Feuding with the Pack Alpha: A Second Chance Fated Mates Wolf Shifter Romance
1. Prologue
Eight Years Earlier
The porch steps creak under my feet as I approach Ava. She sits on the swing, her dark curls obscuring her face. But I can feel her sadness, her confusion, as if it”s my own.
”Ava,” I say softly, not wanting to startle her.
She looks up, those striking green eyes glistening with unshed tears. ”Zane. What are you doing here?”
I take a deep breath, steeling myself to say what I practiced in my head on the walk over here. ”Your father”s letter.”
Her eyes lock on mine. Her long lashes hold her unshed tears at bay. I know what I”m about to say will force them all out, but I must continue. ”It changes things.”
”Changes things?” She repeats slowly, as though she isn”t sure she heard me correctly.
”Yes, changes things. The Pack doesn”t accept half-human members. It never has—”
”You”re revoking my membership in the Pack?”
”You need to be with your own kind—”
”My own kind? You realize that I”m the same person I was last night. And you had no problem with my kind then.”
”I didn”t know—”
”I didn”t either. That is the point.”
”Now that we know. We. I. I have to follow the laws of the Blackwood Pack. The laws say that humans, even those who are half-shifter, are not welcome here.”
”Not welcome here.” The words sound so wrong as she repeats them, but I must hold my ground. After she left my house yesterday, I went to talk to my father. I”m the Alpha, but my father is a respected member of the Pack. I had to find out how the pack would react to this news when Alfred”s final documents were read before the burning ceremony. His words ring in my ears. This pack won”t accept a half-human as their Alpha”s mate.
I”ve worked my entire life for the chance to lead this Pack. I challenged Devin less than a month ago. If I alienate the Pack now by claiming a half-human mate, I”ll lose everything. I can”t risk it all.
So I”ll give up Ava. That”s the decision I repeated in my mind with every step toward her house. I”d give up Ava. And I”d make sure that she had no reason to ever return.
”You can stay in this house until the reading. After your father”s burning ceremony, you have go to Cascade Falls where you belong.”
”Where I belong?” She asks. ”That”s what you want, Zane?”
I step closer, aching to pull her into my arms, to tell her that none of this matters, that I love her no matter what. But I can”t. I have a duty to my Pack, a responsibility I can”t ignore.
”Yes, Ava. I”m the Alpha now. I have to put the Pack first.”
She laughs a harsh, broken sound. ”Of course. The pack always comes first. I should have known.”
”Ava, please. Try to understand-”
”Understand what, Zane? That I”m not good enough for you? That my human blood makes me unworthy of being your mate?”
”This was only meant to—”
She holds up a hand, silencing me. ”Don”t. Just...don”t. I get it. I won”t stand in the way of your duty.”
She moves to walk past me, but I catch her arm. ”Ava, wait. I never wanted to hurt you.”
She looks at me, tears streaming down her face now. ”But you did, Zane. You did.”
And with that, she pulls away from me and disappears into the house, leaving me alone on the porch.
I feel something inside change. My wolf growls. I”ve never felt like my wolf and I were separate beings sharing the same body until today. I”ve never blatantly lied to anyone before. Not until today. And as I turn to leave her porch, I know I left the shattered pieces of my heart at the top of the stairs.