by Chris McHart
“Of course, boss.” Lindsay grinned at him. He’d paid respect to the old alpha because he’d been forced to, but it didn’t look like he’d treat Anthony any different than before.
Anthony didn’t seem to mind. He was currently putting on a T-shirt one of the pack members handed him.
“Where are we going to do the mating?”
Anthony turned around, looking at Josh. “Do you really want to do this?”
“The way I see it, this is the only solution. So yeah, I’m ready to do it. And I also have the feeling that you won’t find another volunteer so quickly.” He hesitated briefly, then said a little louder, “Or do either of you want to?” He looked at Lindsay and Jeremy, who were leading the alpha.
Both looked at him and shook their heads quickly. “No offense, but I don’t think either one of us would go very well with Anthony,” Jeremy answered for both of them.
“Is it just me, or are Lindsay and Jeremy pretty close? They’re sticking together like glue.” Anthony commented.
Now that he thought about it, it was obvious. The two had always been good friends, but right now, there seemed to be more than just a friendship… That definitely looked like more. The two followed the alpha with stoic faces, and each of them had a hand on his shoulder. They didn’t touch, but they walked pretty close to each other, and cast glances at each other. Well, it wasn’t any of his business, but still interesting.
“Would you rather I picked someone else?” Anthony looked at him again, and Josh saw the doubt in his eyes.
A burn spread through Josh’s belly, just like before when he’d thought about Anthony mating someone else. “No, it’s all right.” He swallowed hard and tried to find the right words. “I mean, we both know each other… after all.” He swallowed again. The burning became stronger the more he imagined what exactly it’d mean if Anthony had another mate. “No, it’s really okay. I think we should do this. Where are we going to do it?” Josh wasn’t happy to be forced into a mating, but he wouldn’t leave Anthony to face it with anyone else either. Sure as hell not.
Some of the worry left Anthony’s eyes, and he smiled, albeit weakly. “I’ll try to find out if we have a nice bedroom somewhere. There used to be a guest house somewhere around here. If we’re lucky, we’ll find a room there where nobody will bother us. If not… Then we’ll figure out something else.”
“All right. As long as it’s not out in the woods…” Josh fell silent. The forest didn’t sound really tempting. Anthony was a shifter, and he didn’t mind being outside. Josh, on the other hand, did.
“Don’t worry, no forest. It’s nice, but not when we’re mating.”
Josh inconspicuously wiped his hands on his pants and tried to ignore the cold sweat forming on his forehead. They talked about having sex like it was a business deal. It was just as emotional as ordering food. Until now the sex between them had been hot and steamy, but this was different.
The whole thing was like a contract, and it was sealed with Josh being – at least temporarily – owned by Anthony. Not a pretty thought.
“Sounds fine. Although I’m still for the bed.” Josh tried to put humor in his voice, but he didn’t know if he managed.
Anthony reached over and took his hand. “I’m sorry it came to this. Believe me, that was never my intention. I wish I could change what happened. But you understand I can’t let him get away with it?”
Josh briefly pressed Anthony’s hand, but then released him quickly. The alpha of the pack certainly didn’t want to be seen holding hands with his future mate.
“May I ask you–“ Josh stopped because they stood in front of a house. The guard in front opened the door, and the old alpha was led inside. This pack member also seemed to have no pity at all with his alpha. Hopefully Anthony didn’t lose their loyalty as fast as the old alpha had.
A few moments later, the alpha was in the cell, the door was locked, and he’d apparently given up complaining because he’d been silent for a few minutes. No one seemed to care about his fate. This shifter wasn’t someone to feel sorry for. He’d begged for this fate, and he’d done everything to turn his pack members against him.
“You wanted to ask something before we went inside.” Anthony himself checked whether the door was locked before he turned away from the cell.
“Yes, I did. Uh… You need to have a mate to become alpha, right?”
Anthony nodded as he walked toward the neighboring cell.
“But what about… the alpha? He was going to take someone else, wasn’t he?”
Anthony turned to one of the soldiers, who looked at them with watchful eyes. He waved him over before he spoke. “Open the cell.”
“But…” The guard shifted his weight, avoiding his eyes.
“But nothing.” The look Anthony gave the security guard would’ve forced any man to his knees.
The heavy key clanked in the lock as the guard hurried to comply. He opened the cell door, and Anthony stepped into the doorway.
“Come out.”
Josh couldn’t see who was hiding inside the cell, but judging by Anthony’s grim expression, it wasn’t good. However, he didn’t seem to expect an attack. Instead, he seemed to relax himself, maybe in an effort not to look too threatening. The tension and hardness with which he’d just confronted his father had disappeared.
He smiled weakly and seemed to look closely at the person hiding inside the cell. “You’re free. If you want, you can go. Or we can take you to the guest house, where you can take a shower and rest before we figure out what you want to do next.” He spoke softly, almost like he was talking to a scared animal.
The person inside still hadn’t said anything, and Josh craned his neck to look past Anthony. He stepped closer until he could see past his shoulder.
A skinny, middle-aged woman was in the cell. She stood there, her hands squeezing in front of her, staring at Anthony like she couldn’t believe she was seeing him.
