The Alpha’s Fated Choice (Alpha's Fated Encounter Trilogy #1)

I stare at the group of boys, and irritation festers within me. “They are now. Freddy’s birthday was last month. He and his friends have been drinking all over town. Nobody can really say anything to him, now, can they?”

Drew is silent for a moment, his lips pressed together. He doesn’t need to tell me what he’s thinking. Drew and the younger Henrick have a long history. Even though Drew is an insignificant being to Freddy, Freddy single-handedly ruined my friend and neighbor’s life. Drew lost his mate and his job.

“Drew,” I say, keeping my voice low. “It’s not worth it. Think of your son.”

My words jolt the older man back to the present.

He slowly turns around in his seat to face me, grief in his expression. Under that grief is a rage that never died.

“Tim,” he breathes, his voice unsteady.

“Perhaps you should go to another bar,” I suggest. “This is your first date in four years. No need to ruin it.”

I can see him contemplating my words, but he shakes his head after some deliberation. “No. I’ll be fine. Besides, this isn’t the first time I’ve run into him. You’re right. I have to think about Tim.”

His smile is filled with a helpless pain that I don’t know how to erase. Losing Katie broke him in a way that nobody can understand. And then his pack’s betrayal when he tried to seek justice for his mate’s murder shattered all that was left of him. Now, Drew functions as well as he does solely for his son. This is the first time he’s even considered going on a date, and to come across the murderer of his mate and his unborn child on today of all days…I can’t even imagine what is going through his head at this moment.

Drew’s mate, Katie, was five months pregnant with their second child when Freddy and his friends crossed paths with her that fateful day in the forest. Nobody knows what really went down, but when the pack security, including Drew, found her, she was in her wolf form, battered and bruised, curled protectively around her one-year-old son. She and her unborn child didn’t make it. Migael was with Drew when they discovered the body.

If it wasn’t enough that Tim kept repeating Freddy’s name, the latter’s scent was all over the area and on Katie’s body. However, the leader of the pack security protected Freddy at his father’s request. They got rid of the evidence, and when the townspeople began to talk, they turned the tables on Katie, throwing dirt on her character. Still hopeful for vengeance, the grieving Drew decided to take the matter to Alpha Black, but all that happened was that he got fired from his position on the pack security team. He lost his job and his income. I was an eyewitness to the year that followed, during which Freddy taunted Drew for being unemployed and went as far as to show up at Tim’s daycare and harass the already traumatized child.

It was only when Elsa intervened and had a chat with Migael that Freddy backed off.

I know Drew has tried to apply for jobs in other towns and even other packs, but all his requests have been denied. I’m beginning to think it’s because Freddy’s mother, Susan, is in the administration department of Oakrest Town and wants him to pay for trying to implicate her son in Katie’s murder. Susan rejected his appeal to leave this town, as well as his application for low-income housing, and even tried to declare him an unfit father, take his son away from him, and send Tim to the orphanage.

If evil had a name, it would be Henrick.

Drew is a good person. And his son is a sweet little boy. It makes me wonder sometimes why bad things happen to good people. Life is not fair, I guess. I know that firsthand, after all.

“When your lady friend arrives, I’ll have Christy set you up with a table in the back, away from them,” I tell Drew.

He gives me a grateful smile.

Suddenly, I hear a terrified cry, and I immediately look up. Eve is standing by Freddy’s table, surrounded by Freddy and a friend of his. She’s trembling like a leaf. “Let go of me!”

“Come on,” Freddy sneers. “Come to the back alley with us. We’ve got something to show you.”

“I don’t want to.” Eve’s voice is shaking, and she sounds like she’s near to tears.

“It’s not a request, you little bitch.” Freddy pulls her toward him. “Me and my boys are bored. You’re going to show us a good time. Drag her!”

I can see Drew about to leave his seat, but I’m faster. Vaulting over the bar, I cover the distance to the table in the blink of an eye. Reaching out, I grab Freddy’s hand—the one holding Eve’s wrist—and twist it, forcing him to release her. With my other hand, I grab the back of Eve’s shirt and yank her backward, hurling her into Drew’s arms.

“Mind telling me what you’re trying to do here?” I ask, my voice cold. “If you’re going to cause trouble, get out. We don’t allow customers to harass our servers.”

Freddy glares at me. “Who the fuck are you?”

I sneer at him. One of the reasons I don’t have a problem locking horns with Freddy Henrick is because, since I am an orphan, according to pack law, I am under the direct protection of the Alpha. Even if Alpha Black doesn’t like me, if Freddy does something to me, that is a smear on the Alpha’s reputation. So, I’m willing to take the risk.

One of his companions suddenly slaps Freddy’s shoulder. “I know her! She’s the orphan who doesn’t have a wolf.”

The anger in Freddy’s eyes is replaced by a mocking gleam. “Well, well. A defective thing like you standing up to me? Where do you get the nerve?”

“Like I said,” I say tightly, “I’m not going to tolerate you harassing the staff.”

The arrogant boy gets in my face. “Tolerate? I can do what I like to whomever I like. What are you gonna do about it? You useless bitch.”

“Bitch” seems to be this kid’s favorite insult. It’s quite pathetic.