The Careless Alpha

Chapter 1

I was thirteen when Marshall Kane first looked at me like I belonged to him.

The pack gathering buzzed around me like a hive of excited bees, everyone dressed in their best clothes for Marshall's welcome home celebration.

He'd been away for six months at Alpha training with the Colorado pack, and this was his official homecoming.

Kids ran between the adults with sticky fingers from Luna Etta's honey cakes, and the warriors told exaggerated stories about border patrols that got bigger and more dangerous with each telling.

I'd been so busy with the preparations that I'd barely seen Marshall since he'd returned yesterday.

I was arranging wildflowers in mason jars for the dining tables when it happened. One moment, I was trying to make the purple asters look less droopy, and the next, every conversation in the room came to a halt.

The silence stretched like a held breath.

I looked up from the flowers, confused, and found Marshall standing in the doorway of the dining hall.

He wasn't doing anything special, just standing there in dark jeans and a gray Henley that made his amber eyes look like molten gold.

But he was staring at me with an intensity that made my cheeks burn.

"Marshall?" Luna Etta's voice carried a note of concern. She stood near the kitchen doorway, flour dusting her apron, watching her son with the sharp attention of a mother who recognized trouble. "Is everything alright?"

Marshall didn't answer. He stepped into the room, moving with that fluid grace all the wolves had, but his eyes never left mine.

The pack members moved out of his way automatically, the way they always did for the Alpha's son.

He was nineteen, six years older than me, and already showing signs of the powerful Alpha he'd become.

Broad shoulders, tall frame, the kind of confidence that came from knowing everyone would obey you eventually.

He stopped three feet away from me, close enough that I could smell his scent.

Pine and leather and something wild that made my stomach flutter in a way I didn't understand. It wasn’t just a flutter; it coiled, a warm, living thing in the pit of my stomach.

It was the scent of safety and danger all at once, and my whole body seemed to lean toward it without my permission.

"Annalise." His voice was deeper than usual, rougher. The way he said my name sent shivers down my spine.

"Hi, Marshall." I clutched the mason jar tighter, the glass slippery in my suddenly sweaty palms. "Do you want to help with the flowers? Luna Etta said—"

"Mine."

The word hit the room like a thunderclap. Someone gasped. A glass shattered somewhere. The wildflowers scattered across the polished wood floor as the jar slipped from my fingers.

Marshall's father appeared from the direction of his office, his expression unreadable. "Marshall," Alpha Orion's voice cut through the chaos. "Are you certain?"

"I can scent her." Marshall's amber eyes flashed with something primal. "She's my mate."

The world tilted sideways. Mate. I knew what that meant, of course.

Every pack child grew up hearing stories about the Moon Goddess pairing wolves with their perfect other half.

But I was thirteen. Mates were supposed to happen when you turned eighteen and could scent each other properly.

This wasn't how it was supposed to work.

"But she's just a child," someone whispered.

"The old rules," Elder Maeve said from her chair by the fireplace. Her voice carried the authority of someone who knew ancient pack law. "If an unmated Alpha scents his mate before she reaches maturity, the pack may be informed. It's been done before, in the old country."

Luna Etta moved to my side, her warm hand settling on my shoulder. "Annalise, honey, do you understand what's happening?"

I nodded, even though my head felt stuffed with cotton. "Marshall says I'm his mate."

"Not just says," Marshall corrected, stepping closer. "You are. The Moon Goddess chose you for me, and me for you."

Chose me. The words wrapped around my heart like a warm blanket.

Someone as important as Marshall Kane, the future Alpha of our pack, had been chosen for me.

Plain little Annalise Sloane, the orphan girl who'd been living on pack charity since my parents died last year in a rogue attack.

The girl who tried to make herself small and quiet so no one would see her as a burden.

The girl who never asked for anything. And now, the Moon Goddess was giving me everything.

"This is highly irregular," Beta Theron muttered, but Alpha Orion raised a hand for silence.

"The scenting doesn't lie," the Alpha said, studying his son's face. "If Marshall has recognized his mate, then the Moon Goddess has spoken." He looked at me, his amber eyes kind but serious. "Annalise, do you accept this claiming?"

Accept it? Of course, I accepted it. Marshall was everything I'd ever dreamed of in a mate.

Strong, handsome, destined to lead our pack.

And he'd chosen me. Out of all the girls in the pack, all the beautiful she-wolves who flirted with him at every gathering, the Moon Goddess had picked me to be his mate.

"Yes," I breathed. "Yes, I accept."

The pack erupted in cheers and congratulations.

Someone started clapping, and soon the whole room thundered with applause.

I looked out at their smiling faces—the same faces that had looked at me with pity just moments before.

