My Alpha, My Home

One Big Problem

“Her!” Kade’s wolf screamed at him.  He wound his way through his pack mates, searching for the scent he longed to find the most.  It was harder than he hoped with the smell of food, alcohol, and bonfire smoke clouding his senses. 

               “There!”  Kade finally caught a whiff of the most tantalizing warm, refreshing citrus.  It smelled clean and pure, not clogged down with perfumes or flowery body washes.  Where was she though?

               Kade frantically looked around, following his nose until he spotted her.  A child.  NOT what he was hoping to find.  He couldn’t mate a child!  That was disgusting; she was too young to think about all of the things he had wanted to do with and to his mate when he found her.  Hell, he couldn’t even kiss her on the lips, she was too young.  He was twenty-one years old and she… She looked like she was a teenager.  Still, he had to be sure his senses weren’t lying to him.  He watched her for a moment; listened to her laugh at something her friend was saying to her, it was music to his ears.  He didn’t know if his heart stopped or if it was beating so fast that he just couldn’t feel it but it felt like his world stopped for the briefest of moments. 

               As he was taking a step closer to her, she turned as if she sensed him, and their eyes locked.

               “OURS! Now!” Kade’s wolf yelled at him, frantic to get closer to their mate.  He had to take a breath to focus on pushing his wolf back.  Kade couldn’t let his wolf get too close to the surface or who knew what would happen.  He took a few more steps until he was standing only a foot away from her, his mate.  He looked down at her from where she sat on the log.

               Stacy tuned into the fact that Amber was no longer listening to her and was instead staring behind her.  Was her friend holding her breath?  Did she look scared or was Stacy just imagining it?

               “Hi,” Amber whispered.  She cleared her throat, “I’m Amber.  Carl Park’s daughter.”

               Amber stood up from her seat on the tree log and stuck out her hand to the gorgeous man behind her when he didn’t say anything.  He was tall; much taller than her 5’5”.  He had to easily be 6’2”, broad-shouldered with muscular arms.  His dirty-blond hair was shaggy on top with the slightest wavy curl, a chunk falling over his strong brows and covering one crystal-clear blue eye.  Just looking at his strong jaw line made Amber want to cream her panties.  And his smell!  He smelled more than edible, bringing a childhood reminder of the scent of the kitchen on Saturday mornings when her mother would make her pancakes with the smooth sticky sweet maple syrup.  A scent that reminded her of happier times, safety, of home. 

               “Home.”  Such a small, simple word but, when Amber’s wolf purred it in satisfaction, all Amber could do was close her eyes and take a long deep breath to take in his syrupy scent.

               Kade didn’t know what to do.  This beautiful female just spoke to him but he didn’t even hear the words, he could only take in the musical sound of her voice.  He internally shook his head for a second in an attempt to clear his mind.

               “What did you say?” Kade growled.  He didn’t mean to growl but he was barely hanging onto his wolf, having to focus to push him back.  Kade groaned and rolled his eyes, the girl just stood there trembling.  Was she scared?  She should be!  She was a child and he wanted to attack her.  It was wrong in so many ways.

               “Um, I, uh, I said my name is Amber Park,” she stuttered.  Amber looked at this giant man standing in front of her.  The soon-to-be pack alpha and he was her mate if she wasn’t mistaken.  The way he looked at her made Amber feel lower than dirt and unwanted.  He had a look of disgust on his face.  Amber wanted to cry, her step-sisters were right, no one would want her, not even her fated mate; she was worthless and –

               “Walk with me,” Kade interrupted Amber’s self-tortured thoughts.  He turned around and walked at a fast pace like he just wanted to escape her presence.

               With one last look at her friend Stacy, Amber began to run after the man clouding her thoughts to catch up with him. 

               He didn’t even introduce himself, Amber thought to herself.  No matter that she already knew his name; he is the soon-to-be alpha after all so of course she knew his name.  He was going to reject her, she just knew it.  This was it, the moment that proved her step-sisters right all along.  Amber wanted to cry, she felt her eyes well up with tears but fought to hold them back.  She refused to cry in front of him.

               Kade didn’t stop until they were halfway to the pack house, a good distance from the bonfire crowd.  He didn’t want to have any eavesdroppers for this conversation.

               “How old are you?” Kade questioned.  He grimaced to himself.  His voice sounded so harsh even to his own ears.  He sounded more like he was interrogating the poor girl.

               “Sixteen,” Amber said in a low voice.  She was nervous.  “I’ll be seventeen in four months,” she added quickly.

               Kade ran a hand through his hair and cursed under his breath.  He had been right, she was only a child for f**k’s sake.  What the hell was he supposed to do with a child for a mate?

               Amber began to feel anger welling up inside her.  He was blatantly displeased with what the fates gave him for a mate.  If he was going to reject her then just do it already! 

               “Kade,” Amber said drawing his attention, her voice rough with anger and unshed tears.  “It’s obvious you aren’t happy getting stuck with me as a mate so just reject me already if you’re going to.  Don’t make me wait, I already know I’m not worth anything.”

               “Shut the f**k up!  I don’t want to hear any of that s**t.  You’re right, I’m not pleased.  The fates gave me a f*****g child.  What the hell is a grown ass alpha supposed to do a f*****g child!  I’m not rejecting you but that doesn’t mean that I want you either,” Kade growled, his blue eyes darkening to show how closely his wolf was to coming out.  That was a lie if he ever did hear one.  He wanted her alright but he wanted to bash his own head in at the thought of what he wanted to do to her, a damn child.

               Amber cowered in fear.  Her mate was an intimidating alpha after all and she was an untrained, innocent girl who had no idea what to do in this situation. 

If I’m going to have any chance to survive this, survive him, then I need to buckle up and act like the badass wolf I know I can be, Amber tried rationalizing with herself.  She held her head up and stuck her chin out, determined to meet Kade’s gaze.

“What does that mean then?” She asked him in the most confident voice she could summon. 

Kade looked at her for a moment, taking in her demeanor.  She was going to be a sassy handful, he just knew it.  He had to shake himself again at the prospect of that sass.

“Get out of here, I don’t want to be around you,” he said before turning back to the bonfire.

Well, wasn’t that just peachy.  The first pack event she attended in nearly six months, she manages to find her mate, and he doesn’t want her.  Amber hiccupped trying to hold back the tears and feelings of worthlessness until she was able to be alone.  She walked back towards the bonfire to look for her dad, she needed to leave just like Kade told her to.  She didn’t want to find out what he would do or say if he saw her still out here.