Page 2 of Holiday Surprise

That night was one of the first times I ever saw Jedidiah with emotions other than anger. He’d taken care of everything and I’d lived with him until I graduated high school.

My parents had left me a note the night they died confirming it had been no accident. My dad had been out of work and they saw no future. Knowing I would be too stubborn and strong, that I would stop them, made them do it when they knew I would be away from the house. They hadn’t wanted to burden me with my younger siblings and begged me to get away from the pack and start a new life somewhere else.

It had taken me years to forgive them. I couldn’t help but feel they had been selfish for murdering my sisters and brothers alongside them. We would have been fine. I had seen others in the pack raising their siblings. I would have done the same. Instead they left me alone in a cruel world where it was all I could do to survive.

In so many ways I felt like I was still doing that—surviving.

I never wanted to be Alpha. Others perceived me as Jedidiah’s pawn and future heir, but that was a false perception. He wasn’t grooming me to take over, he pitied me and maybe felt the smallest bit of guilt over the deaths of my family.

He never officially named me heir and I would have put my money on several others ahead of me for the position. In the end, only one stepped up upon Jed’s death. I couldn’t stand by and see my pack under his dictatorship. The guy was nothing more than a punk with a chip on his shoulder and we had already endured enough under Jedidiah’s reign.

I stepped up with only one challenger. He was an easy defeat, though I loathed killing anyone, especially a packmate.

I felt the familiar melancholy set in as I pulled up in front of my trailer. It was the biggest and best the pack had to offer, but it was hard not to remember the days of my teenage years living there with the former Alpha.

I took a deep breath as I exited the vehicle. It was all mine now. All of it, including the responsibility of my wolves.

Before I even reached my door, Winnie Maverick was running across from her own trailer, waving her hand in the air.

“Alpha, I’m so glad you’re home. I have to ask again. Is there any word?”

I knew she was asking about the transition of primary and middle grade children attending school in Collier instead of their current school amongst the human kids. Her boy had been one of the two problem tweens I’d warned Thomas about. He was on the verge of being expelled and his mother believed somehow a new school would fix all their problems. For both our sakes, I hoped she was right.

“Actually Winnie, I am just returning from a meeting with Thomas Collier. We should have the details worked out soon, but it looks like we’ll transition the children right about Christmas break.”

Her eyes misted over. “Do you really mean it?”

I nodded and smiled at her. “Yes, I mean it.”

She threw her arms around me in a hug, then shyly backed off and bared her neck to me. “Thank you, Alpha.”

As she hurried back to her own home, no doubt to call the other mothers and tell them the good news, I walked inside.

“Home sweet home,” I sighed.

The Collier Alpha house was filled with this sense of love and family. Thomas and his mate, Lily, didn’t even live in the house, but his parents still did, and with that came generations of happiness there that was tangible the moment you walked in the door.

Mine in comparison was a serious disappointment. I had no mate, and I had little need for things which made the empty, lonely place feel all the more obvious. Someday I hoped to have a nicer place filled with family of my own. My fear was that I had missed the opportunity for a mate though.

I was already in my early thirties, and while Alpha was an impressive title for any wolf shifter, I knew my Pack left little to be desired. Besides, I didn’t have time to go looking for a mate, and if I didn’t look, I’d never find her. Slowly I had been resolving myself to a life of bachelorhood.

It wasn’t so bad, I tried to argue as I opened the freezer and took out something questionably edible for dinner. Popping it in the microwave, I sat down at my small kitchen table and pulled out my phone. I listened to a dozen voicemails that had been left regarding some form of emergency or another.

When the buzzer went off, I got up and got my meal, careful not to burn myself. I sat back down and ate in silence, alone as usual.

Luke

Chapter 2

I awoke before sunrise to a ringing phone. I groaned. Why should today be any different than any other day? People seemed to think the Alpha’s job is to be on call twenty-four seven. In some ways they’re right, but it sucked, and at this point seemed to be a ritual every Sunday morning.

“What?” I asked a little harsher than I expected.

“Hey Luke, sorry to wake you so early. I waited as long as I could,” Oliver Smith said. He lived just outside Collier Pack territory with his mate, Peyton, and his family. Oliver had been a huge help with the alliance between Collier and Larken. I owed him a lot.

“It’s fine. What’s up, Ollie?” I asked.

“Kenneth didn’t come home last night. Peyton and the baby stayed in Collier for a sleepover with her sister and niece or something like that. Pey’s car is up on blocks for some brake work and I have no way to go out and check on him. I’m just worried.”

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