by C. D. Gorri
Maybe Gran was right. She could’ve started her own pride.
But, she didn’t. Sora had no desire to be an alpha. After the chaos of the infection running through her pride, she couldn’t handle the responsibility…Hell, she didn’t want that on her back, at all. She knew, deep down, she wasn’t capable of running a pride.
Levi left the key on a dresser by the door and turned to leave. She followed him out so she could return to Gran’s room to make sure she was okay.
“Thank you, young man,” Gran said, pulling Sora from her thoughts. “My granddaughter and I will get settled in, and we will see you at dinner.”
“Very well,” Levi replied, giving Gran a slight bow and patting his hand over his heart before turning toward Sora with the same pose. “We will see you in a few hours.”
The moment the door closed, Gran turned on Sora. “You know this alpha will ask about your bloodline, right?”
“I believe that’s the topic left unspoken, but there’s something else, Gran.” Sora and her grandmother were closer than just blood. They had a bond that had started the day she was born. They were inseparable, and she never held back on her secrets.
“That the alpha is your mate?” Gran chuckled and shook her head. “Little one, I scented both of your mating scents the moment your eyes met.”
“Great,” Sora groaned. “I don’t want a mate.”
“You think you don’t want one now, but you will,” Gran grinned, a little mischief in the way her eyes crinkled. “He’s a nice looking male.”
“Okay, Gran,” she deflected and rolled her eyes at Gran’s matchmaking. “I do need to speak with him, anyway. I haven’t felt the least bit exhausted from the absence of…our old alpha.”
“You never needed him before, Sora,” Gran promised, patting her cheek. “Alpha genes run in your father’s side of the bloodline. Your mother didn’t have it, but it was obviously passed down to you.”
“And father didn’t want a female running his pride after his death, remember?” Sora grumbled.
A swift knock on the door stopped their conversation, and when she opened the door, Maverick Quinn was standing there in the doorway with his wide shoulders and alpha attitude. Gran looked at the ground as a sign of respect until the alpha asked her a question. Sora never moved her eyes from him.
Chapter Four
“Sora, I’d like to speak with you in private,” Maverick announced, his eyes flashing between his icy blue human side to the yellow gold of his cougar. “If you are more comfortable, my office is always open.”
He was giving her a chance to feel normal and not caged. How did he know? Was it an alpha thing? Or maybe, just maybe, he was being respectful since she was a female of his kind.
“Your office is fine,” she agreed. “I’d like to let my Gran get some rest.”
“Very well,” he acknowledged, holding his hand out toward the stairs and backing his large body against the wall. “My office is on the first floor, down the west wing. It’ll be the second door on your left. I’ll meet you there.”
“Thank you,” she replied and brushed past him so fast, she didn’t have a chance to even scent him as she returned to her grandmother’s room. Gran urged her to talk to the alpha, and reminded her to be respectful. “You can’t face off against this alpha like you did your father, my dear. We have a chance at a better life here. Be patient with him, and most of all…honest.”
“Yes, Gran,” she promised, knowing the elder female was right.
She left Gran to rest and once the door was closed, the Guardian Houston was waiting down the hallway. He made a motion for her to go first. She moved at a faster pace than the Guardian as she descended the stairs, taking a left when she reached the foyer. She hated knowing there was someone at her back. She always kept her back protected, and here at his pride, she felt exposed because she was so new and didn’t know anyone. It was a little unnerving.
As he promised, the office was exactly where he’d said and the door was open wide. Maverick turned from looking out the window when she took a seat in front of his desk. Houston closed the door and left her to face her new alpha. Well, he wasn’t her alpha just yet.
“Ms. Weston,” he began, but she held up her hand.
“Sora, please, sir,” she reprimanded him. “I’d prefer not to be called by my father’s surname, if you don’t mind.”
Maverick’s eyes flashed that golden hue of his cougar, but it quickly receded, and she was left staring at his icy blue eyes much like her own.
“About your father,” he paused as he took his seat. Just knowing the subject of her father would be brought up, a shiver rolled down her spine. “I’d like to extend my condolences about your pride. The healers have always tried to find a way to stop the sickness that kills our kind, but they haven’t found a cure.”
“It’s awful,” she said sadly, remembering how she and her Gran had taken care of those who were dying within days of the disease.
“Now, we have to talk about you,” he said, his voice deepening. “You have to know what you are.”
“I do,” she agreed, sitting up straighter in the chair. “But I have no desire to be an alpha, sir.”
“Maverick,” he corrected.
“Maverick,” she echoed, scenting both of their natural pheromones as they swirled and blended in the air.
Both of their eyes changed color. Their natural blue faded as the golden color of their animal bled into their eyes. Everything in the room was richer, more pronounced. Even Maverick. If she hadn’t noticed how handsome…sexy he was before, her cougar eyes highlighted his features; defined muscles, a tight jawline, and dark hair that was a bit mussed, but still in place just perfectly. His canines were extended, the sharp tips biting into his bottom lip…and Sora knew she probably looked the same in his changed eyes.
