AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTERONE
Ren sat in the family room of his alphas’ home and stared at the plate of food he’d grabbed. He always had a hearty appetite on the full moon, and not just for food, but now, nothing appealed to him. It wasn’t that the food didn’t look good or smell delicious; he was certain it did. He just couldn’t bring himself to eat.
He put the plate down on the coffee table and leaned back, taking a drink of sweet tea from a tall glass. The ice cubes clinked, and he wiggled the glass a bit until the cubes swirled in the amber-tinted liquid. All around him, pack members talked about various things—from the upcoming full moon hunt, to the welcome of a new warrior to the pack…a berserker named Lucian.
Ren was second in the pack, and that meant he was Alpha Acksel’s right hand. The position came with a lot of responsibility, which he took seriously. He would do anything Acksel asked of him. His job was to keep the pack safe and keep the lesser-ranked males in line. There were occasional issues between males who wanted to fight for a higher rank, but he couldn’t recall the last time that had happened. In general, life in Wilde Creek was good. The only thing he was missing was a mate.
His heart panged, and he rubbed the space absently. For the last week or so, he’d thought of having a mate so often, he wasn’t sure he wasn’t going a little crazy. Having a mate and starting a family had always been at the back of his mind. It was just something wolves did when they reached a certain age. When it was time to put the carousing aside and settle down with his or her truemate. Ren was almost thirty. He was definitely past the time when most wolves were ready to settle down. It wasn’t that he had a clock ticking in his brain, he was just certain no females in the pack were his truemate, and he wasn’t ready to just pick one and mate her. He wanted his truemate, the one female on the planet for him.
He just wished she’d show up soon.
“Hey,” Malachi, the fourth-ranked male in the pack said as he came over to the couch. “Did Acksel talk to you about the training course?”
Ren nodded. “Yeah. I’m working on a curriculum. He wants it to start next week.”
A handful of young wolves in the pack were getting ready to shift or had recently shifted. The pack normally left training up to the wolves themselves. If they wanted to eventually fight for a better rank, they had to be trained to do so, and that meant finding an older wolf who would teach them. Acksel had decided it was a good idea foreverywolf to learn how to protect themselves and others. Thanks to his opinionated mate, Brynn, females were welcome to learn how to fight, too.
“I’m happy to help if you need another trainer. I can carve time out from the security company if you need me to.”
“That would be great. I’ve got Sam, Zander, Gavin, Caleb, and Dade.” Dade was Acksel’s father, and a powerful wolf. He could have been alpha if he’d wanted, but he’d chosen to focus on having a family. He was on the council, the group of elders who advised the alpha.
“Well count me in for whatever. I’m sure Lucian would be willing to help, too.”
Lucian, the berserker, who was joining the pack that night as Prime Protector and would be watching over the alpha’s family and the pack. The male was a huge creature when he was in his shift, with glowing red eyes and deadly claws and fangs. Ren was glad Lucian was ontheirside.
Acksel called for the pack to head outside for the ceremony. Ren walked out onto the deck and paused, inhaling deeply and letting the warm, spring air fill his lungs. His wolf growled in his mind, pushing against his skin as if it wanted to shift immediately and head into the woods. He always looked forward to the full moon hunts, but he’d never felt quite like this before.
As he walked off the deck and onto the grass, he looked to the woods that surrounded the home. He could feel something calling to him, and he wondered briefly if he was going crazy. Or if his wolf was.
Acksel called for quiet, and Ren forced his attention to the deck where Acksel, Brynn, and the elders performed the ceremony to bind Lucian as a protector of the alphas and pack, and announce the mating of Lucian and his truemate, Mia, who was a pack member and Malachi’s sister. During the ceremony, Ren couldn’t help but want to go into the woods.
Just what the hell was out there?
The pack began to clap, and he snapped his attention back to the deck where Acksel announced his approval of Mia and Lucian’s mating and welcomed Lucian to the pack. He forced himself to clap and tried once more to shake off the feeling that something he needed was in the woods.
Sam, the third-ranked pack member and head of the protectors, clapped Ren on the shoulder. “Ready for me to kick your ass on the hunt tonight?”
Ren chuckled. He and Sam had a long-standing bet over many things related to hunting, everything from the quickest kill to the largest prey. They were evenly matched when it came to hunting, but Ren most often edged out Sam in one way or another. He had a reputation as second-best male in the pack to keep up, after all.
“I’ll be kickingyourass on the hunt,” Ren said as they walked over to Lucian and Mia. He shook Lucian’s hand. “Welcome, man.”
Something drew him to stare into the woods again, and his wolf’s growl bubbled up in his throat. There was someone or something in the woods, he was sure of it.
“Is everything okay, Ren?” Mia asked.
Giving his head a shake, he tried to clear his thoughts. “Yeah. I…feel like we’re being watched.”
Lucian’s eyes turned deep red and he spun with a growl, facing the woods. He straightened immediately and relaxed, turning back to face them. “It’s Kismet.”
“Who?” Ren asked.
“Kismet is a fae,” Mia said. “She gave the oath ceremony book to Acksel. Her twin is Noah, Doc’s brother-in-law.”
Rich, otherwise known as Doc, was the pack doctor. He had a brother who was a wizard of some sort.
“Why didn’t she come to the ceremony?” Sam asked.
Mia shrugged. “Acksel invited her, but she said she had some kind of party to go to for her father. Maybe she was able to get away for a bit and watch and didn’t want to make a scene.”
