Stealing the Alpha’s Heart

MAHLAN

y mate was taking everything relatively well for a shifter that had been locked out of her own culture, but I could still feel that she was potentially one small breath away from launching off a cliff into a total meltdown.

I felt guilty — I did. In a perfect world, I would have wanted to wine and dine her, to win over her affections until she was breathlessly begging for my mark. Preferably with her legs wrapped around my waist. Or head, for that matter.

Instead, I had a rageful, scared mate trying to come to grips with the sudden news that the world was nothing like it was supposed to be.

Another flare of protectiveness surged through me. Who could have done this to her? Sure, shifters’ lives were fraught with danger, and it wasn’t entirely unusual for children to be orphaned, but there was always someone to take them in. A relative, if a responsible one was available. Or another close family friend. And, if need be, the alpha of the pack themselves. No matter a bear, cougar, wolf, or any other shifter, our society had no true orphans. There was always someone who would provide.

But it was incredibly obvious that no one had been there for my mate, which made my heart crumple. She deserved so much, I knew without a doubt. And I intended to give her just that.

Once she calmed down, that was.

“Like I care! Do you think I needed or wanted this? My friends are worried about having their last fun summer before adulthood and moving into college dorms. Because of you, now I have to be worried that I’ve been marked for life by some madman or a literal werewolf!”

And the whole ‘calming down’ thing didn’t seem anywhere in sight.

But before I could soothe her or explain anything more, a knock sounded on the door. For a moment, I debated using my alpha voice, but I didn’t want to abuse it. Some alphas had no problem manipulating their partners this way, lording over them with the booming command of their designation. But to me, the alpha voice was a tool, and like any tool, it should only be used in very specific situations.

So instead, I decided to use my manners and just ask nicely.

“Stay here for a moment, please. I’ll be right back.”

She seemed surprised by my soft request, which I hoped would build some trust between us. I passed by her, intending to go to the door, but I was abruptly gripped by the need to touch her. The demand for physical contact was painful, frying my nerves and making me grit my teeth.

Nothing was making sense. The only thing I could think of was that maybe whatever hid her wolf was also affecting our bond. But I wasn’t familiar with that kind of magic, nor had I ever heard of anything like it.

“Is something wrong?” she asked, voice tremulous. I sensed that it was hard for her to show any weakness at all, so I didn’t take that for granted.

“No, no, everything’s all right.”

Shaking my head, I continued crossing to the door, protectiveness rising within me once again.

Fortunately, there wasn’t any enemy at the door. Instead, it was two of my inner circle, Parker and Kaleb, both of them looking quite concerned.

“Is everything all right, alpha?” Parker blurted, ever the assertive one. “Are you safe?”

I appreciated their concern, and while I would normally remind them that I was the one who was supposed to be taking care of them, I could get behind their intent.

“You weren’t answering your phone,” Kaleb added, a bit more calmly than Parker. “When even John said he couldn’t reach you, we feared the worst.”

Damn. I’d let my new mate situation interfere with my duties as pack leader. I should have known better, especially considering our pack’s trauma with our last alpha being suddenly murdered.

I knew some alphas would posture and bluster instead of admitting a mistake, but I wasn’t going to lead like that. To me, a true alpha was able to own up to errors and fix them rather than living in denial while surrounded by yes-wolves. “Sorry, it’s charging on my nightstand.” I stepped to the side, gesturing for them to come in.

The two did, although they came up short when they saw my mate standing there, her eyes flicking between the pair uncertainly.

“Is… is it okay if we speak if she’s here?” Kaleb asked.

“Yes, continue.” I would need to explain everything that was going on, but I had the impression that they had urgent news to tell me — especially if they’d shown up at my place unannounced to deliver it.

“I’ll be straight with you, sir,” Parker started, his agitation evident. “There was an incident with another pack nearby.”

“Another pack?” I echoed with concern lancing through me. “What happened?”

“Someone attacked three of their female pack members who were out to dinner together. One of them is missing.”

Rage and shock imploded in my chest. I was only the head alpha in our territory for less than a day, but I took my duty to the city seriously. However, I fought to keep my voice steady. Parker and Kaleb were visibly upset, and I wanted to exude strength and calmness. “Do we have any leads? Witnesses?”