“We have a dilemma,” he finally replied after a few moments of them staring deeply at each other.
“And that is?” she asked, but her voice wasn’t her own.
“I know you’ve scented me, because I can taste your mating scent on my tongue,” he admitted, standing from behind his desk. “We are mates, and it won’t matter if I touch you to give you my blood like I did for your grandmother. When your lips wrap around my wrist and lap at my offering, you and I will be connected…forever. Are you ready for that?”
“I really don’t know, sir,” she whispered.
“Maverick,” he reminded her.
“I’m sorry,” she sighed, shaking her head to dislodge the thoughts from her mind. “It’s a habit from my old pride.”
“As much as I enjoy you regarding me as an alpha, there is no need for that.” He paused to narrow his eyes. “Sora, you are my mate. It doesn’t matter if we haven’t ever laid eyes on each other before today. Our animals know, and you have to realize what that means.”
“I’m fully aware of the repercussions of taking your blood,” she replied, maybe just a little too harshly. “I also understand the dangers of having two alphas in the same pride who are not officially mated.”
“There could be an uprising within my pride, and I don’t want that.”
“So, we are at a crossroad?” She shrugged, trailing her eyes over his strong, sexy body.
“We are,” he agreed.
“Either I stay and take your blood, connecting us as mates,” she paused to swallow down tears, “or…or I leave to start my own pride somewhere away from you.”
“What will you do with your Gran?” He brought up the one thing that would crumble her carefully built walls.
“I know nothing about being an alpha,” she admitted. “I would strike out on my own. Your pride has the things she will need in her old age. You have a healer and Guardians who will save her or let her pass in peace as our ancestors would want.”
“And you?” he pressed. “You’d be a loner until you found a pride who needed you, or you’d end up living alone in the mountains somewhere in Washington for the rest of your existence
.”
“That’s not a bad thing,” she whispered as she dropped her gaze. “I’ve seen enough of death to last me a lifetime. I don’t think I can watch my grandmother pass away when her time comes. It would be the last straw of my sanity. I don’t trust myself to go through that again. Seeing thirty-two members of my pride die was enough.”
“That’s not something to run from, Sora,” he promised, and the way her name fell off his tongue did something to her body. Maybe it was just his scent? “I could teach you.”
“I’m really not alpha material, nor am I a good choice for an alpha’s mate,” she admitted, choking back tears. “I’m just not strong enough.”
“I beg to differ,” he pressed, narrowing his golden eyes. His cougar had been sitting right under his skin the entire time they talked, and to be honest, so was Sora’s cougar. She wanted to touch him, and it took everything her human side had to keep her feet planted firmly on the ground ten feet away from him.
“How so?” she whispered, feeling his warmth as he approached.
“Your grandmother is very chatty,” he admitted, taking a deep breath. She knew whatever he had to say was going to bring her to tears. “Despite the disease that ended your previous pride, you were there for each and every one of them as they took their last breath. You delivered messages to their loved ones in other beds as they slowly went into the otherworld. Not many people could’ve done that. Especially, not for over thirty lives. That alone shows me your strength as an alpha.”
“My father didn’t believe in a female running a pride,” she explained, sitting up straighter. Regardless of what her father believed, she wasn’t a senseless female. “I was his only heir, and I took it upon myself to care for everyone after he passed. I was born to lead the pride, but it fell apart when the sickness ran through and killed everyone but my grandmother and myself.”
“Again, I extend my condolences.” He bowed and rested his hand over his heart. “I don’t know how you did it. I took over this pride six years ago at the age of twenty-five. I did it, but I had someone teach me. I didn’t have to do it on my own.”
“Honestly, Maverick, it was twenty-five years in hell,” she admitted, taking another deep breath to keep the tears from pooling in her eyes. Sora stood from her seat to make what she had to say her final piece on the subject. “I’d rather not talk about it, because it brings up memories that won’t let me sleep at night. I appreciate your own story, but our lives aren’t the same. Mine wasn’t easy to begin with, and I’ve had a lot to deal with since I started showing my alpha abilities when I was six, and the repression of those powers by my father from that moment on.”
“As you wish, Sora, but just remember, as an alpha, I understand,” he stated, taking one step toward her. She didn’t move away from him, either. “If you ever need to talk about it, I am available.”
“Thank you for helping my Gran,” she said, slightly changing the subject. “She needed a strong alpha to connect to so she didn’t die. I tried to get here as soon as I could, but the drive was very long.”
“I understand,” he replied with a sad smile. “But I don’t think you should leave just yet. I’m offering you a chance to learn to be an alpha. If you give me at least three months to teach you the basics and you still want to go off on your own, I won’t stop you. My only request is if you do decide to leave, you must be the one to tell your grandmother. I will not do that for you.”
How did he know the one thing that would be the hardest for her to do?
Chapter Six
Maverick watched the beautiful blonde female escort her grandmother over to the staircase, taking them to their rooms after dinner. It was obvious she was his mate, but the part of her own alpha genes not needing his blood angered him. He wanted to touch her, to give her his blood so they could be connected as one in so many ways.
