Spoiled Alpha's son, Caleb Grant, is shocked to discover his fated mate roaming lost and alone in the forest. She's human, and she's still a child. Confused and disappointed, Caleb is compelled to protect the vulnerable human, who assumes he's nothing more than a regular wolf. In this tale of fantasy and adventure, Caleb learns to appreciate that soulmates can be friends before they can become lovers, leading a double life as Alpha to the Lakewood pack, and Ruby's beloved pet, Storm. Tragedy forces them apart, and as Ruby reaches her 18th birthday, the time has come for Caleb to reveal his secret. Will Ruby accept the man as she did the wolf, or is their love doomed to fail?
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The ten-second countdown had begun.
“Ten . . . nine . . . eight . . . seven . . . six . . . five. . . four . . . three. . . two. . . one. Happy birthday, Caleb!” my guests chanted in unison.
The ballroom was filled with celebratory cheers. Then, moments later, the mini-orchestra resumed playing. My mother had been planning this occasion since the day I was born. I wasn’t keen on parties. It was an excuse for people to freeload and snoop around our house. When I become Alpha, I intended to ban any such functions.
“Caleb, do you see her? Have you felt drawn to anyone yet?” Aaron asked.
Aaron, my comical best friend, was standing around trying to look all sophisticated with his champagne glass like James Bond, dressed in his black Tux, white shirt, and bow tie. He glanced over his shoulder at a group of giggling girls. He was such a flirt, running a hand through his dark-blond hair, his blue eyes sparkling with a hint of mischief.
I rolled my eyes. “No, not yet,” I replied, managing a strained smile.
Aaron clapped me on the back. “Don’t worry, man, she’ll be here. I mean, your mate has to be someone from town, right?” he attempted to reassure me, despite the lingering doubt evident in his voice.
I gulped down the champagne that they had given me to toast with. The sweet effervescent liquid fizzed on my tongue, but at that moment, I just needed something to take the edge off. My nerves were getting the better of me, despite all the training to stay calm. This was the most important day of my life. Everyone was waiting to see who the next Luna would be. All eyes were on me, waiting for my reaction. I saw my mother from across the crowded hall. Her hand raised, signaling for me to stay put. She swayed across the crowded dance floor in her glittering black ball gown; the music and laughter swallowed the determined clacking of her designer heels. It was only as she approached me, I saw she’d brought company.
“Caleb, you remember Rachel Miller, don’t you?” she introduced, in a superficial tone.
Rachel shied away, but it was all part of her performance. I remembered her from school. The words ‘shy’ and ‘Rachel’ didn’t belong in the same sentence. Mom may have fallen for her girl-next-door act, but I hadn’t.
Rachel peered up at me, holding her bottom lip between her teeth. She was much shorter than me. I stood at six-foot-five inches in my socks. Alphas were taller than everyone else in the pack. The moment I hit puberty, my body changed, and now I was as large as my father.
“Yeah . . . hi, Rachel,” I responded out of politeness.
“Hey, Caleb, maybe you could save a dance for me later?” she suggested in a seductive tone.
“Um, yeah sure, why not?” I returned a polite, but disinterested reply.
Rachel giggled, toying with the blue diamond pendant that hung around her neck in an attempt to draw my eyes towards her cleavage. She was good . . . I’d give her that. Weaker men would’ve fallen for that trick because that’s all it was. It was a tactic she used to draw me in like a fish, in the hope I would take the bait and bite. If she was my mate, I would have succumbed to her flattery. My female would be here any moment. Then Mom could stop playing matchmaker.
I grabbed a fresh glass of champagne from a passing server and chugged the contents in three long gulps.
“Caleb!” Mom hissed through her gritted teeth, embarrassed by my actions.
“If you don’t mind, I’m expecting someone,” I excused, leaving them both stunned as I weaved my way through the crowd, dumping the empty flute into a nearby plant pot.
I was used to getting all my own way, having no consequences to my appalling behaviour. People knew never to question an Alpha male, especially an adolescent one. Yes, I was spoiled, arrogant, and expected people to jump to my command …it was just in my nature. It never occurred to me to appreciate my fortunate lifestyle. It was all that I knew. The guests parted like the red sea as I passed by, giving me a wide berth. A prodigious crystal chandelier glittered above me, casting particles of sparkling lights onto everything it touched. The delicious scent from the canapés drifted past my nose, causing my stomach to growl. I had been too anxious to eat today, and that impacted my mood.
