Page 32 of Alpha Fate

“Oh God, Sierra.” My heart breaks for her. “Are you serious?”

Her lips pull into a humorless smile, but I can see that this hurts a lot. “It’s okay. Jagger doesn’t care. And this is a big pack, with lots of young ones. I’ll be able to spend time with babies if I feel the urge.”

“Jagger is your fated bond mate – the Alpha?”

“Yes.” Her voice has brightened. She’s trying to hide the fact that she’s upset about what she just told me. “It’s all still very new. We sealed our bond a little while after I got here. And they gave him the rank around the same time. Barely a couple of days ago. But this pack is strange – there are a lot of alphas here. It’s kind of…a haven for them. Outcast alphas with no place to go. They come here. They’ve formed a community.”

I stare at her, taking this all in. “And how long have you been here?”

“Couple of weeks.”

“And before that, you were at Leadmills for a couple of weeks, too?”

She dips her head. “Leadmills. So strange to call it by its name. But yeah. They took us around a month ago. You and me. From Wildview.”

“Wildview.” I feel an ache in my chest as I take it all in.

“It’s home, Savannah. Where we come from. You really don’t remember?” She sighs when I grimace. I hate that I can’t truly remember it, but I console myself with the fact that Sierra will be able to help me now. Bit by bit, it will come back; I’m sure of it.

“Everything is a haze. I know I was outside with someone when…when they came. And someone came to warn us. I have a feeling it was our father?”

“Older male. Slate-gray hair and a beard?”

“Yes. That was him. I don’t know who the other one was. The one who was with me.” I lower my head. I hate feeling this helpless. “I just know they knocked him down and…he didn’t get up again.” The image flashes in my mind, becoming clearer now that more of the pieces are coming together.

“Cole.” The single word is heavy with sorrow. “Oh God, I hope they didn’t kill him.”

“Cole?” I can see that it has deep meaning to my sister, but the name means nothing to me. “A…brother?” Surely a brother would click in my mind somehow?”

“Your mate, Savannah.”

My mouth drops open, shock hitting me like a blow to my chest. “I have a mate?” The words are so husky they’re barely audible.

Sierra gives a nod. “Yes. At least, he was going to be once the bond was sealed. You had tested for compatibility, and it looked like a good match. Mama and Pops were thrilled because it would be a good union for the pack. We try so hard to keep the bloodlines pure.”

Her words wash over me, barely registering.

I have a mate.

And he might be dead. So why aren’t I feeling the torn bond? Why aren’t I grieving? Maybe he’s still alive? That would be good. But still, I should feel some sort of connection, surely?

I heave in a breath. It shudders out.

“I know. This is a lot to take in. We’re going to figure it out. Jagger’s going to help.”

“Okay.” There’s so much confusion in me over all of this that I feel like my brain’s shutting down. Cole… I push the image of him away before it overwhelms me.

Think of something else…

“Back to the chip…” I gnaw the inside of my cheek. “It’s supposed to keep us in heat?”

Sierra nods, turning away and looking at a spot across the room. “Yes. So they could breed us. Though I guess you must have figured that out by now.”

“No. I had no idea.” I’m confused. Particularly since, in a month, I should have heat-cycled anyway. I didn’t.

“Surely you must have realized something was wrong, though? When you couldn’t control yourself? Or the way they couldn’t keep their hands off you? The way you wanted them, even though…?” She shudders.

“Nobody did anything to me.” I shrug. “And there wasn’t anyone I wanted, aside from—” I stop abruptly.

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