The Alpha Takes a Mate

Evernight Publishing

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2013 Sam Crescent

ISBN: 978-1-77130-462-7

Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

Editor: Karyn White

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.  No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

THE ALPHA TAKES A MATE

Disaster of the Otherworld, 1

Sam Crescent
 

Copyright © 2013

Chapter One

Brandon stared around his town square. All of his people were preparing for the festivities of the full moon. During the full moon his pack went out hunting and running wild in the surrounding forests, and when they came back they feasted. The humans who lived in their community prepared the meal for them. There were no lies or secrets in the small community of Grace Hill. The humans who lived with them were made aware of the creatures of the Otherworld. Several times witches, warlocks, bears, vampires and many other shifters had wandered through their town. His father before him had taken great pride in mixing with humans, and Brandon had carried on the tradition to honour his memory. Personally, he couldn’t stand the humans in his town. Sure, they were great to fuck, but they were far too fragile. He’d seen many of the men bleed from a single punch. Being strong was the skill to survival.

Taking over as the alpha meant he’d taken responsibility of the humans. Not all of them were bad. There were several humans he liked for entertainment purposes
. Most of them were women, while a few men were great to have a drink with.

Inhaling the crisp morning air,
Brandon moved along the town. Grace Hill was in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by miles upon miles of forests. There were several rivers and lakes, but the main community was in the only open space of the forests. His ancestors had made a deal with several warlocks and witches in order to blank the area from human knowledge. The spell created a protection spell that meant no human would ever try to tear down the neighbourhood. Most of the humans who passed through Grace Hill would either leave immediately because of the threat of danger or disappear if they caused any trouble. The few human families who stayed were petitioned in a vote by all pack members. On his last count over twenty human families lived amongst them in Grace Hill.

None of them caused any trouble
, and that was the way Brandon wanted it. Letting out a sigh he watched all the tables being set. The full moon was tonight, and he felt the wolf inside him clawing to get out. Flexing his muscles he made his way toward the diner. Some of his pack loved creating new buildings, and one of those was the diner. He’d arranged for the equipment to be shipped in, so the cooks had everything to create great food. Brandon ran a tight ship, but no one complained when everyone got everything they needed: food, water, shelter, and entertainment.

If anything went wrong it fell back to him.

“What are you doing, Boss?” Drake, his beta, asked.

“I’m hungry.”

“Don’t you have a woman at the house?”

Brandon
growled at him. Lori was the strongest female werewolf in residence. He’d been fucking her for several months, but the woman was demanding more. She wasn’t his destined mate. When he found the one, he’d know. There was no fighting the mating. He didn’t get the chance to choose which woman it would be. The fates decided who’d be perfect for him. Several years ago he’d gotten a tightening in his gut when he’d looked at a human woman. She’d been sixteen when she moved here. Elle Smith was her name.

“Lori not doing it for you anymore?”

Drake’s words irritated him. They were several feet from the entrance to the diner. He saw Darcy and Lewis, who were the other top members of the pack. All four of them were the strongest in the pack.

“She’s pissing me off.”

“Let me guess. She wants commitment?” Drake asked, opening the door to the diner.

“She wants to be mated. I can’t fucking mate with her. She’s got a great cunt
, but other than that, I don’t fucking want her at my side.”

The scent of pancakes and bacon scented the air.
Brandon walked over to where Darcy and Lewis were seated. Several other pack members were eating. He acknowledged them as he passed.

“
You could do worse. Lori is the strongest bitch in the pack,” Drake said, taking a seat.

“You’ve got the bitch
part right. Lori’s a nasty piece of work. If you put her in charge of the females, there’ll be trouble. She’s got no respect and no love inside her,” Darcy said, looking up from the newspaper he was reading.

Brandon
lifted his hand for coffee. Immediately a human woman started serving him. Once she was gone, Brandon turned back to the other men. “I’m not mating Lori. She’s great to let off steam with, but other than that, not going to happen. I believe I’ll find my mate.”

The other three men grumbled. None of them had found their mate
s. A few of the lower ranking members of the pack had and were happily married. Glancing across the diner Brandon saw Matthew with his pregnant mate. Both were wolves, but neither of them was particularly violent. Brandon liked Matthew and was happy for both him and his mate. The love on the guy’s face was clear. Matthew stroked her arm with one hand while the other was wrapped around her neck. His woman was practically sitting in his lap.

He’d once asked Matthew what it was like being mated.

“It’s like having everything your heart desires. I live to see her smile, and when she smiles at me, my whole world is complete. I’ll do anything for her as long as she loves me at the end of the day.”

The guy sounded
pussy-whipped, but as the years had gone on for Brandon, he wished with all of his heart he could know that same kind of peace.

Each of them had struggled to find their mate
, and as the days passed it felt they were less likely to find the right woman for them.

“So, about the visit from the bears, witches, warlocks
, and vampires, where are we at?” Brandon asked, changing the subject.

Every year he invited several members of each sector surrounding his town.

