Page 4 of Alpha's Baby Girl
Even if that meant finding my mate against my own wishes.
Even if it meant giving up my happiness for a short time to find her, whoever she was.
***
The head councilor of Silverlake Valley, Graham, a shifter who oversaw all mating ceremonies, rituals, and, now, the Mating Games, offered me a full agenda of the Games, but I shrugged him off in favor of heading through the hotel doors.
“Let it be a surprise,” I told him, clapping him on the back as I strode inside.
Immediately, the scents coming from the contestants that occupied the hotel hit me.
“I’ll pick a face, not a paragraph of information.” One scent stood out from the rest, but I couldn’t determine why it was familiar. God, I hoped a one-night stand wasn’t here; that would be uncomfortable.
Honestly, I didn’t give a shit to read the eight pages of information—one page for each contestant all wanting to be the next Luna and a page full of the trial information—, but he left me with one heads-up to become familiar with the trials that would be held because I’d be heavily involved. Everything else was down to choices and chance.
“Fenrys,” the head councilor called. I half turned back, sparing him a glance over my shoulder. The thing with small towns was that everyone liked to be invested in everyone else’s business. As an alpha, they all thoughtminewastheirs. “Don’t forget the mandatory dinner.”
“Right,” I said, already having forgotten. I’d been briefed on this last night, if I could recall. “When’s that again?”
“Well, in half an hour.”
I bit down on the irritation at not preparing enough. I didn’t care about these games; I resented how much of my time it would take already. “Thanks. I assume you’ll be there.”
“I’ll be assessing all aspects of the Games, Fenrys. Your mother wants to make sure of that.”
He was my damn babysitter, then. I smiled a mockingly gracious smile at him, nodded my thanks, and walked inside.
Half an hour later, I was seated at the head table, a glass of red wine poured before me, as dinner was served. Around me, seven females sat, some talking amongst themselves in a way that made it clear they were tryingnotto be noticed butwantedto be. Others tried to make eye contact with me. They reeked of desire, ofwant, and while the taste of it in the back of my throat wasn’t unpleasant, it felt wrong. They wanted me far more than I desired any of them.
“We’ll now invite you all up, one by one, to greet Fenrys. Please use this opportunity to offer the gifts you have brought or propose some sort of prosperity for Silverlake Valley’s pack.”
One by one, they came up to me.
Their names blurred together. One called Shiba, who flaunted her generous chest at me and told me about her father, a wealthy businessman, who proposed to expand Silverlake Valley’s docks to allow more trade. There was Dakota, a shyer she-wolf who ducked her head and offered me a silk kerchief with her scent on it. Brazen, not at all matching her personality. I had to assume someone had orchestrated that for her.
But then that familiar scent from before hit me as Dakota left, and another woman stood, coming closer out of the corner of my eye.
White, hair, streaked through with blonde. Her eyes were golden on me, as she walked with her head high, and a coy smile.
It was her.
Something in my chest pulled at her proximity, and I watched her approach. It was like the room started closing in on itself, getting smaller and smaller, until all I saw was her.
Thalia, the white-haired shifter from college, from three years ago.
The last time I had seen her golden eyes, they were full of held-back tears and anger. Now, she wore self-confidence as close-fitting as her dress, the color of deep emeralds, and I was mesmerized. I ached for the day I’d rejected her, wanting to take it back.
She approached me and placed her hands on my table, bracing herself. “Fenrys,” she said, her voice dropping to a purr. “My name is Thalia. Please accept my gift.”
She was brief with me, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, as she dropped a pouch of gold silk onto my table and sauntered away. I opened it, unable to take my eyes off her swaying hips in that tight-fitting dress. Inside was a necklace with a leather band. The pendant hanging off it was familiar to me.
So that was her game: pretending to be a stranger to me verbally but leaving the trinket to remind me that she remembered our past. She’d worn that necklace the day I rejected her; I remembered it all so clearly. She’d been quiet and smart, talkative enough around her own group of friends, but shier with me, as if she knew our bond spoke of a future neither of us was sure of.
I hadn’t wanted her then; I hadn’t been ready.
But as she took her spot, fixed the scooped neckline of her dress, and smiled across the room at me, I knew I was ready now.
Chapter 3 - Thalia
