Atlanta, a two-hour’s ride. As he navigated the two-lane highway, his mind raced over and over the decision he’d made.

He would ask Madeline her opinion, nothing more. The human woman had been more than generous in providing a discreet and safe way for their kind to find their mates. She knew a plethora of willing, gorgeous ethnic women who were, on the whole, enthusiastic when it came to helping further the population of their race. However, Clyde still wasn’t entirely uncertain whether he wanted to join the ranks of males looking for a mate.

He hadn’t forgotten Leila, even a year after she passed, and he was hard-pressed to believe he would find another woman to rival her beauty, poise and strength. After all, he cared little for procreation. His brother, perhaps, would urge him to have another pup, but Clyde already had two sons. If he were to decide against having another child, there would be nothing the Alpha could say.

If he were to look for a mate, he would need someone understanding and compassionate. His sons were both handicapped as well as difficult to deal with, at the best of times. They required a firm yet loving hand. How many women, he wondered, could love another’s children as their own?

There couldn’t be many. Especially not at the common age of the women Madeline provided. Most of them were in their early to mid-twenties, adventurous and barely beyond their university years. They would want little to do with someone else’s children. They were more enthralled with wolf-kind in and of itself; for them, it was a mysterious, exotic and desirable way of life. What would he, a wolf on the cusp of his fifties and a good third of the way through his life cycle, have to offer them, he wondered.

There probably wouldn’t be a woman interested in him. Madeline would try and fail to find someone to accommodate him and then he would return to the settlement alone to try and pick up the pieces of his steadily fracturing family life.

He arrived in Buckhead around midafternoon, killing the engine to his Harley before setting his helmet on the seat and striding toward the upscale apartment building where Madeline lived. She had a daughter, he knew, who lived in the building across the street, but he’d never seen the girl. When he dealt with Madeline, they usually spoke over a meal or, rarely, with a prospective girl seeking to mate into the pack.

He glanced over the manicured lawns and took in sleek, overpriced cars. This was the world humans lived in. He knew of it, had spent more time here, probably, than any other wolf in the pack. He understood more than he was willing to admit, but still found that he preferred the simplicity of the forest settlement to the nightlife of the city.

After he rang the bell, he paused for a moment to check his image in the mirror. He looked as unkempt and weary as ever, and merely frowned powerfully until the moment the door opened. However, the gaze that met his was not that of the shrewd, generous matron he was seeking. Instead, he found himself faced with a woman who took his breath away, and all semblance of conversation died on his lips.

**

Angeline stopped by her mother’s house to pick up her sweater. The elder woman had graciously offered to have it dry cleaned for her and, as she had a key, she simply let herself in to find the garment hung up in the coat closet.

While she was around, she figured there wouldn’t be any harm in raiding the fridge. It seemed like she didn’t get her fair share of her mother’s home cooking recently, she’d been so busy arranging matches for the wolves of God knew where. She had a mouthful of succulent roast beef when the doorbell rang.

Arching a brow, she headed for the doorway. She hadn’t seen hide or hair of her mother since she entered, and assumed she must be in the bathroom or shower. She swallowed the bite of food in her mouth before pulling the door open.

The young woman tried very hard not to gape at the sight that met her gaze. Standing in the doorway was a man who was quite obviously wolf, but he was like no wolf she’d ever seen. Most of the cocky, brusque men who had come to her mother’s door were giants, close to seven feet tall, with haunting good looks and piercing eyes in every color of the rainbow.

This one, well…he was a bit small for a wolf. That wasn’t to say that the man was short – he still had to have a good six and a half feet on him, towering above her lowly five eight. His eyes were an effervescent, silvery grey color that gleamed in the light of the foyer, contrasting sharply with the deep mahogany hair that fell in disorderly waves around his face. He hosted the beginning of a beard, interspersed with the slightest amount of gray that she found curiously alluring. That, and he had a strong facial structure, with a hard jaw and chiseled cheekbones, which was evident even below all the stubble.

He wore a long-sleeved sweater and jeans, beneath which a body just as hard and unyielding as any wolf’s was hidden, that much she could tell by the way he carried himself, and the thick arms that hefted a heavy leather jacket. His full mouth parted slightly at the sight of her and for a moment, she just drank him in.

He was absolutely gorgeous, less blatantly crude and oafish than the wolves she was used to, and she had to assume it was because he must be older. The men her mother dealt with were usually in their late thirties to early forties, quite young, for their kind. This wolf…she wouldn’t be surprised if he were pushing fifty or even sixty.