Alpha’s Forced Mate (Nightfall Island Alphas #2)

Chapter 1 - Kira

Kira Smithson embraced her younger sister tightly, feeling both a mix of pride and anxiety.

Chelsey had been chosen by anonymous selection to leave the Nightfall island where they’d grown up for a three-month teaching practicum.

She had taken many online courses to bring her to this point, and now that she was leaving, it hardly seemed real.

Neither Kira nor Chelsey had been away from the island for more than one-night trips to the mainland.

Kira knew this was good for Chelsey, and part of her wondered if it would be better if Chelsey found a place for herself out there, away from the island and the wolf-shifter pack.

She might have a better chance at making something for herself.

Kira cleared her throat and stepped back, smiling to hide her swirling emotions. “You are going to do wonderfully,” she promised her sister. “Call me when you get to the dorm, okay?”

“Of course.” Chelsey pulled back and dug into her pocket. “Here. I wanted to give you this before I left.”

She held her hand out, and Kira cautiously extended her own. If this were a frog, so help her… Chelsey dropped a hand-carved pendant attached to a ribbon into Kira’s hand. It was a frog after all, but one made out of oak. Its eyes were crossed, and its tongue lolled from the corner of its mouth.

“Brat,” Kira said, choking back tears.

Chelsey smiled, flashing her dimples even as her grey-blue eyes filled with tears. The last boarding announcement came from the ferry, and she grabbed her suitcase.

“I’ll call,” she promised.

Beside them, Kira’s best friend, Gwen, laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ll look after Kira.”

Chelsey grinned. She waved over her shoulder as she dashed up the loading dock and onto the ferry.

Kira’s heart twisted. She remained standing on the dock until after Chelsey turned and waved at the back of the ferry, lugging her suitcase through the cars to the bus, where the others in the education program had already loaded.

“She’s going to be alright,” Gwen assured Kira.

Kira nodded once. “She will be. Chelsey is the most determined person I’ve ever known.”

What I’m worried about is whether I’m going to be okay, Kira thought.

She’d never lived in their house by herself.

Their parents—their mother a low-ranking shifter in the pack, their father a human from the mainland—had died in a boating accident when Kira was only eighteen years old.

She’d become Kira’s guardian, and she had had that clear purpose ever since.

Now Chelsey was gone, carving out her own success, and Kira didn’t know what to do.

What did she even want for her future?

She slipped the carved frog into her pocket and turned away, fighting her tears. Was this what it was like to be an empty-nester? Gwen put an arm around her, rubbing her back gently.

“You’re welcome to come to my place whenever you want. Lianne will always be thrilled to see you,” Gwen said.

Kira managed a smile and nodded. She might not know what she wanted from life, having spent so much of it focused on caring for her sister, but she did know one thing. She loved kids, and being the fun aunt certainly helped to ease the sting of loneliness.

“I’m just grateful that she’s been given this opportunity,” she said aloud, hoping to hide the lingering tightness in her throat. “Without Rafael’s efforts, she would have been working in the diner for the rest of her life like me.”

Gwen’s brow furrowed. “Do you need help with anything? If you need any money or anything to get a better job—”

Kira shook her head. “No, no. I like waitressing just fine. Since Rafael became Alpha, things have improved significantly. Not that Kelsie ever tolerated people mistreating her staff.”

The truth was, Kira did enjoy the job. She loved the pace, meeting the occasional visitor, and of course, the free food.

Kelsie was an amazing cook, and she made sure they were well taken care of.

And that was even before everything improved.

Rafael Buchanan, his brother Michael, and their friend, Joshua Fucking Asshole Woods, had turned the pack around.

It used to be draped in poverty, but now it is thriving.

The three of them had created a billion-dollar tech company and had used that money to improve the lives of the pack.

In the past seven years, everything had changed. The town was cleaner, happier, wealthier, and more educated. But that didn’t mean everything was perfect. Far from it. Some wounds were still tender.

Growing up as an outcast wasn’t easy. Not only did Kira have a human father, but her mother was a witch-descendant, like Gwen’s.