“The girls can’t give much of a description. It’s like their memories of the whole night have been erased.”

I paused at that, my mind spinning. “Do you think they were mesmerized?”

“We don’t know. Could have been thralled, mesmerized, or who knows!” Parker blurted, cheeks colored. “The only thing we could get from them was that they were out with a witch.”

“A witch?” I practically snapped. “Who? What kind of magic is she aligned with?”

“We don’t know that either because she was taken along with their packmate.”

I took a steady breath in, then out, collecting myself.

“And where are these other girls?”

“They’re in an infirmary being tended to by their pack’s alma. They’re pretty shaken up.”

“I can understand that. Can we send our alma to help tend to them?”

Both Kaleb and Parker seemed surprised at that, and unsurprisingly, it was Parker who answered first. “We could do that, we just need to wake her up.”

“Then get on it. And I will send a request for an audience with their alpha once the dust has settled. We need to work together if someone is targeting shifters out in the open.”

“Yes, alpha!”

Parker looked ready to run out at my command, but Kaleb cleared his throat. “I know a lot going on right now, but your meeting with the alphas yesterday…”

“Yes?”

“Is there any news about our pack?”

He was right; a lot was happening all at once. Somehow, I’d completely forgotten that I needed to update everyone in my pack on the alpha meeting.

Oh, and that I’d defeated Cyprus in battle. That small factoid was probably important.

“I swear in next week, but without the moonstone, it’s going to be a lot harder.”

“We may need to expedite that process then if this situation escalates. But maybe we’ll get lucky, and all of this will help push things to the forefront.”

I nodded, my lips pressed tight. I knew that asking for a b***d oath was an incredibly important and weighty thing among wolves, so it wasn’t something I wanted to drop in passing. Such a thing would bind us beyond normal pack affiliation, strengthening both me and my control over them.

It would be incredibly easy to abuse that kind of power. I knew that I wouldn’t, that it would go against everything I stood for, but they were still going out on a branch to trust me with that kind of intimacy.

I could sense my mate slowly edging closer as we talked, and every now and then, Parker and Kaleb would glance over to her. I admired that they were holding their curiosity back and refraining from asking questions.

“You can come closer,” I said soothingly, offering a hand to her. “We won’t bite.”

She shot me a scathing look, and I realized that probably wasn’t the best choice of words. Nevertheless, she did come closer.

“This is Parker and Kaleb, two of my packmates. Parker, Kal, this is my mate, uh-”

Wait. Did I not ask my mate for her name?

The thought filled me with embarrassment, and I could only hope that my cheeks weren’t a brilliant red. “What did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t,” she answered wryly. She was a firecracker, that was for sure, but I liked that. For a moment, I wondered if she wasn’t going to tell me at all, but for some reason, her face softened. “But it’s Lyssa.”

“Right. This is Lyssa, my mate.”

To my surprise, neither reacted strongly, instead just nodding their heads. “We could smell as much,” Kal said calmly.

“Right, of course you could.” Quickly recovering, I moved right along. “Once you finish those first two tasks, why don’t you get in contact with our inner pack members for a meeting? And John, naturally.”

“Yes, alpha!”

“Oh, and we’ll need a witch for what we must do.”

“A witch?”

“Yeah, can we source one?”

“I think I know one who could help,” Kaleb offered.

“Excellent. You two get on that.”

The two tipped their heads and then quickly exited, leaving just my mate and me.

Lyssa.

“I know you just got here, but I don’t want any secrets from you. I want you to see how everything works.” After all, how could I expect her to believe that I was telling the truth if I didn’t tell her the truth?

“I’m just, well, I’m really overwhelmed.” She looked so worried that I wanted to take her into my arms and comfort her. But I realized that it wasn’t the right time or place. Lyssa, my mate, my beautiful mate, needed time to figure things out. After all, it wasn’t every day that a person was suddenly confronted with the entire magical world.

“I didn’t plan to mark you, you know. I wish I had more time to explain everything and give you the chance to get to know me first.”

“Why do it then?”

I frowned. Hadn’t I already explained that? Perhaps I wasn’t as clear as I thought, or I’d used too much pack-lingo. That was something that I’d have to be cautious about until Lyssa got more acclimated.

