by K. S. Martin
The Lesser of Two Evils
By
K.S. Martin
Books by K.S. Martin
Opportunity Knocked
Her Alpha
Wild Kat
Not That Kind of Love
The New Alpha
The Reluctant Alpha
My Boss the Alpha
Once Mated Twice Shy
Summer’s Alpha
The Alpha’s She-Wolf
Turned Alpha
Snow Wolf
Her Billionaire Werewolf Stepbrother
New Alpha – New Rules
All Rights Reserved
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Any trademarks mentioned herein are not authorized by the trademark owners and do not in any way mean the work is sponsored by or associated with the trademark owners. Any trademarks used are specifically in a descriptive capacity.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
Copyright © June 2016, First Edition, by K. S. Martin
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Epilogue
Prologue
“Honey, I know this is scary, but it’s for the best.” Her mother squeezed her hand gently. This was the most devastating news ever. She swallowed and looked around at the small, shabby dining room. The blue velvet wallpaper was peeling up in the corner, where a spider was building a small web.
“I don’t know him, Mom. We’ve met once, for a second. How can you ask this of me?” Her mother’s face looked haggard. She never looked old because she was a werewolf and if you looked old, you had hundreds of years under your belt. She looked worn down and tired.
“Sometimes you just have to pick the lesser of the two evils.” Her mother closed her eyes and took a breath. When she opened them, her sharp blue eyes fixed on Kerry with that determined look that said she’d lost this argument. “Eric is not coming back. You have to move on.”
“How do you know? He’ll come back from school. Then we can…”
“He doesn’t love you, Kerry, you know that. Deep down you know he never loved you. We all hoped that it would blossom, but it didn’t, and now he’s met someone at school. He called Luke yesterday and told him that he’d met his true mate. He says they are finishing the school year, then returning to her pack to live. He’s spending the summer with her.” Kerry swallowed hard. Eric wasn’t coming back?
“He can’t.” Tears pricked her eyes. “We were meant for each other.”
“Sweetie, I know you thought that, but it’s time to face reality. Eric isn’t coming, and you have to go. You didn’t want college, and there is nothing here for you now.” Her mother pressed her lips into a line, and Kerry noticed how much more tired she looked when she did that. The wrinkles were deep in her forehead.
Her father stomped up the porch steps then, and her mother trembled. The door swung open, and he scowled at them. “I need more time,” her mother challenged with her hackles up. He gave her a sharp nod. His long gray hair swung forward.
“Ten minutes, then we go with my plan.” He turned and left.
“What’s going on, Mom? Tell me the truth. Now.” Kerry steeled herself and straightened her spine.
“Eric is gone. You didn’t go to school, so you have to mate. Those are the rules. Luke wants you to mate him. Your dad thinks that’s a good idea, for you to mate the Alpha. But Ethan has also offered. I know you don’t know him, but he’s offered an alliance, an Alpha female position, and a dowry. You know how Luke is, honey, and I don’t want that for you. He’s older than your father.” She trembled again and grimaced. “I want better for you. Luke isn’t a nice man. He won’t be gentle with you. He’s a mean and nasty tyrant. He’s worse than your father,” she whispered. “You’ll be treated like a slave. Choose the lesser of the two evils.” Her usually melodic voice was as hard as steel.
“Daddy wants me to mate with Luke?” Kerry’s brows knitted. “Why?”
“Luke promised him a beta position with pay. You know how he feels about money. Luke convinced him that if your dad handed you over, it would make the pack stronger. It would also boost our standing.” Kerry nibbled her lip. “You have to hurry, sweetie. He’s coming. You have to escape before you’re stuck in this hell they’re creating for you.”
“Why did you mate with Daddy?” Her mother scrubbed her face with her hands. “Why? You’ve never been happy.”
“Because my father forced me to, and that’s how I know this is a shit position to put you in, sweetheart. But take my word for it, Ethan is a better choice.” Kerry wiped the tears from her eyes. “Ethan will be here in ten minutes for your answer. If you don’t go with him, Luke will claim you.” She shuddered. “I promise that if you stay, it will be a living hell, darling. You have to go, Kerry.” Her mother’s eyes were wet. Her pupils dilated with fear. Kerry’s heart sped up. Her mother was always honest, and Kerry knew that the fear in her mother’s eyes was real. She only had one choice.
“I’ll get my things.” Kerry stood and pulled her T-shirt down over her bottom. She went to her room. She heard her father come in the front door. They were fighting. Again.
Kerry stuffed her clothes into her duffle bag, with her favorite books, her shoes, her jewelry box that Grandpa made, and her sketchbook. After gathering her laptop, the cord, and mouse, she gently placed them into their bag. She’d worked and saved almost a year to buy it. Her father berated her for weeks after that, for what he called a frivolous purchase. Too bad. It was what she wanted. She heard the slap then. He was hitting her again. Her mother growled. Shit. Kerry dropped her duffle out of her bedroom window, then lowered the laptop case out, setting it on the ground. She climbed out and lowered the window. Her whole body trembled with fear.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Luke asked from behind her.
