“You will marry a wolf. He will be the alpha of his pack. You will do as you are told, Lucy Jo. You will uphold the traditions of the true wolves just as your mother did, and her mother before her, and her mother before her. You come from a long line of strong and respected Luna wolves, and you will continue that distinguished lineage.”
Just remembering the decree her father had issued the night of her first shift made the bile rise in her throat. Old, antiquated, stubborn, and absolutely sure everyone would bow to his wishes, that was her dad, the not-so-honorable Cleland Benton.
If he only knew what the others said behind his back. More times than she could count, Lucy dreamed of telling him what people really thought. She’d delightfully imagined the look on his face. Wondered if he would have a stroke right there on the ostentatious oriental rug in the middle of his “oval office.”
At the very least, seeing his face get beet red and blotchy, and hearing the crack of his knuckles as he clenched his fist would be worth all the screaming and yelling that followed. Cleland thought he had everybody fooled, that he won every argument, and they did things his way because they respected him.
Fat chance!
The other alphas just did whatever was necessary to make the old man shut his trap. They knew he’d win every vote because the Benton Pack was bigger and more influential than any other group of shifters. They also knew that Cleland had his head too far up his ass to see what they were doing on their own lands.
Good for them!
Chapter Four
Lucy didn’t know how her dad was convincing so many wolves to relocate. It didn’t make sense. Why would they take the chance of not being with their fated mate just to be part of Pack Benton? Their pack had been getting smaller and smaller, then bam, it’s the biggest again.
Maybe he was paying them off. Buying their loyalty. It happened all the time.
Nothing I can do about it right now. I need to figure out how to do what I want. Then I can fix the pack.
And she would. Lucy had been watching and waiting for a lot of years. She’d read anything and everything about pack law, especially the Benton Pack, and finally, she’d found exactly what she needed. Reciting the verbiage over and over until they were second nature, the Luna wolf was ready to make her father eat his words.
Ten days, that was all she had to wait. Ten long days, and even longer nights, and she could stand up before the pack and declare her independence. Under the full moon, at the stroke of midnight, she would be thirty and unmated, and therefore able to demand her emancipation from Pack Benton.
It wasn’t what she wanted to do. Her pack was all she’d ever known. They were family. Each wolf had been there when her mother died. The elders had been like aunties and uncles. They’d held her when she cried and played with her when she was sad. Hell, they’d been there when her dad was too busy or otherwise engaged.
Not being able to see them or to talk to them, being completely cut-off meant she would leave a piece of her soul on the other side of the massive field behind her, but it was the only way. Beau was her mate. It was as plain as the nose on her face.
But I’ll give Dad one more chance to see reason…
“Hello?” Amelia grumped, snapping her fingers. “Hello-o? Lucy? Are you there?”
“Yes,” she chuckled and stuck out her tongue to distract the way-too-perceptive bear. “Where else would I be?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Amelia trailed off, a twinkle of mischief in her eye. “Somewhere quiet playing kissy-face with my brother.”
“Wh-What…” Gasping, mind racing, heart about to jump out of her chest, Lucy came up empty-handed and utterly dumbfounded. “What did you say? You can’t think? I mean, no… How can you…”
“Oh, my goddess.” Amelia burst out laughing, pointing with one hand while she slapped the front of her thigh with the other. “The look on your face is priceless. I wish I had my phone. I’d take your picture and post it everywhere.”
Furiously shaking her head, still unable to speak, Lucy dropped the mare’s lead and grabbed the young bear’s arms. “No, you don’t understand. It’s compli—”
“It’s complicated.” Amelia’s eyes got wide in that you’re-not-seriously-going-with-that-tired-crap-are-you look as she knowingly nodded. “Is that what you’re about to say? It’s no big thing. I’ve gotten the birds and bees talk a million times. I know how fate works.” Stepping forward, her voice dropping to a low, concerned whisper, she murmured, “Wait. Hold up. You’re really freaked out, aren’t you?”
Taking first one and then the other of the Luna wolf’s hands, the young bear held them tightly. Lucy smiled lovingly as the young grizzly pushed calming, sisterly love and healing magic to her as she encouraged. “It’s okay. Really.” Eyes instantly bright, she nodded, her smiling growing with every heartfelt word. “Beau likes you, too. Probably loves you.”
Moving the tiniest bit closer, Amelia snickered. “Come on, you have to have felt it, scented it, sensed it. I mean, I darn sure have. Besides, it’s fated, right? Hell, I’ve been waiting so long for one of you to make a move that I was about to make it for you.”
Conflicted, worried, and utterly overjoyed all at the same time, Lucy was torn between jumping for joy, crying at the whole mess, and throwing up on her boots in the middle of the training paddock. Unfortunately, fate took the choice out of her hands as the cell phone on her pocket dinged.
Pulling her hands from Amelia’s, she held up an index finger. “Hang on, let me see who this is.” Retrieving the phone, she went on while swiping the thumb of her free hand across the screen. “I’m expecting a…”
Words freezing on her tongue as the message “Come home now. CB,” appeared, her eyes flew to Amelia’s.
Did my own father really just sign a text message with his initials? Boy, I feel special.
“Can you brush down Goldie for me and be sure she’s fed that oat and hay mixture she likes? It was a rough workout, and she’s been a trooper.”
“Yeah, sure, but what’s going on?”
“Nothing for you to worry about,” Lucy assured, the hackles of her wolf up and ready for the fight she knew was coming. “Time for me to take a stand.”
Chapter Five
Beau couldn’t take his eyes off her. Even as she stood laughing and talking with his sister, he was glued to the same spot, in front of the same window, staring at the same woman, telling himself to make a move.
Running his hands through his hair for the hundredth time, sure it stood on end making him look like a madman, Beau growled. “What the fuck is wrong with me?”
Forcing himself to turn, he made all of two steps before spinning back. “I’m an alpha. I run the largest grizzly clan in the world. I make life-altering decisions every day for hundreds of my bears. I run a huge ranch. I manage people, livestock, money, and fuck!”
Another swipe of his big paw through his hair, his fingers tangling in the snarled curls. “This is bullshit. Time to take a stand. Man up, Beau Sampson. Get your shit—”
And that was as far as he got. Stopping mid-sentence, his heart skipped a beat as he watched Lucy take off at a full sprint toward the fields at the back of the ranch. Gaze bouncing back and forth between her swinging ponytail and her amazing ass; he was mesmerized. Why the fuck was he staring at her ass? Shifting from woman to wolf in the blink of an eye, he followed the tip of her snow-white tail as it disappeared across the waving shafts of golden wheat.