Chapter 1
It was a beautiful day, sunny and bright. It was warm, but not overly so. She couldn’t enjoy it, though. Instead, she was on edge and had been ever since she’d found out that her father had been challenged for the title of Alpha of their pack. It couldn’t be ignored.
He either had to accept the challenge and fight to the death, or he had to submit to the challenger. Knowing her father and the frame of mind he’d been in for the last two years, he would fight. She couldn’t see him submitting to anyone.
She’d wondered if it was someone from Northumbria, but couldn’t see that happening. Alpha Jacob seemed as though he wanted peace. Maybe a pack member who was sick of her father and his ridiculously demanding ways.
She’d asked Ryan, Sam’s son, if he knew who the challenger was. Sam was her father’s Beta. She had been sparring with him when the announcement had come through via mind link.
“The pack liaison from Regal Eclipse,” Ryan told her, after a moment of mind linking with his own father. “The new one.”
Oh, that wasn’t good. It meant that someone from the Royal Pack had challenged her father, which meant they knew something wasn’t right. She could have told them that. There had been moments when she’d considered contacting them herself, but wasn’t sure how to go about it or how seriously they would take her, and a small part of her almost felt guilty, like she was betraying her father. Almost. She’d sighed at that. Her father had betrayed her pack. She felt more guilty about not doing anything.
But he also left her out of everything. It annoyed her that not only had she not known that the pack liaison was coming for a visit, but she hadn’t known that they had a new liaison. Her father hadn’t bothered to tell her. He pretty much left her out of everything pack-related anymore. Anything she knew came from Ryan.
It hadn’t always been that way, but once her mother had passed, everything had changed. And not in a good way.
She’d gone with Ryan to the training grounds, gathering with all the other pack members around to watch. She wondered how many were hoping her father would be defeated. She couldn’t blame them. As much as she hated to admit it, her father didn’t need to be Alpha anymore. For the good of the pack.
Both males had stripped off their clothes before the fight began, ready to shift at any time. They hadn’t though, and while her father had put up a good fight, his challenger was much stronger and defeated him easily. She’d seen that coming.
She stared across the training grounds at him, the male from Regal Eclipse. Their new pack liaison. He was quite beautiful to look at, and it disgusted her that she was very attracted to him. He’d just killed her father.
But she couldn’t help but find him incredibly attractive. With his dark brown hair and startlingly blue eyes, she knew every she-wolf gathered on the edge of the training grounds was studying the defined specimen of a male who was standing there naked and dripping in sweat and blood. Her own father’s blood, she reminded herself. She squeezed her eyes shut.
She wished that the last two years hadn’t happened, that everything was still the way it had been before her mother had died. They’d been happy then. The pack had been happy. Her father had been happy. She’d been happy.
But at this point, her father had gotten what he’d deserved. This stupid war that had gone on for hundreds of years had been stopped before it could even get started. They were in danger of having their entire pack wiped out, and it wouldn’t be the first time. She hated that it was happening all over again, hated that her father was solely responsible for it, too. It would be his legacy. It would never be hers.
Her father had ruled the pack with an iron fist. He was unnecessarily cruel, but he hadn’t always been that way. Once her mother had passed away two years ago, he’d gone off the deep end. He hadn’t bothered training her to be Alpha even though she was his heir. Instead, he had focused on making everyone else as miserable as he was and set his sights on taking over Northumbria. It had quickly become an obsession with him, but no one else in the pack wanted war.
Everyone in the pack had been forced to train much more than usual. ‘Prepare For War’ had been the battle cry. She’d been tired of it, and so was her pack. She had been forced to train harder than anyone else, whether she wanted to or not. Her father had been merciless with her, demanding more and more until she had nothing left to give. She’d spent more than one night lying in bed, crying from being pushed too hard, her muscles aching, and her body bruised.
It had never been enough for him, though, and he’d told her more than once that he was disappointed in her. She didn’t work out hard enough, she didn’t train hard enough. She was supposed to be an Alpha, but she was just a disappointment. She wasn’t a boy.
And he’d never trained her to be Alpha, and she secretly wondered if he didn’t plan to make her Alpha when he stepped down. If he’d deny her, and take her birthright from her. That hurt. Deeply. Not that it mattered now.
Up until her mother had died, she had known for sure she would be the next Alpha, but after that, she couldn’t be sure. He’d stopped talking about it. Instead, he’d become harsh and demanding. He had stopped treating her like his daughter and instead treated her like another pack member. No, that wasn’t true. He’d been harder on her than he had been on the other pack members. Verbally abusive.
But on top of that, she’d never been taught how to run the pack, and she knew the male who had taken over wouldn’t stay as the Alpha. He might stay for a while, but the position wasn’t permanent. It never was when Regal Eclipse came in and took over a pack. She knew that much.
It wasn’t the first time they’d done it over the years. They were probably as sick of the fighting as most of the pack was. She was fairly certain the new Alpha of Northumbria had no interest in fighting as well. She had a feeling he might have been the one to call in Regal Eclipse, though she didn’t know for sure. Alpha Jacob Graves wanted peace. He was over the fighting.
Her gaze moved back to the male who had just killed her father and taken over her pack. He was still naked and speaking to her pack mates, his corded arms crossed over his broad, muscular chest. She hadn’t listened to a word he’d said, though. Her mind had been elsewhere. But she couldn’t help but look him over again, slowly, her eyes lingering on his body. How many of the she-wolves standing around were lusting after him right now? She wondered if he was mated, then squashed that thought. It didn’t matter.
He was a good twenty years younger than her father, and that was probably why he’d gotten the upper hand. But she knew the wolves from Regal Eclipse were different. She didn’t know how, she just knew they were. She’d heard mention of it more than once among pack leadership discussions, though they’d never gone into detail, and she’d never cared. Until now.
He wasn’t overly built, but lean, muscular, and in excellent shape. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on his gorgeous body. His arms were muscled and corded, his chest well defined, his abs were perfect, and he definitely didn’t miss leg day. He resonated with power, and given that he was a member of Regal Eclipse, she knew he was one of the most powerful werewolves out there. Probably much more so than her father had been.
From watching him fight, she knew he was much stronger than she would have thought from first glance. He could probably easily take her down. And she’d let him. She wouldn’t mind having him on top of her, pinning her to the ground. Especially if he was naked. And she was fairly certain that most of the unmated she-wolf population would completely agree. Mostly because it was that part of him that would bring a female pleasure that she had a feeling none of the she-wolves gathered around could keep their eyes off of. Not that it seemed to faze him at all. He stood there with his arms crossed, his body fully on display, and spoke like he was... well, King.
But she was having a hard time keeping her eyes off of his cock as well. He’d definitely been blessed in that department, and visions of him holding her down over her father’s desk, which now belonged to him, while he pounded into her ran through her mind, making her catch her breath. Would he be rough with her, or gentle? She wanted him to be rough.
She was an Alpha wolf who wanted to submit to this male. Or at least her wolf did. Perhaps because now he was her Alpha, and the pack he was originally from put him above her in rank. He’d ripped the position out from under her. Not that she would even know what she was doing. She’d never been trained to lead a pack. Just to fight. And even then, she knew she could never beat him, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to.
She knew her father had been disappointed that she wasn’t a boy or that her mother had never gotten pregnant again. She’d been a disappointment. And her father had told her that more than once in the last two years. She sighed, wondering if he’d be disappointed in her now.
The talking had stopped, and she turned to head back to the pack house. Now she needed to await her own fate.
