The Beta’s Alpha Mate

Two

Julien’s POV

I frowned, looking at the Omega who was setting the table in front of me. She looked skinny. Too skinny. And her clothes looked old.

“Juls! What’s up?” A booming voice startled me out of my observations.

“Oh, Helix. Hey, man, how have you been?” I ask the lanky Alpha approaching me. “I haven’t seen you in a minute!”

Helix had been in my training program, but had graduated the year before. Everyone said he was revolutionizing the Moonstone Pack. After he returned home, he had fought his father for the title and won. Not a single person missed that old bastard. Especially not Helix’s mother, who had been kidnapped and held hostage, unbeknownst to the pack, her entire life.

It made me grateful for my relatively normal family and our modern way of life. I was going back to inherit an open-minded pack from my amazing parents, whose worst sin was asking me weekly whether I’d found anyone to put pups in yet.

“Been busy, but I thought I’d better come up here and meet with you. I’d like to talk about some business before the weekend is over. Meeting a mate would just be a nice bonus,” Helix laughed.

He was like that, a real jovial guy, for someone who had endured so much so young. He had shoulder-length silver hair and icy blue eyes that would intimidate the hell out of anyone not used to being around him.

I grinned at him, “Absolutely. Provided I’m not too busy with my own mate, of course. Fingers crossed she’ll be here and my parents will finally get off my case.”

Helix chuckled. “May the Goddess bless us both with beautiful ladies tomorrow.”

Stupid curse, my wolf, Juno, muttered.

I grumbled in agreement. Twenty-five years ago during the war with the witches and vampires, the leaders of the largest covens had put a hex on the werewolves. Our mate bond was muted, and we could no longer sense our mate just by being in the same proximity as them. No, we had to be in the same proximity during the night of the full moon, and in our wolf forms. Once a bond was sealed with a mark, the curse had no effect, but it was hard to discover mates when you only had a handful of hours each year to meet the person you were destined for.

That’s why packs took turns hosting these mating balls, where we all had a chance to meet our future partners under the light of the full moon. This would be my first one, since I had only finished up school this week. I was literally stopping here on my way home, too nervous about possibly missing out on meeting the woman made for me.

“Alpha, do you need something?” A small she-wolf whispered, her brown eyes wide. Startled, I realized I had been staring at her unknowingly for a while. She was quite cute, her curly chestnut hair falling to her hips, long lashes giving her an innocent look. Her eyes had dark circles under them, and I could see the ugly remnants of a bruise on her wrist.

“Yes. Come with me,” I commanded. Her eyes grew even bigger, and I could sense the fear rolling off of her. I could tell she was used to being ordered around; that she would respond best to authority and not public displays of compassion.

Shivering, she followed me into my suite. I shut the door behind me and observed her trying to making herself invisible even as she stood in the center of the room.

“Tell me your name, please,” I said, my tone gentler now that we were alone and she was unable to run away.

“S-Sierra…” she whimpered.

“Sierra, I’m not going to hurt you. Please, have a seat on the bed. I’ll sit on the couch,” I spoke as calmly as I could, keeping my hands in front of me in a non-threatening gesture as I moved to the small sofa and took a seat.

Sierra’s expression shifted to one of confusion, although her fear was still present. I could see her eying me, trying to figure me out. At 6’6, I was imposing. My brown hair was messy and in need of a trim, falling into my eyes no matter how often I pushed it back. I was dressed up for tonight’s dinner, so I had on a navy button-up and grey slacks, rather than my usual jeans and t-shirt. I looked like every other Alpha wolf to her, probably.

“I’m investigating some… things. I’ve heard rumors that the Omegas here are treated differently. Badly. Can you tell me more?”

Sierra’s face paled. “I don’t know what you mean, Alpha.”

“Please. I can only help if I know details.”

Her big brown eyes filled with tears, and I saw her instinctively grab her bruised wrist. She looked back up at me, determined. “All is fine, thank you for inquiring.”

Goddess, I know they’re traumatized and afraid but it was so frustrating to have the power to help and be unable to do so. I tried again.

“Sierra. What’s preventing you from telling me the truth?” Her breathing hitched, and I knew I had found the key. “Tell me.”

“M-my brother, Alpha.”

“Where is he? What are you afraid of?” I asked.

“I don’t know where he is. I’m afraid they have him. I’m afraid they’ll hurt him. They know someone is looking into our pack, but they don’t know who. They’ve been interrogating everyone.”

