Chapter 7: Mate, Mine
Silas
“Si! Is the guest room for Alpha Sid ready?” I was helping my brothers get ready for the new White Ridge Alpha Sid Eld. Davy asked me to double-check the guest room.
“Yeah, I just finished checking it. I wish we didn’t have to train a New Moon Alliance Alpha. It feels wrong.” It’s been a little over a month since that night, and I still haven’t slept right.
“I would agree with you, but from what I hear, Alpha Sid is a total badass!” Cory walks up and plops down on the sofa next to Davy. I grab a chair across from them.
“What do you mean, badass? That pack was evil and did horrible things. You both saw firsthand what the New Moon Alliance did.” I grit my teeth.
Davy leaned forward, looking around and in a hushed tone, “Not Sid. When he found the raid group crossing his pack territory, he led them to the facility and fought his own pack members. Word is he was not happy with the previous Alpha and tried to report it but was stopped somehow.”
“The Gamma from the Koray pack was there and told me that Sid delivered a dead Reed Tarlo to the packhouse himself. Tarlo bled to death slowly. Like Sid kept the wounds open! Complete savage.” Cory seemed to be fangirling over the new Alpha.
“I don’t know. It seems pretty farfetched if you ask me.” It was going to take more than rumors to convince me.
“Dad said Alpha Sid comes from a long line of Betas. He said his dad was murdered when he was a kid and the Tarlos replaced the Elds as Betas. Dad said Sid’s father was a really good guy and Beta.” Davy had a point, and I trusted dad’s word over anyone else.
“From what I heard, Alpha John and Alpha Gideon like the new Alpha.” Cory was still fangirling. As we are sitting in the great room of the packhouse, a bunch of she-wolves start trickling in, and they are all dressed to the nines.
“What’s with all the females?” I motion to my brothers to look.
“Ugh. Alpha Sid is mateless, so it looks like word spread fast. I guess they are all hoping to be the next Luna.” Davy shakes his head. Cory and I roll our eyes.
“How old is Alpha Sid? Do we know?” the guy had enough to worry about without being hound by a bunch of rank-hungry females.
“Dad said he thinks he’s around our age, and if the goddess picked him, he’s at least 25.” Davy sat back on the sofa and watched the parade of she-wolves with disapproval written all over his face. Before he met Liz, he rejected rank-diggers, as he called them, left and right.
“I hear he’s pretty scary-looking actual, so this will be a show when all these she-wolves see him.” Cory chuckles.
“What’s he look like?” I mean, I had to ask.
“They say he looks like a demon-wolf. Flame red hair and yellow eyes even I in human form! Freaky right.” The look on Cory’s face was way too serious for what he had just said.
“HAHAHA! Seriously! A demon-wolf! Cory, I think the sun has fried your brain.” Cory glares at me.
“OK, you two, we need to get ready to greet the new Alpha. I just got word they are five minutes out.” We all get up and go out front to meet the new Alpha and greet Alpha Gideon. Maybe I shouldn’t judge the new Alpha based on the old one, but it would be hard.
“Bram, should we talk to Gideon while he’s here about going to the Guard?”
“No. We are needed here.”
“Are we really NEEDED here?”
“Yes. Do you feel it?”
“What?”
“Shut up and concentrate.” Bram was snappy, but I closed my eyes and just let my instincts take over. I felt something like a pull toward the SUVs coming our way.
“What is that?”
“Don’t know. Be on guard.” My hair was standing on end. Every fiber of my body was on high alert.
The SUVs stop. Gideon gets out along with a few warriors. Then the passenger door opens, and I’m instantly hit with the incredible scent of red currents mixed with cinnamon and the mating pheromone.
“MATE!” Bram screams in my head. I jolt to the open door and see the longest sexiest legs I have ever seen in my life. A low growl comes from my chest.
I hear the sweetest voice, “Mate.”
