Page 14 of The Alpha’s Forced Plus-Size Mate (Silverfang Creek Wolves #3)

The door slammed open with the force of Danny’s grip, and a gust of cool evening air swept into the house. I froze as my eyes landed on our visitor. His identity was good news, really, because I was sure he meant us no harm. But on the other hand, it was probably the person I expected to see the least in the world—my old Alpha.

Hector stood towering on the porch with Faye, his mate, standing stoically beside him. Hector’s face was neutral until he saw the shotgun, but it turned briefly furious.

Danny didn’t flinch when Hector shoved the shotgun aside with a growl. “You better get that piece out of my face, Alpha. Where’s Naomi?”

“She’s here,” Danny said evenly. I wondered if Hector could hear the threat in it. Danny didn’t step back, didn’t invite them in. His body blocked the doorway like a stone wall, his protective presence nearly overwhelming even from across the room.

Faye’s gaze darted past him, landing on me. “Naomi,” she called gently, her tone soothing, like she was trying to coax me out of hiding. “Tell your friend that you’d be happy to speak to us, please.”

I stood slowly, my chair scraping against the floor as I pushed it back. My legs trembled as I moved toward them, though I kept my head high. I wasn’t the same woman that they’d seen panicking over her name having been drawn at the match ceremony. It hadn’t been long, but I’d been changed.

“Let them in,” I said softly, placing a hand on Danny’s arm. His muscles were tight beneath my touch, but he stepped aside reluctantly, his glare sharp enough to cut through steel.

They followed me into the house, and we all sat around the dining table. Danny put the shotgun back, and the angry energy in the house lowered significantly. Neither Alpha was thrilled, though, and the former Alpha, Peter, had his arms crossed as he watched them both. It reminded me of a father ready to pull apart his two arguing children, and I had to repress a smile at the thought.

“Danny, Peter,” Hector started. “I apologize for entering your territory without prior notice, but we wanted to make sure our Naomi was safe without anyone having time to hide something. Would you mind if my wife and I spoke to her alone?”

Danny didn’t even blink. “No.”

“Danny—” Peter began, but Danny cut him off with a look.

“She’s my mate,” Danny said firmly. “Anything you have to say to her, you’ll say in front of me.”

Hector’s nostrils flared, but he didn’t argue further. His temper had been short, but becoming an Alpha had made Hector much more patient. Deep down, I thought that Hector would have done the same thing as Danny if Faye had been in my place.

Faye placed a hand on Hector’s arm, calming him slightly before turning her attention to me. “Naomi, you disappeared without a trace. We thought you were dead. A friend of yours said you were supposed to come to her house but never arrived, and your phone stopped pinging not far out of Silverfang Creek territory. Then we heard whispers—that you were with the Red Canines.”

“I didn’t disappear,” I snapped, my voice sharper than I intended. Oh, now they were worried about me? Now that I’d been drugged, kidnapped, stalked by demons, and then partaken in a mating ritual for my own safety? A little fucking late, in my opinion, but I kept my response clipped. “I was taken by the man you yourself said I was matched with. And no one came to find me.”

Hector’s brows furrowed, expression twisting into something almost like guilt, but not quite. “We didn’t know where you were. Of course we called Danny’s people when you first disappeared, since it had been so soon after the match ceremony, but we were stonewalled. We searched—”

“Not hard enough,” I interrupted. “You searched, but you didn’t find me. Now you’ve found me, and there’s no point anymore because I’m not part of your pack.”

Hector and Faye looked stunned, glancing between Danny and me quickly. “Already—?” Faye asked. “But it’s been so short a time.”

Danny’s hand brushed mine under the table, steadying me. His silent support was the only thing keeping me from shaking apart under Hector’s intense glare. I kept my shoulders strong as I spoke. “Danny took me. It scared the shit out of me at first, but things changed.”

Instead of elaborating further, I pulled down the neck of my sweater and showed them the mate bite mark there. Faye inhaled sharply.

“We came as soon as we knew.” Faye sounded fully thrown off. She had apparently expected a different outcome here. “We never expected you’d have done the ritual already. I know the match ceremony linked you and Alpha Danny, but if you don’t want to stay—I know the Red Canines—” She trailed off, eyes flickering toward Danny, clearly not wanting to be too offensive.

Her husband had no such qualms.

“They have a shitty reputation,” Hector finished before nodding to Danny. “No offense meant, Alpha. I’ve heard rumblings that you’re trying to change things around. It’s none of my business how another Alpha runs his pack, but since you have one of my pack here, I unfortunately have to intervene to make sure she’s safe.”

Danny leaned forward, his own glare meeting Hector’s head-on. “She’s my mate. And she’s safe. That’s all you need to know.”

