by T. S. Ryder
Curvy Elena Aldana is about to be mated to not just one, but two Alphas. Except she doesn’t know about it. Her father has made the deal. She doesn’t want to. Until she sees them – tall, broad-shouldered, and muscled. Hmm, her virgin lady parts might like this after all.
Lukas and Will are ready to share a mate, both for their own reasons. Lukas is in massive debt and, though not his fault, he needs wealthy Will’s help. And Will? He gets what he wants, and that’s a family.
But bad things are afoot. A rare astrological event has brought forward the soul of the Geisterwolf, an ancient Alpha who will sacrifice a living Alpha's mate to bring his own lost love back. And this time he's chosen Elena.
If Will and Lukas can't bind together to fight for her, Elena will be dead within a month…
They can’t fail.
Chapter One – Will
I could do with a smoke.
Will Evans didn't bother to hide how bored he was. He leaned his chair onto the back two legs as he loudly yawned. It wasn't like this meeting of the Alphas actually included him in any capacity.
Most of the other Alphas were old, white-haired and stuck in their ways. His opinions were about as welcome as yellow snow. They saw him as an entitled upstart. And maybe he was, but he was an Alpha just like them. Why shouldn’t he speak his mind? He supposed that he should be grateful to be even invited. Only the Alphas of the most powerful packs were present.
They must want money from him. His pack wasn't especially large, or especially powerful. But he was loaded. Oil had been discovered on his packlands just before his parents both died, and the wells were putting out over a thousand dollars a day. And suddenly everybody wanted a piece of him.
"As we know, Venus, Earth and Mars are coming into alignment," the Wolf that had organized the meeting, Xavier Knight, joint Alpha of the Rocky Ridge and Lakeland packs, stood at the front of the table, looking grave. "Most of you know what this means. For those who don't, it means that the Geisterwolf will be returning."
Will couldn’t help himself. He let out a loud snort. Was this meeting called to talk about a silly superstition? As if a planetary alignment would 'call forth' some supernatural creature from beyond the grave. This was a waste of time.
"The Geisterwolf," Xavier continued, ignoring Will, "will select one of our mates for its sacrifice, and all of us must stand together to protect her. As soon as the planets are aligned, the Geisterwolf will appear and attempt to take an Alpha's mate to bring back his own lost mate. My partner, Timothy, has been researching how to defeat the creature once it arrives. We have certain defense measures that we can put into place. If you suspect that he is after your mate—"
"Can we get to the point where any of this has to do with me?" Will interrupted. "All this mysterious, mystical, long-dead ghost Alpha coming back to steal another Alpha's mate is all well and good, but I don't have a mate. So why am I really, here, Xavier? What do you guys need my money for? Renovating your old farmhouse? Flying everybody to Russia?"
A few of the older Alphas frowned at him, and a couple of them muttered under their breaths. But the fact that none of them actually spoke against him only proved his point. They were after something, and it was more than likely dollar signs.
Will stared down Xavier. He never had much to do with the other Alpha, despite them being of comparable age. Probably because his parents never really let him socialize with people outside of their own pack. Not that Will liked hearing about how his father should have mated his mother over and over again.
"You're not the only one here who doesn't have a mate," Xavier said, his expression and voice completely calm. "I believe that it is only through unity that we can resist this threat."
"Doesn't have a mate." One of the older Alphas, a man named George, snorted. He stood and pointed an accusing finger at Will. "I know for a fact that you have not one but two women that you're sleeping with. If you were any sort of decent character, you'd choose one and take her as your mate instead of continuing on with your disgraceful habits."
Will rolled his eyes at that. As expected, the fact he broke the Alpha mold was the point of attack against him. He pushed his chair back a little more, flexing his muscles so the tattoos he had inked over his biceps rippled. "So it's okay for Alphas like Xavier and Timothy to both share a mate, but not for two females to share me?"
