MY ALPHA FATHER'S BEST FRIEND

MAYA’S POV

The thing about being the daughter of two pack Alphas is that everyone treats you like you’re made of glass. Breakable. Precious. Something to be protected and kept safely tucked away behind iron gates and armed guards.

It’s suffocating.

My father, Alpha Rob Ashford, leads the Crescent Falls pack—one of the oldest and most powerful packs on the East Coast. We’ve got territory that spans three states, wealth that most human billionaires would envy, and enough political power in the shifter world to make other Alphas nervous.

Our estate reflects that power. Twenty acres of pristine land surrounded by walls that look decorative but are actually reinforced steel. Security cameras hidden in every tree. Guards stationed at every entrance, all of them wolves from our pack who’d die before letting a threat through.

I grew up in this gilded cage, and I’ve been trying to break free since I was old enough to understand what freedom meant.

But then my uncle, Alpha Marcus of the Northern Ridge pack had an accident during a territorial dispute. Three of his wolves went rogue on a full moon and he got caught in the crossfire trying to bring them down. Broke his leg in two places, fractured some ribs, the whole mess.

My parents decided to leave for two weeks to help him stabilize his pack and deal with the rogue situation.

Two weeks. Fourteen days. 336 hours.

And they didn’t trust me to stay home alone.

Not because I’m incompetent…I can fight better than half the wolves in our pack, I’ve been training since I could walk. But because I’m unmated, unbonded, and according to pack law, an “unmated female of Alpha blood” shouldn’t be left unguarded.

It’s archaic bullshit, but try telling that to my father.

So he called Damon.

Damon Kane. Alpha of the Silver Ridge pack, my father’s best friend since they were both young wolves learning to control their shifts, and the man who’s been slowly driving me insane for the past three years.

Damon’s pack borders ours to the north. His territory is smaller but his wolves are fierce—ridge wolves, mountain bred, stronger and faster than most lowland packs. He’s respected in the Council, feared by enemies, and trusted by my father more than anyone else in the world.

He’s also the only man I’ve ever wanted.

It started when I was fifteen, right after my first shift. Something changed in the way I saw him. Suddenly he wasn’t just Dad’s friend, wasn’t just another Alpha who came around for pack business. He was… everything.

Tall and built like he was carved from stone, with shoulders broad enough to carry the weight of his entire pack. Dark hair that he kept just long enough to run your fingers through, with silver starting to thread through it at his temples. Storm-gray eyes that could look right through you. A jaw that was always covered in stubble because he couldn’t be bothered to shave every day.

He was forty-two to my eighteen, and I didn’t care even a little bit.

My wolf didn’t care either. She’d been restless around him since my first shift, pacing and whining, wanting to get closer. Wanting to submit and dominate all at once, which didn’t make sense but also made perfect sense.

I’d tried asking my mom about it once—carefully, hypothetically but she’d just given me this knowing look and said, “Sometimes the moon has plans we don’t understand, sweetheart. Best to let things unfold naturally.”

That wasn’t helpful.

So I’d spent the past three years watching him, wanting him, dropping hints that got progressively less subtle. And he’d spent the past three years very carefully pretending not to notice.

But he noticed. I could smell it on him—that spike of arousal, the way his scent would shift and darken when I walked into a room. The way his eyes would track my movements before he forced himself to look away.

He wanted me too. He was just too stubborn to admit it.

Until now.

My parents left early this morning, right after dawn. Mom hugged me at least twenty times, making me promise to behave, to listen to Damon, to not cause any trouble. Dad pulled me aside and gave me the talk—the one about pack responsibility and alpha bloodlines and how I needed to be careful because unmated males could smell an unmated alpha female from miles away and I should stay on the grounds at all times.

Like I didn’t already know all of this.

“Damon will be here before noon,” Dad said, gripping my shoulders. “He’s in charge while we’re gone. Whatever he says, you do. Understand?”

“Yes, Dad.”

“I mean it, Maya. He’s Alpha of his pack for a reason. You show him the same respect you’d show me.”

“I will.”

He studied my face for a long moment, like he was trying to read something there, then sighed. “I love you, sweetheart. We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

“Love you too. Be safe.”

And then they were gone, their car disappearing through the gates with two guard vehicles flanking them.

I spent the rest of the morning getting ready.

Showered using the expensive soap that made my skin extra soft. Shaved everything until I was smooth as silk. Rubbed scented oil into my skin—something with vanilla and jasmine that I knew would drive any wolf’s nose crazy.

Then came the outfit.

I stood in front of my closet for twenty minutes, pulling things out and tossing them on the bed. It had to be perfect. Sexy but not trying too hard. Casual but showing enough skin to make him look.

I finally settled on a pair of cutoff denim shorts—the kind that barely covered my ass and a thin strappy tank top. No bra. The house was always kept cool for the wolves who ran hot, so my nipples would be visible through the fabric within minutes.

Perfect.

I left my hair down, long and blonde and wavy, because I remembered him mentioning once that he preferred long hair on women. I’d been growing it out ever since.

Around eleven-thirty, I heard the sound of a vehicle coming up the drive. My wolf perked up immediately, recognizing his scent even from a distance.