Page 10 of Fated to the Wolf Prince

No one wanted to be humiliated in front of High Alpha Kosta, and he was presiding over this gathering that started in—I peeked down at my watch—thirty seconds. Excited whispers rolled through the crowd like a wave, and I looked up. An older but still fit wolf had stepped onto the stage. He was graying at the temples, but otherwise, there was no way to differentiate him from any other male wolf walking the grounds. Then it hit me.

Raw, unfiltered, crushing alpha dominance.

My knees started to shake, and my palms started to sweat. I leaned my shoulder into Shay’s on my left, and she looked up at me, concerned, before quickly looping an arm around my shoulders in support. She flicked Leigh’s arm on my other side, who was avidly watching the proceedings with a heated glint in her eyes. When she looked down, I could practically feel her frown, but she also looped an arm around my waist, bolstering me between my two friends in a sandwich of protection.

My wolf reveled in the touch, and I marveled for the umpteenth time since we’d arrived at howforwardshe was. It was… new and unusual, but I liked the feel of her, even if I didn’t know what to do with her yet. I worried, though, that it was a reaction to so many wolves in one place, and that she’d fade back into distant quiescence when we headed home to Texas.

She whined in my head, trying to tell me something, but I didn’t know what. The high alpha took center stage, lifting a hand halfway in a steadying wave to the crowd of clamoring werewolves in both a welcoming and calming gesture, but my eyes were dragged away like magnets toward the left side of the stage, where a line of other alpha wolves waited.

Two, I’d never seen before. They had severe buzz cuts, pale, olive-tinted skin, and midnight-black hair. Their eyes were coldly surveying the group, and I knew instinctively that these were Kosta’s men. I let my gaze skitter past them, lest they lock eyes with me and see it as a challenge.

Yeah, right. I’m a weakling from Texas who can barely challenge a sidewalk without falling down. I’m not challenging anybody. One look from them and I’d flop over and faint like a friggin’ goat.

They landed on another cluster of alphas right at the edge of the stage. If you weren’t paying attention, you might have thought the five of them were together, but I could nearly see the separations in the air.Not pack. The little division screamed between the two steel-eyed alphas and the three I recognized: Gael, Reed, and Kane.

Mate. My wolf rumbled, and I was shocked when a soft rumbling sound echoed in my own chest. I couldn’t take my eyes off Kane, and as the tiny sound buzzed through me, his eyes snapped to mine, causing heat to bloom in my core and slowly suffuse my body like tea steeping under the hot sun of his gaze.

He can’t hear that. Surely not? There’s so much noise here.

But even as I denied it to myself, his eyes began to glow green, and he took a half step forward. Gael’s hand on his shoulder stopped him, with a terse look toward Kosta, who had just opened his mouth to address the crowd.

There was no microphone, no fancy sound system or megaphone to carry his voice, but the words reached us all nonetheless, laced with irrefutable power that sent my knees back to shaking, even though my pack mates were still holding me tight.

Ugh, I hate alphas.

“Greetings, pack!”

“Greetings, Alpha!” We responded as one, some of us with less enthusiasm than others. Even Shay, who was perpetually silent in the presence of men, whispered the words at my side, as if they were pulled out against her will.

“It pleases me greatly to see you all here, together. For what is the strength of the wolf but pack? The connection is greater than any other, save one: that of mates. The true bond that ties our souls together, intertwining one life with another. The moon Goddess’s own blessing to her most treasured creation. For it was her own wisdom that saw wolves, saw how we connected, and entwined the spirit of man and wolf. And it was her gift to us that we do not have simple marriage like humans. No, she knew that we could and should foster a bond so deep that not even death can render it in twain.”

I shivered, my whole body beginning to shake at the words, and I could no more keep my eyes from Kane than I could keep my lungs from drawing my next breath. His eyes were already boring into me, and the connection from across the crowd was like a physical caress, sweeping from my neck, tingling past my breasts, and lighting up my sex. My core clenched, and I soaked my panties, despite the distance between us. I should have felt humiliated, but all I wanted was more.More of him, STAT.

The high alpha had continued speaking while we had our moment, and Leigh’s pinch to the back of my arm snapped me out of the lust-filled haze I’d fallen into.

“—and that is why we will begin simply. Everyone will report to the barn, where tables have been set up. We’ll work in hour-long blocks, doing what the humans call speed dating. You will have five minutes with each possible match, and at the end, you will exchange a handshake. We know that physical contact is the simplest, most direct way to confirm a mate match, but let me be clear: no further physical contact is permitted. Alphas, you are expected to control your wolves, and I expect decency and respect from each of you.”

He leveled a shrewd gaze on the crowd, stopping here and there to narrow his eyes. “The woman you are lusting after right now may be another’s mate, and you will not disrespect her by being more forward. A handshake, and no more. If you feel that you have found your true mate, please notify the alpha group monitoring the room, and you will both be taken aside and registered so that you may explore the connection in a safe manner. My son’s people have created a schedule, and it is posted at the barn. Well met, and may many true matches be found this week.” He lifted a hand again in that half-wave, half-settle-down gesture, and then exited the stage. The male wolves around us cheered so loudly, the dominant pheromones rose like a wave. I felt myself beginning to sag under the pressure as some let loose with howls, and a few even shifted right there in the clearing, unable to contain their wolves at the possibility.

“We’ve got to get her out of here!” Leigh hissed and began to elbow people and stomp on feet to make a path out of the oppressive crowd. I couldn’t think, couldn’t help, merely hung there, overwhelmed and humiliated at my reaction to so many dominant wolves in one place. It was a blessing that our home pack was so small.

Though it was growing, I thought idly as Leigh and Shay hauled me free of the crowd, earning a glare from Alpha Todd. We’d had four pairs mated in the last year, a huge boon and why we had such a small group for this trip.

Once we broke free of the throng of surging wolf bodies, my legs began to steady, and I was able to suck in some lungfuls of fresh air as my friends deposited me on a bench made of half a massive log, cut and cradled between two quarter logs to stop it rolling away.

“What was that?” Leigh asked, dropping into a crouch so she could get eye level with me. “Are you okay? Do you need to eat something, or was it just too much alpha juice in too little space?”

I snorted weakly atalpha juice, but it wasn’t truly a laughing matter. We were scheduled to be here for three weeks, and I couldn’t go weak at the knees every time we were gathered together, or dinner was going to get real unpleasant, real fast.

“I don’t know, but I think it was just… too much. The scents, the energy… I—” Tears welled in my eyes, humiliation and shame burning through me. “I’m so sor—”

“You had better not be about to apologize to us, Bri-belle. You listen here, and you listen good. We are sisters, and we take care of each other. Period. We’re going to stick close together, and if you need out, you say the word. Capiche?”

Leigh’s stern face told me she wasn’t kidding, so I choked the apology back down.

“Capiche,” I whispered, though the apology weighed heavy in the back of my throat, wanting to burst free. I hated my weakness, hated that none of the rules ofnormalwolves seemed to apply to me, to my family line.

“We have ten minutes, Leigh. Let’s get some coffee into her before the speed dating starts.”

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