Page 7 of Rejected Alpha Mate

It can kill you, but it can also make you high enough to forget that you’re suddenly feeling possessive and territorial over a she-wolf whom you have no right to feel anything for.

Wolfsbane will help me forget. Wolfsbane is the only thing strong enough to fill the void in my chest and take this ache away.

But Dominic shakes his head. “Considering we’re supposed to behave tonight, I didn’t bring any with me. Ty…what about you?”

Tyler shakes his head. “Nope. Besides, the best strain grows in Nightmist.”

“Nah, we have the best strain up in Stowe,” Sean argues, then shrugs. “I would have brought some with me, but Dom said we’re behaving tonight.”

“You can’t blame me,” Dominic protests. “We all know the dark lord is still out there, and until we find him and put an end to him, we have to be careful.”

“If you guys are gonna talk shop, we’re gonna head to the hot tubs,” Cecelia says with a hint of humor in her voice.

“You guys can find us there later when you’re done catching up,” Arianna adds as she kisses Tyler.

Dominic seems to calm down as he presses a kiss on his mate’s lips before she leaves with Lily, Arianna, and Emily. He turns back to us with a sigh, his shoulders drooping.

“I guess I need a hit as much as you do, Nick,” he says as he pats my shoulder half-heartedly, then heads to the bench overlooking the fire pit, where only a thin spiral of smoke coils in the air. “I’ve been stressed as fuck, and I can imagine you guys have been, too.”

“Yeah,” I sigh, joining him on the bench. Santo, his beta, takes a seat on Dominic’s left, while Sean and Tyler take the opposite bench. “That’s why I, er—asked. Taking over as alpha was worse than I thought it would be.”

I gnaw on my bottom lip when the lie is out, and my friends offer me sympathetic assurances that I have every reason to be exhausted from my newly established duties.

Well, it’s not altogether a lie, but rather an excuse that holds some weight of truth.

I’ve only been the alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack for a few months—ever since the Shadow Fang Pack was targeted by the dark lord, and a witch infiltrated Delilah’s pack and nearly claimed her life.

The witch, Gwen, turned out to be innocent, her mind poisoned by a group of witches who work for an evil warlock. We’d found her in Oakland and taken her to Scarborough, only for the unexpected poison to bleed into Delilah. Luckily, Delilah’s mother and Arianna worked together to combat the dark magic that consumed both Delilah and Gwen.

Delilah came out unscathed, but Gwen had been in a coma for three months. That whole incident sparked everyone’s concern, and we’ve all been on high alert since then.

That’s why my father finally retired and passed the mantle to me without giving me too much hassle about it. First, Tyler’s pack was targeted, then Delilah’s. We know the dark warlock is after the witches who are linked to the coven that defeated him decades ago—the Golden Tree Sisters. Both Arianna and Delilah are linked to that coven, and they’re our friends. Tyler and Delilah were a part of our black ops squad, performing missions across the States to uncover enemy circles and keep our packs safe.

Father realized the extent of the trouble on home soil after the incident in Scarborough, along with the previous one in Portland, when the dark lord sent mutated rogue werewolves after Tyler’s pack. It became a priority for me to take over as alpha of Crescent Moon, even though he’d been putting it off until I turned thirty.

There’s still a month to go before I do, and I’ve been the alpha of my pack for six months. In those six months, the dark lord has been missing.

We haven’t heard a breath about him, and we’re all on high alert.

I’m just a little more scattered because I saw Donna today.

“It’s a waiting game for now. Who knows what his next move will be?” Dominic shivers.

“Arianna hasn’t had a vision for months,” Tyler sighs. “And there’s been nothing from Delilah.”

“Or Gwen, for that matter,” Sean adds with a nervous gulp.

Santo clears his throat. “What if he just decided to disappear?”

“It’s highly unlikely,” Tyler says. “The dark lord is cunning. We have to watch our backs. No one can be trusted.”

We all nod slowly, and the weight of the evening hangs on my shoulders, as well as in my pocket. I slip my hand inside, pressing my palm to the box, wondering if Donna is asleep yet.

“You guys going to the hot tubs?”

“Yeah,” Dominic concedes, getting to his feet. “The girls are waiting for us. You coming?”

“Nah,” I shake my head. “I think I’m gonna head to bed for the night.”