Page 10 of Alpha's Rise

For a moment, Tobias stood there in awe of her. Fuck yes. There was no doubt she was his mate. No one else in the world would dare speak to him this way, yet she did it with a fucking smile. He had a good feeling about her and what they could do in the future.

Tobias couldn’t wait to fuck her into submission. His mouth watered at the thought of having her underneath him, accepting his mate mark, and bearing his pups. Now all he had to do was help her find this elusive family of hers and convince her to never leave.

Tobias accepted her terms. “You know, it might surprise you at just how helpful I can be to you.”

A small smile came over her face. “Men and their big… egos.”

As they walked back to the compound, which was more like a hidden city, Tobias thought about how this would all go down. His mate wasn’t a shifter, but she also wasn’t human. The pack members who wanted to stick with the pack laws would have a fucking conniption.

Tobias always thought he would go along with what the others wanted for his life. Do what was expected of him as heir to his father’s throne. Now he knew that the old way of thinking was bullshit. He didn’t care if no one agreed with his decision, even though there was a slight chance that his mate might just be a witch. Then again, he was the future Alpha Supreme. Who was gonna check him? No fucking body, that’s who.

They were making good time back to the town, so he sent one of the younger guards ahead to prepare. There was a gathering happening tonight, and his people wouldn’t exactly be receptive to a strange woman hanging around. While he took measures to keep his mate hidden, he figured he needed to talk with his best friend and trusted advisor, Odin Jakobson.

His mate was also a Black female who had a small son. Odin found them a few weeks ago and had been hiding them away from some men tracking them. While he didn’t think Layla, Odin’s mate, was the woman his mate was looking for, it was worth asking the question.

Romi, as far as he could tell, looked nothing like Layla. Still, Layla had said she was also looking for family. Could they be connected somehow? Only one way to find out. “Tell me more about who you’re searching for.”

She shook her head without looking at him. “How about we wait until we get back to your people? I don’t want to repeat myself if you can’t get me the help I need. I want the information relayed once, so there’s no confusion and my words can have maximum impact. When we get to your place,” she waved her hand in the direction they were walking, “I want to have all the people who might be able to help me together at once. No bullshit.”

“Romi. Romi,” Tobias tried to soften his tone but wasn’t sure it worked. “You’re making demands, and we haven’t even gotten to where we’re going. Why can’t we have a conversation without all the demands and snap?”

She shook her head again. “Whatever, man. Again, I don’t know you.” She turned and looked him up and down. “And as soon as we get where we’re going, I need you to put on some damn clothes. How about that?” She huffed at him, giving Tobias a look that told him exactly what she thought about him. It almost jolted him in his tracks. They always said there was a thin line between love and hate, which meant he had some work to do to claim her as his own.

As she stormed off ahead of him, Tobias couldn’t help but laugh. This woman was going to be the death of him, and he couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

* * *

Nathan Baldwin was at his home in Pennsylvania when an overwhelming feeling came over him. He was in his backyard, fixing the fence, trying to keep his mind focused on anything other than this burning need to return home. When he left at twenty years old, he swore he would never return.

From the time he met the young Alpha heir, Tobias, their connection was undeniable. The elders called his parents to a meeting that very night with the Alpha Triad. Fate had decided he would be a bonded mate to the Alpha.

At the time, he was too young to understand what that meant. All he knew was that he had a new best friend. Nathan was never alone from that day forward. They moved his parents into a better house and had their every need taken care of. Nathan and Tobias had gone to school together, played sports together, trained together, and learned how to be leaders together.

It was only when Nathan began going through puberty that he realized he was no Beta, and that was what he needed to be as a third in an Alpha Triad. Fate had decided that he would be fully committed to Tobias, the future Alpha Supreme and their Luna, the female Alpha Queen. There was no other choice for him. Yet, everyone expected that he would simply accept what was happening.

No matter how often he tried to deny who and what he was, everyone else viewed him as nothing more than an extension of Tobias. And that shit was not okay with him.

Nathan knew he was no one’s Beta and figured the Goddess had made a mistake. Once he realized that, he resented the role fate had decided for him. Why would the Goddess force him to serve in that way? Fuck that. He was no bitch, and he sure as hell would not play second fiddle. He knew once the Triad bonded, he would never have a future of his own making.

His current pack Alpha, and his true mates made things work for them. Nathan saw how they interacted and knew the Goddess had designed them for each other. Their personalities meshed, and when Alpha Tomas and Luna Maria were ready to go to war, their third, Brayden, was always there to calm their heated tempers. Their love and care for each other was real. Brayden seemed happy in his role, never being put in front, never being the focus, always serving in the background. For him, that worked just fine.

But for Nathan, it would never work. When he was a child, he did not know what they expected of him. He didn’t realize what being the third in the Alpha Triad meant for his future. As he got older, he knew it meant never being his own man. Never having a mate that belonged to only him—always having to share his life mate with Tobias.

How could the Goddess expect him to do this? Even his parents didn’t understand. They tried to tell him how much of an honor it was to be chosen. That he and Tobias, and their mate, would rule the pack for years to come, and their children would carry on the legacy of the Bloodmoon Pack.

He understood all that, but that didn’t mean he was going to roll over and just take it. He had a choice in his life. When he became an adult, he left his home, his pack, and fate behind.

He had a detailed plan to hideout in Pennsylvania, buying a little cabin in the woods, and living out his days as far away from the Virginia pack lands as he could. He was stupid enough to think that if he simply put distance between them, the Goddess would find someone else to complete the Triad. Tobias and his mate deserved a third who would be there for them the way they needed. That wasn’t Nathan. At least, he didn’t think it was.

That plan had worked for all these years, until about two weeks ago. His wolf grumbled and howled, showing its displeasure at their life and being away from the pack. That’s when the whispers began, and the Goddess started speaking to him through his dreams, telling him it was time to go home. The time had come to accept his place. No matter how much he fought against her words, she pushed even harder.

He’d lost sleep, and his wolf was prowling in his head, uneasy with the situation. Something was coming. Things were about to change. He just didn’t know what it was.

His gut clenched. His wolf stood up and howled, clawing to get out as the connection between him and Tobias lit up like a Christmas Tree.

Mate.

The hammer dropped from his hand. Nathan’s heart rate sped up. He heard the word in Tobias’s voice, sharp with a hint of awe. It was so loud and clear that he could swear his packmate and future Alpha was standing next to him. No! This couldn’t be happening. He thought he’d escaped. He thought being away had saved him from this fate.

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