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My brother has been the Alpha of the Sylvan Pack for so long that I rarely remember a time when he wasn’t.
Growing up, he was the Alpha-heir. Everyone knew that he’d take the reins one day from our former Alpha. Pack gossips used to whisper that Bishop would grow tired of waiting for Xavier to step down and he’d challenge him, but that’s not like my brother at all. He’s loyal to a fault, and wants nothing but the best for the pack. When he took over at twenty-one—back when me and West were sixteen—it was because Xavier knew it was time for the most dominant beast to be in charge.
And that was Bishop.
Nothing changed between us. If anything, he was even more protective of me once he took over the pack. Then he bonded with Sofia, and if I thought that he’d transfer his protective instinct over to her instead, I was wrong. Turns out Bishop Dupuis has enough to go around.
He treats her like she’s precious—to him, she is—and Sofia adores her Alpha mate. Unlike me, it doesn’t annoy her that Bishop’s always there, breathing down her neck. A maternal delta, she accepts it as a sign of his love and devotion rather than a nuisance.
Today, when I’m once again called in to meet with Bishop in the pack den, Sofia is seated in a chair next to his. They’re both behind the wide desk that takes up a majority of the space, heads bowed, whispering to each other.
Well, more like Sofia is whispering to Bishop as he grunts something back to her. Walking in on them, I can tell that—once again—whatever my brother has to tell me, my world’s about to change for good.
Bishop nods at my entrance. Sofia smiles warmly.
“Helene. You finally made it.”
“Sorry I’m late. Heather needed to sit with my wolf for a bit. I didn’t want to leave her until she was feeling better.”
Heather’s one of the younger teen wolves. About sixteen and just budding into her maturity, she tried to attract one of the males in her age group. He romped with her in the woods last week, but Heather found out from another packmate that he mated another female last night. And while she understood that, without a bond, some wolves like to play the field, that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt the young female.
“Of course. Pack comes first.” Tell me something I don’t know. “But we’re glad you could slip away. Your brother has something to tell you.”
Yeah. I figured.
I don’t blame her for
Sofia’s used to interpreting for Bishop. My brother’s never been a big talker. Between West and Sofia, they know what every grunt, smirk, and scowl translates to. Most of the time, our packmates just need to feel his dominance brushing against their wolves to know what the Alpha is trying to tell them.
I don’t need her to. He talks to me, and even if he didn’t, I’m as good as the other two at understanding my brother.
Shoving his seat away from his desk, he widens his legs, boots still on the floor. Gripping her by the wrist, he gently tugs Sofia until she’s sitting on his lap.
For a moment, it’s like I’m not even here. When Bishop and Sofia are together, the rest of the world disappears.
As an impressionable seventeen-year-old she-wolf, I always thought their mating was the most romantic thing ever. An attractive alpha, Bishop could have any female in the pack. Luna knows many offered, but he’s stubborn, too. It’s tradition that Alphas wait until shortly after their Alpha Ceremony to take a mate—like Rafael would have done with me—and, the night he took over for Xavier, the Luna gave him Sofia’s name.
He never doubted that she would be perfect for him. He sent for her, and she accepted his offer of mating. They’d been together for ten years since, and every year they fall deeper and deeper into love.
Watching their mating from a distance made me believe that all fated matings would be the same. It’s one of the main reasons I agreed to bond with Rafael. Apart from what an alliance could do for our packs, maybe the Luna was right… maybe I’m meant to love him.
Just like West was meant to love Quinn—but he didn’t. He couldn’t.
And the doubts I’ve had about my own fated mating have only doubled,tripledin size since then…
I don’t know what went wrong with their pairing. But Bishop and Sofia… that’s true love right there. Fated or not, it doesn’t matter. That’s a decade of being partners, of loving and trusting one another… they had to work for their forever.
I did once. I thought I found it—and I lost it. I only hope the Luna knows what she’s doing, and that I might find a sliver of happiness with Rafael that Bishop has with his Luna-given mate.
“Let me talk to my sister, cher. Yeah? I’ll let you know if I need you.”
She presses a kiss to the underside of his clipped beard. “I won’t be far.”
She’s his bonded mate. She never is.
As soon as Sofia slips out of the den, Bishop rises to his feet.