“I couldn’t let another man, let alone another alpha, hurt you. And Cyprus was very much going to hurt you.” I couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. “You know, I could barely focus on my dinner with all the alphas. I’m lucky I own the building, otherwise, I probably would have run into a wall.”

“Wait, you what? You own the building I’m squa-, uh… staying at?”

“Yeah, that’s how I know this is fate. What are the chances of my mate being a tenant in one of the buildings I own?”

But instead of laughing, Lyssa almost looked uncomfortable. “That’s kinda the thing. I’m not.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, you see, I, uh… I’m kinda, maybe, sorta, possibly…” her voice faded to barely more than a whisper. “…squatting there.”

She was squatting? Did that mean she was homeless? The idea horrified me, but I knew we couldn’t get into it with everything else.

But if she was homeless, it would certainly lend to my whole ‘she was abandoned’ theory. No wonder she had so much spark and fight. How long had she been on her own? Providing for herself when someone else should have been there to help her.

“We can discuss this later,” was all I said instead. To my relief, she nodded. “For now, I’m going to get dressed for an inner circle pack meeting.”

“I guess I’ll, uh, wear this?” She gestured to her dress, which was reasonably clean considering all it had gone through the day before. “That sounds good.” But at the same time, in my head, I was resolved to buy her an entire wardrobe as soon as we had a chance.

It didn’t take me long to get ready, and I was pleased to see that Lyssa hadn’t fled. She had to believe me somewhat if she wasn’t trying to launch herself out the nearest window.

“You don’t get car sick or anything, do you?” It wasn’t entirely unusual among shifters. We were much more connected to the moon and the earth than humans, and sometimes using artificial transportation could make shifters headachy or nauseous. Thankfully, I wasn’t one of those poor souls, but I hoped my new mate wasn’t either.

“Uh, no. I’m fine with cars.”

“Perfect. Let’s go.”

I led her out of my place and down to the garage. Usually, I’d have John drive me for pack meetings, but I wanted to get behind the wheel. Everything was moving so fast that I needed to be in control for a little while, just cruising down the freeway.

And I was grateful that Lyssa didn’t object to following along. If I could go a day or two without chasing down my new mate, that would be great.

“Holy batmobile. What are you, Bruce Wayne?”

“Pardon?” As we approached my sports car, I looked over my shoulder to see Lyssa staring with abject shock.

“Uh, this is a really nice car, that’s all.”

“You a car person?”

“No, I’ve just been around enough to know a nice one when I see it.” There was a bit of a slant to the wry grin she sent me, and I could feel myself being charmed by her. I could tell there was a whole sparkling personality behind the walls she built up. I couldn’t wait to ease her worries until she was willing to show me the true her.

“I see. Here, let me get the door for you.”

It was probably silly, but I felt a surge of satisfaction as I helped her into the car. It was a small thing, but I was finally aiding my mate. However, I heard a strange gurgle-wheezing sound almost as soon as I got into the car.

“Was… was that your stomach?” I asked, looking incredulously at Lyssa. She was a relatively small thing for her middle to make a noise that wasn’t that far from a dying animal.

“Sorry,” she said, blushing so cutely that I almost wanted to k**s her right then and there. “I guess I’m a little hungry.”

But as smitten as I was with the adorable blush across her face, a concerning suspicion rose up to meet it. “When was the last time you ate?”

“Oh, not too long ago. I had an apple yesterday for breakfast at school.”

That wasn’t too long? I clenched the steering wheel, wondering what her life was where a single piece of fruit over twenty-four hours ago wasn’t “too long.” Once we had a chance, I would take her to every nice restaurant I could.

“After the meeting, we’ll get you something to eat. You think you can hold on that long?”

Lyssa just shrugged. “Yeah, it’s no big deal. I’ve gone way longer without; you don’t gotta worry.”

Except that made me worry. I definitely needed to get her belly full of delicious food as soon as possible.

But I did my best to play it cool. It was clear that Lyssa was used to taking care of herself and putting on a strong front. If I tried to mother-hen her right off the bat, she would close herself off entirely to me. And to be completely frank, I was enjoying the tiny cracks in her defense that she was already showing me.

