An Alpha's Path (6 page)

“Melanie? Are you okay? No, I know you aren’t okay.”

Mel kept laughing, tears streaming from her eyes. Why wouldn’t this night end?

“Melanie, I have something to tell you. I think you should just sit down.”

Lance’s calm, serious tone made her laughter cease.
Oh God, what now?
She sat on her couch, hot tea warming her hands.

“I don’t know how to say this. But I am just going to say it,” Lance nervously spoke.

Mel could only nod.

“Melanie. I’m a werewolf. You are my mate. I know you met Kade, and from the smell of it, you could be his mate too. But I want you to choose me. I know I am not Heir to the Pack, but I could still provide for you. Protect you. I don’t want to fight Kade. I want you to choose me.”

Lance’s pleading eyes were the last thing she saw before she promptly passed out.

****

Kade stood naked in the room he shared with Mel for a full ten minutes, watching the closed door, before finally moving. She left.

“Duh, Romeo. You let her go. You didn’t follow her. What kind of Alpha-to-be are you?”
His wolf growled, and clawed to the surface.

Dammit. He wasn’t going to argue with his inner half. Mel had to choose him. He wasn’t going to force her and take away her decisions. He did that daily as Pack Heir, making decisions for them. His mate would be different, free. That was what he always dreamed of a partnership, and he would be dammed if he changed his mind now. Mel was a gift from fate and he wanted her by his side.

Kade quickly threw on his clothes from the night before. They held the faint smell of Mel. Honey and Vanilla. A shudder passed through him. She would choose him. She had to.

He grabbed his keys and wallet from the dresser and left the room. As he walked down the lobby, he paused. A faded scent of oak and wolf. Someone from his pack – but who? Kade couldn’t place it, but it didn’t matter. They weren’t confined to the den and could go where they pleased. However, the scent was mingled slightly with his favorite honey vanilla.

A growl rose in his throat, but he tempered it. No, it was just a coincidence. It was a large lobby, scents could mix and together all the time. Assured that all was well, he left to his car to drive home where he could collect his thoughts and wait for a call. Because if he didn’t have hope, there would be no absolution. No reason.

Chapter 7

The smell of fresh pencils and wood shavings filled Kade’s nose. The grey stroke of lead on paper looked like a series of lines, but together, they would eventually morph into a building – a home. He planned, he designed, he drew. He was an architect. That was his day job and way of earning a living anyway. Though he loved it and needed the feel of fresh paper beneath his fingertips, it was not his only duty. The blood of the Jamsesons ran through his veins and with it the weight of generations of responsibility. He was the Heir. A title placed on him at birth. As the first son of the Alpha, he carried the strength of history and memory. The Alpha’s soul was connected to those of his Pack. His father could feel the presence of every one of the Redwoods – old or young. As the Heir, he too could feel their souls, but to a lesser degree at this time. With that connection came power and authority. From a young age, Kade knew that one day the decisions and fate of his entire Pack would rest on his shoulders. And yet, at this moment, not a single wolf mattered to him.

His mate walked out on him.

And he let her.

Why was that again? Oh yeah, his insane idea that his mate deserved a choice – free will. When he first learned about mating, Kade made his own decision. Whoever his mate, she would chose her own fate – not him. As Heir, he did enough of that for others constantly. Kade refused to do that to his life partner – his wife.

A true Alpha wouldn’t have let their mate walk away.

Kade ignored his wolf. Animalistic instincts were the reason he got into most trouble anyway.

“Are you going to tell me what the hell is up with you?” His younger brother, Jasper, didn’t startle him. He was a werewolf for fuck’s sake, and Jasper’s loud footsteps on his front porch alerted Kade to his brother’s presence the moment he was there. Though as Beta of the Redwood Pack, Jasper purposely stepped heavily as not to sneak up on him. Their family was close enough, that some things, like warnings before invading their privacy, was just nice.

“I’m fine.”

“Sure, that’s why you are hiding in your home, scribbling away on your workstation, ignoring my calls. What happened last night?” Jasper sat on the stool next to him. Damn. There was no way he was getting out of this. For no matter the power seeping through his pores, Jasper was just as stubborn and took care of those he loved and vowed to protect.

“I went on a date. It ended. I am back.”
Oh, and I found my mate, indulged in the hottest sex of my long lived life and then let the blonde goddess leave me naked, alone in the room. Oh, yeah, not much.

“Okay. We’re getting somewhere.” Jasper grinned. Bastard. “How did the date go before it ended?”

“You may have set me up on the date, but that doesn’t give you the right to play teenage dream with me, bro. We’re not sixteen-year old girls and I didn’t go out with the quarterback of the football team. Fuck off.”

Jasper clasped his hands together and spoke in a high pitched voice, “Oh but Kade, you must tell me more, tell me more. Like did he have a car?”

Despite his ill mood, Kade burst out laughing. “Dude, you are so not Sandy or a Pink Lady. And you need to watch more TV so you can get more recent pop culture references.
Grease
? Really?”

“I’ve been busy. Between finishing that complex on the outskirts of town and dealing with the daily needs and wants of the Pack, TV and movies are the last thing on my mind. But you’re changing the subject. What happened with Melanie? I can smell her on you, so I know it went at least somewhat well.” Jasper’s fist punched him on the shoulder, knocking the pencil from his hand. Damn persistent wolf was like a fucking Labrador sometimes, never giving up until he got attention. Jack-ass.

