Chapter One
Ever since I was young, I was different. Now I’m not talking about the fact that I was born into a powerful werewolf pack. I’m not talking about the fact that my father is the alpha and as his oldest son I am next in line. I’m talking about the fact that I am gay.
It’s my biggest and best kept secret; it’s actually shocking that I have successfully kept it a secret, because I cannot tell you how many times I have gotten hard watching the other guys put on shorts after shifting back. Since any clothes worn prior to shifting are either removed before shifting or shredded in the process, I have grown up around nudity. At certain times, like shifting, it is normal, almost social. What’s not normal? Watching other guys get dressed. Growing up, the male teen wolves would sneak down to the hollow to watch the girls get dressed. I would go with them to seem normal, but I was never interested in the girls. No, I didn’t have to sneak around to see what I wanted to see. It was right there, teasing me, always out of reach. Because the one thing an alpha is not, is gay.
I had always thought that I would be able to one day find a nice man to fulfill my needs, but my father had other ideas. He had sent me on a tour of the packs to try and find my mate, but here I was, empty handed.
Every day of the trip, I prayed I’d find my mate. I begged the moon goddess to send me someone. I had come to terms with mating pairs being heterosexual. I was okay with my mate being a girl. I just needed someone to show my father, because I think he was starting to wise up to my real desires. But there I stood outside his office and totally mate less.
I was still working on slowing my heartbeat when the door swung open and I came face to face with my father. We were the same height, but that was where the similarities both began and ended. His dark eyes were framed with dark eyebrows that were permanently drawn into a scowl. The lines on his face told the story of a man who never laughed and certainly never cried. He only smiled at my mom, and that was rare. His dark military cut made him look all the more intimidating as he stared into to my eyes, reading my face.
“So you didn’t find her.” His voice was flat when he spoke, but I could feel the disappointment.
“No sir.” I dropped my gaze.
He turned and motioned for me to follow as he entered the dark man-cave that he called his office. Sitting on the couch in the corner was my mother and Dawson, my brother. As twins, I was only barely older than he was, and therefore was first in line, however I was most certainly not our fathers favorite. Or my mothers really. But pack law said that I was the oldest and therefore was the one that was supposed to lead.
“Greyson.” My mother’s greeting was calm and formal, just like her personality. I looked like her. Her pale blond hair looked silver in this lighting, same as mine. Her deep blue eyes were rimmed with dark lashes, just like mine. But I was not like them. Any of them.
My brother nodded to me his eyes analyzing me the same as my fathers had not a full minute before. My father sat behind the wooden desk and crossed his arms. His eyes glanced me over as he thought.
He leaned forward and propped his elbows up on the table. “Greyson, you’re almost 21. You need to take over as the alpha. But we have not turned over the title to an unmated wolf in 5 generations. I can not justify changing pack tradition for you, even if it isn’t a law.”
I looked down at my hands. “I don’t know what more you want from me father. I have looked in every pack on the east side of the United States, and I have not found my mate. We do not have treaties with any other packs. Where should I go to find my mate?” Frustration seeped through my voice, something that was not lost on my father.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “I didn’t say that the girl you mate with has to be your goddess given mate. I just said you need to be mated.”
The reality of what he was saying hit me hard. At this point, I was counting on the mate connection to make it so that I could even get it up. It had been years since my hormones were crazy enough to give me even a pathetic partial for a shewolf. There was no way it was going to happen.
My father took my silence as an agreement and stood. “You have 30 days to pick a mate otherwise the title of alpha goes to Dawson.”
