“The Monongahela pack has been trying to take over our pack for a few years now, ever since my mate was killed. They perceived our pack as weak without both Alphas of the pack. Marcus and Ryan have been able to keep them from challenging me because one of them could stand in for me and both of them are stronger than any of the male shifters in that pack. Weaker male shifters have been a byproduct of the packs who don’t acknowledge the Alpha Queen as their rightful ruler. Honestly, I believe the Goddess cursed them for turning their back on our Queen.”
“Now that you’ve realized my son and his best friend are two of your mates, it causes a bit of a problem. They’re going to leave with you and go live in Cooper’s Rock, and I will no longer have them to stand in for me if a challenger arises. My daughter isn’t a weak shifter, but I’m not sure how strong she is in comparison to their male shifters, but her fox is smaller than your average wolf. Your mother told me that you’re really good at all the diplomatic stuff, and garnered support for the Alpha Queen from all the European and African packs.”
“You did all that?” Marcus’s sister asks. She turns her head to Ryan with a look of longing in her eyes like she’s just realized she doesn’t stand a chance with him, and I suddenly feel pretty bad for her. She probably hoped he’d finally notice her and want to be her mate. She knows it doesn’t work like that, but I can tell the hope was there.
I think on the dilemma for probably a good ten minutes or so before I realize that they’re all staring at me. Finally, I think of something; however, it could prove to be a little risky.
“Have you considered challenging their pack alpha before I leave? That way, your position would still be solid, and your daughter could still take over without the threat of this pack,” I offer.
Marcus’s mom looks thoughtful.
“We’ve never thought about that. That’s a really good idea actually. Are you willing to do that Marcus?” she asks.
“Yea mom,” he replies. “Of course I’ll help you fight for your position as alpha of this pack and secure the leadership of my bratty, yet lovable little sister.” He winks at Carrie and it’s sexy as hell, I’m can’t lie.
“Hey!” Carrie shouts.
“Ok then,” says Amelia. “I’ll call their pack alpha now and issue the challenge.” She stands up to make the call and make further arrangements.
“Are you really ready for this, man?” asks Ryan.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Marcus responds.
“I can make you stronger,” I interrupt. They both look at me in surprise.
“How?” Marcus asks.
“Once we mate, you and Ryan will get bigger and stronger pretty much instantly. Both of you are military trained, so similar to becoming a military super soldier like Captain America,” I explain.
“How the hell is that possible?” asks Marcus.
“It’s the remaining magic,” I say. “Alpha Queens have three mates for a reason. One reason is to keep their magical powers in balance. The second reason is for protection. How can you protect the leader of the packs if you’re a scrawny, little wolf shifter?”
“She’s right,” says a voice from behind. “You should mate with Jade before the challenge.” Amelia is standing behind us and must’ve heard me. “You forget that I knew Jade’s mom before she met her mates so I know how they looked before they met Elena. Once they mated with Elena, they instantly became faster and stronger, easily beating enforcers that have been trained for years to defend their respective alphas. Mating with Jade will only increase your likelihood of success.”
Both Marcus and Ryan look at each other nervously. I guess they didn’t expect to have sex with me so quickly, but it’s a little necessary given the circumstances.
“Look,” I say to Marcus. “You need to represent your mother for this fight, and any advantage you can take to secure your sister’s position as alpha of the pack is necessary. I know everything is overwhelming, but I have a feeling you’d do anything for your sister.”
He looks at me and understanding came in his eyes. I was right. He would do anything for his big sister and it shows. I’m so glad to have such a caring person as my mate. The Moon Goddess must really be looking out for me. I’m so lost in thought, I don’t realize that Amelia has returned. She’s looking at me with a smile, almost like she can read my mind.
“The challenge has been issued, Marcus. You’ll be fighting the alpha’s son, Richard, on Saturday. He’s an ambitious pup who thinks he has what it takes to run a pack, but he’s basically just his father’s puppet,” she says to her son.
“Well,” he says. “We need to show him better.” Then he turns to me. “Let’s mate tonight so I have time train with the added muscle, but I want to take you on a date first.”
