Page 30 of The Alpha's Heart

It doesn’t hurt that she’s been in a committed relationship with West these last five years. They’re not bonded yet for reasons I think are a little silly, but marking each other and asking for the Luna’s blessing is the only thing stopping them from being confirmed mates. In every other way that counts, theyaremates. Bishop’s best friend would protect Helene with his life if necessary, and he’s so devoted to the she-wolf he’salways loved, he’d be here, defending her against Bishop if she uncharacteristically did something to frustrate her brother.

But West isn’t here. And Helene…

“I saw Helene on my way here,” I tell him. “She was at home. She smiled and waved at me. I didn’t get the idea that something was wrong.”

“That’s because she doesn’t know yet.”

His gruff voice has a hint of emotion to it that I’ve learned to recognize. Bishop will always,alwaysdo what’s best for the pack. But there are times when he wants to make exceptions—usually when they involve a younger packmate, for example, or someone he cares deeply about, like his sister or me—but struggles with balancing his private life and that of the pack Alpha.

That’s what’s happening right now. As Alpha, whatever is going on, he knows it will impact the pack. But asBishop… this involves his little sister. His songbird. And because he’s torn between how to react, he needs me.

I’mhisheart. I may be the Alpha female because he bonded me to him, but as much as I love tending to our pack, my most important role is as Bishop’s partner.

So I lay my hand over his heart, meet that same wild look, and ask him softly, “Doesn’t know what?”

Alphas don’t take orders. They don’t answer questions, either. To do anything that might be construed as a challenge is a bad idea… unless you’re his mate. Bishop curves his arm around my waist, hugging me loosely as he explains the phone call he received minutes before he sent out the message for me to go to him through our bond.

The short of it? We’re in Louisiana. The nearest wolf shifter pack that could be a threat to us is just over the border, in Texas. The Gravetail Pack is run by an Alpha named Luis Cruces who we have a… decent relationship with.

That’s why Bishop didn’t hang up when the caller identified himself as Rafael, Luis’s only son and the Alpha-heir of Gravetail. Though, when Rafael asked if he could meet with Helene Dupuis, it took every ounce of Bishop’s diplomacy to keep from cutting the call then and there.

No one knows about Helene; at least, outside of Hickory, they don’t. That’s on purpose. Bishop is chronically overprotective of his baby sister, yes, but it’s more than that. She’s our Omega, and as every cohesive pack knows, a good Omega is essential to keeping us running smoothly. An Omega is the glue for any strong pack, and the Sylvan Pack didn’t have one for close to a decade after Bishop’s mother’s untimely death. Bishop wouldn’t have pushed Helene into taking the position at sixteen if he hadn’t taken over for Xavier at the same time. The transition period was shaky, even though no one challenged Bishop for the position, but having Helene assuming the mantle of Omega made it easier.

Since then, he’s continued to keep her hidden. No one on the outside should know her name—but Rafael did.

And that means only one thing. If Rafael knows of Helene, it’s because someone told him. Maybe it could be a former packmate who left Hickory for Gravetail, or maybe it was the Luna…

Bishop confirms it. The moon goddess rewarded the Alpha-heir with Helene’s name because Bishop’s sister is Rafael Cruces’s fated mate.

He can’t claim her now. Even if she wasn’t in a long-term relationship with West Reed, there are certain ways things are done when it comes to an Alpha’s mate. Usually, the name of a mate isn’t given to an Alpha until they’ve taken over a pack; it’s a reward from the Luna to any unmated Alpha, giving him the name of his fated mate should he want it. It’s not common for an Alpha-heir to be gifted the identity of their mate beforehand, butwhen that does happen, it’s traditional for the Alpha-heir to wait until he’s been installed as Alpha before claiming his mate in the Luna Ceremony.

That’s what Rafael wants. So he asked Bishop if he could come meet Helene, introduce himself, and offer to be her intended until the time he took over his pack from his father.

And because we have a tenuous truce with all local packs, Bishop has no choice but to agree.

No wonder he’s torn. I’m not surprised he didn’t immediately call West and Helen to him, either. This news is going to shatter his best friend and his baby sister no matter what he decides to do.

But Bishop… he trusts me with this information. More importantly, I’m the only one hecanconfide in right now.

It takes me a few moments to find my words. When I do, I say them with the fervor of a religious devotee: “The Luna knows what she’s doing.”

We’re proof of that. I’m a former schoolteacher with a wolf who only finds her claws and fangs when one of her own is in danger. He’s a beast of an Alpha with a need to defend his entire pack from the rest of the world—and who is strong enough to do it. On paper, we never should’ve worked, but we do and I thank the Luna daily for that.

He nods, agreeing with me. “She has her reasons. Just wish I could understand ‘em this time.”

“Maybe this is good for them,” I suggest. “Helene would’ve taken him as her bonded mate anytime over the last couple of years. West is the one who insisted on waiting.”

I shouldn’t butt into their mating, but as a maternal delta, I tend to treat my packmates as my pups. Because Helene is Bishop’s only biological family, it was inevitable I’d grow close to her. I did. In a way, I replaced the mother she lost when she wasa mere pup herself, and whenever she needed a mature wolf to talk to about her relationship with West, she turned to me.

Of course. Discussing her mating life with her brother would be bad enough, but knowing that Bishop and West are as close as brothers themselves? No. I was a much safer confidant, and I know how much she wished that West would understand that a heart’s mate was just as precious as a fated mate.

I got lucky. Fate might have given Bishop to me, but I like to think that—once I got over my reaction to his size and his gruff nature—I would’ve recognized that my heart beat only for him regardless of what the Luna said. But West… he was so sure that, one day, our goddess would reward his devotion by giving him Helene as his fated mate that he refused to take her as a chosen mate before then.

So he waited. And because Helene loves him, she went along with it. They were together, but not bonded, and now…

“Maybe he’ll realize that he left her open for her fated mate to find her and claim her before Rafael can.”

I would hope so. But when Bishop sucks in a breath, then lets it out in a rush, I know that he’s thinking about the situation just like any other Alpha would.

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