I follow the lines of those legs up to a tight stomach and small perky breast, a long elegant neck. Her face was beautiful, pale, sprinkled with freckles, mesmerizing amber-colored eyes, and bouncy curly red hair. She was perfect, and she was mine. I can’t help myself. I pull her out of the SUV and into my arms. She’s tall; I’m barely a head taller than her.
“Mate. Mine.” Is all I get out. I know she feels it too. She’s holding on to my arms so tight. She looks stunned. I’m awestruck, too, by how perfect she is.
“Well, this is interesting.” I turn and see Alpha Gideon and Alpha Conor staring.
“Alpha Conor, I would like you to meet Alpha Sydney Eld, the new Alpha of the White Ridge Pack. It looks like she just found her mate also.” What did Gideon just say? Alpha Sydney? This beautiful she-wolf was the new Alpha? The demon-wolf was a girl and my mate?
“Well, now you both have the same expression, at least.” Gideon chuckles a little. I look around, and everyone is just gawking at us.
“Let’s take this up to my office. Youngbloods, you should come along as well.” Alpha Conor Amaris waves us along. I don’t know what to do. I know we need to go with him, but I don’t want to let her go.
Sydney whispers, “we need to follow. You have to release me.” Her whisper voice sends chills up my spine. It’s the sexiest sound I’ve ever heard.
“No.” I pull her tighter.
“You’re making a spectacle. Let me go so we can talk in the Alpha’s office.” Her expression changes for the first time, and I realize Bram has taken more control than usual, and I was making things awkward.
“Will you hold my hand?” I still wanted to touch her. I had finally found her, my mate.
“Fine. Let’s go.” I take her hand, and we walk together. She straightens her back stands at her full height, and I realize she’s at least six feet. Her knees must have been bent when I pulled her out of the SUV. She’s wearing a purple high neck sleeveless button-up shirt with black dress shorts and sandals. Damn those legs. I was glad she was wearing shorts. I finally take a look at her pack mark. It’s amazing. It’s a mountain range with clouds and birds flying. Above the mountains is a full moon, showing she is a ranked pack member. How did I miss that? I wonder what her Alpha mark looks like on her back.
“I’m sure we will see it, and soon she will hold our mate mark.” Bram was on a high we had been waiting for so long to find our mate.
“You know all our marks are going to change now. I mean, we are mated to an Alpha. This is crazy, but she’s hot.” I could stare at those legs all day.
“Stop staring at me.” I’m snapped out of my conversation with Bram by my mate. She looks at me out of the corner of her eye.
“I can’t help it. You’re stunning.” She turns as red as her hair. We had just walked into Alpha Conor’s office.
“Cory, please shut the door.” Alpha Conor sits behind his desk. “Please, everyone, have a seat. It looks like we have more to talk about than originally planned.”
“Everyone, please let me introduce the new Alpha of the White Ridge pack Sydney Eld. To answer your question, yes, she is the rumored Syd from the night of Raids, and yes, the goddess chose a female Alpha. Syd, you want to say anything?” Gideon takes a seat, and Sydney stands up. Wait, are the rumors true?
“Well, first, thank you for welcoming me into your home and taking the next few weeks to train me. I hope to improve the lives of my pack and hope you all can help me do that. Ummm… and this man’s my mate, but… I don’t even know his name yet.” How stupid of me I didn’t even tell her my name. She knows nothing about me, but I know a bunch about her. She sits back down next to me but looks straight ahead. Everyone is silent. I stand then I kneel on one knee in front of her.
“Mate.” I take her hand, and she looks deep into my eyes. “My name is Silas Youngblood. I am the third son of the Beta bloodline of the Amaris pack. I have been waiting so long to find you.”
“Well, Alpha Syd, you now have a Lumiere.” Gideon leans forward in his chair.
I scrunch my brow, “A what?”
“A Lumiere is a male Luna essentially.” He nods to me.
“Lumiere Silas! That sounds so nice. Welcome to the family Alpha Sydney.” My mother was on her feet and pulling Sydney to hers and into a mama bear hug.