Now they looked at me with respect. With joy.

Because of him. Marshall smiled for the first time since he'd walked into the room, and my heart skipped like a stone across water.

"Come here," he said, extending his hand.

I stepped forward on shaky legs and placed my hand in his. His fingers were warm and strong, completely engulfing mine. This close, his scent was overwhelming in the best possible way. This was my mate. My future Alpha. The person the Moon Goddess had made just for me.

"My little mate," Marshall murmured, so quietly only I could hear. The possessive words made something flutter deep in my chest.

"When will you complete the mating?" someone called out, and I felt my face flame red.

"When she's of age," Alpha Orion said firmly. "Until then, Annalise will move into the Alpha house permanently. Luna Etta will oversee her training as future Luna of the pack."

Luna training. I was going to learn to be a Luna, the mother and heart of the pack. Me, the girl who could barely manage to arrange flowers without dropping them.

"I'll take good care of her," Luna Etta promised, squeezing my shoulder. "She'll learn everything she needs to know."

Marshall's thumb brushed across my knuckles, and I looked up to find him watching me with those intense amber eyes. "Five years," he said. "Then you'll be mine completely."

Five years felt like forever, but also like no time at all. Five years to grow up, to become worthy of someone like Marshall. Five years to learn how to be the Luna our pack deserved.

"Yours," I whispered.

His smile was blinding. "Good girl."

The pack continued celebrating around us, but I barely heard the laughter and conversations. All I could focus on was Marshall's hand holding mine and the certainty that my entire life had just changed. I wasn't just Annalise Sloane anymore, the orphan girl living on the pack's kindness.

I was Marshall Kane's mate. Future Luna of the Cascade Pack.

I was chosen.

Later that evening, after the gathering had ended and the pack members had gone home, I sat in my new room on the third floor of the Alpha house.

It was bigger than my old room in the pack housing, with a window that looked out over the forest and a private bathroom I didn't have to share with anyone.

Luna Etta had helped me move my few belongings from the small room I'd occupied since my parents died. It hadn't taken long. Everything I owned fit in two cardboard boxes and a duffel bag. They looked small and sad in the middle of the spacious room, a stark reminder of how little I truly had.

"This will be your home now," Luna Etta had said, smoothing the quilt on my new bed. "You're family, Annalise. You always were, but now it's official."

Family. I tested the word in my mind, rolling it around like a piece of candy.

I'd been alone for long enough that the concept felt foreign and wonderful at the same time. It was like a word I’d only ever read in books, and now I was being asked to speak it aloud, even though it had only been twelve months since I’d lost my parents.

A soft knock on my door interrupted my thoughts. "Come in."

Marshall stepped into my room, and suddenly the space felt much smaller. He'd changed out of his nice clothes into jeans and a t-shirt, but he still looked impossibly handsome. My mate. I was never going to get used to thinking that.

"How are you settling in?" He leaned against the doorframe, hands shoved in his pockets.

"Good," I said, then felt stupid for such a simple answer. "I mean, it's really nice. The room is beautiful. Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me. This is your home now." He studied my face, and I wondered what he was looking for. "Are you scared?"

The question surprised me. "Should I be?"

"No." His voice was firm, certain. "You never have to be scared here. I'll protect you. Always."

The promise wrapped around me like armor. Marshall would protect me. Of course, he would. He was going to be Alpha, and I was his mate. Nothing bad could happen to me now that I was under his personal protection.

"What happens now?" I asked.

"Now you learn. Mom will teach you everything about being Luna. You'll sit in on pack meetings, learn about our finances, and our alliances with other packs. You'll train with the she-wolves, learn to fight." He paused, his eyes growing serious. "And you'll wait for me."

"Will you wait for me?" The question slipped out before I could stop it.

Marshall's expression softened. "You're my mate, Annalise."

He pushed off from the doorframe and walked over to where I sat on the edge of the bed. When he reached out to touch my face, I held perfectly still, hardly breathing. His hand was so big that his palm covered my entire cheek.

"Sleep well, little mate," he said, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead. "Tomorrow your life begins."

He left me sitting there with my heart hammering and my cheek tingling where he'd touched me.

Through my window, I could see the forest that surrounded our territory, dark and protective under the star-filled sky.

Somewhere out there, the pack was settling in for the night, secure in the knowledge that their future Alpha had found his Luna.

I climbed under the soft quilt and closed my eyes, but sleep was impossible. Every time I tried to quiet my mind, I heard Marshall's voice saying "You're mine" and felt the promise of everything my life was about to become.

I was thirteen years old, and my future was golden.

I had no idea how much it would cost me to keep it.