Hell, he didn’t even know her!
But it was obvious his cougar did. Mating scents and the push of your cougar always confused the human part of your mind, but they were ruled by their animal most of the time, anyway. If he was any other male, he would’ve touched her the moment they both realized their animals were surely mates.
But, then again, she was coming from another pride…one that had been devastated by the disease that killed their kind no matter the age. He couldn’t even imagine the things she’d seen while caring for the sick. He rubbed his forehead as he remembered the look on her face as she recounted the amount of pride members who had died in her presence…how she had cared for them until they took their last breath.
“Alpha?” A soft voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Yes, Ella?” Ella Vale was one of his best Guardian’s mother. She was quite a bit older, having Houston once she was in her mid-thirties, leaving her in her early sixties with a barely grown son.
“Is there anything I can do to help the new pride members adjust to living here?” she asked.
“Ella,” he sighed. “I really don’t know. I would like for some of the females to at least show Sora and her grandmother around the pride. Get them accustomed to our lands and ways. I know each pride is different. Maybe that will help them feel more at home here.”
“I would be happy to arrange that with some of the younger and elder females,” she agreed. “Would there be anything I could do for you?”
“No, thank you,” he said, waving her away.
“Have a good night,” she called out before walking toward the stairs to return to her room once Maverick had dismissed her.
His personal home was located in the east wing of the mansion his father and grandfather built many years ago. Since he had become alpha, he allowed some of his pride to build cottages on the lands, but there were only a few who had taken the option. Everyone else wanted to stay in the main house.
As he climbed the stairs to his personal quarters, he thought about the beautiful blonde alpha who was caring for her aging grandmother on the other side of the estate.
He felt Sora’s strength, but he didn’t feel her push of alpha powers. She should’ve had those instincts already. She should’ve had them at the ages of five to eight. She’d used the word “abilities” and nothing was said about power.
What did her father do, or not do in that case, to keep her from becoming what she was born to be? As he mulled over many ideas as to how an alpha would suppress their powers, he felt anger at hearing how he physically abused her from a young age.
It wasn’t like it’d never happened before. There were generations of males who had the alpha genes and took over prides. Hell, there were even stories of females of prides being killed at birth if they were born alphas, but that practice was outlawed among their kind over four hundred years prior.
He closed the door to his private space, removing his shoes at the entrance to the kitchen. He used the remote to turn on the television across the room just to have some noise. At times, the quiet was too much for him. As an alpha, he had the power to hear his pride should they call out for him, but for once, they were content and happy. No one needed him, and he was going to take advantage of it for the night.
One of the females, most likely Ella, had come in and washed his bed sheets and turned down his bed for the evening, leaving a stack of clean towels in the linen closet next to the shower. Maverick undressed and stepped inside the glass enclosure, going numb as the hot water cascaded over his body. He just couldn’t shake the vision of Sora from his mind. As he ran the washcloth over his chest and abs, he tried to ignore his mating scent, but when it mixed with the steam from the shower, the aroma was heavy in the air. His cock responded, and he took it in hand, calling out her name as he brought himself to pleasure.
His head hit the tile hard as he heaved in the steamy air, calming himself from the release and his cougar’s need to go find the female and touch her skin to skin. What was he going to do about finding his mate? And the mate of his life was an alpha just like him. Would they be able to lead the pride as one? Or would th
ey end up fighting to the death to take over the only home he ever knew?
Chapter Seven
Sora tossed and turned in the bed despite it being the most comfortable place she’d ever slept. Maverick Quinn’s father and grandfather had set up the perfect pride for his family, but deep inside where her cougar lived, she knew he was probably one of the best alphas out there.
There was no way she could compete with that. Never. She had no training…no experience. But she did have the blood to rule a pride. If she only knew how…she could do it. Maybe? Fuck, she really didn’t know.
A thought formed in her mind even though she tried to push it away. Once her cougar connected with her human mind, the vision of her asking Maverick for his help pushed itself to the forefront of her thoughts.
The only problem with that was the touching thing. If she did touch him, they’d be connected for life. He was her mate, and the cougar inside her rumbled low in its throat to remind her that she was so close to her next stage in life, but could they both run the pride? Yes, a mate to an alpha would gain some of her mate’s powers when they mated. The sacred shift of power from one alpha to a mated pair was always something to be celebrated, and she understood that.
The question of their connection still rattled around in her human and animal mind. Could they get along with both of them being an alpha? Well, Sora wasn’t accepting her alpha status as she should, and that might help.
There was a magic inside her that she kept dormant, because her father never allowed her to let it out. She was beaten if he ever felt her push of power against him. The cougar that lived inside her would hide until it was time to shift, keeping itself unrecognizable, because of the years of beatings they received. Yes, her beast was no better than a dog who’d been beaten into submission by its owner.
However, Sora’s human side was stronger, and she used that in place of her cougar’s alpha nature. She could fight like a Guardian and take her place alongside the females of her pride to provide for the males during the solstices.