“I’m not here to argue with you, Turner,” Hector sighed, his gaze snapping back to me. “But I need to know—are you safe, Naomi? Truly?”

I bit my lip, my gaze flickering between Hector and Faye, and finally landing on Danny. His expression was guarded, his dark eyes searching mine. I thought about the past few days, the way he’d caught me, protected me, and stayed by my side.

“I am,” I said firmly. “I’m safe. I’m happy.”

Hector didn’t look convinced, but he leaned back in his chair with a frustrated huff. “You’ve bonded,” he said finally, his voice tight. “I can feel it. Is there any reason for me to think this has been done against your will?”

“No,” I said sharply. “There isn’t.”

Hector relaxed some. It was Faye who spoke next. “We only want what’s best for you, Naomi. That’s all we’ve ever wanted.”

I laughed bitterly, shaking my head. “Be for real, Faye. If that were true, maybe you would’ve gotten here before I had to fend for myself. I bet it took a long time to even notice I was gone.”

The silence that followed was deafening, the weight of my words sinking into the room like a stone.

“That’s not true,” Faye countered quietly. It was a little cruel for me to say—I was sure they’d noticed rather quickly that I was gone, especially when I didn’t show up at my friend’s house, but that didn’t mean they’d paid me any mind beforehand.

“You can stay for dinner,” Danny interrupted. “Or you can leave. But Naomi’s not going anywhere. She’s told you she wants to stay, so there’s nothing else for you two here.”

Hector’s lips pressed into a thin line, his gaze flickering to Faye before he finally stood. “Well, I have to admit, this was not what we expected. I suppose I should congratulate you two on a successful bonding, but I’d like my wife to stay here for a few days until she’s confident our Naomi is settling in okay. I’m sure you’re more than happy to offer hospitality to the wife of the Silverfang Creek Alpha, right?”

Danny’s jaw worked—he was definitely NOT more than happy to offer hospitality. The exact opposite, probably. But Alpha to Alpha, Danny couldn’t risk being an outright asshole to Hector. The Silverfangs far outnumbered the Red Canines, not to mention an alliance between the two packs would go a long way toward the renewal of the pack that Danny wanted. So, after a long moment, he nodded. “Of course. Dad, could you go get the guest room ready?”

Peter, who had been silent the whole time, looked utterly relieved to leave the table of tension. “Sure thing, Kid.”

***

Just as Hector had promised, Faye stayed behind. I had held out hope it was a bluff until Hector’s truck drove off into the distance, leaving his wife and the bag that she had conveniently packed and brought with her behind.

So much for the blissful post-mating period Danny and I had been enjoying. Now my ex- Alpha’s wife was here for a check-in, and I had to play hostess.

It shouldn’t have surprised me—Hector had always been calculating, and leaving his mate here to “monitor” the situation was exactly his style. Still, the tight line of Danny’s mouth as Hector left made it clear he wasn’t thrilled. And I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to feel reassured or insulted by their sudden friendliness.

Only a week ago, I was just Naomi. A pack outsider with no family, nothing remarkable to speak of. Now, I was interesting enough to warrant a visit to another pack’s territory. Compelling, even.

Apparently, being mated to an Alpha changed things.

Faye seemed to take her task seriously, inserting herself into conversations, asking polite but probing questions about the Red Canines, Danny, and me. I gave her curt, borderline civil answers, playing along for the sake of peace. Danny hovered near me like a storm cloud, ready to unleash thunder, but she didn’t seem fazed. If anything, she looked amused.

Being a wolf-witch hybrid probably allowed her to be amused about most things. There wasn’t much that could scare someone like Faye.

When Danny left to see his father out, Faye cornered me in the kitchen. Her tone was friendly as she leaned against the counter, her fingers toying with the edge of a dishtowel.

“I owe you an apology,” she said.

“For what?” I asked, setting down the knife I’d been using to slice an apple. “For showing up here?”

She shook her head. “No. For not seeing you before this,” she replied, her bright eyes meeting mine with something that looked like regret. “For how the pack treated you.”

I stiffened, unsure where this was going. “What do you mean? The pack raised me, and I’m grateful. No one was ever cruel.”

She sighed, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re—different, Naomi. Or maybe I’m wrong, and you’ve always been like this—” She motioned to me.“—and we just never noticed. And that was our fault. You’ve got a strength that not everyone sees right away, and the Silverfangs didn’t do you any favors by ignoring it. By ignoring you.”

I swallowed hard, unsure how to process her words. “I was just existing, yeah, but it wasn’t that bad.”

Her expression pinched slightly, but she didn’t argue. “We should have done more than just tolerate you. And now that I see you here, standing your ground, I can’t help but think we underestimated you.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. The idea that my old pack had overlooked me wasn’t new—it was a truth I’d learned to live with. But to hear it admitted out loud, by Faye of all people, left a bitter taste in my mouth.