They were treated with suspicion at best, and the situation only worsened when Kira attempted to shift for the first time.

She’d discovered that the process was so painful it was practically impossible, and even when she shifted, her wolf was thin, scruffy, and weak.

Without a strong wolf to defend her, she’d become an even bigger target.

These days, they knew that their weak wolves were because of the demons that were trapped on the island. They had messed with the girls growing up because a shifter witch was more dangerous to them than anything else.

Gwen nudged Kira’s shoulder again. “Did you hear me?”

“Uh, no.” Kira took a deep breath and straightened. “Sorry, what did you ask?”

“Are you going to make it to Lianne’s birthday party?”

Kira grimaced. “Is Joshua going to be there?”

“Well… he is Rafael’s best friend,” Gwen said. “It would be weird not to invite him.”

“I’ll have to think about it,” Kira mumbled.

“He might not be coming. I can let you know if he does, so you can decide then,” Gwen offered.

Kira lifted one shoulder and dropped it. “I don’t want to disappoint Lianne. I’ll come. Just because Joshua is there doesn’t mean I have to interact with him at all.”

“That’s true.”

Few people were aware of the history between Kira and Joshua.

Even with all the improvements the three men had brought to the pack, Kira couldn’t be happy with Joshua being here.

It still made her chest tighten and her face heat when she thought about the way he looked at her, as though she was scum on his shoes, less than an hour after she gave him her virginity.

She’d still been lying in the sleeping bag as he washed up in a nearby stream.

It was early morning, and they’d come to her favorite spot in the woods, the place she always went when she needed some time to herself.

As she watched him, the blissfulness of what they had just done swept through her. His back was to her.

She had gotten out of the sleeping bag and joined him, shivering at the chill of the water.

“So what happens next?” she’d asked shyly, giddy with excitement. She had always wanted to find her mate, and now she had.

Joshua didn’t even look at her. He grunted once, said, “Nothing,” and shifted to his wolf form. He trotted out of the water, grabbed his clothes, and took off into the forest. He didn’t look back once.

There was only one person Kira had told about what happened, and that was Gwen. Chelsey didn’t need to know. Kira wasn’t going to put that burden on her.

“The thing is, I am grateful to him for coming back,” Kira said slowly, trying to get her thoughts in order.

That much was true. How could she see the work he’d put into the pack and town and not be grateful?

Even if he’d rejected her so callously, he wasn’t a cruel man.

Not like the former Alpha, Randall Buchanan, had been.

“He has spearheaded lots of our social reforms. It’s only because of his scholarship program that Chelsey is able to get her education. ”

Gwen nodded, her expression sympathetic. “I know how difficult it is with these men.”

The difference being that Rafael had proven himself worthy to be Gwen’s mate.

He hadn’t been with anyone since he and Gwen were together, for one thing, and when she came back to the island, he’d taken care of her and protected her and their daughter.

Joshua, on the other hand… There wasn’t a month that went by that she didn’t hear something about his romantic escapades.

He’d bedded at least half the women in the pack if rumor was correct.

Rumor might not be correct, but even if it was an exaggeration, he certainly had a lot of partners. Kira wasn’t a stranger to testing out casual relationships. In the end, they weren’t for her. She made do, taking care of herself until she could meet someone who shared her same desires.

Which was especially difficult to find, since she didn’t know what she wanted.

Joshua Woods, though, was utterly off-limits.

He had approached her once within the last few years about another one-night stand, but he’d been so drunk that Kira didn’t think he remembered.

She had stayed at his house just long enough to make sure he wasn’t going to drown in his own vomit, then snuck out before anyone could see she was there.

Since then, he hadn’t given her a second glance.

He didn’t lack for feminine company, and she was so angry and hurt that she simply avoided him.

Everyone knew; she made no secret about it.

The only thing was that now she had a second-hand connection with him through Gwen, and it wasn’t quite so easy.

“Any plans for the rest of the day?” Gwen asked as they slid into Gwen’s car. “I’m taking the day off from studying, thought maybe you would like some company while you cook.”

