Page 2 of Claimed by the Wolf (Wild Fated Shifters #1)
Brax groans and flops back in his chair, rubbing his temples. “I didn’t know!” he grumbles, casting his younger sister a scathing look. “Are you looking for trouble?”
Brynn moans dramatically, realizing she just betrayed her own secret. “No, I’m not! And nothing happened! I mean, come on, guys. Don’t you think this territorial dispute has gone on long enough?”
“If I thought that, I wouldn’t have warned the whole fucking pack not to go!” I roar at her, standing to slap my hands furiously on the desk.
Brynn gasps and swallows, but she holds her defense defiantly. “I’m twenty-three years old. I’m not a kid. I shouldn’t have to check in with my brother and his best friend every time I want to go to a party!”
“I’m not just your brother’s best friend, and that wasn’t just a party!” I snap back. “I’m the Alpha of your pack, and the Willow Grove pack was there. There was a reason I told everyone to stay away from that party and out of their territory. You’re just lucky nothing happened this time.”
She throws her blonde hair back angrily and meets my eyes, but confusion shadows her irises. “If I’m not here to be reprimanded for going to that party, then what am I doing here?”
Her jaw twitches, and I realize that all my plans to persuade her to accept Emeric as a mate are utterly useless now.
I have to go with an alternative plan.
I lean forward, my eyes narrowing. “Well…” I drawl sarcastically. I have to use her betrayal to my advantage. “Since you seem to enjoy spending so much time with Willow Grove, you should be excited about my proposition.”
Her brow furrows. “I just told you, I went with my friends, not to hang out with the shifters from Willow Grove. Stop making it into a bigger deal than it is, Nox!” Then she pauses. “And what proposition?”
I glance at Brax quickly before announcing, “You’re going to mate with Alpha Emeric.”
She stares at me blankly for a long moment as if the words don’t quite resonate. “What?”
“You’ll meet with him to see if he accepts you,” I begin again, but the words finally sink in.
Disbelief drains the blood from her face. “I—what?” she gasps. “The hell I am!” She shakes her head vehemently. “No! No way!”
“It’s not a request,” I tell her flatly. “You are doing it.”
Through my peripheral view, Brax cringes at my tone, but he doesn’t speak as his sister stares at him, dumbfounded.
“You just said it was a proposition!”
“That was before you disobeyed direct orders from your Alpha and endangered the whole pack,” I tell her.
Ordering her to accept a mate against her wishes goes against my every instinct, yet duty demands it. I console myself with the knowledge that arranged matings are very common and account for a large percentage of unions.
“No!” she cries again. “Why me? Lots of other females would love the opportunity to be an Alpha’s mate.”
I settle back in my chair and study her impassioned face. Indignant as she is, she is beautiful enough for any Alpha, and her loyalty to us is unwavering.
“You’re the only one I trust to do this,” I tell her evenly. “This will end the tensions between our two packs, but also give us an inside track to what’s happening in Willow Grove.”
Her jaw slacks, and her head whips back and forth between us as if looking for some kind of out. “Are you serious?”
“It’s an honor,” I insist smoothly, reading the fire flaming in her eyes.
“Mating with a powerful Alpha, becoming his Luna. You know we’ve had issues with Willow Grove since before Emeric took over.
This union will finally stop tensions from flaring up every time someone crosses into disputed land that we both believe is ours. ”
I eye her meaningfully, waiting for her response.
“No!”
The response doesn’t really surprise me.
“Yes.” My tone is flat, emotionless.
Furiously, she jumps out of her chair. “You can’t make me!”
She’s technically right. I probably can’t. But if I apply enough pressure, she will do it.
I raise an eyebrow at Brax, silently asking him to intervene.
He draws in a breath. “Brynn…”
“You were in on this, too?” She turns to confront her brother, disgust coloring her face.
“It’s not a conspiracy,” Brax comments dryly. “I’m the Beta.”
She scoffs. “It sure as hell feels like a conspiracy. Don’t you care that I don’t know him or love him? What if I meet my fated mate one day?”
Now I snort at her innocence. “ Love him? Your mate ?” I echo, rolling my eyes. She’s grasping at straws in her desperation. “You know fated mates are extremely rare.”
“Is love rare, too?” she spits back.
I’m losing my patience with her. “Brynn, you have the chance to save lives here—literally. You know how bad things get when packs go to war with one another. If you agree to mating him, you will ensure peace between the packs.”
Tears of frustration flood her eyes, and she turns her full attention to her brother. “You would really ship me off like this?” she whispers. “Just like that? What do you know about this guy? He sounds like a real jerk!”
“You make it sound like you’re going to another planet,” Brax groans. “Willow Grove territory isn’t that far away. Emeric has a beautiful ranch, and you’ll be a Luna. Stop with the melodrama.”
I start to reassure her that Emeric’s not that bad, but she whirls toward me, baring her fangs as she shifts out of her human form in front of us.
“Brynn!” Brax moans. “Don’t!”
I rise in annoyance. “What are you doing?” I grunt, exasperated by her display of petulance as her body transforms.
Her t-shirt tears apart as she drops to all fours, her sleek lioness form emerging from the shredded fabric.
“Brynn!” her brother pleads again, but her tail whips him in his face as she growls.
He bats away at it, but she slaps him again, just for good measure, even as she glowers at me.
“Are you going to attack me?” I ask her lazily, not bothering to shift into my wolf form as I meet her furious gaze, our eyes locking.
Her massive, feline tongue lolls out, and for a moment, I wonder if she’s not considering it, but instead, she turns and sprints from the office, almost taking the door from the hinges as she passes through.
Sighing heavily, Brax stands to chase after her.
“That went well,” he grumbles, heading toward the front of the packhouse. “You should have let me talk to her first. I knew it was going to end like this.”
“Like that would have made a difference.” I sink back behind the desk. “Find her and get her ready for the meeting tomorrow. I’ll let Emeric know we’re coming.”
Brax leaves to locate his irate sibling, and I’m left wondering if I’m doing the right thing.
Again, I envision Brynn when she was young and in her lioness form, frolicking with me and her brother through Flores Creek as we tried to beat the Texan heat over the long, lazy summers.
Of course, I’m doing the right thing for the future pack members to enjoy their childhood without the threat of war. If it’s for the good of the pack, it’s always the right thing.