“Sir, would you care for some caviar?” a server offered, holding out a golden tray. Silver was harmful to werewolves; it wasn’t a myth.
I waved my hand in dismissal, not wanting bad fishy breath to spoil my first kiss. “No, thank you,” I declined, then made my way to the exit, pushing through the ornate doors and out into the entrance hall.
What if my mate had witnessed Rachel flirting with me, and left the party early? My mother should have known better, but that was her problem. She didn’t think. Rachel didn’t care about me. She only cared about my status. I’m not stupid. Plenty of girls had propositioned me just because I was next in line to become Alpha. The attention was flattering. But contrary to what the pack thought about me being a conceited and privileged prick, I was saving myself for ‘the one’.
I had spent the entire day with knots twisting around in my stomach. This was the night that I would find my mate. My head snapped towards the door each time it opened, only for disappointment to stab my heart. I took a seat, slumping down at the bottom of the stairwell with my elbows resting against my thighs. It was useless … she should be here by now. Burying my face into my hands, I exhaled a weary sigh. As another hour flew by, it dashed all my hopes. It wasn’t happening. I had waited all this time for nothing.
Aaron approached, stopping to lean against the banister rail.
“Anything?” he inquired again, wincing with sympathy.
I shook my head with annoyance, losing count of how many times someone had asked me that tonight.
“You never know. She may arrive fashionably late like Cinderella,” he said, attempting to cheer me up with his light-hearted humor.
I groaned, scrubbing a hand over my face. I loved him like a brother. We had more or less grown up together, but sometimes, he could utter the weirdest crap.
“Well, at least she bothered to show up,” I retorted with sarcasm.
“Oh yeah, my bad,” he replied cringing, having taken the time to think about it. “I better find Angie. I said I would get her a drink. Will you be alright?” he asked, reaching out to place a hand on my shoulder.
I nodded. “Yeah, go.” I jerked my head towards the ballroom, noticing the pace of the music had quickened.
Guests rushed off to grab their dancing partners. Then the sound of jubilant laughter, clapping and cheering, filtered into the hall. The floor vibrated with the thrum of thundering footsteps. Everyone clapped in time with the melody, all taking part in an age-long traditional dance. The tempo matched my pounding heartbeat. I needed to get out of here.
As the hall emptied all around me, I hung back until I was sure that I could slip away unnoticed. I struggled to maintain the façade I’d been putting up, not mustering the willpower to smile. My throat swelled, making my voice sound strangled.
Alphas weren’t supposed to show weakness. It would be a huge dent in my pride that I would never live down. So, I waited until nobody was around before slipping out through the front door and into the night.
Ruby The cold, wet sensation from the ultrasound gel made me tense for a moment, watching the small screen with eagle eyes. As the black and white image appeared before us, it was clear to see that there was not one, but two babies nestled together, side by side. Caleb scrubbed a hand over his shocked face, edging closer to the screen. "Well, I'll be damned," the doctor breathed out with surprise. "There is no doubt about it, you're having twins. Do you want to know the sex?" she asked, invoking mixed feelings within me. Part of me wanted to keep it a surprise but the terrified part of me needed to know for sure. Caleb gave me a look which suggested that he was fine either way. God love him, his eyes were glossing over with proud tears of joy
Ruby "I still remember the first night that we laid like this while watching over Alex. It was the same when Raine was born," Caleb reminisced. Something somewhere caused the room around me to distort, like ripples spreading wide across a calm lake. "Ruby," Caleb's youthful voice called out to me from somewhere beyond a dream. "Babe, you better wake up or else we're going to be late for the obstetrician appointment," I heard him say. Temporary confusion fogged my brain until I realized that I had been dreaming again. Part of me felt the loss of what I hoped our future could be as it slipped away, and the other part of me was relieved that I woke up at that point before the beautiful vision altered into something that could only be de
Ruby As the years rolled by, Caleb and I looked back on our lives with no regrets. When that time eventually comes when we have to leave this world behind, we would be taking a lifetime full of beautiful memories with us. My heart was full, my life was fulfilled. There was nothing that I would change or do differently. Everything was as it should be. With each lumbered step, my slippers brushed over the soft-pile carpet of the stair landing until I stopped to pause outside the old nursery that once belonged to my children. I thought that we had been bestowed a gift from the heavens the day I found out that we were having twins, but little did I know how much more my heart could contain the moment I discovered that I was to become a grandmother. The Goddess had blessed our family many times, and now my son, Alex, was the proud