"The difference, I think, is that we are actually mates. From appearances, it looks like you have no intention of taking a mate." Xavier remained utterly calm, his expression neutral, no judgment in his voice.
Will hated that about him, how nothing seemed to ruffle his feathers. "So you're mated to Timothy, too?"
"Yes. We were paired as mates by our parents before we were born."
"Maybe the Geisterwolf will go after one of you for his new mate then," Will snapped. He let the chair drop back to all fours with a thud, then stood. He wasn't a piggy bank they could crack open whenever they wanted some extra cash. "Have fun swapping your wives' tales."
Will stomped out of the room. They were all a bunch of weak-willed, simple-minded idiots. Sooner or later it would have ended up that they wanted money from him, and he wasn't about to share his pack's wealth with those who never so much as acted like they cared about him or his pack before. Not one of these Alphas had come to his parents' funeral, and not one of them had ever offered advice on what it was like to be an Alpha.
They were too busy telling him what a screw up he was to tell him anything useful.
Once he was outside, Will ruffled through his pockets, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He leaned against the wall as he took his first drag, holding it in his lungs for a moment before blowing it out in a cloud of smoke. His smoking was yet another reason they hated him. He wasn't perfect and didn't pretend he was, so he obviously wasn't worthy of his position as Alpha. It was only when he sucked in a second breath that he realized that he wasn't alone in leaving the meeting.
"What do you want?" he snapped at the Alpha had followed him. Luke something or other. With a family scandal that was worse than Will's, it surprised Will that he didn't take more flak from the older Alphas.
At least I'm open about having two females, and I'm not unfaithful to my mate.
"I'm Lukas Shultz, Alpha of the Cedar Grove pack."
Will took another drag, eyeing Lukas. He was about the same age as Will, although he had been Alpha for a shorter period of time. Cedar Grove was one of the largest packs around, and notoriously also one of the most broke ones. Yet another Alpha wanting money.
"Want a loan, then? Or maybe a mate from one of the members of my pack so you can try to get some free cash from us?"
Lukas narrowed his eyes. "All that money shouldn't go to an arrogant son of a—"
He cut himself off. Will was used enough to such insults that he only laughed at it. What did he care about this tiny little Alpha and his tiny little problems?
Lukas inhaled deeply, clearly fighting to calm himself. "My proposal is far different. Everybody knows that the River Basin pack are few in number, due to the massive land restrictions that you face. You lose members every year because there isn't room for them. My packlands are extensive, and I have a strong place in the council of Alphas, at least as far as numbers go."
"So you want me to buy land from you?"
"No. I suggest that we merge our packs, the way the Rocky Ridge and Lakeland packs did with Xavier and Timothy."
Will dropped his cigarette and crushed it beneath his foot. "Oh, so you're proposing to me?"
Lukas glowered at him, then pulled a photograph from his pocket. He held it out for Will to see. The Alpha's brows rose. The picture was of a beautiful woman. Built thick and strong, the way he liked them, with long, glossy black hair, pale eyes and skin the color of rich prairie earth. She wore a simple flower dress in the photo, but Will grinned as he imagined her in stocking and garters–and nothing else.
"This is Elena Aldana. She and I were arranged to be mates when
we were babies. She's human, but as you can see she's very strong."
Will took the picture from him. Human. He had always thought Alphas that took humans as mates were ridiculous, as there was no human, no matter how well-versed in the ways of Wolves, that could really understand what it was like to be a Wolf. But if this Elena had been promised as a mate to Lukas when they were babies, she had to have been raised as part of the pack, right?
"So, what? You want to give me your mate in exchange for our packs being merged? Do you expect me to give you one of my women in exchange?"
"Are you being an idiot on purpose, or is it just your default setting?"
Will flicked the picture back at him. "Well, you're not proposing, so what is it? Come on, boy, speak clearly."