“Who’s that?” Josh whispered to no one in particular.
“My father’s last mate. I suspect he wanted to get rid of her so he could take the girl as a mate. I recognized her by her smell.” Anthony’s voice had dropped again, even though he visibly tried to be harmless.
Josh put his hand to his mouth. That cleared up the question of what had happened with the former alpha’s current mate. He’d asked himself earlier, and new hate rose toward the alpha. If he’d had any doubts whether he was doing the right thing, they flew out of the window in that moment. He wouldn’t let this continue.
“Come out. You’re free,” Anthony said cautiously when the woman didn’t move.
Her hair was messy, and her clothes looked like she’d been wearing them for some time. She hadn’t just been in this cell for a couple of days, and Josh gritted his teeth to hold back his anger. He wanted to kill the alpha, make up for the injustice he’d done.
But he forced himself to stay calm, breathed in and out deeply, then finally spoke. “I’m the future mate of the new alpha. We overpowered the old one, and he’s sitting in a cell next door. You’re really free.”
She shook her head slowly, like she couldn’t believe what she heard. It was understandable that she didn’t trust a stranger, especially a huge man like Anthony.
“Why don’t you let me do this?” Josh gently laid his hand on Anthony’s hip to draw his attention.
Anthony had other things to do, and the way Josh saw the situation, the old mate of the alpha was so intimidated that she’d do nothing while Anthony was standing in the door.
He could easily assume the old alpha hadn’t treated his mate well. If Josh had learned one thing, it was how to deal with this kind of person. He’d had enough experience with Ash.
Anthony threw him a quick look, and Josh saw the rage blaze in his eyes. He knew it wasn’t aimed at him or the alpha’s mate, but at his father.
His own father, who was a monster.
Anthony finally nodded and said, “All right. I’ll stay close and dis
cuss how we’ll go on from here.”
Josh nodded, closed his eyes, and squeezed Anthony’s hip again. His future mate took two steps back, then turned around and disappeared with almost everyone except the guard to an adjacent room.
“I think we can do this alone.” Josh wanted to get rid of the guard, too. He didn’t want anyone around him while he was talking to this woman.
The guard hesitated.
“Leave the key to this cell here and just go. I’m not gonna do anything stupid, and I’m not gonna go far from here. I just want to talk to her in peace.”
The guard shrugged. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“I’m the future mate of the new alpha. I’d recommend that my instructions be followed immediately.” Josh straightened up more as he spoke. He hated to deal with the pack like that already, but he didn’t have any other choice. Either he made his position and ranking clear now and helped this woman, or he’d fight an even harder fight once Anthony was actually alpha. He could do without that.
The guard sighed deeply once more then searched for one of the keys from the chain. He removed it and placed it in Josh’s hand. “I’m not supposed to do this, and I really hope it doesn’t cause any trouble.” He looked like he’d rather be somewhere else. His shoulders slumped and he held himself like he was trying to sink into the ground.
Josh understood that the guard was in a difficult position. Either he obeyed the old alpha and attracted the wrath of the new alpha, if Anthony did become alpha, or he obeyed the new alpha and would be punished if Anthony didn’t become alpha. It was a tough decision, but he seemed to have made up his mind.
Josh’s fingers wrapped around the cool metal. “Thank you very much. Anthony will take over the pack and will keep in mind that you followed my orders.”
The guard briefly closed his eyes and a light smile appeared on his lips. “I hope so. Thank you.” With that, he turned around and disappeared down the hall.
Josh sighed and ran his hand through his blond hair. Now to the mate who was still standing inside the cell and obviously didn’t dare leave.
Josh took a deep breath. This would be the first test before he even was the alpha’s mate. When exactly did he sign up for this job? “My best friend, Ash, is also here today, together with his new partner, who’s the brother of the new alpha. He used to be mated to another man.” Josh hesitated, figuring out how to move on. He briefly collected his thoughts. “This elder wasn’t a good man and treated Ash like he was a possession. Then he kidnapped someone to blackmail a prince. The new alpha of this pack was called, together with his colleagues, to rescue him. D, Ash’s present partner, went back and freed Ash against all rules. All he should’ve done was save Alex, the man who was kidnapped.
“But D had broken the rules, and everyone understood why he’d done it. If D hadn’t gone back, Anthony would’ve done it.” He hesitated a moment. How could he go on? The woman didn’t move. “A vampire prince is committed to changing the mating laws. They already did, but this pack hasn’t recognized them yet. I think as soon as Anthony takes over here, you’ll be completely free because no one can hold you here anymore.”
Josh took a deep breath.
“What I’m getting at is I know you’re scared. The previous alpha of this pack wasn’t a good man from what I saw. I also understand that you don’t want to leave this cell until you know that it’ll have no negative consequences. Right now, there’s nothing I can do to prove that nothing’s gonna happen to you. There’s no guarantee I can give you. I haven’t mated with Anthony yet, and he’s not the official alpha yet. But he’s defeated his father, and he’ll take this position. It’s only a matter of time before we get this all done. If you want, I’ll leave you in this cell and take the key with me. I can also just go and leave the door open. Then you can leave whenever you want.” Josh wondered what else he could say. But he couldn’t give the woman any more insurance.
