Chapter 2

ANDREW

The trip to the Silver Wolf Pack is a short one but I cannot help but be irritated at the circumstances. I let my Beta drive so I could be alone with my thoughts. It has been three months since I challenged my uncle for his position of Alpha. I had the support of the pack behind me. My uncle had never found his mate and declining in his old age. His senile decisions were making things dangerous for the pack. Had the old man just relinquished power to me there would not have been any need for a challenge, and he could still be alive. Now all of his allies were questioning my loyalty to them. They see me as young and reckless. The Silver Wolf Pack is the last of the allies I have to meet with and will certainly be the most difficult. Alpha Jason and my uncle were extremely close, so now I am the enemy.

As we cross the boarder into Silver Wolf territory my wolf, Brax, begins to howl loudly in my head. “Dude. What is your issue?” I demand silently.

“Mate. Our mate is close.” Brax demands loudly in my head as he paces back and forth in my mind.

I groan internally. Of course we would find our mate in Silver Wolf territory. I turn to my Beta, James. “How much time do we have?”

“We are about 20 mins early,” he responds curiously.

“There… over there.” Brax is jumping up and down with excitement.

I look to my left and see a large stable with doors pulled wide open. “Pull over here and stay in the car. I’ll be back shortly.” James complies without question, but I can see that it is written all over his face. I exit the car and her scent hits me as soon as I approach the stable doors. She smells like lavender and grass after a fresh rain. I peer into the barn, but I don’t see her. I do not want to startle her, so I knock loudly on the barn door. A mess of golden locks peeks out from one of the stables that has a large white horse in it. Her beautiful brown eyes meet mine and her gaze pulls me in. Her brown eyes are swirling with gold, and I know that her wolf is trying to push forward, but she does not seem to know what I am to her just yet.

“Excuse me? I saw the doors open and I was wondering if you could help me?” I say as I slowly make my way over to her. “I am supposed to be part of a meeting in the packhouse, and I seem to have lost my way.” It is a bold-faced lie, but it seems safer than screaming “mate” and marking her on the spot like my wolf is begging me to do.

She steps from the stall, and I can see her fully. She is extremely short for a she-wolf, with golden hair that has pieces of straw sticking out in odd directions. Even though her frame is small she has curves in all the right places. My eyes linger a little longer than they should on her full breasts before her voice breaks me from the thoughts of pushing her up against the stall door and letting my hands roam over her body.

“You must be Alpha Andrew. I am Lyra, Alpha Jason’s daughter.” Her voice is not much more than a whisper and she holds out a dirty hand for me to shake.

“Did she say she is Alpha Jason’s daughter?” Brax asks.

“She did… we are fucked.” I chuckle internally as I take her hand and guide it to my lips brushing a soft kiss across her knuckles. I feel her body shiver as sparks connect us both. “She must not be 18 yet. She does not know what we are to her yet.” Brax pouts silently in my head as she pulls her hand from my own.

Her gaze refuses to meet my own but I can see the golden swirls of her wolf in her eyes. “Please, call me Andrew. There is no need for formalities while it is just the two of us. It is interesting that you are out here on your own. It is common knowledge that your father keeps you under lock and key.”

Her face flushes with embarrassment. “Ummm… Well. It is Senior skip day and one of my teachers convinced me to break the rules, just this one time. So, my father does not know that I am here.” Her eyes burn into my own, silently pleading with me to keep her secret.

I use a single finger to keep her eyes on mine. “I’ll keep your secret, Little Wolf. But you may want to neaten yourself before you head home,” I say as I pull a piece of straw from her beautiful golden hair. Brax is panting loudly in my head at the thought of touching our mate again.

“Thank you,” She whispers. “To get to the packhouse you just need to follow this road for about a mile, and you cannot miss it.”

I cannot help myself and I lean in closely to Lyra, inhaling her delicious scent. I whisper closely to her neck, where I will mark her one day, “It was a pleasure, Little Wolf, I do hope we can do this again some time.” I hear her breathing become erratic and my cock twitches at the thought of her making those sounds beneath me. Before I do something stupid, I turn on my heels and leave the barn as quickly as I can, trying to adjust my arousal before getting back into the car with James.

“Are you going to tell me what that was all about?” James says as he eyes me suspiciously.

“I’m afraid our trip just got a lot more complicated.” I growl in frustration.

We pull up to the Silver Wolf packhouse to find Alpha Jason, his son, his Beta, and another young wolf waiting for us outside on the front steps. “I see you finally decided to show up,” Alpha Jason says with a smug look upon his face.

A deep growl leaves my chest before James places his hand on my shoulder calming me. “I am sorry. We got tied up at the border.” I say through gritted teeth.

“Lets get this over with,” Alpha Jason says as he turns and enters his packhouse.