“Thank you. Um, I know everyone has so much to go over, but could Silas and I have a moment alone?” A smile takes over my face. Time alone with my mate? Yes, please.
Chapter 44: Lupus ConstellationSydney“The same reason you didn’t leave, family. My father knew if he tried to run with us, my mother and I would be the targets, not him. So my parents devised a plan, one that saved many in our pack from the curse.” Pearl’s words hit me hard. My dad could have taken us and ran, and I could have run away, but family kept us anchored to the pack.“What was the plan? How can you avoid a curse?” More than the sting of being held hostage by family obligations, my curiosity about how they avoided the curse was higher.“My mother being a human, did not have the same obligation to the Alpha as us wolves. I was part of the pack already and had found my mate. She didn’t want to lose her family, plus she was getting older. She did reading after reading about pack members searching for anything for years. She started to piece some things together. Out of all the families in the pack, only 11 had futures of not being corrupted.” Pearl rubbed the back of her neck
Chapter 43: The Alpha Curse Silas “I understand now.” Syd’s voice is tender and soft as she looks into Pearl’s eyes. It makes me wonder if this is how she was with her mother. Pearl turns to look at my parents with a charming smile, “Beta Youngbloods, do you mind if I have a moment with the Alphas.” Before anyone could say a word in response, Syd replied, “they are family. If it’s important, I would like them to hear it.” I was shocked. I expected to be kicked out of the room myself for a second. In a gentle voice, I asked, “Syd, are you sure?” She didn’t answer in words, just a shy smile; I could see her eyes were glassy. “If that is what the Alpha wishes, I will oblige. I must warn you this is not a happy story, nor should it be shared outside of this room.” Pearl’s ominous warning sucked the air out of the room. We all took a deep breath. “Please, Elder Pearl, continue.” Syd sat up straight. If I couldn’t feel her emotions, I would think she was calm and regal looking, but I
Chapter 42: The Moon and the Stars Sydney I can’t believe what I just heard. Silas said he loved me and said it in front of his parents. I need to control my face. I know I’m grinning like a mad woman, but I can’t help it. This is not what an Alpha acts like. Ugh, why do I get like this around him? “Thora, help fix our face.” I plead with her because I know I look crazy right now. “I can’t. Do you feel that… coming through the bond? Hehe,” My wolf was making it worse. I’m in front of a high-ranking Beta couple, and I’m acting like a love-sick kid. “Get a hold of yourself,” I scream to Thora and me. Now I was just feeling embarrassed that I, an Alpha, was acting so ridiculous over a simple word. I stare at the bowl in front of me, focusing on the mashed potatoes. “Does it taste alright, dear?” I look up and see everyone staring at me. “Yeah, it’s great.” I quickly put my fork in my mouth. I feel like I’m going to explode from em
Chapter 41: What is that feeling Silas “I’m not ready,” Syd yells out; she has this deer in the headlights look on her face as she stares at Dad and me. The room is quiet for a moment, and Syd quickly turns a lovely shade of red. Dad lets me out of the headlock. I can tell mom and dad are linking each other because mom shrugged. I’m about to link Syd when mom strikes first. “Sydney dear, what are you not ready for?” Again, we all look at Syd, and I didn’t think she could get this red. “Ummm… ahhh…Ummm.” Syd looks at me in a panic. I link her, “You, OK? What’s going on?” “No.” She snaps back. “Well, answer her?” I’m not a mind reader, and if she wasn’t going to tell me what was going on, I could help. Her emotions are all over the place; there’s confusion, panic, and embarrassment, but I have no clue why. “Ummm… I’m not ready for you both to leave in a few days.” I feel a sense of relief coming off of Syd. I hone
