Beaufort Creek Shifters (10 book series)
The Wolf’s Bullied Mate Chapter 5

Isaiah

Darkness crept up behind me. I walked briskly up the dirt path between the new condos that had been erected for what remained of my pack. Troy had already gone ahead with the others. I needed time to think. I needed time to breathe and get my head back in the game. The nectar of the gods hardly touched the exhaustion in my head.

This meeting with Blake would be...something. I was sure of it. Whatever Troy decided to do was up to him-he was my alpha, after all, and I would follow him to the ends of the earth. Even if that meant a vicious death.

Nothing is too vicious for me, I thought proudly. Nothing is too bold or brash or frightening.

My vision tunneled as I stared ahead, ignoring the nosy staring from the houses next to the condos. That would be my neighbors getting a good look at me.

Nothing except maybe Jada.

Fear skulked around the back of my brain.

There wasn't enough time in the world to make me forget about Jada. Three days would have done the trick in the past, and it had been three days. Yet her image refused to leave my brain, haunting me in ways that even guilt couldn't touch. Guilt didn't quite register with me on a level that mattered, if it registered at all.

None of it made sense. Three days was plenty of time to get somebody out of my system. Shit, it hardly took three hours on my special weekend visits into town to forget whatever I had scooped up from the bar. What was so special about Jada that she was sticking around in my head?

A growl lingered in my throat. She was a nuisance to me at work and now she was a nuisance to me in my spare time. She had no business being in my business. Why did she keep making it her business to get into my business?

Such dizzying thoughts wouldn't produce much clarity without a proper swim in the ocean. Yet even that had lost its luster. My yearning seemed to extend only to Jada's supple bottom and perky tits. Sugar tits is the right nickname, I thought, since she tastes so goddamn sweet...

Starch in my pants. Again. I didn't need a raging boner while walking into a meeting with the Hayden alpha. Jada would probably be in there as well. Plenty of people went on about how often these meetings happened and how there was enough information jam- packed into them that needed to be regurgitated later in a memo of some sort.

The faint sound of footsteps lagged behind me. That must have been my nosy neighbors heading to the meeting as well. Everyone was obligated to attend. No exceptions. The sick of the pack-which were very few on any given week-called in through video with other pack members. I had to admit that the whole setup was far more accommodating than anything I had ever witnessed.

That sort of realization wasn't a pass at my alpha. It was simply an observable truth. While I didn't like Blake or his pack of idiotic shifters, he was much different than other alphas. I had to give him that.

And that was the only thing that I would give him.

Muted conversation carried through the open double doors. Metal bars gleamed in the fading light of day, winking back to me what the sun dared to shoot over the horizon. Tables crowded with shifters and children and a few pets strewn about. One couple held a teacup poodle while a child hosted a parrot on her shoulder.

Then again, those could have just been family members instead of pets.

I smirked as I marched confidently to the front. What's the difference?

Troy sat in a plastic chair next to Elias and Wendell. As always, Elias sported a jovial smile that rivaled his cousin's peaceful demeanor. Wendell didn't have an expression, the hard-shelled brute. He was worse than me sometimes with his temper. I just had the sense to express it more.

Still, the three of them were my closest friends-my only remaining friends, seeing as that bastard Gilbert had wiped out everyone I knew and loved. Elias had it worse than me, losing his kid. He had his cousin left, but that wasn't the same. I knew it wasn't the same just as Troy knew too. Wendell kept quiet but it was an assured quiet that let me know he also knew.

The four of us were the last of the Bravecrests. We wouldn't be seeing our pack members until the Final Day when we returned to the earth and became one with the dust of our ancestors.

Sweat thickened under my pits and quickened my pace to the miniature stage. Blake appeared from behind a door along with four additional advisors, one of whom I recognized as Neil. An arrogance floated like a fog about the lion shifter. But it wasn't off-putting in the least. It was something I respected.

But maybe that was because he had led us to safety from that creepy science-lab-gone-wrong fortress.

Blake nodded for me to join my pack members. I settled in next to Troy and patted his shoulder, greeting him as I usually would. Blake approached a microphone and tapped it. Feedback whined in the speakers, drawing attention instantly. The hush that fell over the room resembled the silence of a storm's end.

"I'm so glad you're here with me another day," Blake announced. "I've heard more pairings from your hearts. I'm here to announce them."

I rolled my eyes. Did they all fall for this garbage?

Troy tapped the back of my wrist twice. I angled a playful grin in his direction and whispered, "Hey, I am behaving."

"Blake told me that your boss has complained about you."

"Is that so?"

He nodded, keeping his calm amber eyes on the room. "She says you show potential."

"I hate that word."

"I told the alpha as much."

I grimaced as I averted my gaze, keeping my voice low enough for my alpha to hear me. "She's a thorn in my a*s, Alpha."

"She's your boss. She deserves your respect."

"I should be in charge."