He grinned with amusement when a red flush rose up Lukas' cheeks, his hands clenching at his sides. "How can I be clearer? I said that I was suggesting a relationship like that of Xavier and Timothy. They may technically be mates, but there's nothing really between them. It's more that they're mated to the same woman. If we both mated with Elena, our packs would be merged. It would be beneficial to the both of us."
Will fumbled in his pocket for a second cigarette. "So you want to share a mate? Are you going to be the one to stay home and watch after the babies while I take care of pack business?"
Lukas ground his teeth and glowered at him. "You would not even have to give up your side females. Provided that they were fine with the fact that any children they had by you wouldn't ever be your replacement in the pack."
That wouldn’t work. If he was going to have a mate, he would have to break it off with Catherine and Harriet. He wasn't going to be unfaithful to his mate. Was he willing to give them up, though?
Yes. They were both beautiful girls, but neither of them could give him certain things–such as an heir.
"Well. Maybe I'd be willing to give it a try. On one condition."
"Only one?"
Will shrugged. "It's a pretty big one. If we're going to share Elena as a mate, she has my baby first. And that baby inherits the leadership of both packs. Agreed? Or do you have to discuss it with her first?"
"I don't need to discuss anything with her, I am the Alpha of my pack." Lukas took a deep breath. "If that's what it takes, then yes. We are in agreement."
He stuck out his hand. Will grinned as he shook it. Now all he had to do was meet this delectable Elena Aldana.
Chapter Two – Elena
The jolt of the gun vibrated up Elena's arm, making her grin. She always loved this sensation, putting in the last nail of her project. She stepped back to admire her work, powering off the nail gun she had been using. The crown molding was perfect. Now all she had to do was fill in the nail holes and paint the whole thing. Some of the guys on the team didn't want to work with a woman when they first joined up, but she had been working construction since she was twelve years old and she knew her stuff better than most of them.
The foreman stepped into the room. "Aldana, the boss wants to see you."
Elena scowled. Just when she was getting into her groove. She set her equipment to one side. For years she'd had problems with the guys stealing her stuff since she always used the high-end products that they were too cheap to buy, but getting everything in pink had solved that problem. Unconventional, but effective.
Not that Elena didn't like pink. In fact, it was her favorite color. She'd have painted her truck a sparkly pink if her father had let her.
"It's a work truck," he had told her, though she had paid for it with her own money and was reimbursed only half her gas costs. "You're not during around to my sites in a pink truck. I have a reputation."
It made her blood boil, but when you worked for your father, sometimes you just had to play by his rules. The fact was that he wasn't as young as he used to be, and he needed her to help keep the business running.
Her father was talking with an old, grey-haired man when she entered the office. Both men turned to her when she stepped in. Another potential client needing a quote?
"Ah, Elena." Her father came forward and put an arm around her shoulder. "Let me introduce Alan Straight from the Cedar Grove pack."
A werewolf? Elena's brows rose. They usually kept to themselves. She'd never actually met one before. She certainly never expected one here. "How do you do?"
"Quite appalled, my dear. Appalled." The Wolf shook his head. "Am I to understand correctly that you father has never told you about the deal he made with the late Alpha of the Cedar Grove pack?"
Elena glanced at her father, whose face was stony. He released her as if she was diseased, and the sneer on his face bode nothing but ill. She knew her father wasn't always the most upfront person… so what had he gotten himself into this time? And what was she supposed to do to get him out of it? It had better not be like last time–she had to drop twenty pounds by starving herself to be the poster girl for a weight-loss drug that later turned out to actually cause weight gain. She had only just been able to gain back the weight so she felt comfortable in her own skin again.
"I don't know of any arrangement that he made," she said evenly.
"It was such a long time ago, and it can't possibly hold up in court," her father said. "Don't worry about a thing, Elena."
Well, that wasn't completely terrifying. She stepped away from her father. "What did you do?"
