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CHAPTER2
No matter how many times she’d thought of this moment, nothing like this had ever crossed Brie Jamenson’s mind. When she was a little girl and pictured finding her mate, she thought it would be all sparkles and happiness. Then she’d heard the story of how her parents had been mated and her image of mating had changed a bit. The start of their mating hadn’t been so romantic. It had been more of a way to save each other’s lives, but they loved each other more with each passing day.
When she was seventeen, she’d seen the shadow of a man and the long lines of his body. He’d been turned away from her as she stared out the window with her cousin Gina. She’d even commented on how hot his butt was. She’d never seen his face, but she’d known who he was.
Her mate.
The one wolf in the entire world that could complete her in every cheesy and romantic way possible. He’d be her protector—she’d be his as well—even if she protected in a different way. They’d grow together as one, learning about each other slowly yet combusting all the same. When she saw the back of him, she’d been on pins and needles to find out his identity and start her journey as a mated wolf. It hadn’t mattered that she was young, she thought, because her mate would let her grow and be whoever she wanted to be. That’s what mates did. After all, she had her parents and uncles and aunts to show her how wonderful mating could be. She wouldn’t accept anything less. Before she figured out who he was, she’d had images of white dresses and flowers in her hair. He’d run his hands through her hair and then get down on one knee, before taking her as his to complete the mating ceremony.
Then her cousin Gina had told her exactly who that man was.
Gideon Brentwood.
The Alpha of the Talon Pack.
The exact wrong person for a girl like her.
Luckily she’d never told a soul about the wolf that could have been hers when she grew older. Gina never suspected—at least Brie hoped not. It wasn’t like she had the same mating urge the others in the den had when they found their mates. Those wolves hadn’t been able to hold themselves back and had pounced in the best ways possible. They’d been growly, on edge, and in need of the other person. Some people had found themselves in compromising positions, but Brie would never find herself there.
Apparently, she’d been too young to truly feel that. She knew deep down that the Alpha would have been the one to entwine with her soul and stand by her side until the end of eternity.
Too bad that would never happen.
She wasn’t like the other wolves around her. She wasn’t dominant and didn’t hold a position in the hierarchy. While her cousins were all slowly coming into their powers and bonds, she had been left behind. It wasn’t as if she ever thought she’d become something more than she was though.
She was strong.
She was fierce.
She was also a submissive. Meaning her wolf didn’t want to fight if it didn’t have to. There were other ways to find ranking within the den and other ways to show strength. She used her nurturing instincts and the strength of her heart to love completely, but she wasn’t even a maternal wolf who had the inner strength necessary to protect the pups of the Pack.
She was just Brie.
There wasn’t anything wrong with her—sheknewthat. Yet she was the exact wrong person for an Alpha of a Pack. The Alpha needed a mate by his side who would fight tooth and claw to protect the Pack. She might have the skills to do that because she’d forced herself to learn at a young age, but her wolf wasn’t as strong as the others. She was smaller, softer, and needed to protect in other ways.
While dominants needed to protect, submissives needed to soothe and care. That’s where her strength lay, and it would never be good enough for an Alpha.
So she’d spent the better part of fifteen years hiding from the Alpha of the Talon Pack and ensuring they never had to meet. Many things could have happened when and if Gideon ever saw her, and Brie hadn’t wanted to face either the mating urge or risk the pain of rejection when he found her lacking.
And he would find her lacking.
It wouldn’t be his fault. His wolf and Pack deserved more than a submissive wolf. It wouldn’t be smart to have a submissive in the role of Alpha female. She’d never heard of it, and honestly, she didn’t think she could do it. It wasn’t that she was afraid of failing. It was that she was afraid of hurting others because of her own selfishness in wanting a mate at all.
So instead of facing what could happen, she’d done her best to never let it occur in the first place. Fifteen years of her wolf aching and not wanting another wolf hadn’t been easy, and she knew her mother and others had felt something was wrong, but it was the best for everyone. At first she hadn’t been old enough for Gideon, and then it had gotten easier to stay away.
Or at least that’s what she told herself.
This night, though, she had no choice. Her uncle Kade, the Redwood Alpha, had wanted her by his side when they went into the Talon den to talk about what they could do for their future. The world was changing, and the wolves needed to change with it. He wanted a submissive to calm down the dominants in case things got too intense. The Omegas would be able to release some of the tension by taking those heightened emotions and siphoning them through their Pack bonds, but even those wolves were far more dominant than she. Her presence could soothe egos and wolves simultaneously.
That’s what her uncle hoped.
He might have thought differently if she’d ever shared with him the true reason she never ventured onto Talon land. Sheshouldhave told them she couldn’t come and even the reasonwhy. Yet she hadn’t been able to hold herself back from this meeting. Maybe shewasweak.
Now she stood by her family outside her den and in front of the Talons…in front of Gideon.
She’d seen pictures of him over the years of course. She hadn’t been able to stop herself. Her family had met with him numerous times, and her cousin Gina had mated a former Talon wolf, Quinn, so she’d been able to observe through their eyes the role of the Talon Alpha. But none of that prepared her for the shock of seeing him in person.
Her wolf howled, pushing at her with more determination than she’d imagined was possible.