A date? I’m shocked. He looks at me and chuckles.
“There’s no need for our mating to be so clinical. I’ll take you out for a nice dinner and we can get to know each other, and we’ll mate afterward,” he says with a wink.
I’m still a little stunned, and I can’t seem to get any words out of my mouth.
“Dude, she’s speechless. If Marcus is taking you out tonight, then I’m taking you out tomorrow,” laughs Ryan.
“Is that a yes, Jade?” he asks with amusement in his eyes.
“Um...yea, sure. I’ll go on a date with you,” I stammer out and turn to look at Ryan. “I’ll go on a date with you too, Ryan.”
Shit. I don’t think I have any clothes for an occasion like this and my alarm must show on the face because Amelia starts talking to her daughter.
“Carrie, will you let Jade borrow some clothes for her date tonight? I’m sure she didn’t pack anything for a date.”
“Sure, whatever,” says Carrie. “Come on.”
She walks up the stairs to her room, and I guess she wants me to follow. We go to her room and her closet is enormous! I’m so shocked at the size of this closet that I don’t even realize I stopped walking until I hear Carrie snapping at me.
“Why’d you stop walking? Too good for my closet? It’s bad enough you’re stealing my man, and now you’re disrespecting my closet,” she sneers.
Wow. I’ve never had anyone be so hostile towards me, and did she just call my mate her man? I thought she had a crush on him but I didn’t think it was that serious. Have they slept together? All the thoughts going through my head just get me angrier and angrier, and my wolf starts to surface. I growl and start charging at Carrie, stopping when I’m an inch away from her face.
“Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to, girl?” I growl. Her eyes get big, she starts shaking and makes this weird ass yipping noise. It gets louder and faster, and it’s beginning to hurt my ears.
“Oh my god, shut the fuck up!” I yell.
“What the hell is going on up here?” bellows a voice from behind us. It looks like Marcus heard that annoying ass noise coming from his sister’s mouth and figured something was up.
“Carrie, explain to me what the hell is going on?” he asks.
“It’s her fault,” she says pointing at me. “She threatened me.”
“Are you fucking serious?” I yell. I almost added bitch on the end of that sentence, but then remembered that she’s Marcus’s sister. Out of respect, I’ll reign it in a little.
“Ok,” Marcus says. “Calm down. Can one of you calmly and rationally tell me what happened?”
“She’s been your mate for two seconds and you’re already picking her side after mine! Especially after she took Ryan from me?!” she shrieks.
“Took Ryan from you?” he asks with a confused look on his face. Then, a look of understanding appears. “You’re talking about the drunk one night stand you had with Ryan, right? Look, Carrie, Ryan told me about it pretty much right after it happened because he felt guilty and knew it was a huge mistake. He’s been keeping his distance from you ever since, and if I had any idea that you were still harboring feelings for him then I would’ve said something sooner.”
/> She looks like she’s been hit and is on the verge of tears.
“That’s not true,” she stammers out. “He’s just afraid to be with me because of his friendship with you.”
He walks up to his baby sister and gathers her in his arms, and places her in his lap while she sobs. I can tell he’s done this for her numerous times, even though he’s the younger sibling, and I’m touched with how he handles her. My eyes begin to tear up because I’m imagining Marcus doing this with our daughter whenever she gets injured or her feelings get hurt, and I realize that I’m beginning to fall for this strong and kind man.
“You and I both know that isn’t true, and now that we’ve realized he’s Jade’s other mate, you shouldn’t even want to be with him. You deserve someone who will love, cherish, and spoil you, vixen. Now, you love me and Ryan, right?” She nods. “So, you should also love our mate because she’s going to be a part of our family from now on. Can you please help Jade with an outfit for tonight without being a bitch to her?”
She takes a deep breath, sniffles a little, and nods. She stands up and walks over to me, taking my hand in hers.
“Marcus is right and I’m sorry Jade. I’ve always wanted a sister and I’m treating you like shit over someone who isn’t even interested in me,” she says. I look in her eyes and can see the sincerity, and can’t help but to forgive her.
