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

“What about the cage fighting arena?” Saul asks. “How are you going to keep her away from that? We go out there a couple of times a week. She’s bound to notice.”

I agree that this is a problem we have to deal with. If Julia sees the Wily Vixen, she’s going to know almost immediately that she is a wolf shifter. And if she shares our suspicions that the female fighter is the Silver Wolf, there’s a very good chance she might actually attack the woman to subdue her. As graceful as Julia appears, there is nothing civilized about her. There is a vicious snake hiding behind all that beauty.

I have witnessed firsthand how cruel Julia can be.

“We’ll have to keep her otherwise occupied during the matches,” Derek pitches in, fiddling with the ashtray on the coffee table.

Nathan, who has been silent throughout this exchange, looks up. He’s the youngest of the group, and his baby sister is one of the pups whose life is in danger. “How sure are we about this Wily Vixen being the Silver Wolf? What is our criteria for deciding that? We have to see her shift, don’t we? What’s your plan to force her to shift in front of us, boss?”

“She hasn’t reached out to me about the sponsorship offer yet.” I was sure she would, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to give up. “Tonight, let’s try a different approach. If we chase her, she might shift so she can move faster and get us off her tail. Don’t hurt her, but let her think she’s in danger. We have to put her in a position where she feels threatened enough to shift to protect herself.”

“And what if she’s not the Silver Wolf?” Nathan asks quietly. “What if we’ve been watching the wrong person this whole time?”

Silence fills the room, and all eyes turn toward me.

I can tell that they’ve all been asking themselves the same question. Why am I so fixated on the Wily Vixen being the Silver Wolf?

I pick up a piece of paper and read aloud from what we have of the prophecy.

“Where the land meets the sea, a town hidden and concealed from the world, under the wing of the South, the Goddess’s blessing lives in the shadow of both wolf and human alike, covered in the sweat of humans inside the cage of human making, thrust in the most unlikely of places. Once discovered, she will unite the three Alliances, her power given to those to whom she swears fealty.”

I raise my eyes and look at each of my five companions. “We followed the clues that made sense. The only town in the South Alliance that has a witch’s barrier over it is this one. We’ve had an eye on every female in Oakrest, and aside from one or two of them, we’ve seen them all shift. The Silver Wolf might be a shifter who isn’t registered. Maybe that’s why we have not been able to find her. If she lives among the human population of this town, it could be that nobody knows who she is. I’ve already confirmed that the Wily Vixen takes scent blockers. The reference in the prophecy to sweat and the cage of human making can only mean the cage fighting ring. Ever since we stumbled upon it and I saw that shifter fight, my gut has been screaming that it’s her.”

“And what if it’s not?” Nathan pushes.

I stare at him. “If you have a better idea, I’m all ears.”

The frustration in his eyes is easy to read, and while I can sympathize with him, I can’t fast track this process.

“We only have a fraction of the prophecy,” Saul points out. “There is more to it.”

He’s right. My informant inside the Litha Moon Pack was only able to retrieve the first half of the prophecy. The other half, along with the translation, is missing. But what we do have has given us a lot more clues than we would have had otherwise.

And I say exactly that to my men.

“We have to work with what we have, and this is it.” I hold up the paper. “Let’s stick to our plan for tonight and see what happens.”

Before anybody else can speak, the door knob begins to rattle. We exchange looks just as somebody starts pounding on the door.

“Alex! Alex, let me in!”

Julia sounds furious as she shouts. Nathan makes a gagging sound as I indicate with my head for Patrick to go open the door. As soon as he does so, Julia barges in, looking pissed off she scans the room. “What are all of you doing here? Where is she?”

I stare at her. “Who?”

“That bitch you’re hiding in here!” she hisses furiously before looking under the bed and then checking the closet and the bathroom.

Nobody stops her, and as she circles the room, Jared calls out, “Maybe she’s under that teacup over there.”

Julia shoots him a dirty look, but she finally accepts that there’s nobody else here. When she turns to face me, her expression is sheepish. “My bad. I thought you had that waitress in here.”

How did she find out that Sophia works at the bar? I pretend to look confused. “What waitress?”

She gives me an annoyed look. “The one who came over to you the other night.”

“Why would she be here?”

“I don’t know!” Julia stares at me, and I can see the anger in her eyes. “Why did she come talk to you? How does she know you?”