“And now you think what? That Danny found something you all missed?” I asked, forcing a sharpness into my tone to mask the lump forming in my throat. I never wanted to be Normal Naomi again, and now Faye was here, bringing her back into the spotlight.

“I think Danny sees you for what you are,” she said gently. “And maybe the Silverfangs failed you by not doing the same.”

Her words left me feeling shaken. I didn’t know if I believed her or if this was just another way to appease me, to sweep the fact that they had taken so long to find me under the rug. I had longed to hear something like this for so long, but now that it had been said, the apology fell—flat. There was no sweeping vindication like I had expected.

And then there was Danny, who immediately saw me as someone interesting, attractive, someone special. Hell, Danny had wanted me badly enough to have me kidnapped. He didn’t need convincing like everyone else. It reinforced what I had told my old Alpha earlier—I wanted to stay here.

“Thanks, Faye,” I sighed, the words basically meaningless at that point. “Better late than never, I guess.”

***

Later that night, Danny and I lay tangled together in bed. His arm was draped over my waist, his body radiating a comforting heat that had quickly become my favorite thing about sleeping next to him.

“Still feels strange,” I murmured, tracing absent patterns on his chest.

“What does?” he asked, his voice rough, like gravel shifting under tires.

“That Hector and Faye showed up. They’ve never cared much about me before.”

Danny grunted in agreement, his fingers stroking absentmindedly over my hip. “Hector’s up to something. Leaving Faye here? Doesn’t sit right.”

I nodded, though I wasn’t sure I agreed. Hector’s behavior was odd, but Faye—Faye seemed genuine. At least as genuine as someone like her could be. Her position in the pack was so high that I wondered if it made it harder for her to understand someone like me.

Then, with a start, I realized something that made me bark out a surprised laugh. It made Danny jump.

“What is it?”

“I was just laying here thinking about how Faye outranked basically everyone in the Silverfang Creek, but now I’m also an Alpha’s mate, so we’re like—on the same level. That feels impossible to me.”

“You’re a queen,” Danny rumbled, pulling me into a kiss. “My Canine Queen. Don’t you ever forget it.”

After Danny showed me just how much of a queen I was by worshiping me head to toe, I found myself exhausted. The weight of the day caught up with me fast, pulling me into a drowsy haze. The last thing I remembered was Danny kissing my forehead, his arm tightening around me protectively before I drifted off to sleep.

But hours later, I jolted awake to the sound of a blood-curdling scream.

My heart raced as I shot upright, Danny already halfway out of bed before I could even process what was happening.

“Stay here,” he ordered, but I was already on his heels, pulling a sweatshirt over my head as we sprinted down the hall to the guest room.

Faye’s screams cut through the silence like a knife, ragged and desperate.

Danny reached for the doorknob, but I stopped him with a hand on his chest. “Wait. She’s not going to want you in there. Let me go first.”

His jaw tightened, but he stepped back, his gaze hard. “If there’s someone in there—”

“I think it’s just her,” I panted. “A night terror, maybe. But a strange werewolf will scare her even more. I’ll just be a few feet away.”

Danny wasn’t thrilled, but he could hear the sense in my words. I pushed the door open and slipped inside, not closing it all the way so Danny could watch me. Faye was curled in a tight ball on the bed, her face pale and tear-streaked. She was shaking, her breathing shallow and erratic.

“Faye,” I said softly, moving closer to touch her shoulder. “It’s okay. It was just a nightmare.”

She flinched at my touch, her wide eyes locking onto mine. “It wasn’t just a nightmare,” she whispered, her voice raw with terror.

“What do you mean?” I asked, crouching beside the bed.

She clutched the blanket tighter around herself, her gaze darting around the room like she expected something to leap out of the shadows. “I saw her. My daughter. She was—she was being taken by demons.”

My stomach twisted—she was talking about Sierra, her and Hector’s daughter, and the pride and joy of the entire Silverfang Creek pack. “Hector would be home by now. I’m sure Faye is safe.”

Faye shook her head, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks. “It was crystal clear, like I was watching from outside of a window and couldn’t reach her.”

I reached for her hand, squeezing it gently. “Faye, it was just a dream. You’re safe here. Danny and I won’t let anything happen to you, and Hector and the rest of the pack are definitely protecting Sierra.”

“Tell her we can drive her home tonight if she wants,” Danny called from outside the room, his rumbling voice a balm to my nervous spirit. “It’s a long drive, but we’d have her there by dawn.”

But she shook her head violently, her fingers digging into the blanket. “No, Naomi, Danny—you don’t understand. It’s impossible. I can’t leave—I can feel them! The demons. They’re here. They’ve surrounded your house.”