I glanced at her face as I pulled out, and I could tell she wanted to ask something. “Is there something you want to know?”

I almost expected her to deny it, but instead, she nodded again. “Yeah, I guess I was wondering. Well… what’s next?”

Yet again, I was confronted with a surprise from her asking about something that was obvious to me. It was something I would have to become accustomed to.

“We’ll figure that out together. But if I’m completely transparent, you’re pretty much stuck with me.” I meant it humorously, but Lyssa didn’t react. She just sat there silently as I turned onto the main drag.

I wanted to ask her a million and one questions, to tell her I was just trying to inject a little levity into our situation. But I understood that she was probably suffering from a whole lot of too much, too fast. She had to be stressed up to her gills, and without her inner wolf as an anchor in our tumultuous world, I didn’t know how she remained so calm.

She didn’t know it, but it was like someone had cut off one of her arms or stolen her thumbs, then convinced her that she was supposed to be that way. She was living a half-life compared to how it should have been, her identity, culture, and people stolen from her.

But I would ensure that whatever was hurting her or holding her wolf captive was dealt with so she could finally be her true self.

After the pack meeting, of course.

The urge to comfort her curled through my middle, my inner wolf pacing within me. It didn’t like the idea of someone attacking shifters just having a night out, and it especially didn’t like what was going on with our mate. It wanted her fed, happy, and wrapped up in so many soft things that she turned into a cozy lump instead of the very anxious woman beside me.

“I’m sorry all this is hitting you at warp speed. But I promise it will get easier.”

She just nodded at that. I got the sense that I wasn’t going to get much conversation from her, so although it pained me, I eased off on the talking. She needed time to process, and as her alpha, it was my job to respect that.

It didn’t take us long to reach the office, although there were already some people there. I recognized Ellibie’s beat-up old pickup truck, as well as the whip that Parker and Kaleb shared. John pulled in a slight beat after I did, and we parked next to each other.

“How is the young lady doing?” John asked as he exited the vehicle, his eyes going past me to where Lyssa was sitting in the car.

“Why don’t you ask her yourself?” I said, crossing around to open her door for her, pleased that she waited inside patiently for me to do so. I knew I could have answered for her, but I wanted to give Lyssa more agency in what was going on. She’d been snatched out of her life without warning, which wasn’t easy for anyone. I was sure the more personal responsibility and freedom I could give her, the faster she would adapt. Besides, the last thing I wanted her to feel was trapped. That would be pretty antithetical to the whole us trusting each other as mates.

“Lyssa,” I said, offering my hand to help her out. When she took it, it took quite a bit of self-control not to preen right then and there. My whole body lit up with interest as we touched again, and I knew there was a pleased smile on my face. “This is John. John, this is Lyssa.”

“Lyssa, that’s a lovely name,” he said, offering his hand for a shake. “How are you doing, miss?”

“Oh, ya know, dealing with my entire world inverting and finding out my future has been completely hijacked. A bit peckish. I need to brush my teeth. So ya know, a typical Saturday.”

That pushed a surprised chuckle out of me, and John beamed as he looked between the two of us. “Well, we can probably fix two of those pretty quickly. Not the whole world part. That’s a bit more complicated.”

“You’re telling me.”

I couldn’t describe the contentment that coursed through me seeing Lyssa interacting so breezily with John. The terrified woman ready to flee was quickly fading, allowing her to comfortably communicate with members of my pack. It was almost more than I could ask for.

Naturally, John wasn’t the only one who was curious. I was sure the other pack members were interested in who the strange woman rolling up with their alpha was if they hadn’t heard from Parker or Kaleb directly.

Well, Parker, if I was being honest. Kaleb wasn’t one for gossip. The two were such a funny pair, one high-strung and sociable while the other was more collected and full of social anxiety. But they balanced each other well, as it were.

“Aye there, Alpha Reese,” that was Ellibie, basically our pack’s mother who wasn’t actually a mother. She was a middle-aged Southern woman who’d been adopted into our pack when she’d run away to our city at the ripe old age of fourteen. She worked as a mechanic, and although she’d never had any biological children, she was the de facto babysitter, orphan raiser, and otherwise fun auntie that was always ready to throw down whenever a kid was involved. I had plenty of pleasant memories with her, from sleepovers when she was caring for Parker while his human father was dealing with cancer treatments to the summer trips she’d take us on down to a swimming hole outside of the city.

