Page 1 of Cruel Mate

Chapter 1 - Zander

Watching from the shadows at the edge of the lawn, Zander smiled at the welcoming sight before him. Over the last few months, the new and improved Nightstar pack had grown close, so much so that the lines between the two old packs had blurred into almost complete insignificance.

And just seeing the entire pack camped around the large full moon bonfire warmed his heart. This was a pack he could be a part of. Unlike the pack he and his alpha, Jack Blackwell, had grown up in, this pack was a proper family. Thanks to Jack and the rest of the original members of his pack, it was a family built upon honor, integrity and loyalty—all of those things Zander had promised to uphold, even on his latest black ops mission.

He’d hated being away from the pack, but there had been no way that he was about to let Jack go. When the major had called for Jack to go away, Zander had insisted on taking his place. After all, the pack was still so new, and it needed its alpha now more than ever—not to mention the fact that Bonnie, his mate and wife, had been fit to burst with their second child when the call had come through.

He had been away for a month, and though he had received word that Bonnie had finally popped, it was still a shock to see her running about with a baby strapped to her chest rather than in her stomach.

Zander smiled at the way she dodged about the place, avoiding the reaching arms of Freddie, their eldest son, whose kidnapping had been the very event setting everything in motion for them to finally settle properly in Nightstar.

Damn, he loved that kid. They all did, and he was sure they’d love Jack and Bonnie’s little girl just as much. They were a sign of the things to come, a sign that there was hope for the new Nightstar pack, after all.

But as he watched Jack and Bonnie in what looked like a game of tag with their son, he couldn’t help but feel an odd clawing sensation in his stomach. He’d never have that. He was glad of it, too. After seeing how out of their minds Jack and Bonnie had been when Freddie was kidnapped and even the way Jack’s life had been put on hold whilst awaiting the new arrival, he was glad that he had never found a mate.

He’d heard enough about the unbreakable bonds over the years to know that they weren’t always a good thing. His own parents, mated from an early age, had been the worst couple he had ever known. Always at each other's throats, neglecting and abusing all of the pups that came of their union. Especially his drunkard of a father, who had only grown worse after his mate’s death.

No, he was better off alone. He could focus on protecting his pack that way. Jack needed him to help do that now more than ever, with a young family to support. Besides, being single was far more fun. Going back out on mission had shown him that.

He’d busted a few skulls and conquered a few new women between tasks. It had been exhilarating and intoxicating, and if not for missing his pack and his new home, he might have called the major for another assignment right away.

Yet something had called him back here. And as he watched the bonfire blazing and the celebrations around him, he realized what it was. Family time with the pack, celebrating the full moon, was what had brought him home. A true werewolf always spent it in the company of his packmates.

Kane, Will and Eddie were all sitting close to the bonfire, beers in hand, and after running his fingers through his dark blonde hair, Zander started to make his way across the lawn toward them.

It was only as he drew closer that he realized another member had joined his little crew. Zander recognized Hanson—the wolf who had given them Freddie’s location after they’d killed his previous alpha and had helped convince the rest of Nightstar’s pack that they only wanted what was best for the town—talking and laughing as if he were another of their number.

It appeared that in his absence, the wolf had grown close to his friends. A small pang of jealousy bit into his stomach, but he quickly forced it away. Hanson and the others were as much his pack as the guys were now.

It was just taking some major getting used to. He had been the beta of Jack’s pack for a long time now, but never had he been in charge of so many wolves before. It felt odd to have so much responsibility on his shoulders. Perhaps that was another reason he had enjoyed going off on a mission. He hadn’t had to think about what was going on back home for an entire month. Kane had been all too happy to take his place for a while on that front.

Speaking of the burly, tatted werewolf, he was the first to look up and raise his beer in Zander’s direction, “Well, well, if it isn’t the wandering wolf finally returned!”

“And stinking of the good old days!” Eddie put in, cocking his golden head. “Sweat, sand and pussy!”

The men cheered and clinked their beers together.

“Damn, I miss all that sometimes,” Hanson commented, and Zander raised a brow.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.

“Oh, didn’t you know?” Kane asked, clapping Hanson on the shoulder. The two men smirked, looking more than a little cozy in the brothers-in-arms kind of way. “Hanson is one of us in more than the pack.”

“Afghanistan and Iraq under his belt,” Eddie put in, inclining his head in a gesture of respect to Hanson.

“Wow, that’s quite the accomplishment,” Zander said.

“Nothing compared to you guys, by the sounds of it,” Hanson said, looking genuinely humbled. “We’ve all done what we had to.”

He shrugged his shoulders and took a swig of his beer before he asked, “So, how was your latest mission?”

Taking the beer that Eddie offered him, he twisted off the cap, took a long drink, and dropped down into an empty lawn chair before answering. “Messy, complicated, fun.”

The others laughed as if they knew it well. He even thought he saw a little jealousy in the faces of his friends.

“So?” Will asked, wiggling a brow. “Did you get much action while you were away?”

Zander laughed. They all knew he wasn’t talking about fighting—at least, not the fighting of war.

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