Kira buckled herself in, biting her lip.

Her magic had recently come in, allowing her to start casting spells rather than just making potions.

She wasn’t able to do much yet, and it always drained her, but she was improving slowly.

Gwen and Chelsey were the only ones who knew about Kira’s magic, and Kira wanted to keep it that way.

So they always spoke in code. ‘Cooking’ was Kira practicing her magic.

“That might be a good idea,” Kira said, nodding slowly. “It’s going to be lonely at the house and I—”

She cut off as they passed by a tree-lined park.

Joshua Woods. His blond hair glowed golden in the sunlight, and he was shirtless, revealing a heavily muscled back complete with elaborately designed tattoos.

Her mouth watered at the sight of all that exposed skin.

Her eyes raked down the line of his spine, enjoying the sight.

A slim hand wrapped around his waist, and Kira jerked back to herself.

He had a woman pinned to the tree. Her hands were all over him.

Kira’s stomach swooped. Joshua’s shoulder hid the woman’s face from her, but it didn’t matter who he was making out with.

She turned quickly back to the road, hunching herself down in the seat.

“Kira? What’s—oh,” Gwen mumbled. She sped the car up just a little bit.

“It’s fine,” Kira said quickly. “I don’t care who he’s kissing.”

Gwen was quiet for a moment, then said, “I don’t think they’re kissing.”

“I don’t care.”

Kira folded her arms over her chest, scowling at the gleam of sunlight on the windshield.

She didn’t care. She wasn’t going to let herself care.

So what if her heart ached? So what if her sinuses were prickling?

Her lips pressed together tightly. And if her eyes darted to the side mirror, staring at the shirtless figure of Joshua Woods and the woman, it was only because she wanted to prove Gwen wrong.

The woman’s hands were on his shoulder. Were their arms in such a position that they were at arm’s length?

His head wasn’t slanted to the side like it ought to be if they were kissing, but maybe his partner was doing all the work.

Her stomach twisted as she watched them.

They were standing too close not to kiss.

Especially when he was shirtless, for Moon’s sake!

Gwen cleared her throat, and Kira snapped her attention back to her friend. Heat rushed to her face as she realized how long she’d been staring. Drawing herself back up, she adjusted the position of the seatbelt and let out a small, shuddering breath.

“It doesn’t matter who he runs around kissing,” she said aloud. “He’s an adult and I’m not his mate. So I don’t care. But it’s indecent to do it right in plain view of everyone. What if there were children around?”

“I really don’t think they were kissing,” Gwen said again.

Kira scoffed and waved a hand. “Doesn’t mean he should be running around like that. And that woman had her hands all over him. You can bet if any of the women in the pack did that, there would be complaints.”

“There was a woman there,” Gwen pointed out, sounding amused. “He was probably coming in from a patrol with the special ops. That’s probably why he was shirtless.”

“I really don’t need you to make excuses for him.” Kira’s voice came out sharper than she intended, and she winced.

Gwen was quiet.

Kira took a deep breath. “Sorry. I probably ought to have some time alone. You can drop me off at my house.”

Gwen nodded. She gave Kira a sympathetic look as she drove her to her now-empty house. It was a modest, three-bedroom bungalow that had belonged to her grandmother. As Kira started out of the car, Gwen reached over to touch her arm.

“If you need to talk, I’m here.”

“Thank you,” Kira said automatically.

She quickly left the car and sped into the empty house.

It was so silent that her eyes started to fill with tears again.

Gwen was right. She needed something to occupy her mind.

So she closed the blinds and cleared the living room as best she could, then grabbed the notebook she had scratched various spells in.

No demons had been seen for six months now, but she couldn’t be too careful. She flipped to the net-like protective barriers, like the one that covered the town, protecting it.

She took a deep breath and started to weave her magic, trying to forget the sight of Joshua with that woman.

Especially since Joshua avoided her as much as she avoided him.

It’s crazy, she thought, unable to stop the stray thought.

He was once the man of my dreams. And it turns out he’s just an asshole who only cares about himself.

No, not crazy, she corrected. He’s just a really good liar.