“Fine. We had sex. A lot of sex. Mind your own fucking business.”

“I don’t need details of that, pervert. I want to know how the actual date was before you went to the sheets. Seriously, I don’t match make for a living, bastard. I am the Beta, I take care of my family, my own. And since Tracy, and frankly before Tracy, you have been on your ass doing nothing but work for the Pack or for the company. You needed a break from that, Larissa and I thought Mel and you would be perfect together. At least that was what Larissa thought, I only suggested to her that you needed to get laid. Damn witch wouldn’t tell me anything about your girl except give me that picture of her to give to you.”

Okay, apparently Jasper was in a talking mood. Rare, and decidedly annoying. Fuck.

Kade let out an exasperated sigh. Jasper wasn’t going to let this go. “The date went great actually. Melanie is smart, gorgeous, attentive and innocent. We ate, I talked, we went to the hotel room that you guys so graciously reserved for us. That’s it.”

Jasper merely lifted a dark eyebrow.

“I’m not talking about the sex.”
The really mind blowing, wolf howling sex
.

His brother snorted. “What happened after the sex, moron?”

More sex. And then some cuddling and some talking. And then some more sex.
He really needed to get his mind off of that. But it was so good, the way her face would blush when she came, calling his name. The feel of her wet heat clenching around his cock. And that’s enough of that.

“Shewasmymate.”

“Huh?”

“Melanie is my mate.” There the words were out. And yet, no relief came. Just shared misery.

Suddenly Kade was airborne as Jasper pulled him into a deep, brotherly hug.

“Damn. Larissa knew what she was talking about. Your mate? That’s awesome!” Jasper’s smile was so contagious, it almost broke Kade’s gruff exterior. Then, just as quickly as his brother’s exuberance appeared, it was gone. “Wait, if you found your mate, then why are you here alone, looking like someone kicked your puppy? Is it because she is human? Because if you let her go because you don’t think she is good enough for the Heir of the Redwood pack, I’m going to kick your fucking ass.”

“Do you really think I’m that much of a pompous, entitled jerk?” Kade’s muscles, flexed. Dumbass little brother thought it was okay to come in to
his
home and thrash him? Oh, he would show him who was Heir – Alpha in training.

“Well, look what happened with Tracy,” Jasper’s eyes widened as he spoke her name. Oh yeah, brother, you screwed up.

“This wasn’t anything like what happened with her – and you know it. Don’t fucking bring that clusterfuck of a situation up again.” Anger raged through his system. This was not the same thing at all. He didn’t want Tracy, and she left. Kade truly craved Melanie, and she left. See? No similarities.

I don’t understand you. How could you let our mate leave us?

Again, Kade ignored his wolf. He would probably regret that later on their hunt. But he wasn’t in the mood to justify his decisions.

“I’m sorry, Kade. I know Tracy is in her own realm of selfishness. I’ll quit coming to my own conclusions. What happened with Melanie last night?” To his credit, Jasper actually looked contrite and generally interested.

Kade sighed. Jasper was his Beta, he relied on his brother more than any of his others. He should be able to tell him anything, rely on him for advice. That didn’t make it any easier.

“Melanie and I did, um, complete part of the mating.” Heat crawled up his neck. Yep, he was officially a teenage pup.

Jasper merely gave him a goofy grin. Ass.

“Well, you know.” Kade took a deep breath, he was the fucking Heir.
Use big words dumbass.

”
We made love, our souls began the process of joining. But I didn’t mark her, I wouldn’t do that without her permission.”

“Of course, Kade. You never mark your mate without a full understanding of mating. That’s the first rule of it. Go on.”

“I know you’ve never felt the urge of mating once you catch their scent,” a shadow passed over Jasper’s eyes, but Kade continued, “damn, it took almost all of my control not to shift. I couldn’t use my full strength because she is so fragile, so my energy had to go somewhere, at some point my claws shifted. I was just so intense. I couldn’t stop myself.”

“Did you hurt her?” Jasper’s voice was calm over a dark tone.

“No! No. I didn’t. I have more control than that. But I did tear up the sheets and Mel noticed. I couldn’t lie to her Jasper. I woke up and she’s freaking out about the rips in the linens and I told her everything.”

“Everything?”

“I blurted out like an idiot that ‘I’m a werewolf.’”

“You didn’t.”

“In those exact words. I didn’t lead up to it or try to make her feel better. Fuck. What was I thinking? Telling a human woman, my other half, that I’m a fucking werewolf? No wonder she laughed and thought I was crazy.”

“Kade, what else did you do? Because I have a feeling this isn’t the end.”

“I proved it.”

“How did you prove it Kade?” Jasper’s voice had a nervous edge to it.

“I changed.”

Jasper burst to his feet. “Are you fucking kidding me Kade? You change into a mangy wolf in front of her and you wonder why she isn’t by your side?”

“I’m not mangy. I’m a fucking awesome wolf with a full coat.”
Yeah, good comeback Kade.

“So not the point, oh mighty Heir.”

“Fine. I turned, she freaked. I turned back, she freaked some more. Then I told her my age and we were mates and we will be together for our long lives.”

If Jasper’s mouth hung open any wider, it would literally hit the floor.

“Don’t say it, I know I didn’t act with the most sense or grace.”