Page 2 of The Wolf King's Mate

“Fletch?” A woman’s voice called out.

I grimaced.

It was Fiona, one of the pack’s groupies. Because werewolves were always born male, and tended to be both bigger and more attractive than human men, some human women came to our city and clung to our men.

The women who were born among wolves like I was were equal members of our society. They were just called pack women, or pack females.

Groupies were typically women who clung to a pack and went from wolf to wolf without care as to how much drama they caused. And theyalwayscaused drama.

Fiona had exclusively dated seven other men in the pack for differing periods of time before turning her attention to Fletcher. She hadn’t managed to convince him to sleep with her yet, but she was determined. If Fletch wasn’t so entirely focused on keeping me safe, I was pretty sure he would’ve given in to her advances already. She was beautiful, and even though she caused drama, she was usually nice.

When I glanced over at him, I found him gritting his teeth.

She always pissed him off. Alphas were usually against anything that caused drama—when they weren’t actively screwing it.

“We’re starting lunch!” Fiona called out.

Fletcher made a noise of frustration.

He didn’t particularly like being Alpha, even though I knew he loved the pack more than he wanted to admit. It was his, and he’d worked hard to make it that way.

“Go. I’ll be careful, and bring extra perfume. Like always,” I said. “It’s the middle of the day, so I’ll be fine. The same way I always am.”

He ran a hand through his hair before finally agreeing.

“Don’t stay out too long,” he growled, as he headed down the hall. There was dominance behind the words, which was analpha wolf’s power. It felt a little like electricity. The command would’ve worked on most people, because he was insanely strong. But my wolf didn’t answer to anyone.

Not even me, most of the time.

So, the zap of his magic rolled right off me.

I zipped a thin jacket over my sports bra. It was early September, which in the mountains, meant it was starting to get cold for humans. And I was supposed to be human.

I’d tie the fabric around my waist as soon as I was on the trail, but no one in the pack would know that.

Finally ready to go, I tucked another small perfume bottle in my pocket and shut my bedroom door behind me. Fletcher’s was across the hall, and already closed.

The Alpha usually lived in his packhouse with a good portion of his pack, but Fletcher wasn’t willing to leave me alone or risk having me stay with everyone else.

I slipped out the back door and down the trail just outside. I’d been down it every day for the entire five years I’d spent with the Creek Pack. Sometimes two, three, or four times a day. It connected to a web of other trails, and the easy access from our doorstep was a huge part of the reason Fletch and I picked that particular cabin.

“Aspen!” Lucas called from behind me.

I wrestled my snarling wolf, fighting the urge to snap my teeth myself.

Neither of us liked the bastard. He wasn’t terrible—he was the closest thing to a friend Fletcher had ever had, so I forced myselfto try to like him. He was also Fletcher’s Beta, which meant he was one of two people who helped my brother run the pack.

But he was interested in me. Romantically.

Which was obviously a problem.

“Hey.” Lucas jogged up to me, flashing me a flirty grin that I ignored. If I acted too friendly, he took it as a sign that I wanted him too. “Want some company on your run?”

“You know I like to run alone.”

“One of these days, you’re going to change your mind,” he said, keeping pace with me.

“Bye, Lucas.”

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