Following Alpha Jason through his packhouse I look at the pictures on the walls. All of them were of his two children through the years. There was no mistaking Lyra with her messy golden hair and deep brown eyes. She always appeared to have smudges of dirt on her face which made me smile because of the state that she was in when I met her. There were pictures of her with her pure white horse, pictures of her carrying kittens around like babies, pictures of her feeding a flock of ducks, and in each one she had a huge grin spread across her face. I found myself longing to know more about this Little Wolf and her love for animals.

Alpha Jason finally opened the door to a large conference room and the six of them took their seats around a large round table that sat in the center of the room. Alpha Jason stood as he introduced the other members of his party. “This is my son Chase, my Beta Edward, and his son Cain.” He says as he points to each of the men sitting at the table.

“It is my pleasure to meet you,” I say as Alpha Jason rolls his eyes at my words. “This is my Beta James.”

“Lets get down to business,” Alpha Jason says as he glares in my direction. “Your uncle was a very dear friend of mine and I do not wish to support the treaty that binds our two packs any longer.”

I would like to say that I was surprised at his words, but I knew they were coming. “I am very sorry that you feel this way because I had no intention of breaking any of the treaties that were put in place by my uncle before the end of his life. I know that you and he were close friends but the steady decline of his mental health of the past few years made him unfit to hold the title of Alpha any longer. You may ask anyone in our pack, my decision to challenge him was supported throughout the members of our pack.”

“Did you not think to gain the support of his allies as well?” Chase says with a huff.

“I did not because was afraid that he would try to put his plans into motion. He was planning on attacking all of his allies. Determined that he could expand his pack to be the largest in the US before he died. He was leading us all to our deaths.” James nodded his head in agreement as I spoke but the look on Alpha Jason’s face was one of disbelief. “I know that you may have a hard time believing what I have to say, so, I brought his official documents that laid out his plan. I am sure you will recognize his signature at the bottom.” I grinned slightly as I tossed the papers across the table to Alpha Jason.

Alpha Jason flipped through the papers with a grim look upon his face. “I am sure you will not mind if I check with the other Alphas in our alliance.”

“Of course not. Take your time.” I say as I lean back in my chair. “While you make your decision would you mind if I explored your territory a bit. I have reason to believe that my mate is within your pack. You can assign me a guard if you wish.”

“What makes you think your mate is here?” Cain growls in response.

“Caught her scent when I crossed the border. Just near those large stables but I did not have time to stop and investigate.” James gave me a sideways glance and a bit of a grin.

Chase snorts “The only wolf that ever goes to the stables is…” but he is cut off when his father kicks him under the table. I cannot help but notice the glances that the four men are giving one another.

“I actually would prefer if you would return to your pack while I review this information. If your mate is truly here I am sure she can wait a few days.” Alpha Jason has gone more rigid than normal as he speaks to me. Almost as if he cannot get me off his territory fast enough.

Suddenly the scent of lavender hits my nose and I know that my Little Wolf has entered the pack house. There is a tiny knock at the conference room door and Cain jumps at the opportunity to open it. He opens the door slightly and speaks in a low voice trying to explain that now is not the best time and she should go to her room to wait.

“But Father said that I was to come home from school and me Alpha Andrew and then I was free for the rest of my afternoon.” Lyra is practically begging to be allowed in the room. Maybe she feels the pull to me more than I think she does.

“Cain. Please escort my daughter upstairs.” Alpha Jason growls.

Cain opens the door and throws his arm around Lyra guiding her away from the conference room. The sight of another man’s arm around my mate sends my wolf into a frenzy and I bolt from my chair into the hallway. I grab Cain by his throat and shove him against the wall. The word “mine” leaves my lips in a terrible growl. I use my arm to push Lyra behind me in a protective motion. I can feel my claws extending from my fingertips digging into Cain’s neck. A terrified gasp from Lyra pulls me from my anger. One look at her wide, terrified eyes causes me to release Cain from my grip.

“I think you should leave.” Alpha Jason says abruptly.

“I’m not leaving without my mate,” I growl.

“She is not your mate. She has been promised to Cain since her birth.” Edward demands.

Lyra’s eyes widen in realization. “This is why you never let me out of your sight. For fear that I may find my mate? Because you have already promised me to someone else?” At this point she is shaking in anger. “You would deny me my mate bond?” Lyra stared at her father, waiting for an answer but he gave none. Turning on her heel she disappeared up the stairs.

“When does she turn 18,” I demanded to know, but no one would answer me. “I will declare war over this.”

“So be it.” Alpha Jason gravely said.

“You are just as crazy as my uncle. Think of your pack. What will they think when they find out you have gone to war because you denied your daughter her mate.” Anger fueled my words as I spoke. “You are an old fool. You have until she is 18 to make the right decision.” I turned on my heel and stormed from the packhouse with James quickly on my heels.

Before crossing the border I stop at the stables and snuck inside. I leave a note for Lyra in her horse’s stall, hoping she will find it.