“They’re fighting. She’s already shifted, and I don’t want to get my ass kicked for walking out the front door. This is the path of least resistance.” She put her duffle on her shoulder and picked up the laptop case.
“Glad you’re coming willingly.” He sneered down at her.
“Mom said that Ethan is on his way. I’ll wait on the porch.” She started walking.
“You don’t know him,” she heard him growl.
“Nope. But I know you. I’ll be on the porch.”
“That’s your choice then?” She looked up at him and nodded. He snarled, then growled. She waved at Mr. Duffy, who was next door watering his garden.
“The pack gets an alliance, and my parents get a dowry. That’s more than you offered. Either way, I get screwed.” She turned the corner and sat down on the porch steps. They were still fighting inside. She heard dishes break and more growling. They’d shifted in the house. Kerry rolled her eyes. Their house could’ve been nice except her mom only bought from the thrift store in town. She couldn’t buy new th
ings because there would always be a fight that destroyed the furniture, the dishes, and the walls. Her parents fought all of the time. That’s just how it was and how she expected it to be¾wolves fought.
It was like this her whole life. She couldn’t remember a time when they’d gotten along. Her parents hated each other. Her father was a big, powerful wolf, but he was at least a hundred years older than her mother. He always blamed her for the fact that Kerry was a female, too. He was very vocal in his disappointment. Kerry and he were never close because of it. She used to try to please him, and at one point, she thought he might even like her, but not anymore. Now, she just tried to stay out of his way and out of his sight.
She heard the truck before she saw it. It clattered and clanged, and she wondered how it didn’t fall to pieces when it hit the holes in the dirt road. It stopped at the porch, and she would’ve sworn she heard it sigh with relief. Ethan started to open the driver’s side door, but she held up her hand. Kerry got her duffle and walked past his door, looking at him sideways. She put it over the side of the bed. “Do you have the dowry?” she asked him. He was good looking, she would give him that. He looked big, and he had silver-blue eyes. “Yes or no?” she asked when he didn’t move. He pulled an envelope out of his shirt pocket and handed it to her. “Give me a minute.”
Kerry went back inside. Her eyes adjusted to the dimness. They were circling each other in the kitchen. Her mother’s neck was bleeding, and her father had a chunk of hide missing from his shoulder. Go Mom. She’d gotten him good. “Kerrigan Waters!” she shouted and snapped her fingers. He swung his big gray head around and looked at her like prey with his yellow eyes. His lip curled up in snarl up so his teeth showed. “Here’s your money. It’s been real.” She waved the envelope and slapped it down on the dining room table. “Love you, Mom,” Kerry called over her shoulder and let the screen door clack shut loudly behind her. She stooped to pick up her laptop bag and went to the passenger side of the truck.
Once she’d climbed in, she fastened her seatbelt and stared out the window. Her neighbor Mrs. Duncan waved at her and gave her a pitying look. Luke was standing next to her, scowling at Kerry with amber eyes. Kerry waved back as the truck turned around in the yard. In seconds, the truck rumbled out of pack territory and onto the highway.
“You hungry?”
She shook her head. Ethan pulled into a fast food restaurant drive-thru and ordered, then drove around and paid. “If you get hungry, just help yourself.” He set the bag on the seat and put the soft drink in the cup holder. He reached inside and pulled out a cheeseburger, then turned out of the parking lot and onto the highway. She watched the road whizz by and wondered where they were going.
He crumpled the wrapper up and put it back in the bag, then grabbed another burger. “Dinner won’t be for a long time. You might want to eat.” She looked up at him, then reached into the bag and took a cheeseburger. “Good girl,” he murmured. Her brow knitted, and she looked inside for fries but found none. She turned her body toward the window and took a small bite of the burger. Buildings went by in a blur until there were none, only long, golden grass. She folded the wax paper into a square, then another, until it was as small as it could get. That was how she felt right now: small and tightly wrapped.
Eric found his mate. He was supposed to be hers. They’d grown up together. They were the only two pups in the pack, and everyone assumed that they would end up with each other. Now what? She either had to choose Luke, or this wolf. They’d met once before, but she didn’t know then that this was why. She’d ignored him after their introduction and had gone back to her sketchbook.
No one said that she would be making life decisions in seconds, nor that this was a possibility. Why did he want her anyway? Certainly he could do better, because she was no prize. She could draw a little, but she had no formal education. She had no career, no money, and never thought of herself as pretty. She looked like her father. She unthinkingly scrunched her nose. She caught her reflection in the big mirror mounted on the side of the truck. That was no supermodel in there looking back at her.
He bumped her arm and she turned. He was offering the soda. She took it and sipped. She heard his appreciative growl and put it back in the cup holder quickly.
