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

It’s bad enough that Sophia saw us today. That broken look in her eyes is going to haunt me in my sleep.

The more I don’t want to hurt her, the more I end up doing so. I keep pushing her into the arms of the Alpha’s son. Noah is already far too interested in Sophia for my liking.

I’m worried about Julia’s reaction, as well. She started asking questions about Sophia the minute Sophia showed up. If Julia decides that Sophia is an actual threat to her, there is no telling what she’ll do.

I’ve spent the last couple of years trying to get this leech of a woman off my back, but the more I push her away, the more she is shoved right into my face. Queen Karina is determined to have me mate with Julia. I know for a fact that if I ever agree to this, my pack is doomed. Julia is obsessive, paranoid, and a little unhinged. She will destroy my pack from the inside out. And that is exactly what Queen Karina wants.

When the Queen of the North Alliance put me in the Alpha position, I was a young child, easily controlled. But as I grew up, she began to realize that I’m just like my father. She never took him on in a fair physical fight, but I know that if I decide to fight her for the leadership position of the North Alliance, she will not win. And she knows that, too. That’s why she has her fangs in the most vulnerable part of my pack.

The children.

To maintain control over each of the packs in the Alliance, Queen Karina has dispatched her own people to look after all newborn wolf pups. If it were one or two people, we could take them out. But each wolf pack has been sent seven nannies along with a team of dangerous soldiers to watch over them. If anyone makes a wrong move, our children will pay the price for it.

The witch who works for the Queen has taken this whole thing a step further in the last couple of years and linked the lives of our newborn pups to the lives of the nannies and the soldiers. One pack resisted this, and the price was so heavy that when, in the aftermath, Queen Karina sent her soldiers to annihilate the pack, the grieving survivors never even resisted, letting themselves be slaughtered.

To prevent such an outcome, my pack desperately recruited witches to help break that link, but none of them have been successful. Our only option now is the Silver Wolf. If I can find her and mate her, she can help me remove the link that is threatening our pups. This will allow me to challenge the Queen and get control of the Alliance.

Sophia is the only thorn in my side. To put it more accurately, she’s a thorn in my heart.

I could understand if it were just my wolf who desired her, but it’s more than that. My human side is fascinated by this woman. I’m consumed with thoughts of her. The rage I felt when I saw her standing next to Noah Black nearly burned me alive.

I’ve already rejected her, but I can’t stay away from her. My position is such that if I choose not to break my own heart, the youngest members of my pack will suffer. The souls of the maternal females of my pack are trembling right now with the lives of their pups hanging in the balance. They will not be able to bear such a loss. If our pups die, my pack will not survive the loss, either. I can prevent all this from happening if I bury my own heart somewhere nobody can find it. It is a painful decision, even more so when I see the constant hurt Sophia is suffering. But I can’t tell her my reasoning. I can’t tell her that I’m from the North Alliance or what I’m looking for here. Or even what is at stake. She belongs to the South Alliance, and if she knows the truth and our presence here is somehow revealed, she will also be punished.

I lost control the other night.

I shouldn’t have kissed her. But the anger and jealousy inside me were so intense that I could not stop myself. Another man was courting my fated mate right in front of my eyes. And she wasn’t telling him to stop. I had given her enough reasons not to tell him to stop, but that fact didn’t make it any easier.

But I shouldn’t have kissed her. I can still feel the taste of her on my tongue, those soft, inexperienced lips clumsily moving against mine. It was at that moment that I realized Sophia was untouched in every sense of the word. Her body reacted to mine, but she didn’t really know what she was doing. It drove me wild. If she hadn’t pulled away when she did, I think I would’ve taken her right there and then.

The way her fingers dug into my skin, the way she eagerly accepted my touch—it’s hard to think about anything else. Every ounce of my self-control is needed for me not to go to her and finish what we started. But if I take her to my bed, I know I will not be able to stop myself from giving her the mating mark.

“You’re engaged. Congratulations.”

The shock, the agony, the self-loathing.

I could hear it in her voice, see it in her beautiful eyes.

I wanted to tell her it wasn’t true. I wanted to tell her that I had nothing to do with Julia being there. That I had no choice.

But I forced myself to keep my mouth shut. For my pack’s survival and her own.

“Alex?”

I blink when I realize that my pack mates are talking to me.

I glance at them, trying to focus on the situation at hand and cursing myself silently. I cannot allow myself to get distracted like this. I can’t keep trying to figure out why Sophia came to find me at the bar. What did she want from me? Why did she have that determined look in her eyes?

I have to stay as far away from her as possible. Otherwise, Julia will become enraged. She will not let Sophia live if she realizes Sophia is my fated mate. Not only will Julia see her as a threat, but she will also report her existence to the Queen. Sophia will be seen as a weakness of mine, and Karina will spare no effort to exploit that.

Am I being unfair to Sophia? I know I am. She deserves somebody who is wholly committed to her, though, and I’m the only leader my pack has. I have to look after my people. And I have to break my own heart to do so.

“I don’t think Karina sent Julia here,” I say tightly. “But then again, you can’t predict the Queen’s actions. It could be that she has figured out where the Silver Wolf is located, and Julia has been tasked with bringing her back. It’s not as if the Queen actually trusted us to begin with.”

“But she doesn’t know that we know the reason why she’s looking for the Silver Wolf!” Jared exclaims.

Patrick gives him a grim look, his hands in his pockets. “If the Queen were a stupid woman, she wouldn’t be sitting in the leader position. She knows we’re wondering why this wolf is so special, and Julia was probably sent here as a way to make sure we don’t investigate too much. It could also be that as soon as Julia locates the wolf, she’s going to send a message to the Queen, and we will be removed from this mission.”

“There is a likelihood of that happening.” I look around the room at the men who have sworn their loyalty to me. “However, I find it a little hard to believe that Karina would send somebody like Julia for this. The truth is, we don’t really know why Julia is here. If the Queen sent her, she’s never going to tell us. I think it’s best that we keep her distracted.”