Page 1 of Forbidden Virgin Mate

Chapter 1 - Tanya

"I can do this, I can do this," I mutter as I straighten my shoulders, tilt my chin, and walk straight into the lion's den.

Not that any of these people enjoying the opening of their fancy new pavilion know they're my enemy. The beautifully carved white pavilion was probably made from the very timber felled by my parents’ old company on the land my parents owned before it was all taken from them. We were framed, banished by the pack, and lost everything.

Now, I'm here to take it all back from the family who took it from us. But first, I'm going to look them in the eye. This moment has been such a long time coming. It's worth the nerves swirling in my stomach and the effort it's taking to put one step in front of the other and paste a smile on my face.

In a stroke of luck or serendipity, the daughter, Saffy, is one of my new students at the college. When I saw her last name was McCormick, my heart pounded with anticipation, but she wasn't at all what I’d expected. She's sweet, soft, and scared of her own shadow. Talented, too.

It was actually Saffy and some of her friends who convinced me to come to the pavilion today. They were buzzing about the new sports complex. But when she said her brother Zack would be there, I knew this was my chance.

With their parents dead, Zack and Saffy are the heirs to everything that was stolen from me. Zack is the one who was alive when we were banished, and he appears to be the one running the show now, so he's my main target. Saffy will be collateral damage, just like me.

I weave my way through the crowd, occasionally greeting a student or parent. Although I've only been at the college for a few weeks, I must admit the people here give off a friendlier vibe than I’d expected. Perhaps because the pavilion is located between both packs, I feel less exposed to the gossip and stares plaguing me around town.

The new alpha Mateo and his wife Billie have been the most welcoming to me. I was surprised by how keen he was to have me return to Silverstar, all things considered. But the idea that I could just come back here and pick up where my parents left off annoys me. Mateo told me he didn't hold me responsible for my parents’ actions. I don't know how I bit my tongue when I wanted nothing more than to lay out all the evidence of their innocence.

That's not the kind of revenge my parents and I are after, though.

I'm not sure the rest of the town got Mateo's memo preaching forgiveness. I was only able to rent a property when I told Billie I was having problems finding one. She offered me one of their holiday rentals, though she genuinely couldn't understand why I found the market so slow. I didn't like to admit that my money was apparently no good with most pack members. It seems they think thieving and treachery must run in my family.

The stares are openly hostile, the whispers are barely whispers at all, and even people I recognize from my childhood pretend they don't recognize me.

It is precisely what I'd expected, but it hurts more than I could have imagined. I thought I was pretty tough, having grown up in a rough part of the Bay Area with no pack and with parents who were too bitter and disillusioned to do much parenting. But being back here has forced me to dig deeper than I ever thought possible.

I’ve found solace in my students, though. Bringing tech skills to this part of the country is a dream come true. It's the future and a potential source of untapped wealth for these young people.

It's also those very skills that have put me in the perfect position to execute my plans. Not to brag, but there are very few hackers in the entire US who can do what I do. Necessity has made me a more formidable enemy than Zack McCormick could ever imagine.

But right now, I need to deal with something even more urgent.

My rumbling stomach.

I'd felt out of sorts and nervous before coming to the community fair today. At the thought of seeing so many people and attending it alone, I hadn't been able to eat breakfast. And now I'm starving. Not sure what I fancy, I pick my way among the stalls, pointedly avoiding anyone from my pack.

I must admit the fair smells pretty incredible now that all the stalls are set up. The pavilion is an amazing space housing a vast variety of local food vendors. It reminds me of the fresh markets in San Francisco that I once loved wandering around on weekends. Missing my most recent home and all the baked goods I usually consume at the markets, I'm about to head over to the vendor with inviting bread aromas when I turn and walk straight into a towering stack of walking boxes.

"Oh, god, I'm so sorry!" I exclaim as I only just manage to catch three large cake boxes as they slide from the stack and land practically on top of me.

Only then do I see the person holding the rest of the boxes. And what I see almost makes me drop the ones I'm now holding.

A seriously hot man with light brown hair and piercing crystal-blue eyes is staring down at me in obvious surprise. "No, I am so sorry," he says, trying to regain control of the remaining boxes. "I was rushing."

I can't help but laugh as he tries to control the sliding, oversized boxes. He quickly places mine on the empty tables of the stall I presume he was aiming for before turning back to get the rest.

"I've got them,” he says. “Just hold onto the bottom one."

Once we set the last boxes on the counter, he turns back to me. "Thank you so much. That nearly went sideways, and Saffy would have killed me."

"Oh, these are for Saffy?” I ask, confused. “Is she running this stall?"

"Yeah, she practically runs the store here,” the handsome man replies. “I was just picking them up for her.”

I find myself almost unable to tear my eyes away from his face.

"You know Saffy?" he asks.

"Oh, um, yeah, I work at the college," I say, getting increasingly flustered under his gaze. "You know her? I mean, obviously, you do."

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