Some scoffed at the silver-haired, almost fifty-something woman without so much as a GED being in my inner circle, but they didn’t get Ellibie. She was more valuable than her weight in moonstones.

“Who’s this pretty young shifter you’ve got here with you?”

“Ellibie, this is my mate, Lyssa. Lyssa, this is Ellibie. She’s a crackpot mechanic and half the reason my car looks so nice.”

“Nah, half the reason is your fat wallet, but I ‘ppreciate the compliment.” Ellibie offered her hand for a shake and Lyssa took it happily, pleasing me and my wolf even more. “I can tell you’ve got backbone already. You’ll need it, dealing with us.”

“Yeah, I’m getting that impression,” Lyssa answered in her charmingly sarcastic way. Or maybe it was just sarcastic, and I was already far too lost on her. It was easy to feel myself falling more head over heels for her by the moment. I was pretty sure that the only thing keeping me from being completely gone was the sting of her prior rejection lingering just below that happy surface.

Ellibie continued to talk, but I caught sight of Theo approaching. He was one of my two choices for beta, my right-hand man, once John fully retired. He was as loyal as he was serious, and I appreciated that.

“Alpha,” he stated, approaching me with a woman at his side. That had to be the witch that Kaleb was talking about. I was more than grateful that she was able to help at the last minute.

But that was the thing about witches, it was hard to know exactly who they were helping. Sometimes it seemed like they were approaching with laurels in their hand only to end up using those same leaves to curse a tribe.

I shifted slightly in front of Lyssa on instinct, but if she thought anything about it, she didn’t comment.

“Alpha Reese, your men have told me all about you,” the witch said, tipping her head. “Happy to be of service to you and your pack.”

“We are most appreciative that you could fill in for our usual contact.”

“Ah yes, I believe I’m familiar with him. He’s on a pilgrimage with his coven now, yes?”

“As, far as we know.”

She nodded, tilting her head to Lyssa and Ellibie. “Greetings, sisters.”

“Uh… hi?”

“Howdy, sweetums.”

Although it wasn’t necessary, I liked that the witch was equally polite to my pack members. I hated when people would show me one face and then disrespect members of my shifter family.

“Shall we go inside and complete the ceremony?”

“Yes,” I answered. “But first, I need to explain everything. My pack must agree willingly.”

“You know we’ll follow you to the ends of the Earth,” Theo interrupted, his voice grave. Granted, his voice was always fairly grave. As a gray wolf, his demeanor was similar to the icy tundra his ancestors came from. I never minded, but I knew some found him especially frigid. I preferred to think that he was just intense.

“I would never question your loyalty, but I want everyone’s informed consent. No questions.”

“Of course, alpha.”

“Always knew ya were gonna be a fair one,” Ellibie said, already striding towards the door in her no-nonsense way. “Let’s get on with gettin’ on then.”

She and the rest of the pack headed inside, Lyssa pressing close to my side. Was she already looking towards me as a source of comfort or protection? The thought made my chest rumble in a very particular way.

A few moments later, I found myself standing in front of the inner circle of my pack, their eyes attentive as they waited for me to speak. I would eventually need to have the farther-flung and less involved pack members agree to the b***d agreement, but all of that would come in time.

“As all of you know, our pack’s moonstone was stolen, leaving nothing for you to swear on when you pledge your fealty to me, your new alpha.”

“The way I figure it, we don’t need a stone to be loyal to ya,” Ellibie said. “Buncha pomp and circumstance that ain’t really needed.”

“While I agree with you, the other alphas don’t, and considering the recent strife that’s been going on, they’re nervous about not having any celestial object to swear on.”

“So, what do we do?” Theo asked.

“The other pack leaders were amenable to a b***d pact.”

“Ahhh, so that’s why you brought the witchy woman.” That was Jacobian, the last of my inner circle. We’d grown up together, and I trusted him implicitly.

“Yes. That is why. Now I’m not going to force any of you to do this, nor will there be consequences if you refuse to. But this is the best way for us to move forward with equal standing to the other packs.”

