A Wolfless Mate for the Lycan Prince (Silverlake Wolves #9)

Chapter 1

one

The Half-Shifter Without a Wolf

*GWENDOLYN*

Igrab Faye’s favorite plushy and a game while rushing into the living room. “Faye, sweetie, are you here?”

“I am here.” Faye waves at me from her spot on the carpet, where she is currently playing with one of her dolls.

“Alright, I am heading to work.” I hand her the game and the plushy. “I got this for you.”

She squeals, her blue eyes lighting up with joy. “Thank you so much, Gwen.”

“Alright, honey, you can play as much as you want. I will be back from work in three hours. Oh, and on the kitchen table, there are some sandwiches and cookies for when you are hungry.”

Faye giggles. “I am okay, Gwennie. And Mommie is here too, after all.” At her words, I look up, eyeing the woman who is sitting on the sofa, Faye’s mother. She is my best and oldest friend. We have known each other since we were children.

“Marina,” I say softly, stepping closer and squeezing her hand. As usual, she is completely unresponsive. She just keeps staring at the TV, her lips moving like she is muttering something, but even when I bend down to listen to what she says, I can’t hear anything.

They broke her.

When she left the pack a couple of years ago, she was fine, then suddenly she was back with Faye and in that completely unresponsive state. “I will be back soon, Marina,” I say, pretending like she will hear what I am saying. “You stay here and play with Faye.”

Faye gets up, grabs her game and plushy and hops over to her mom, sitting down next to her. She pushes the plushy into her mother’s arms and smiles brightly. “We can play together.”

My heart breaks at the sight. Faye is so strong, so strong.

She shouldn’t need to be. She should be free and without worries like most children her age.

I don’t know her exact age, but when I go by the timeline of Marina leaving and then returning again, I’d assume she might be five years old.

Maybe even younger. She is way too mature for her age, though, coming off like a school kid.

“Aunt Evelyn will drop by and check on you,” I reassure her. Evelyn is the head of the kitchen staff and has always been supportive of me. She is a true gem, always checking in on us and helping us in any way she can.

Faye just giggles. “I am fine.”

I don’t know if she truly is. She always laughs and smiles, she always tells me she is okay; she barely cries or demands anything.

Something tells me it’s just a front she puts up to survive, but I can’t say for sure.

For now, I can’t do anything else but believe her.

I pull my hair back and into a ponytail, cursing my locks once again.

I got my wild locks from my dad, and he always said they make me look special.

They might be, but they are also hard to maintain.

It seems I got all my looks from my dad, well, mostly. My hair is dark blonde, and I am tall; however, my eyes are green, apparently like my mom’s.

Once I decide I look fine enough to go to work, I leave the little cottage and close the door firmly behind me.

I am instantly met by the fresh air of spring.

I have no time to enjoy the warm breeze, though, and instead hurry to the stables next to my cottage, swiftly greeting my old horse.

“I will come back later and take you out on a ride, Tulip,” I promise him, while putting fresh hay into his box.

He neighs, rubbing his head against my shoulder. I wish I could spend more time with him and with Faye, but work is calling, and I can’t afford to be too late. I kiss Tulip’s nose and leave the stables, then I grab my bike to cycle to my job in the small coffee shop close to the pack.

My cottage is on pack grounds but far away from the packhouse.

I am just half wolf, a hybrid. My mom was a human, which didn’t add much to my worth here.

Dad was a warrior, and while he was still alive, the pack treated me with some respect at least. Once he died, however, things changed for the worse.

Well, it’s not all bad. I have my own little cottage, I have a job, I have Tulip, and I have my best friend and her daughter. It might not be the best life, but at least I can live peacefully.

I take the route over the rocky path through the forest. I could take the main road, but I don’t want to cross the alpha’s son and his friends.

They will just mock me when I do, and I don’t need the additional stress so early in the morning.

The forest path isn’t a smooth ride, but I like the way the wind blows against my face and how liberating it feels to ride like this.

The only thing more liberating is riding on Tulip.

There is just something about sitting on my horse when we gallop down a meadow that makes me feel free and happy.

The bike ride takes me twenty minutes. Unfortunately, I need to push it for the last part of the path, as it’s too narrow to cycle through. I don’t mind usually, but today, when I step out of the forest, my eyes fall onto a well-known group of young wolves, and my heart sinks.

I know there is no use hoping that they might have overlooked me.

They never fail to notice me. Maddox raises his head, and his eyes meet mine.

He is the alpha’s son, a tall and strong guy with dark hair and a broody attitude.

As usual, he is surrounded by his goons – his future beta, two of their warrior friends and two girls.

One of them is the young beta’s girlfriend, and the other is-

“Oh, look at that,” Josie sneers the moment she spots me. “It’s the wolfless little misfit.”

I have learned to ignore her. Josie and I have been in the same class throughout high school. Needless to say, she made my life hell. Sadly, I was the half wolf-half human girl who became the half-breed with NO wolf spirit.

Couldn’t get any more worthless in their eyes.

I used to be bothered by my heritage, but Dad always told me how beautiful I was, how happy he was to have me and that it didn’t matter that I was half-human. Tears fill my eyes every time I think of him and how he isn’t around anymore.

On his deathbed, I had to swear to him that I would never look down on my roots and that I would never look down on myself, but it’s easier said than done.

I ignore Josie, walking past the group, my eyes on my goal.