"These documents have all the information." Alan handed her a packet of papers. "When you were an infant, your father wanted to purchase a plot of land from the Cedar Grove pack. A plot that I believe you just took out a third mortgage on so you could expand your business?"
"It will never hold up in court," her father insisted again.
"What won't?" Elena frowned. "What does this all have to do with me?"
"Packlands, as a matter of law, are not able to be purchased by humans."
"But you just said my dad bought land."
"No. He wanted to, but your father did not purchase the land. Instead, it was given to him as an honorary member of the pack, because of the agreements he made with the former Alpha that you would be mated to his son."
"What?" Elena whirled on her father, her eyes blazing with anger. She had gotten her mother's temper, according to her father, but if that was the case she must have gotten her honesty from her, too. "What did you do? How could you trade me away like a truck that you have no more use for? You sold me off as a child bride for a stupid piece of land?"
"I did no such thing! You were not to mate him until after your twentieth birthday. And face it, Elena, that day came and passed long ago." Her father narrowed his eyes at her and folded his arms. "I was put in a terrible position by the Wolves, and I never thought that they'd actually try to make it happen."
Elena turned away, digging one hand into her short hair. What could she do now? Letting out a deep breath, she glanced down at the papers that she still held. Shaking her head, she opened them and started reading through them.
"I would be more than happy to let your human lawyers take a look at it," Alan said. "And of course, you are under no obligation to mate with our new Alpha. However, if you do not mate him then you can no longer be considered part of the pack and the lands will be taken away from you at once."
Her father huffed. "Take those lands away, and I've got three mortgages I have to pay off at once. How am I meant to do that? I'll be ruined!"
"Whose fault is that?" Elena muttered. She turned on him. "Bad enough that you do this in the first place, but why didn't you ever tell me?"
"I was in a terrible spot. I did what I had to in order to ensure your future. You could be a little more grateful."
Elena didn't want to feel guilty over her anger towards her father, but it inevitably started to rise. It was like this all the time. He'd do something that put her in a terrible position, and then when she got angry or fought back against it, it was somehow her fault and he was only looking out for her. She was sick of it but didn't know how to make it stop. This really
took the cake, though.
"Perhaps there is an alternative to look at," Alan said soothingly. "Miss Aldana, you could come to the packlands and give it a bit of a try before you say no."
"No. No, I'm not going to be traded back and forth like I'm some medieval girl who has no choice with who she marries. This is absurd beyond belief. I refuse to talk about this any further." Elena glowered at first the Wolf than her father. "We're done here. I am not mating with some guy I've never met before. What does that even mean, mating?"
Alan opened his mouth. "It—"
"You are not going to ruin me with your stubbornness, Elena." Her father narrowed his eyes at her. "If you don't go with this werewolf and mate that Alpha, I'll have nothing and it will be your fault. You do this, or you will no longer be welcome as my daughter."
"You wouldn't dare disown me," Elena shout back. "I'm too vital to running your business for you. You wouldn't even let me look for other jobs, there is no way you would—"
"You're fired."
Elena froze. She stared blankly at her father. Was he serious?
"You're fired, and it's high time you moved out on your own. I'm going to change the locks on the house. You have two hours to move out." Her father smiled cruelly. "Of course, you're welcome back anytime, Elena. Provided we still have a home and the Wolves haven't taken it away."
The Wolf stared between them, shocked, but Elena rose her chin. "Fine. I'll go with the Wolf and try out this whole mating business. I'll grab my stuff and go. Oh, and Dad? I'm painting my truck pink."
***
"Highly unusual," Alan muttered once again, looking disgusted. "Lukas deserves to know you are being blackmailed into being his mate. He'll never stand for it."
Elena pulled up to the run-down house Alan had directed to her and stopped the truck. Ugh. Just looking at this place made Elena want to gut it and completely redo it. Which she luckily had the skills for. Well, maybe she could convince Lukas to pay her for the job, and use him as a reference as she searched for new employment. She wasn't going to crawling back to her father after this.