Beaufort Creek Shifters (10 book series)
The Wolf’s Forced Mate Chapter 2

Leah

Nothing had changed about Beaufort Creek other than the fact that the neighborhood had gotten a paint job. Shifters wandered between buildings, lingering near the edge of the road with their curious eyes fixed on me-and the toddler I bounced on my hip. Security wouldn't let me drive my car through here. That was something that had changed too. But it was a good change-a welcome change. Considering I had a three-year-old daughter, I felt better bringing her around the suburban streets knowing that she wouldn't get mauled by a car. But we had other things to worry about now, didn't we? We had a brand new alpha to greet and old hurts to reckon with. It wasn't necessarily bad to come back. But it wasn't necessarily great either.

I hadn't exactly left on great terms.

Even now, that awful and embarrassing memory bubbled to the surface, caught in wisps of ancient spiderwebs that threatened to choke me.

If you can't give me my kids, Tanner had said, then I want nothing to do with you.

So loud. So public.

The entire pack heard us arguing outside his townhome. His mother attended too, her smug smile sending me packing the moment I was rejected. The two of them had always wanted kids-of their own blood, of course. Nothing else would do for such a high and mighty family.

My daughter wrapped her little fingers around my beaded necklace. The teal stones gleamed in the hazy summer light.

She tugged my necklace. "Mommy?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Where are we?"

I sighed. "We're home, honey. This is where Mommy was born."

"Oh, are these the wolves?"

I nodded. "And bears. And owls. And panthers. And tigers."

"Oh, goodness."

Giggles burst from me. There wasn't a child in this world who could make me laugh like my sweet Inez. Her most recent catchphrase had developed with her curiosity. No book was left untouched. No surface remained clear of puzzles, blocks, coloring books, and construction paper. She was skilled at just about everything that a three-year-old could master. And then some.

I bounced Inez to adjust her position. "Silly girl. I can't wait for you to meet my old friends."

"Friends?"

"Yep. Mommy has friends." My spirit sank. I dropped my voice to an inaudible whisper. "I mean, once upon a time..." Once upon a time, I thought self-consciously, I had a whole pack behind me. Now? I'm not so sure.

The faces around me appeared void of emotion. It made me shrink into myself.

They don't look excited to see me.

After Edward had disappeared and left us alone in that gigantic city, I'd had no other choice but to pack the car and head to the only place I knew-Beaufort Creek, South Carolina. The swampy heat and salty air all coalesced, reminding me of late nights spent on the shores with my toes wiggling in the cool sand.

Tanner would sit with me by the water and sing Sinatra. It was terrible caterwauling, but entertaining enough to lift my spirits.

Those same spirits were now thoroughly buried under the earth upon which I walked.

A drop of rain smacked my forehead. Another came. And then another. A restless curtain broke open suddenly, pelting me as I darted through the abrupt rain to the nearest porch. Inez laughed uncontrollably as I dropped the duffel bag and shook the droplets from my hair. "Ugh, the dye is going to run," I complained. My eyes bulged. "Crap, whose porch did we just bomb?"

The screen door squealed open, drawing the attention of my daughter and me. We were like two burglars caught red-handed. Stiff as boards with our arms straightened at our sides as if that would help us get off a little easier from our impending punishment. Until I recognized the woman standing in the doorway. My heart raced as a massive smile cut across my lips. "Brandi!" She jumped onto the porch and scooped me from the ground. "Leah!"

Inez bounced, eager to join the affectionate embrace regardless of how confused she was by the encounter. Her chanting cut through the glorious bellow that Brandi had released.

It wasn't even words at this point. It was phonetic sounds. It was growling. It was silly laughter shared between teenage girls who had just painted their toenails a vivid coral pink. Like the ocean-that was how Brandi and I wanted to be together. Oceanic and wondrous and free.

She held my hands, her glistening skin much like her brother's save for the spattering of copper freckles all over her nose. Her cloudlike hair sprang around her face, flowers clipped in various places. Bright green eyes hosted a silver sheen like dyed moonlight. "Your hair!" she gasped. "Ah, the auburn. Ah, the ombre. Ah, the time we've been apart-it's been forever! Where the heck have you been?"

Inez patted Brandi's hand. Brandi startled for a second, retracting her hand, causing the gold bangles around her wrist to clink together.