“And you won’t tell them it’s me, Sierra, because I can help. Now. Tell me about your brother,” I said softly. Her eyes didn’t meet mine, and a long silence lingered. “Please, Sierra. I can help.”

Finally, she looked at me, searching for something, before casting her eyes back to the ground.

“His name is Danny Fowler. He’s been missing since earlier this year, along with a couple of other wolves his age. He disappeared overnight and no one knows why.”

“Thank you. I’ll look into it and we’ll find him. When we do, can we talk again?” I asked.

She nodded. “May I go back to my work now, Alpha? I’ll be in trouble soon.”

Reluctantly, I let her leave, frustrated with the fruitlessness of our conversation. At least I had a task. I’d have Grayson and Kade look into this brother of hers while they were here, and hopefully she’d have more information for me then.

It wasn’t much longer before I heard a knock on the door.

“Yo, Juls! Let us in!” Kade hollered. The bedrooms were mostly soundproof, but he was loud and shouting right into the door.

Smiling, I opened the door to see my two best friends. We’d known each other our whole lives, and in high school, we’d become inseparable. Kade was a tall, lanky wolf who did a good job running the pack in my absence. He had shoulder-length black hair that he always kept tied back, and silver eyes that took on an especially glittery hue when he was in his wolf form.

Grayson was equally tall, but where Kade was built like a basketball star, Grays was built like a quarterback with hulking muscles. His hair was the same color as Kade’s, but styled like mine — straight strands that framed his face, with bangs in his eyes all the time.

I’d always been a little bit jealous of Grayson’s bright green eyes. Mine were a dark blue color, which just didn’t compare to how light and happy his always seemed to look.

“‘Sup, Alpha?” Kade grinned and pulled me in for a hug as he walked in.

“Julien, hey, man!” Grayson seemed just as excited to see me. It had been months since I last saw them. Alpha school was important but it really sucked being away from my friends.

We chatted about random things for a while, catching up on any pack news we hadn’t already texted about, before I got down to business.

“So, I need your help finding a wolf,” I told them. “His sister thinks he might be being held here, maybe exiled, she’s not sure. I need you two to do some research to try to track him.”

Grayson was lying on the bed, one knee bent, his back against the headboard, while Kade was sitting sideways in an arm chair with his legs draped over the side facing me. I was still laying on the couch, my head on the armrest and my legs stretched out. My dad would probably lecture me if he saw this was how I was conducting my first post-graduation meeting with my Beta and Gamma.

“On it,” Kade said. “Details?”

“She’s willing to talk about the Omega issues here if we can find him. Her name is Sierra. The missing wolf’s name is Danny Fowler.”

Grayson coughed and turned pale. “Uh. Conveniently, I’ve already located him.”

I raised my eyebrows. “What? How?”

He exchanged a look with Kade, and I could tell they were mindlinking. Suddenly, Kade burst out laughing. I was losing my patience. They had gotten closer while I was gone and I was… I was maybe a little jealous. “Somebody better f*****g include me on what’s going on pretty soon…”

Grayson covered his face with a pillow. “I uh. Look, the important thing is he’s fine; I don’t know how he ended up there, but he’s been with our pack for a few months now.”

Well this was a good turn of events. Maybe Sierra would even be willing to switch packs, join us and be with her brother. Then I could really protect her in exchange for the information we needed. Grayson was still pressing the pillow against his face, shoulders shaking, and Kade was trying to keep a straight face.

“What the hell is wrong with you two?”

“Your Beta has been giving the missing brother some, um, private lessons in pack hospitality,” Kade snickered.

“Oh for f**k’s sake, Grays. You’re such a manwhore,” I groaned. “Oh goddess, how old is he?”

Grayson immediately threw the pillow at me, scowling. “He’s 19! Why do people keep asking me that?! I’m not a pervert!” Kade was laughing so hard that he fell out of his chair.

“You do this to yourself,” I told him, chuckling. “Moon Goddess, I’ve been a good person, so when I meet my mate tomorrow, please give me a woman who’s never been with Grayson.”

Kade snorted. “Thank the Goddess he’s gay, and we’ve only got like, what, one woman to worry about?”

Grayson glared at us. “Okay, first of all, I never did anything with Kenzie, you know that relationship was all my mom’s idea.”

Kade was still trying to get himself under control on our way to dinner a few minutes later, so Grayson gave him a hard shove into the wall of the hallway. It was good to be back with my friends.