Chapter 40: Monster Cookies Sydney “Is this really a good idea?” I whisper to myself as I slow my steps walking toward the packhouse kitchen. “Hurry up. Why are you so slow?” Thora tries to take over for a second. “Hey, knock it off. You just want to eat. Whatever she made is not going anywhere.” I push her back and maintain control. “You don’t know that. Beta Christine is nice, and she could have already given the good stuff away.” My mouth starts to salivate as Thora pushes forward again. “You are acting like a starving pup. We eat all the time.” I stop walking and stand still in the hall, taking back complete control. I’ve never put myself on a diet. With the consistent training and shifting, the need for calories was immense. Now with the added workload of the pack, I was eating even more, as they call it, brain food. “This is different. This is special. Just calm down, alright. Ever
Chapter 39: Father-Son Silas I clap my hands and yell out. “Alright, everyone, that’s it for now.” I start walking back up to the front where my dad is standing. “Remember tonight we are running drills in the forest.” Everyone groans. We need to run rogue attack simulations, so we don’t have the same thing happen again. No one died, but it was too close for comfort. Something catches my attention out of the corner of my eye. “Brain, I guess you decided to stop milking that near-death injury and come to training.” I chuckle and take a few steps over to the onlooker. “What can I say? The ladies love to nurse an injured hero back to health.” Brian gives me a smirk. I wanted to rip his head off when I got her, but that battle changed how we saw each other. “Seriously, how are you healing?” I place a concerned hand on his shoulder. Brain lifts his shirt, and I see stapled flesh. “Staples come out tomorrow. Doc said it was so deep and seriou
Chapter 38: Finding the definition Sydney “Alpha, aren’t you going to join your mate and his father at the training grounds?” Kyler looked up from his laptop. I sink back into my chair and let out a sigh. “No, I need to get caught up on pack business.” I’m behind on pack work because of my heat and the Lumiere ceremony. Now that the other Alphas have left, I can focus on cleaning this up again. Why did Silas’ parents decide to stay an extra few days? I always feel like I’m walking on eggshells around them now. “What was all that noise about at the after-party, Alpha?” Ambrose cranes his neck backward over the sofa to look at me. A sucker stick poked out between his lips. I know he’s being nosy and trying to act casual about it. “It was nothing. Don’t worry about it.” I don’t want to bring it back up right now. It still bothers me. I focus on the reports in front of me. “Nothing? You sure rushed out for nothing then.” Ambrose knows how
Chapter 37: A Family Matter Silas “Put a shirt on already. I’m sick of looking at that creepy mate mark.” Cody scoffed. "Shut up, Cody." I snarled. His attitude toward Sydney and I is really getting under my skin. "What are you, the little bitch's, bitch now?" Cody continued to mock and down his drink and slammed the glass on the table. I jump to my feet. "Cody, if you forgot, I outrank you now, so I mean it when I say shut the fuck up." I feel Bram pushing forward and my Lumiere Aura pushing out. "Uhhh... You!" Cody slumps down in his chair, trying to fight the pull. "Cody, bro, seriously knock it off. You are not just Silas' brother but the Gamma of our pack. So as your Beta, I'm telling you to stop now." Davy steps between us. Him being the oldest always trying to keep the peace. My blood is boiling. I’m doing everything I can to hold Bram back, but a big part of me wants to let him loose. "Grrrrrr..." Cody’s eyes fl
Chapter 36: Brothers Sydney “What?” Silas keeps trying to look at his own back. “Goddess, help me. I think his ceremony fired his damn brain.” I raise my head to plead with Selene herself. Watching him, I let out a sigh. “You look ridiculous. Stop it.” “Well, you said I had a star. I want to see it. Take a picture with your phone.” He spins around, and I swear Bram’s tail is out wagging. “Yeah, this damn dress has a place for pockets. I’ll do it later, but we seriously need to figure this out.” I pinch his arm to bring him out of his happy daze. “Ouch!” Silas rubs his arm. “What the hell.” “Silas! Focus!” My temper is starting to show. “OK. I’m sure it’s just part of the connecting pattern, and it doesn’t mean anything.” Silas waves me off. “I don’t think it’s part of the connecting pattern. I don’t know what it means if it means anything.” I sigh and turn him around to take a good look at his mark. It is pretty