What are they going to do? It’s not like they can beat me – it will show on my body, and it will sully the pack’s integrity and dignity.

Maddox knows it, which is why he only lets them harass me with words, but never lets them lay a hand on me.

The pack’s never been kind to me, but at least they let me exist. As long as I don’t cross their paths, I can live peacefully in my small cottage on the border of the pack together with Faye and Marina.

“Didn’t you hear me?” Josie snarls.

“Forget it,” one of the guys sneers. “Her senses are so dull she probably can’t hear you.”

Haha. Funny.

I push my bike into the backyard of the cafeteria and lock it up.

“I don’t know what Brandon sees in her,” another one says. “He claims she is his mate.”

“Eh.” Someone chuckles. “She can’t feel the bond, though. She is just his slut. Forget it. What do you think, Maddox?”

There is a pause until I can hear Maddox’s low voice. “What would a shifter like Brandon do with her, instead of just banging her?”

I close the door behind me to close out their voices as well. My chest churns at his words. It shouldn’t bother me, it really shouldn’t, but-

“Don’t listen to them.”

I turn around, staring right into Brandon’s hazel-brown eyes. He pulls me into his arms. “They just want to get into your head,” he says.

“I know,” I mutter. “I don’t really believe them, but they know where to hit me.”

“Do you want me to go outside and tell them off?”

“Are you insane? Don’t pick a fight with the alpha’s son,” I say, though part of me is happy he offered to do it. “No. Seriously, Brandon, I am fine. You are right, they just want to get into my head.”

“Then forget those assholes and let’s not have them ruin our day.” He smiles.

I wrap my arms around his neck, smiling when he pulls me closer and kisses me.

Brandon is a year older than me, and we didn’t see each other much at school, but once we both graduated, I started to work in this coffee shop, and Brandon happened to have a part-time job here as well.

Unfortunately, I can’t feel the mate bond; I never will, but Brandon says there is something between us, a pull which can only be explained by the bond.

He holds me in his arms for a couple of minutes, until a glance at the clock tells us that our shift is starting.

“I love that we share the same shifts,” he grins.

“A weird coincidence, huh?”

He blinks innocently, almost looking boyish. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” Brandon helps me tie my apron and then does his own. “Oh, you are coming to the party tomorrow, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know, Brandon. I am not particularly popular.”

“It’s not on pack grounds,” he reassures me. “It’s a normal college party.”

“But Maddox and Josie will be there, right?”

“Yes, but so will a lot of other people.”

I tilt my head, looking at him anxiously. “Isn’t it going to be weird that I am not a college student?”

“Not at all, you will be my plus one,” he says, grabbing me by my waist and tugging me closer. “Pretty please?”

“How can I say no when you look at me like that?” I chuckle.

“That’s why I love you,” he beams, kissing me again.

My stomach does a backflip like every time he says he loves me.

I have never had a guy be serious about me.

While I did date a bit during high school, no one truly wanted to be with me until Brandon came along.

He is the son of one of our elite warriors, and I know he has been training a lot to live up to his father’s expectations.

He isn’t in Maddox’s closest circle of friends, but they are well acquainted.

It put me off at first, until I understood that Brandon had no other option than to be friends with him. They train in the same advanced group, and Brandon is going to be an elite warrior in the future. He has to be friendly with the alpha and his friends.

“Are you free later today?” he asks me, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I sigh. “After my shift, I need to go home and check on Faye.”

“Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot,” he pauses. “Can’t you just ditch her?” I blink at him in shock until he shakes his head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. Obviously, you can’t just ditch Faye. You are just so responsible that sometimes I am scared you will miss out.”

“It’s okay,” I say. “Actually, Evelyn is going to take her out this evening. Her grandkids are visiting, and they are Faye’s age. She is going to stay the night.”

Brandon’s head perks up. “Does that mean I get to see you tonight?”

I think over his request. Faye is safe with Evelyn, and I will have my phone with me, in case she gets homesick.

As for Marina… she is usually alright to stay on her own for a day or a night.

She functions – she goes to the restroom, she can get dressed if pushed a little, she can walk and move, but she doesn’t live.

She doesn’t interact. Not with me, and not even with Faye.

She just goes through a very simple routine, as if her body remembers, but her mind isn’t with her.

“Gwen?” Brandon nudges me.

“Oh, sorry. I was just thinking everything through. Evelyn can call me in an emergency, so we can meet at your place.” I pause. “I don’t think I can stay the whole night, though.”

He looks sad. “I wish I could have you for longer than a couple of hours here and there,” he says.

A twinge of guilt hits me. He is right. He is my boyfriend, and I can barely meet him.

He is the first one who’s shown interest in me, yet I can’t pay him back.

It’s just so hard to juggle everything with only the little help I have.

Sure, there is Evelyn, who took it upon herself to look after me, but she has a family herself, and she has a job in the packhouse.

There is also one of my father’s old friends, who has remained close to me – the only one of them.

Dad would be so sad if he knew how his other friends had turned their backs on me.

But I can’t always rely on others. They are my emergency people, but I can’t ask them to look after Faye for too long, or to check on Marina when I am away for more than a day.

“I am sorry,” I say quietly. “I wish I could do something about it. I am sure once I find a better job and earn a little more, things will be easier. Oh, and certainly when Faye gets a bit older.”

Brandon takes my hands, squeezing them. “It’s okay. I am just happy to spend some time with you.”