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

Relief fills me. Sophia is still here.

Leaning against the wall, I tuck my hands in my pockets and stare out into the street. She looks tired. If I go in there, though, she won’t acknowledge her exhaustion. I’m still smarting over her comment about my rock-like personality. But I can tell she’s hurting inside, and I don’t know how to fix that.

As I stand there trying to figure out what to do, I see the blonde man from last night walking down the street. He has a small box of chocolates in his hand. He passes in front of me and goes into the bar.

Noah Black.

Gaining access to this town was no easy feat, and after going through that, there is no way I don’t know who Noah Black is. He’s next in line to become Alpha of the Red Rock Wolf Pack, which is one of the three most powerful packs in the South Alliance. While I know who Noah is, I couldn’t dig up much information on him before coming here. So, I didn’t know much about him till last night, and all of it is from what Sophia told me.

He was a bully to her. That tells me a lot about the person he is.

I wonder why he is in Oakrest. I refuse to let him do anything to Sophia.

Against my better judgment, I follow him inside the building. He’s leaning against the bar talking to Sophia, who has a guarded look on her face. I take a step forward when I see him slide the box of chocolates toward her.

His voice is low, but my ears catch the conversation.

“…I know you like chocolates. I got the ones with hazelnut.”

She stares down at the box, as if not quite sure what to do. There is reluctance in her gaze. “I don’t need chocolates.”

“I know you don’t need them.” It bothers me that he’s talking to her as if she’s a fragile little bird, his voice gentle and caressing. “But I remember that you used to like them. I hope you still do.” When she doesn’t say anything, he sighs. “You don’t have to accept them. I just wanted you to have them. I saw them in the shop, and I thought of you, so I bought them.”

My eyes narrow into slits as I move even closer. What is this man up to? Why is he buying Sophia chocolates and talking to her like this? It’s almost as if—

“Seems like your girl is being courted,” Jared, another senior lieutenant in my pack, snickers from the table next to where I’m now standing. I give him a death stare, and his laugh transforms into a cough. The two men sitting on either side of him, Derek and Saul, slap him on the back.

I want to go up to the bar, but I have to keep a low profile. Seeing the way Sophia’s hand curls around the small box makes my blood boil, though. She shouldn’t be accepting gifts from Noah Black.

My beast growls in irritation. Somebody is trying to encroach on our territory. I can feel my wolf looking through my eyes, determined to shed blood. An unmated male is near my woman. That is unacceptable. Following only my instincts, I’m about to approach them when Patrick steps in front of me, his tone hard and low. “What do you think you’re doing?”

I look up at my friend but all I see is someone blocking access to my mate. My voice is a rough snarl as I order, “Get out of my way.”

Realization dawns in Patrick’s eyes as he looks back over his shoulder and sees Sophia.

“Oh, shit.”

Grabbing me by the shoulders, he drags me out of the bar. The other guys follow.

I have enough common sense left not to attack Patrick, but as soon as we’re outside, I bare my teeth at all five of my men. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

My second-in-command stares at me, horrified. “I knew you were acting strange around that woman. I just thought you had a thing for her. Why didn’t you tell me she’s your fated mate?”

The haze clouding my judgment fades away at his words, and I stare at him. “What?”

My friend stares right back at me. “Why didn’t you tell me the waitress is your fated mate?”

“How do you know—?”

“My parents were fated mates, remember?” Patrick’s expression grows heavy. “You look at her the way my father used to look at my mother. I thought I was wrong at first, but this confirms it. Your wolf was in your eyes, Alex.”

I clench my jaw and look down at my feet.

Patrick runs his hands over his face. “This changes things. This changes everything.”

I glance through the window of the bar and see Sophia looking at me. As soon as our eyes meet, she immediately looks away.

Noah is still leaning close to her. I don’t like it.