I didn’t mention the whole part about me defeating Cyprus and changing the power structure of everything. One thing at a time.

“I’ll do whatever is needed,” Theo said, stepping forward.

“As will I,” Kaleb added.

“Me too! I’m down.” That was Parker, naturally.

Ellibie, John, and Jacobian followed suit, filling me with the strongest sense of pack I’d had in a long time.

Everyone in the room was deeply important to me. We were all connected, by our b***d, by the moon, and now by our explicit choice. I was incredibly proud that they all chose me, trusted me, and I internally vowed never to take advantage of that gift.

“If everyone is in agreement, should I begin?” the witch asked.

“You may,” I said, stepping to the side and rejoining Lyssa, who had been standing to the side watching everything proceed. I couldn’t quite read the expression on her face, but she didn’t look too alarmed.

“Someone turn off the lights, please, and everyone join hands in front of me.”

Parker rushed to do what the witch said, then we all joined hands as she placed five candles on the floor and lit them one by one. Standing, she faced us with a stern visage.

“Shifters before me, you have come to swear your lives to your alpha. To take in his b***d and bind your own b***d to his. You will be one unit, one soul, faceted in many vessels.”

At that, she reached into one of the pouches at her belt and pulled out five small flowers. I recognized them as lupine blossoms and tried not to chuckle at the connection. Would she have to use catnip if working with cougar or lion shifters?

Thankfully the witch didn’t notice my amusement and instead dropped one flower into each candle. Smoke instantly began to stream up from it before wrapping around each of us. I didn’t fidget like some of the others, but I felt an unnatural discomfort from the magic’s touch.

“Alpha Reese, step forward and bequeath your pack of your body.”

I did so, placing my hand in her awaiting one. Next out of her pouch was a small dagger, which she used to cut across my palm.

“It is with your hand that you generously give, and it is with this same hand that you must protect, cherish, and nurture your pack. Should this hand move to harm and break their bonds, may it wither and turn to ash.”

I always thought such wounds were stupid. Hands bled fairly shallowly, and I needed to use them for all sorts of things. it was an unnecessary risk to have a gash in it for a day or so while my inner wolf healed it. But it was pretty clear by the witch’s words that it had to be from my palm.

Then again, that was certainly how magic seemed to work. Overwrought, not very practical, and pretty inconvenient.

With b***d welling up in my hand, ruby red and smelling of both earth and iron, she turned it sideways so the vibrant crimson dripped into a chalice she’d pulled from who knew where.

Strangely enough, even though I didn’t have a drop of witch, sorceress, shaman, or any magic user in my lineage, I could still feel the press of it all around us. A small gasp from Lyssa told me I wasn’t alone in sensing the power beginning to coalesce in our office.

“Do you give this offering willingly, alpha? And do you swear your mind, body, soul, and energies to your pack?”

“I swear it,” I said.

She let go of my hand only to pull a vial from a different pouch attached to her utility belt. If there was one thing I admired about witches, it was their plethora of pockets.

“It is with these moon tears that we seal your b***d to her power and your people. You shall be their moonstone, channeling her will and energies.”

She upended the vial into the chalice, swirling it a couple of times, before she approached one end of our little semi-circle. She offered Theo the goblet first, tilting it towards his mouth.

“Drink and bind yourself to your alpha and pack.”

Theo didn’t hesitate even a beat, taking a gulp. “I bind myself willingly.”

The witch nodded gravely, then moved on to Ellibie, who mirrored Theo. “I bind myself willingly.”

One by one, they went until my entire inner circle had consumed the mixture of my b***d and moon tears.

The entire time I could feel Lyssa watching us curiously. Although I couldn’t entirely read her, I could tell she wasn’t disgusted, which seemed pretty significant.

Standing back at the center of the group, the witch set the chalice on the floor and then clapped her hand.

“Together as one, a hydra of many fangs and claws, you are now bound. Honor your ancestors and prosper under your sworn alpha!”

With another clap of her hands, all the candles went off at once, cloaking us in darkness. There was a long silence, none of us knowing what to do until the witch cleared her throat.

“Um… that’s pretty much it. You can turn the lights on now.”