“It’s ok Carrie. I totally understand. Ryan is pretty hot,” I say with a wink and she giggles. I look around for Marcus and realize he left once the situation was taken care of. Carrie starts rifling through clothes, trying to find something that’ll fit me.
“You’re lucky we’re almost the same size, and I have a little black dress somewhere around here that would be perfect for you,” she chatters on while going through her clothes.
“I don’t know how you can find anything in this closet. It’s huge,” I joke.
She laughs. “I know, right? Honestly, I have to keep it pretty organized to find anything.”
“I have one question since I’ve never met a fox shifter. When I had you pinned against the wall, what the hell was that noise coming out of your mouth, girl?” I ask.
She turns a little red and laughs a little. “It’s my yip. I yip like that whenever I’m in danger or feel threatened. It’s almost like a nervous tick for me. It started when I was in middle school and started getting bullied by this group of female wolf shifters. One day, they cornered me in the girl's bathroom and were about to jump me when I started yipping. It hurt their ears so much that the punches they were throwing weren’t as hard and it allowed Marcus to come find me. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him so mad in my life. He pushed the girls off me and came to my rescue, and I’ve been yipping ever since then.”
Her story is so sad that I’m speechless, and I realize that her attitude is a defense mechanism. No wonder she was so hostile towards me. She probably thought I was similar to those girls that bullied her in middle school. Unfortunately, there’s still a lot of prejudice among canine shifters and children can be cruel. I hug Carrie tight, and she smiles at me.
“Well, I won’t ever let anything like that happen to you again. Marcus was right, we’re family now and I won’t anything happen to my new big sister.”
Her eyes tear up as she looks at me with gratitude, and then she starts rifling through clothes again. About five minutes later, she pops up looking victorious with a black dress in hand.
“I found it!” she exclaims. “Now we need to find you some heels.”
“I don’t wear heels unless I’m doing a formal event with my mom,” I say with a scrunched up face.
“This is special, girl. You’re about to mate for the first time and you need to look amazing. Marcus is going to be drooling over you by the time I’m done with you. Now, I’ll show you where my bathroom is so you can shower and I can start doing your makeup. It’ll take all day to perfect the look I’m envisioning.”
I’m glad that I squashed my issues with Carrie, but now I’m a little nervous about this makeover. I mean...I’m grateful, but a little scared too. I hope Marcus likes it.
Chapter 4
Jade’s Diary
I was nervous as hell about that whole date thing, but it was one of the best nights of my life. The date was perfect. The mating was perfect. Marcus is perfect. I have a date with Ryan tonight, and I’m excited. Carrie let me borrow another LBD and showed me how to do my makeup so I won’t always need her help to get ready.
⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕⁕
It’s date time and I’m nervous as hell. Marcus is my mate but I barely know him. It’s times like these when I wish my parents had sent me to be raised in Fox Foret instead of keeping me in Cooper’s Rock. Carrie puts the finishing touches on my hair, adds a little more hairspray, then turns me around to look in the mirror.
“Wow,” I gasp. “You’re a miracle worker, Carrie.”
“Don’t give me all the credit girl, you’re gorgeous as hell. That’s why I was so jealous of your ass,” she says with a chuckle. “My brother is going to have a hard-on all night looking at you.”
In the time that Carrie has been helping me get ready for my date, we’ve been able to bond. You wouldn’t even know we almost got into a brawl a few hours ago. One thing I learned in this short time, though, is that Carrie has a bit of a potty mouth. That girl drops more f-bombs than a bad horror movie, but it totally works for her. There’s no way I could talk like that girl and get away with it.
We hear a knock at the door. “You ready?” asks Ryan. “I came to escort you down since Marcus gets to have you for the rest of the night.”
“You can open the door. She’s almost ready,” yells Carrie. I look at her warily and she flicks her hair. “Don’t worry girl, I’m not going have an attitude with Ryan. He probably doesn’t even know what went down and why. I’m definitely not bringing it up. It hasn’t been one of my best moments, and now that I’ve gotten over it, I’m ashamed of my behavior,” she says as her face turns beet red and she looks at the floor. I place my hand on hers and wait for her to look at me.