“What do you mean, he beat his father? Anthony is the alpha’s son?” She sounded excited and breathless.
“Yes, he is.” Was that positive or negative? It was too dark to see her features, and Josh couldn’t read her reaction.
“I didn’t think he’d come back. Now everything will be different.” With those words, she slowly walked toward the cell door.
“You know him?”
She stayed two steps in front of him and Josh saw the tears brimming in her eyes. They were a captivating light blue, and he noticed that he’d been wrong about her age. She wasn’t as young as he’d originally believed. Her long, dark hair was messy, and she was slimmer than it was healthy. Once he had her out of that cell, he’d make sure she got something to eat and a hot shower. He had to get things moving with Anthony, but right now, it was more important to take care of this woman.
“Yes, I know him. I was already living in the pack when he was growing up. At that time I wasn’t yet the alpha’s mate. Everyone saw how he and his brother had problems submitting to the alpha, especially Anthony. He didn’t put up with anything and he got into a fight with the alpha whenever he got away with it. Whether in training fights or in things concerning the pack, these two never agreed. And I have to say, I remember Anthony as the more reasonable of both.”
“I’m sorry you’ve had to suffer so much from the alpha.” Maybe Anthony should’ve done something much sooner. Could this have been stopped years ago?
The woman took another two steps forward. “I’m glad it’s over now. That’s all that matters.” Tears glistened in her eyes, but they seemed more like tears of joy to Josh. That’d be understandable. He didn’t want to imagine what she must’ve endured as the alpha’s mate.
“Yes, it’s over now.” He held out one hand. She hesitated briefly as she looked at it, but then she took the last two steps and put her hand in his. Josh closed his fingers around it and squeezed it gently. “Now Anthony will take over, and you’ll be free, just like the rest of the pack.”
She squeezed his hand back, and for the first time a hesitant smile stretched over her lips. “I’m looking forward to it. Thank you so much for making this happen.”
“I think Anthony should’ve done this a long time ago.”
“He must’ve had his reasons not to. And all that matters is that he’s here now. What was before is in the past.” Her gaze met his, and Josh swallowed. In her eyes lay a deep wisdom, an acceptance of the things that had happened, yet still the hope for a better future. He’d completely misjudged her inner strength. When he’d first seen her in the cell, he’d thought she was just a shell of the woman she might’ve been before. Now he realized that the alpha may have owned her where the mating laws were concerned, but he’d never broken her. He never really managed to own her completely.
“I still don’t know your name.”
“It’s a little ironic when you look at the last years of my life. Or maybe it’s a sign that I should never forget what’s possible. My name is Hope.”
“A beautiful name,” whispered Josh. “Maybe it was your reminder to never give up hope. Even though I know how hard that can be.”
He pulled lightly at her hand, and this time she followed him. She stepped out of the open cell door then turned right, toward the exit.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll go to a friend I can stay with for the time being. I’d like to shower and change and eat something. If I can help you with anything about the pack afterward, I’m happy to. As a former mate of the alpha, I have insights into some things. Maybe I can help you when it comes to which of the men are loyal to the alpha and which are not.”
Josh nodded and let go of her hand. “That’d be wonderful.”
He looked at her face now in daylight. She looked thin, and deep circles lay under her eyes, but underneath was a beauty he’d misjudged before. She was probably one of the most beautiful women he’d ever met, and now he could see why the alpha had taken her as a mate. She was stunning and would be even more so when she had a shower and clean clothes.
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“It’ll be a while before we’re finished here, but afterwards I’d be very happy if we could talk. I think Anthony is going to inform the pack members after the change of power takes place. If anyone has a problem with it, we’ll sort it out. If there’s a direct attack, though, we can handle it. What’d be more important for us would be to learn about intrigues before we are stabbed in the back. Literally.”
Hope nodded. “Yes, I had the same thought. Sorting out the first bunch of rotten eggs and then the second. And what remains should be a pack that finally gets the alpha it deserves.” She smiled weakly at Josh once more, turned around, and left with her head held high.
As she disappeared from the door, Josh stared at her, lost in thoughts. There was one last step to take. Then Hope and the rest of the pack would be safe.
The more he saw of this pack, the more he understood how bad it must’ve been under the old alpha. He’d been a tyrant, and Josh certainly hadn’t seen everything that had happened here.
Leaving aside his personal feelings about the mating, Josh knew he was doing the right thing.
Together they could change the future of those shifters. He couldn’t allow them to suffer any longer. How could he turn around and close his eyes to the injustice happening here? He wasn’t a monster, and he’d seen what happened when nobody helped.
Back then, when Alex and Ash were rescued, he’d seen what it was like when someone cared – if someone did what was right, not what was expected. Life had changed for Ash, and he’d been able to start from scratch. If it was in Josh’s power to do the same for this pack, then he would.
He breathed deeply and made his way to his future mate.
Chapter 10
Anthony
* * *
Anthony, Jeremy, D, and Ash were in the middle of discussing how to deal with the alpha once Anthony was the new leader of the pack. He didn’t want to kill his own father, but he had to find a solution to get rid of him.