"Cute kid." Brandi dropped to her knees. "She's the spitting image of you. Leah, did you...?"

I sighed with defeat. "I sure did."

"And she's...?"

"Just mine. And Edward's." I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest. I was suddenly so cold. "He's gone, though."

"Daddy left," Inez announced.

There was no use lying to my kid about her father. He had taken off in the middle of the night without warning and left us with a crummy two-bedroom apartment and a mountain of debt. No beating around the bush. Inez needed to be prepared for the real world. That meant she needed to be prepared to be disappointed.

She's so young. There's no need for her to learn like this.

Brandi scooped Inez into her arms as she had just done with me. Inez smiled brightly and tapped Brandi's nose. "Dots."

"Those are my birth dots. Like 'em?"

Inez giggled. "I don't have dots."

"Nope. You got smooth skin like your mama here."

"What's your name?"

Brandi grinned. "You can call me Brandi. What's yours, gorgeous?"

"Inez. Like ee-nez."

Brandi elongated the pronunciation while shuffling along the porch, appearing so content with my daughter that I didn't want to interrupt them. Not in the least. It was such a welcome sight. It was a welcome feeling. I hadn't forgotten Brandi at all. I just hadn't exactly thought of her on purpose either.

I chaffed my arm. "Listen, I know it's been a while, but-"

Brandi held up a hand. "Shush. I don't want to hear it. Come inside."

"But what about your mom-?"

"She doesn't live with me anymore." She winked. "For good reason too. She was a C blocker if you know what I mean." She glanced at Inez with a rosy hue to her cheeks and chuckled bashfully. "I'll tell your mama about that later. Not for kid ears." "How's uh...?" I didn't want to say his name as I crossed the threshold. But I couldn't ignore that either. History had a way of surfacing without effort. "You know, your brother?"

Brandi sighed as she set Inez on the couch. She grabbed a few magazines from the coffee table and set them next to my daughter. Inez jumped at the opportunity to look at colorful words and pictures. That was good enough for me. My feet were aching. Once I sank into the couch opposite them, my entire body screamed with a familiar ache.

And not the good ache either.

"You know him," Brandi mumbled. "He's back and forth."

"Still fixing that schooner?"

She snorted. "He fixed the schooner and then took off." She waved her hand. "Poof."

"Wow, I didn't think that would ever happen."

"Didn't think he'd come back either, but he's here."

I bolted upright. "He's here in the house?"

She waved for me to settle down. "No, honey. He's up at the mansion with the big boys minus that bully dragon jerk."

"I see old habits die hard."

"Milton is a meanie head with a hard-on for-"

I shushed her and pointed at Inez.

Brandi covered her mouth, blushing. "Sorry, honey. You know I never quite got the hang of having a filter."

"It's no big deal. I just don't want her picking up too much slang."

"I get it." She smiled at Inez, reaching out to point to one of the magazine pictures. "I gave him horns and a tail. What do you think?"

I leaned forward to see what she was referencing-and nearly lost my sides from laughing so hard. In the center of the page stood Milton Kane, the billionaire dragon CEO of whatever-he-was-doing-now, looking like a million bucks.

Except for the devil horns and tail that Brandi had so artistically added to his picture. In a delicious bright red that I had to admire.

"Brandi, you're awful," I teased through my remaining chuckles. I coughed and cleared my throat. "History, right?"

"If he ever shows his face around here-"

I shook my head. "You know he's still part of the pack."

"Speaking of, so are you. Where've you been, honey?"

I shrank deeper into the couch. "I don't know. The city. Here and there."

"City?"

"I was in Spartanburg for a while. Then Greenville. We even hopped up to Asheville for a bit."

She whistled. "All over, huh?"

"Edward just couldn't keep a job. We had to keep moving to avoid debt collectors. It was such a mess. Especially after"-I pointed at Inez-"her birth."

Brandi offered a sympathetic frown. "I can't imagine what you've been through."

"I wish it wasn't like this, but..." I trailed off and tapped my chin. "I guess it's better than being homeless."

"I can't believe that man left you. A shifter's honor is-"

My entire face bloomed with heat.

I was a tomato, wasn't I? It was written all over Brandi's face. She saw my embarrassment as clearly as I felt it.

Her features sank. "Honey, no."

"Unfortunately..."