His amused grin bothered me as much as it assured me he was on my side. How many nights had I spent with Troy sharing a bottle of sparkling grape juice by the fire? How many of those nights had he given me the same entertained smile that spoke of his support and confidence?

"Always the alcoholic mindset," he teased. "But you're better than that. How many years is it now?"

I shrugged off the praise. I couldn't do shit with praise. "Four years."

"That's impressive."

"That's life."

He tapped my wrist twice. I didn't need to respond this time. I knew what it meant. Our language had developed early on when I'd first joined the Bravecrests. Back then, I was just a confused teenager with a taste for bourbon. I was so much older now, so much wiser about what that crap did to my system. I refused to ever lift a bottle again.

"Please, don't be angry," Troy implored, "with what's about to happen."

I stared blankly at my alpha. "What?"

"...with Jada Moore."

All eyes landed on me. Irritation ignited a fire inside me that forced my fists to clench so tightly that I felt the tension in my shoulder blades.

No.

He didn't.

Blake glanced expectantly at me. "It's up to you to arrange your conditions together. I expect to hear back from you within the week to organize your mating ceremony." What the fuck?

Jada sprang forward. "Alpha, with all due respect, is it wise to pair me with one of my workers?"

"His heart spoke your name, Jada. Your heart agreed. I didn't think it would be a problem. Besides, we're not a traditional pack anymore."

I snorted. "No, you only arrange marriages."

Blake shot me a sharp look. It didn't slice me like it would from my alpha, but it bothered me all the same. "You agreed to our customs just as Troy agreed."

"That's because Troy is my alpha and I follow him wherever he goes."

A stunned silence fell over the room.

The tapping on my wrist became a slap in seconds. I ignored it.

"Alpha, tell him," I complained to Troy. "You're my alpha. I don't defer to anyone else."

"As your alpha," he replied sternly, "I'm telling you to obey his orders."

it.

Hushed murmurs broke out around the room. That didn't matter to me. They could talk all they f*****g wanted about what was happening, but I knew the truth. We were stuck in this stupid situation with this stupid pack because their stupid war had sucked us into I wasn't about to get sucked into their whirlwind of forced mating rituals.

I bowed my head. It wasn't in me to defy my alpha in front of others. Assertiveness like mine belonged on the field, in town, with friends. Whatever challenges I had with my alpha could be sorted out behind closed doors. Which I intended to do as soon as possible. "Izzy," Troy whispered.

The tapping reduced. A warm palm cupped my knuckles. I could feel the vibrations of my shaking hand through the chair. Nothing could calm me. Not even my alpha.

I was too pissed off.

Troy sighed. "Izzy, these people are our family now. Don't fight it. For once in your life, please, don't go against the grain."

Damn it all to hell. I had to obey my alpha. That was the one true command of my body. Doing anything other than what he requested made me uneasy. There was a time in the past when I had denied his guidance and it put me into a hot mess that he still saved me from at the end of the day.

Because that was the bond of our pack. That was the cement of our friendship. He wasn't just my alpha-he was my family regardless of not sharing my blood. Bonds forged like that weren't to be broken lightly, if they could be broken at all.

I didn't want to test that theory right this second. I nodded curtly, stood up, and marched across the stage to Jada. While holding her gaze, I spoke to her precious alpha. "I'll do so-but only because my alpha has stated that I should follow your guidance." Blake seemed to accept that though his countenance held sharp scrutiny. Such criticism meant nothing to me. Nobody's opinion mattered like my alpha's opinion. There wasn't a soul on this earth that could make me feel bad for doing whatever I chose to do. So what if I had fucked Jada in the toolshed? It didn't mean I had to marry the chick. According to her alpha, it just meant I had to protect her. Fine-I would protect her. On my terms. With my conditions.

If she was going to be with me, then she was going to obey me. She had to learn her place.

I dropped from the stage and stood as close to her as possible, forcing her to take a tentative step back, pushing her energy to the limit of what it could handle as far as discomfort. Her left eye twitched. She held her ground gorgeously, stiffening under the unforgiving glare of my gaze with her chest puffed and her mouth turned down into a deep pout.

"I expect to see you on my porch by the time the sun has set," I snapped.

She glowered at me. "That's in five minutes!"

"Then I guess you better hurry. And you will make me coffee when you arrive."

Any response would have been acceptable from her. And not because I wanted her to respond, but because I expected her to respond. She was under my guard because her alpha said so, and my alpha had told me to follow her alpha. Would I end up in a ditch as a result? Only time would tell.

Jada wasn't the type to take orders. That was why it was a brilliant start to our cohabitation to make sure she understood that I wouldn't bow to her. Just because she was my boss on the field didn't mean she could have any sort of control over me anywhere else. Especially not in my own damn house.

Murmurs sprang up around us. I turned my judgmental stare into a beam of light and swiveled it around the room, daring anybody to say something to my face about what had just happened. I had witnessed their traditions. They weren't about to pass judgment on me for how I ran my relationships.

Traditions my ass. This was going my way, or I was going to hit the road.