“The little cottage down by the lake is being refurbished and ready for them to sleep in,” Lewis said.

Brandon
listened to Lewis and then froze in his seat as the most amazing scent invaded his sense. Strawberries and vanilla was what he smelt. Freezing to the spot he felt the wolf inside him roar and charge against his hard-won control.

“Alpha, what’s going on?” Drake asked.

From the use of his official title, Brandon knew his eyes had changed colour.

She’s here. Your woman, our mate is here for you to claim.

He’d never scented anything like it. Brandon closed his eyes as a great wave of peace settled over him.

His mate had come for him at last.

****

“Shit, I’m late
. I’m so sorry,” Elle said. Her alarm decided to have a dead battery, and she’d slept through until ten.

“Don’t worry about it,” Layla said. She was another human female in the small community.

Elle had moved to Grace Hill when she was sixteen. Her family hated the city life and had petitioned to be part of the Northern Forest pack. She didn’t know where these names came from, but she wasn’t about to piss off the alpha by asking.

“Daisy hasn’t arrived yet. I’m sure she’ll be in a good mood,” Layla said, referring to their boss. Daisy was one of the oldest female werewolves in the pack. She wasn’t the strongest because of her years
, but she scared the shit out of Elle.

“My dad has been driving me crazy about this visit f
rom the other sectors,” Elle said. Her father, Raymond, was in charge of organising the visit in the next few weeks. She’d never been old enough to be part of the festivities. The alpha demanded that the humans be over twenty-one in order to participate. Her birthday was last week, and she had gone out of town to celebrate. Layla had been one of the people with her. Nothing ever happened at Grace Hill, but she never wanted to leave her home. Grace Hill had quickly become her home. The small school was amazing, and the teachers were a dream. The lack of bullying helped as well.

The only problem Elle saw was setting up a family of her own. None of the males available attracted her. Most of them were grumpy because they didn’t hold any special powers. She’d gone on a date
with Gary Newman when she was twenty, and the entire night he’d complained about being
normal
. Elle listened to him the whole night telling her how inadequate she was because she didn’t have any great paranormal qualities. The date ended with her calling him a prick, and she’d punched him in the face.

“He’s riding you about it?” Layla asked, flipping pancakes on the grill.

“He’s not riding me about it. Dad won’t shut up about Brandon. Also, the feast tonight is a big deal. He doesn’t want me ruining the night by dumping a pot of stew in his lap or something.”

Elle tied her hair up then bumped Layla out of the way. “Thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate it.”

“No problems.”

She watched as Layla looked through the door. Layla was in love with Lewis, one of the men closest to the alpha.

“Why don’t you go out there and say hello?” Elle asked.

“Have you seen the way they treat human women?” Layla closed the door. “He wouldn’t give me the time of day
, and I’m not looking to be another notch on his bed post, if you know what I mean.”

Elle
understood. Over the years she’d watched several of the human women giving themselves freely to the pack. There was no respect, and most of the men blanked them the next time they saw them. She never wanted to be laughed at or mocked because of her feelings. Being a twenty-one year old virgin didn’t bother her. She’d rather be a virgin than give it to a guy she didn’t trust. From what she knew, Layla was also a virgin.

“We better get this breakfast out to them,” Layla said, going toward the shelf. Elle watched her grab syrup and chocolate sauce from the top shelf. She didn’t know why the pack liked sweet stuff so much
, but they catered to the sweeter tooth in the diner.

Elle placed the final pancake on the plate and was about to pick up the tray holding four plates when the door crashed open.

Lewis, one of Brandon’s top wolves, came crashing through the door.

“Are you the only two here?” he asked.

Layla dropped the syrup. The glass jar smashed sending syrup all over the floor. Elle ran to her side.

“What are you doing in here?” Elle asked, getting nervous in his presence.

“Answer my questions, human. Are you the only two people in here?”

Elle looked at Layla
, who shrugged her shoulders.

“Yes, we’re the only two in here.” He charged in their direction and grabbed both of their arms.

“Follow me,” he said. The order seemed ridiculous as he dragged them both into the main area of the diner. Several of their customers watched as they were pulled to where Brandon sat. Elle cringed as his black eyes gazed at her and then at Layla.

“They were the only two in the kitchen, Alpha,” Lewis said.

“Bring one of them to me,” Brandon said.

Elle cringed and was forced to follow as Lewis thrust Layla’s wrist against
Brandon’s face. She watched as the alpha inhaled Layla’s scent.

“It’s not her.”

Layla was pushed aside. Elle let go of the breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. Her wrist was thrust under Brandon’s nose. She hadn’t seen him since she’d moved to Grace Hill. He’d glared at her, and she’d vowed to stay out of his way. Her vow was stupid considering the small town, but she’d succeeded in steering clear of him until now.

Brandon
inhaled her wrist. In the next moment, he pushed Lewis away, grabbed her wrist and bit down into her flesh. His canines were sharp as they sank into the flesh of her wrist. She screamed as the pain pulled at her. She’d never felt anything so agonizing in all of her life.