Caleb Ruby turned on the steps of the town hall, facing away from the jubilant crowd. Snowflakes clung to the tips of her lashes, melting as they kissed her rosy cheeks. She tossed the bouquet of white and blue flowers behind her, and as she did so, the women rushed forward, shrieking deliriously, all snatching at the spinning object as it burst apart like a fragrant petal bomb. It was Grandma Lizzie who unwittingly made the save. She walked straight past the jostling females and caught the flowers against her chest. Her face blanched as she realized what had happened and tossed the bouquet away as if it was a hot potato. “Once was more than enough for me,” she joked. “Although, I wouldn’t mind a good old roll in the hay with one of those wolf boys. They've got abs that I could scrub my laundry on and then some.” She winked a
Ruby The emotion blazed in Caleb's eyes as I walked down the aisle; his mouth hung agape and his brows started to bunch in the middle, giving me the reaction that any bride longed to see. Caleb swallowed hard, causing his Adam’s apple to bob nervously in his throat. There was no sign of humor on Aaron’s face as he observed his friend's special moment. Instead, his expression was one of relieved happiness. Now that his best friend since childhood had found his soulmate, he adopted an air of accomplishment as if all was now right in the world. As the strong notes of the traditional wedding march came to an end, I released Dad’s arm and came to stand beside the love of my life. Caleb mouthed the word “Wow” as he lifted my chin with his fingers, and breathed, “You look breath-taking, love.”
Ruby “Are you okay, kiddo?” Dad asked, his expression softening as he clasped hold of my trembling hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. I swallowed away the dryness before answering, “I just want everything to be perfect, that’s all.” “And it will be,” Dad was quick to reassure me. “I know how much this means to you; Caleb knows it too. He’s probably memorized his wedding vows off by heart. I bet he was up all night Googling templates from the internet,” Dad remarked in an attempt to make me laugh. His best efforts worked like a charm. I gazed through the tinted windows and out onto the wintry streets. Ice glittered the scraped roads and sidewalks, and some of the maintenance guys were shoveling grit salt on the main walkways throughout town.
Ruby I turned from side to side, admiring how the full-length wedding gown swayed with my movements. The white sweetheart bodice helped to boost my humble assets, glittering as the Swarovski crystals captured the light. The long, silky skirt gracefully swished around my legs, sending a wisp of cool air around my thighs. Dad made my day when he produced a pair of custom-made Sketchers in Bride White. He paid a seamstress from Montana to sew lace into the leather and add sparkles around the soles. It meant I would be comfortable all day long, especially as my ankle still ached from standing for long periods. “Are you ready, sweetheart?” Dad asked, through the closed door. He had resisted the urge to look at me in my wedding dress, pacing the hall outside mine and Caleb’s room like a caged animal.
Caleb "Yeah, plenty of thing’s spring to mind, but there is one that is owed a confession," Dylan said as he grinned at Aiden, then edged his chair away to maintain a safer distance. "I was sixteen, and Aiden was eighteen," Dylan began to confess, much to Aiden's interest. Upon hearing his name, he folded his bare muscular arms across his chest. "He borrowed my bike without my permission and ended up buckling the front wheel. He never said anything to me, and put it back in the garage in the hope that I wouldn’t find out what he’d done. I found it the following day and smelled his scent all over it, so I knew that he had used it. I was passive-aggressive, and in an act of vengeance, I sabotaged a burrito that he’d been saving in the fridge by filling it with laxatives. I watched as he devoured it for lunch, and asked if I could hang out with him and Vanessa that day. He was rather reluctant because he wanted to fool around with her while her dorm was
Caleb Aaron tipped the empty Tequila bottle upside down to prove a point. “No way! We’ve gone through the second bottle already?” He turned to my father with an accusatory tone. “It was opened twenty minutes ago.” Aaron’s face was partially hidden beneath his Batman mask, but the whites of his bulging eyes were visible among the black face paint. He had been doing rather well, talking in a gruff tone to imitate the caped crusader's voice, but the sheer shock at how fast my father could sink his liquor caused his pitch to raise a few octaves. Dad gave a casual shrug of his green padded shoulders as he raised the shot glass to his lips and downed the contents in one large gulp. Even I had to admit that was pretty good going, considering he was wearing a pair of oversized hulk hands
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