Kerry looked down at his thigh. He was huge. This wolf was giant sized in comparison to anyone she knew. She’d been sitting on the deck when they’d been introduced, and he’d been on the ground. Calculating in her mind what that meant, Kerry looked back out her window. If the deck was five feet off the ground, she thought, and he shook her hand through the rail, that put him at close to seven feet. No way. Math was never her best subject. How tall was that deck? “You okay?” he asked.
“How tall are you?” She looked over at him.
He shrugged. “I don’t know, six-five, six-six. Why?”
She shook her head. That put the deck at four-and-a-half feet. Math was definitely not her best subject.
“How much longer?” He was slowing the truck.
“We’re here.” He turned down a long drive. It was paved, and trees lined it. They were nut trees. She hoped they were his. Her mouth watered. The truck wound down the drive then through the apple and pear trees in full bloom. Wow. She wondered if there were peach trees anywhere.
The truck squealed to a stop in front of a huge house. It was low and long, made of gray stone with massive chimneys at either end. She climbed out of the truck, then grabbed her laptop and put the strap over her head. She looked around. The house was flanked by smaller houses scattered around. Pups played at the closest house, where a male was washing a car. “Come on.” He said from the top of the stairs waiting. She saw that he had her duffle bag, and followed. He opened the door and let her inside. “This is the living room. It won’t be uncommon for you to see pack members in here watching TV or hanging out. This part of the house is considered community property.” She nodded and followed. “Kitchen, I just finished remodeling, but if there is anything that you need, want to change or add, just say.” It looked like something out of a magazine. Her house was simple and old. Her parents were poor¾not starving, but not even middle class by any standards. “The laundry room and pantry are through there.” He pointed, then turned. She wondered again why he wanted her. He had all of this and was an Alpha. “Come.” He was waiting.
“Guest rooms.” He pointed going down the hall, “Common bathroom and every guest room has its own.” He kept walking. He pointed to the right. “My office and the library through there.” He pointed to the left. “We are in the private area of the house now. “Entertainment room, bedrooms for pups.” He pointed left and right. “Master suite.” He pushed the door open. The floor was light golden oak and sunlight spilled in through the floor-to-ceiling glass wall at the back. There were two wing chairs, with a table between them, looking outside into the dense forest behind the house. She could sit there and sketch. “The glass is one-way. No one can see inside, even when its dark out and the lights are on, but if it makes you more comfortable…” He picked up a remote from the dresser and pushed a button. The window turned into a gray frosted glass. He pushed it again and it went clear. “Okay?”
She nodded.
“The bathroom is through there.” He dropped her duffle on the trunk at the end of the bed. “This is your side of the dresser.” He pointed.
“My side?” she fretted.
“Yes. Put your clothes in this side, and your closet is over here.” He went to a set of double doors and opened them. She tilted her head to gaze inside of it. It was as big as her bedroom.
“So we share a room?” she whispered.
“We are mating, so yes.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why share a room. This house is really big. I can take one of the guest rooms so you can have your privacy.” She grabbed her duffle, but he took it from her and put it back down.
“You sleep with me.”
“Why?” She felt petulant.
“So I can fuck you when I want to.” She gasped. His eyes flashed. “Unpack. There will be a cookout in a couple of hours. Shower, dress in something nice. I’ll be back.” She watched him go and crumpled to the floor. So I can fuck you when I want to. Oh, God. Eric was supposed to be her first, not this wolf. Then the realization hit her. He was going to… Oh, God. She would have to undress in front of him. She wrapped her arms around herself, which did nothing to stop the tears that oozed down her cheeks. She sniffled and wiped them away.
Kerry put her duffle in the closet on the floor and pulled out her best jeans and sweater. He knew what he was getting. He’d seen her house. He had to know that she didn’t have much. After all, her parents sold her to him. She went to the bathroom and looked around. It was big, bigger than her living room at home. All the fixtures were high-end. The counters and shower were dark-blue granite. The tub in the corner would hold four people. The shower had multiple showerheads, with one very large one in the ceiling. She reached in and turned it on. There were bottles of shower gel and designer shampoo. Fluffy white towels hung on a rack. She felt one. It was softer than she’d expected, and warm. This would be a dream if she wouldn’t be losing her virginity to a stranger in a couple of hours.
Chapter 1
She sat in the wing chair by the window and sketched without thinking about it. There was a hawk perched out there on a tree branch, doing a good job of holding still. She was curled up and comfortable. Her pencil moved mindlessly. “Pretty good,” he said behind her. She stiffened. “The pack is waiting. Come on.” She put her book and pencil down on the table, then followed him through the house. His hand was heavy on her shoulder when they went out onto the porch. This pack was huge. Her own was twenty members, but this one, she’d guess fifty easily. Pups ran around shouting and chasing. She watched a male shift to catch up to his friends. They were free and happy. Suddenly she missed a childhood that she never had. “Everyone,” he called, and they turned to look at him all at once, and Kerry tried to step back. She’d never liked attention.