“Hey,” I say. “I’m over it and willing to move on. We’ll just keep this between me, you, and Marcus.” She releases a sigh.
“You’re so sweet, Jade. If I hadn’t seen you about to kick my ass earlier, I would’ve said you were too nice to be Alpha Queen. I need a thick skin as the future alpha of this pack, so I know you must really be holding your own, especially if you helped the African and European packs to unite under the Alpha Queen’s rule.”
Now I’m the one blushing at her words, which is right when Ryan walks into the closet. He gasps and stares at me until Carrie slaps him on the back of the head.
“Stop gawking and tell her how beautiful she looks, loser,” she says.
Ryan closes his mouth and looks me up and down. “You look gorgeous, Jade. I can’t lie, I’m a little jealous of Marcus, but I’ll have you all to myself tomorrow so it’s alright.”
He grabs my hand and leads me down the stairs while Carrie follows behind. Marcus’s head snaps up when he hears me coming down the stairs and his jaw drops. Now that’s the type of response I was hoping for. He walks up, grabs my hand from Ryan, and leads me outside to the car. I’m so focused on how handsome he looks that I completely forgot about Carrie and Ryan standing there.
“Have fun you two!” I hear Carrie yell behind me. I turn around and wave goodbye. Marcus opens my door, allowing me to slide in, and walks around to get in the driver’s side.
“You like Italian food?” he asks after a couple of minutes.
“I love Italian food. It became my favorite when I traveled to Europe for my mom,” I respond.
“That’s crazy cool,” he says. “Well I can’t guarantee it’ll be as good as actual Italian food from Italy, but Gino is an older Italian shifter who moved here from Italy.”
“The owner is a shifter?” I ask.
“Yea. We don’t keep isolated from non-shif
ters the way most would packs do. All the members of our pack work in town in some form or fashion. We’ve found it easier to assimilate rather than isolate. Folks around here think the isolated packs are inbred hillbillies so they don’t mess with them much,” he explains. We park and start walking into the restaurant with our arms linked together.
“Some of those packs are inbred hillbillies, Marcus,” I grouse. He chuckles a little because he knows I’m right. The hostess leads us to a table without even speaking. Wow, Marcus must come here a lot. Once seated and comfortable, we continue the conversation we had in the car.
“I know this sounds cliche, but tell me about yourself. Momma talks about you and your mom all the time and I never really paid attention. To be honest, I didn’t think we’d ever meet.”
“Well,” I start. “I’ve grown up in Cooper’s Rock all my life. My mother, Queen Elena, grew up in Peru but would visit Cooper’s Rock to spend time with her mother. My grandparents aren’t mates, but my grandmother needed an heir to the throne and my abeulo was willing to be her sperm donor. He was alpha of many of the Latin American packs and thought it would be a good idea to officially pledge his loyalty to the Alpha and complete their alliance. After that, abuelo was able to get all the Latin American packs under his rule and solidified the Latin American loyalty to the Alpha Queen. My pápá , Diego, succeeded him when he retired until he met my mámá .
“So, your dad used to rule over the Latin American packs?” he asked. He sounded really interested so I continued my story.
“Yea, by the time mámá met Pápá Diego, she’d moved to Cooper’s Rock to learn how to rule. When she visited abuelo and met Pápá Diego, they knew they were mates instantly. So, abuelo took over for Pápá Diego while he finds a new leader to train.
“How about your other two fathers?” he asks.
“When mámá returned from Peru she met her other two mates. Pápá Charles was a visiting diplomat from the European packs and Pápá Sebastian was a visiting diplomat from the Asian and African packs. My mother’s mating with them allowed us to solidify all the other packs except North America. My dream is to have all the packs under the Alpha Queen again. In my heart of heart, I believe that the magic that we’ve lost over the years will return if we can do it.”
Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (Alpha Queen Series Book 1) Page 2