Parker was the one to rush to do that, and I had to blink against the harshness of the lights when they flickered on. My eyes adjusted quickly, as shifter eyes tended to, and I found everyone looking at me expectantly.

Huh, were they expecting a speech? Actually, that was probably appropriate considering the situation.

Stepping forward, I turned to address my inner circle.

“I know this past year has been hard for us, with the insidious attack on our previous alpha and the theft of our stone. But I will find the people responsible and make sure they come to justice!” There was a murmur of approval all around, and that fueled me. “But now we are united stronger than ever before. Our lineage will remember this as our pack’s true age of prosperity!”

“Long live our alpha! Long live our pack!”

A chorus of cheers sounded from my inner circle, a wonderful crescendo to the ritual. It lasted perhaps a minute before slowly fading to its natural conclusion.

“Thank you, all of you. Now go home and get some rest.”

But shifter culture was a lot like Southern culture in that we were still in for maybe an hour or so of talking, saying that we should go, then talking more until we actually left.

“Theo,” I said, gesturing him closer. “This is Lyssa, my mate. Lyssa, this is my best friend, Theo.”

“I will protect you as if you were my alpha himself,” Theo said, tipping his head. Lyssa’s eyes went wide as she looked from me to him.

“Don’t worry, Theo just likes to cut to the chase. I’ll keep you out of danger.”

“It’s true. Alpha Reese is incredibly protective of everyone in his charge. He’s saved my life more than once.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” I huffed.

“Right, because chasing off a bear when I was just a pup and taking a wolfsbane dagger for me isn’t a big deal.”

At that, Lyssa’s eyes grew wider, and her face lost its pallor. I didn’t want her to think that our lives were just war and horror, but I wasn’t going to lie to her either.

“He’s making it sound more dramatic than it was. When he was younger he got a bee up his bonnet about proving himself and tried to challenge a bear.”

“A bear?” Lyssa repeated. “A real, honest-to-God, actual bear?”

Theo shrugged. “It seemed like an appropriate target to prove myself.”

“He was a late shifter,” I mock whispered to Lyssa. “Couldn’t change into his inner wolf until he was eighteen.”

“Exactly, I was foolhardy and would have had my head handed to me if it weren’t for Mahlan running in and blindsiding it.”

Lyssa looked a little less terrified, and some color returned to her cheeks. “You mentioned a dagger? With, uh, wolfsbane? Is that dangerous?”

“Unfortunately, the legends are true about that hurting us. It causes terrible anaphylactic responses and can even close up airways and poison b***d.” Geez, Theo really wasn’t helping. I didn’t want Lyssa to be scared of releasing her inner wolf before knowing all the good things she was missing.

“We were in a fight with a renegade pack of exiles trying to cut through our territory, and they had a few warlocks with them who armed themselves with wolfsbane blades. I thought I was a goner, but Mahlan took a slice for me and then ended the guy.”

“Warlock? Like a male witch?”

“Actually,” the witch said, looking up from where she was cleaning up after her ritual. “Being a witch has nothing to do with gender. It’s a magic style. Warlocks are magic users who don’t use any particular class of magic, but rather pledge their souls to a celestial or demonic being in exchange for power.”

“Wait, like some sort of magical sugar baby?” Lyssa asked.

The witch froze at that, and I nearly choked on the chuckle that burst out of my throat. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d wanted to laugh so hard.

“I suppose you could say that.”

“Oy, she’s gonna be a fun one,” Ellibie said, waving as she passed by. “But all of you young people can keep on talking. I’m gonna get home to my cats and my warm bed.”

“Sounds good, Ellibie. We’ll see you around.”

“That you will. And now that you’ve got a mate, maybe you can get on making some more babies for me to spoil rotten.”

I felt Lyssa stiffen behind me and glared very meaningfully at the mechanic. “Goodnight, Ellibie.”

“Just sayin’ what I was thinking! Night, alpha, goodnight, Lyssa!”

“Goodnight,” Lyssa answered uncertainly.

“Actually, I believe I shall leave too,” the witch said evenly. “Thank you for trusting me with such an important task. Feel free to call on me again.”

“Noted,” I answered.