"Don't tell me he was-"

My shoulders slouched forward. "Yes, he was human."

"Leah."

"What? It happens, okay? It wouldn't have been the first hybrid pairing in this pack."

She sighed. "It probably won't be the last either."

"What? You too?"

She shook her head, wrinkling her nose. "Ew, no! I'm just saying that you're not the only one. Just..."

"Just currently the only one."

"Tanner is probably throwing a fit right now."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't care what he thinks. Inez is a medical miracle and I'm glad she came into my life."

Sweet affection poured into Brandi's expression as she observed me. Her lopsided smile reminded me of hot summer nights around a fire. "I remember when Dr. Windsor-" She shuddered. I shared her reaction. "Yeah, it was hard."

"Well, I'm glad you have her. She's wonderful." She turned to Inez who was absorbed by the science magazine. "Smart, isn't she?"

"Very smart."

"Speaking of smart, the three of us better get up to the community center."

I frowned. "Why? Do I need to sign in like a visitor or something?"

She shook her head. "No, Elva just texted me. Blake called a meeting."

"Who's Blake?"

"Sheesh, you really have been gone too long." She smiled brightly while standing up. "Come on. Let's grab some sandwiches before we walk over there. You have a lot to catch up on." Boy, did I ever.

***

What used to be the community center was now a grand eating hall complete with a series of rooms that acted as instruction rooms, daycare, and meeting places for clubs. A hallway ran the length of the building and ended in the back where the modern cafeteria was filled with plenty of tables and chairs to house the entire pack. All one hundred and fifty of us.

More had changed than I'd originally thought. It wasn't like I had too many core memories tied to this place. Seeing it so different now was both alarming and relieving. Tanner and I had so many of our meals here. As the adopted shifter kid of the pack, I had spent a lot of time in this center.

Games and books had been my main escape. Crochet became a huge focus as I got older. And when I got to mating age, everything else was supposed to fall into place.

Until it didn't.

Because of Tanner.

The crowd swelled with conversation. I sat close to Brandi and Elva, keeping my daughter in my lap despite her desire to run with the other shifter kids. My resistance to settling in was met with glowering stares. It wasn't that I didn't want Inez to play with other kids. I just had to know that we belonged here first.

A black-haired, blue-eyed scruffy man wearing a biker jacket wandered onto the miniature stage at the far left of the room. Within seconds, the room fell silent. In line behind him followed three men-and one of them was Tanner.

I would recognize his glowing skin and cloudlike hair anywhere. Crystal silver eyes glittered like liquid moonlight, so reminiscent of his sister yet so deeply unique at the same time. Angular features set his usually goofy expression as darkly serious and his athletic body appeared more chiseled than it had years ago.

All that sailing will keep a man in shape, won't it?

I swallowed hard as Inez cuddled into my neck. While her presence comforted me, I wasn't sure what to expect from this meeting. Surely their alpha knew I was back. Where was he, anyway?

The man wearing the leather jacket smiled warmly at the crowd. "It's good to see you all here, friends. Even under these circumstances."

No way. That couldn't be the alpha.

Could it?

He looked like a biker more than a leader.

Blake tilted his head, exposing the bags growing under his eyes. Yep, he was a leader alright. And he was losing sleep over something.

"Recent attacks have raised alarms and I've collected your concerns, naturally," he explained. "My team is working on ensuring your safety so you can sleep peacefully at night." His smile widened. "So long as Neil isn't playing his guitar too loudly, right?" Chuckles broke through the room. The guy was young, tough, and scruffy, but he seemed like he knew the business. And he certainly knew how to talk to his pack.

My anxiety eased.

"That being said, I want us to take even more precautions. We need to make sure we've got everyone mated who is of mating age." His brows furrowed together as he searched the room. Who was he looking for? "And I'd like to start with two specific people, one of whom means a lot to this pack."

He turned to Tanner.

My heart shuddered in my chest.

Blake offered a gentle smile to his friend and said, "The first mate bond to be established will be Tanner Snider..."

I held my breath as I looked around the room. Everyone was on the edge of their seat. And why not? What the alpha said was like solid gold. It could be changed, sure, but it would never be any less valuable. His word was what bound us together.

Even mates.

His eyes cut across the crowd, searching and searching, tirelessly studying every face he came across.

Until he focused on me. "...and Leah Shephard."