Page 1 of The Alpha’s Forced Plus-Size Mate (Silverfang Creek Wolves #3)
I didn't usually break out the good whiskey on a weekday, but there was something heavy in the air that made me reach for the precious bottle on the top shelf. I poured Julian and myself two fingers of Pappy Van Winkle and carried the glasses out onto the back patio.
He looked up briefly when I handed him his drink, but it was clear something was weighing heavily on my old friend. I sat in the plastic chair beside him, kicking my feet up and getting comfortable. “What's on your mind, Julian?”
Julian was a tall, rugged, and tan man who could bench press a motorcycle, but the way he sat on my chair was small and defeated. “How did things get so fucked up?”
There wasn’t a doubt in my mind what he was referencing—the pack. I took a sip and savored the smooth, oaky flavor that was a bit spicy in the end. “Don’t act like you don’t know. I should've done more.” Before I took over as Alpha, I was never so pathetically self-deprecating, but now it comes to me like second nature. “I’m the pack leader. It’s my fault.”
“No, man, not just that.” He ran a hand through his messy brown hair. “How did the pack get so small? We've always been on the edge, but now, it feels like we're on a razor-thin precipice, man. And I'm not sure if the next wind will send us toppling.”
“We'll get some new mates,” I said, “Start producing pups. We know the solution; it's just a matter of putting it into action.”
Julian looked doubtful. “It's not going to be that simple.”
“It's a start,” I argued, getting frustrated. “The pack is a disaster. No one has any sort of discipline. It's partially Dad's fault, but I'm not going to have any success turning things around if everyone keeps acting like assholes.”
“That's your problem right there,” he pointed out, taking a sip of his whiskey.
I frowned, sitting back. “What?”
“Everyone keeps acting like an asshole.” He took a sip. “That's your problem, and that's their problem. Your dad wasn't the perfect Alpha, but he was a badass. You need to take that specific page out of his book and crack down on some of the pack's bullshit. Plus—” Julian looked over at me but then scoffed. “Actually, never mind.”
As if that was going to work. “What, Julian? Spit it out.”
“You want everyone to get in the family mindset, start mating and having kids—well, you need to lead by example.” He shrugged and then took a big swig. “And I think that means getting yourself a mate and starting your own family.”
A mate. A wife. Someone to hold in my arms, to protect and to adore. Someone who would love me and stay by my side until the end. But that could never happen, not with what I am.
I stared into my drink, trying to swallow the painful lump in my throat. “I'm not worthy of a mate.”
Julian frowned at me, confused. “What?”
I slammed the rest of the glass and set it on the table. “Exactly what I said—I’m not worthy. We're losing numbers and slinging drugs as our main source of income. Plus, it's not like I've got any prospects lined up, either.”
What I didn't say was that I was cursed. I killed my mother simply by being born, and now I was cursed to be alone for the rest of my life. Julian didn’t buy into my self-flagellation, though, so I kept my mouth shut.
My friend turned to me, no doubt to tell me all about the sort of woman I should take as a mate, but we were interrupted. One of the pack, a younger wolf named Ted, bursts through the patio door, one hand pressed against a bleeding shoulder wound.
“The demons,” he gasped. “They attacked. They're—they're here. For us.”
I didn't hesitate. I rushed outside, Julian right behind me, ready to defend my people. Pack headquarters was a bar in downtown Athens called The Howler, only a ten-minute drive from my house. It felt like the longest ten minutes of my life.
All thoughts of a mate, our pack numbers, and my curse fell to the wayside. It was time to kick some ass.
My truck squealed into the parking lot, right into the middle of the battle that was already raging. I crushed one demon under my tires before jumping out of the cab, grabbing the baseball bat I kept in the bed, and running into the fray.
Julian grabbed the only weapon available, a crowbar, from under the passenger seat and was right there with me. “Danny,” he shouted. “We've got this!”
“Stay together!” I yelled back. “Don't let them separate us!”
A demon lunged at Julian and missed, allowing him to smash his arm with the crowbar. Another went for me, and I took a swing, crushing his head. Julian and I fell into sync, a pattern we'd learned in battle training.
We made our way through the fight, taking down any demons who tried to come for us. They were easy to spot—their skin had a grayish tint, and their eyes burned black. The ones we took out exploded, sending ash flying.
I was focused on protecting my pack. Julian and I were far from the only wolves here, and my appearance seemed to bolster the other fighter's spirits. It was a hell of a fight, though, and I found myself nearly overcome at a few points. Before things could get really ugly for us, one of the demons, possessing the body of a tall, stocky man, yelled to the others, “Retreat! What we came for isn't here!”
With that, the remaining demons, who were down to a few stragglers, rushed away with preternatural speed. One second, we were fighting, and the next, it was all over. Just like that.
Exhausted, I sank to my knees, breathing hard, my bloody face turned to the sky. Damn. I'm not nearly as strong as I once was against higher numbers. An Alpha is only as strong as his pack. My strength had bled away as our pack's population had dwindled, and I was just beginning to notice it. I have to do something about that. I have to make us strong again.
A shadow fell over my face, and I looked up into Julian's eyes. He looked just as bad as I did, but he offered me a hand, and I took it, rising to my feet. “What the hell was that about?”
“Hell, if I know,” I grunt, looking around at the carnage. There were still a few of my guys moaning on the ground, but most of them were well enough. I felt a surge of pride at their willingness to fight. But at the same time, there was a sense of guilt. If I was a better Alpha, this wouldn't have happened. We wouldn't have gotten caught off guard like this.
“We've got to do better. We've got to get some of these men mated or we're going to keep finding ourselves a step behind.”
Julian nodded in agreement, brushing some of the demon ash from his leather jacket.
“So, what now?”
I didn't get a chance to answer, which was fine with me, considering I didn't know exactly what to say anyway. The back door of the bar opened, and the bartender, a burly man with a handlebar mustache and a bald head, stepped out and called to the wolves in the parking lot. “I've got a message for the Alpha!”
Stepping forward, I raised my arm so he could see me better. “Right here, Johnny. What's going on? Besides—” I waved my hand to the disaster of the parking lot, “—the obvious.”
He didn't answer until I was close to him, ushering me into the darkened building and closing the door behind him. “Boss, I just got a call from a contact I have in the Silverfang Creek pack. They just held a mating ceremony, and one of ours was chosen as the mate for one of their wolves named Naomi Frazier.”
I scoffed. The Silverfangs—one of the more powerful packs in the east. Snotty and stuck up, they were everything the Red Canines weren't. "Are you sure?”
Johnny nodded.
“It's not a mistake?”
He shook his head. “I don't think so, Boss. My connection seemed really serious when I asked him. Said it was a pretty big deal.”
This made me frown, a thread of unease creeping in. A big deal? Mates in different packs weren't ideal, but it wasn't unheard of, either. Surely, our reputation hadn’t fallen so far that being mated with one of our members was an issue. “Why is it a big deal? Who did she match with?”
“Ah. Well. That's the thing.” The bartender rubbed the back of his neck. “They said her petal read 'Daniel Turner'. It's you, Boss.”
My vision blurred at the edges, and an odd buzzing filled my ears. “Say that again?”
“It’s you, Danny. She’s your mate.”