That left just Jacobian, Theo, Parker, Kaleb, and me. Oh, and of course Lyssa, but she certainly wasn’t going to be joining any strategic planning.

“Now that we’re all together and sworn, Theo, do you have an update on that company?”

“Yes, alpha. I have a date for us to meet with the CEO, but we’ll need a plan for once we’re in.”

I smiled at that, satisfaction coiling in my middle. “Believe it or not, I have an idea. We have a sort of secret weapon.”

“Secret weapon?”

“Yeah, we’ll need someone on the inside, but I know someone perfectly skilled to get the keys.”

“Really?” Parker asked, looking quite enthused. “Who?”

I looked to Lyssa, hoping she could feel the pride I had for her skill. “My mate here is an excellent pickpocket. She made it past five alphas without getting caught.”

Once more, Lyssa’s eyes shot incredibly wide. “Me? What? What’s going on?”

“We need a key card into the CEO’s office of a company we’re investigating, someone cunning enough to get it while everyone else is busy in a meeting without being noticed.”

“Why would you need something like that? What sort of investigation?” Her eyes began to rapidly flick between us, and I recognized that was what she did when she was sizing up threats. I didn’t want to be a threat to her, so I raised my hands slightly and took a step back.

“We believe this company has info on the man who murdered our last alpha and stole our moonstone.”

“Oh…” Her expression turned conflicted at that, and I hoped it meant that she understood at least a little.

“Having a pickpocket could be key, but I still think we need to get someone on their payroll to watch and research from within.”

“Do you have a suggestion for the role?”

“How about that intern, Addison? She already works with your finance team, right? She could probably do that over there, and you know how she is, she — could probably do cartwheels around there unnoticed.”

Parker had a point. Addison was a tiny, slight thing with coke-bottle glasses and a sense of style that went out sometimes between the fifties and sixties. She was smart as a whip, though, and acutely aware of the fact that she needed a cane in her human form made most people more than ready to discredit or ignore her.

I remembered pitying her once when I’d first met her. But then I saw her walk into a rival pack’s main hangout, stay in there for about half an hour, then come out carrying a to-go box and phone full of incriminating pictures without so much as batting an eye. Human and shifter culture could be terrible about that.

But hey, if that perception could work in our favor…

“That’s an excellent idea, but Jacobian, I want you to review all of our interns and make the final selection. You’re more acquainted with subterfuge than I am.”

“Yes, alpha.”

It hadn’t always been like that. When Sawyer was alpha, he’d had his own finance team for the pack that he and he alone had owned. When I was being groomed to take over in his footsteps — although the plan was for when he retired, not for when he was viciously murdered — I’d decided I wanted something else entirely, so I’d set it up so that my inner circle and I had an ownership stake in the pack financials. Well, except for Ellibie, but that was by her choice. Apparently, she had zero desire for anything like that and said if we were so inclined to throw money around just to mail her a check for raising our asses.

I’d been well aware that she said it mostly as a joke and did quite well as a mechanic, but that didn’t stop me from sending her those checks anyway.

“You guys have your own financial team?” Lyssa asked uncertainly.

“We own a lot of real estate and work with several large companies,” I answered honestly. Even so, I certainly didn’t expect her to nearly snort at the information.

“Werewolf businessmen. Now I’ve seen everything.”

“She knows we’re shifters, right?” Jacobian questioned, his eyebrows furrowed. “There’s no such thing as werewolves.”

“We’ll discuss that later,” I said quickly. “For now, we should all get back to the tasks at hand. Needless to say, I won’t be in the office today, so email me if there are any issues.”

Nods all around, and this time there wasn’t all the usual chitchat that came after a goodbye. As the rest of my inner circle left, I offered my hand to Lyssa.

“I believe I promised something along the lines of a full meal?”

At that, her pensive face cracked open into a genuinely excited expression. Food really was the key ingredient to romance. “You most certainly did.”

“Come, I’ll order delivery to my place, and we can cook it together when we get there.”

I tried to rein in my expectations, but the soft, sweet smile she sent me while looking up through her lashes almost made me howl right then and there. Some people went their whole lives without having someone look at them like that.

Well, thankfully, I’d have a whole lifetime to experience that over and over again.

Oh, yeah, I was definitely going to spoil the hell out of my mate.