ItwasnowlateJuly, and I was, once again, with my father and Beta Alfred in the packhouse office. We had spent the morning going over the pack budget with the pack accountant and office manager. My father was still mostly handling the casino along with the casino managers, which was where most of the funding for the pack came from. However, I would soon oversee the distribution of the funds that flowed down from the casino to different areas of the pack such as road repair, snow removal, security, school, temple, and housing subsidies.
After lunch, my father, Beta Alfred, and I sat together in the office at the packhouse, situated around the desk on a conference call with Luke and Alpha Antoine from the Lune Nordique Pack. These phone calls were becoming a weekly occurrence.
We were all concerned about Alpha Édouard, who led the Bois Sombre Pack in Quebec. He was a crazy motherfucker and was known for being sadistic and unhinged. He made my father look like a straight-up saint. Years ago, he was mated to the sister of Alpha Antoine from the Lune Nordique Pack, our ally and his neighboring pack. She went to live with him willingly, falling in love with him due to the mate bond, unaware of how abusive he was until it was too late. One time he punched her so hard that she miscarried. Another time, he almost killed her. Even with the enhanced healing abilities of werewolves, she was in the clinic for almost a week before she gained enough strength to walk again. This went on for many years.
When Alpha Antoine and his father found out what was happening, they stole her and her pups back. Alpha Édouard didn’t take this well and declared war. Because we were their allies, our pack traveled north to help defend Alpha Antoine’s pack. By that time, I had already assumed my new role as a full-time warrior and future alpha, so I, too, went to fight my first battle. However, our pack had grown weak due to my father’s age, something we hadn’t truly thought would be a problem as we believed it more an old wives’ tale than anything. But it quickly became clear how much strength a pack gathers from its alpha as we watched many of our warriors drop one by one, life slipping from their bodies, including Ria’s. My Ria. My Ria, who had been right beside me as I witnessed her heart be ripped from her chest, an image that haunted my nightmares, perpetually waking me in the dead of night. While witnessing my father slice limbs off bodies as a kid had been traumatizing, it was nothing compared to this.
We were, fortunately, able to kill off most of Alpha Édouard’s family and they finally retreated. However, there were rumors that he wanted revenge, hence the need for the constant monitoring of his pack.
“Good afternoon, Luke, Alpha Antoine. This is Alpha James, Beta Alfred, and Blake here.” My father spoke loudly into the conference phone.
“Bonjour, hi, everyone,” Alpha Antoine responded in a French Canadian accent.
“Good afternoon,” Luke repeated.
“Let’s hope this is a short meeting. There’s no news from Midnight Maple Pack today.” My dad spoke again. “Anything from either you, Alpha Antoine, or you, Luke?”
Alpha Antoine replied first. “It’s still the same from the Lune Nordique Pack. We hear the same rumors that the Bois Sombre Pack has not given up and has been growing their pack. I am sorry again that your pack is involved in our dispute. Alpha Édouard has not given up on reclaiming my sister Sofia and her puppies, and I refuse to return them to thatfils de pute.”
“Your pack is one of our oldest and best allies from the time my great-grandfather started this pack, so we will continue to support you, Alpha Antoine. Anything from you, Luke?” my father asked.
“We have some news from our end. We’ve witnessed alphas of other packs meeting with Alpha Édouard on neutral land. We believe Alpha Édouard may be constructing alliances with other packs. After speaking with a source at a neighboring pack, it was confirmed that he wants revenge after our pack slaughtered all the males of his family.”
“He deserves every death in his family. I am only sorry that I have not killed him yet. Blake, was it not you that killed his brother?” Alpha Antoine asked.
“His brother killed my mate,” I replied angrily.
“I am sorry about that, Blake. My condolences. We’re indebted to your pack and will be at your beck and call should it become necessary,” Alpha Antoine responded.
“Thank you, Alpha Antoine. We will let you know. Please keep us informed if you hear any additional rumors,” my father said.
“I will, absolutely.” With that we said our goodbyes and ended the call.
“Do you have any thoughts, Al?” My dad looked at Beta Alfred.
“With Luke coming home at the end of the summer to take the beta title, I was thinking it would be best if I replace him as head of investigations in Quebec. Luke has done a very good job and will be a great beta here. My mate has been itching to go away for a while after dedicating our lives to the pack for so many years, so I think it will be a nice change of scenery for us.”
“Yes, I think that’s a good idea,” my father agreed.
“For now, I will start assigning some of the new warrior recruits to the rotation for deployment to the north. That’ll be good experience for them, and the more warriors we have trained in investigations, the better for our pack.”
“Yes, yes, very good,” my father agreed. He always seemed to be a bit more agreeable in his beta’s presence.
OnSundaynight,Iattended the weekly service with my family. I noticed Jasmine sitting with her parents and felt a longing to see her again. I’d been busy training for the alpha role with my father, so I didn’t have time to focus on my social life. Seeing her in person, however, brought feelings to the surface I didn’t quite realize I had. She had a warmth to her that made me feel safe. When I spent time with her, I was surprised to find that I began to feel like the old version of myself again. It had been years since I’d been able to smile and joke around, but something about her brought that part of me out again. I felt rewarded as she became less shy and opened up more to me each time we met. I wanted to know her, and I realized, I wanted her to know me too. The thing was, shecouldknow me. With most people, there were topics I found physically impossible to discuss, but I was somehow able to broach those same topics with her. Plus, I loved seeing all her reactions to my teasing.
And, I can’t lie, she had a really nice, toned, athletic body that I may have fantasized about once or twice, or, well, more times than I cared to admit. Damn, I loved a strong woman. It may not be for everyone, but sinewy women had always been my type. I could feel myself going hard now at my thoughts. Her physique was clearly not only a genetic gift but one she had sculpted through years of physical work. I didn’t fail to notice her muscular legs, well-defined abs, and incredible ass that had seen more than just a couple squats in its day. And, Goddess, her breasts—she had the most beautiful, perky breasts that were so responsive to my touch. I was determined to discover every last bit of her body. Now that I had a taste, I wanted to savor all of it.
After the service was over, I kept my eyes on her to see if I could catch her away from her parents. I saw them being stopped by a couple I knew to be her grandparents and another elderly couple. Once they were deep in conversation, I watched as Jasmine snuck away and headed toward the bathroom. Bingo!
I waited for her to come out, the same as I had last time. After I waited a couple minutes, she finally exited, her eyes widening once she noticed me standing in front of her.
“This is the second time I almost bumped into you coming out of the bathroom. I’m starting to think this isn’t a coincidence.”
“Maybe it’s just meant to be, and the Moon Goddess keeps putting us in each other’s paths,” I deadpanned.
“That’s a bit less believable, but okay, I’ll go along with it,” Jasmine responded, an amused look on her face. I could see she was straining not to smile, her amber eyes twinkling. Did I mention how beautiful her eyes were? They were so unique. I’d been with a lot of women, and hers had to be the nicest eyes I’d ever peered into.
“So, when can I see you again? We have unfinished business.”