The Alpha's Bride

Author's Notes:

Please check the Aux chapter "Introduction" before starting this story.

Check the comments for photos of characters, and join my Discord for more (the link is in the Aux chapter)!

Thank you for reading!

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~ the Dark Howlers pack ~

Damon stepped into his study and scowled at the stack of documents waiting for his signature.

Why was the Alpha of the largest pack in North America forced to deal with this kind of office work?

As a child, when Damon had imagined his future, he'd seen himself as a mighty warrior standing victoriously atop a pile of enemies while his allies and pack members worshiped him. This wood-paneled office and its leather furniture were a far cry from that vision. It felt suffocating.

Damon dropped into his chair and glared at the paperwork, wishing he could make it disappear—completed, preferably. Of course, it didn't work.

He shoved the documents aside and decided to check his email first.

Damon's expression darkened when he saw an message from Elder Parker with the subject line: *Consider Marcy Redmayne as your Luna*.

Another Elder was persistently trying to set Damon up with a woman, wrapping the proposal in a story about how an Alpha needed his Luna for the pack to prosper. But Damon and his pack were doing just fine without one.

Damon deleted the email without reading it, just as he had with the previous twenty that shared the same subject.

He pinched the bridge of his nose as familiar anger swelled inside him. It was irritating that these people kept trying to manipulate him. Why wouldn't they give up? He was no one's puppet.

Last night, Elder Parker had called, trying to convince Damon to meet this woman—the perfect Luna, according to his description. Damon congratulated himself for managing to stay cool and not explode in rage, but he hadn't been unaffected.

After that call, Damon had taken his car and driven to a bar about forty minutes away, where he found two attractive she-wolves to keep him company and help him blow off steam.

That was why all these documents were still waiting for him. He was supposed to have dealt with this work last night.

*Right. Documents…* Damon grumbled internally and resigned himself to his fate, reaching for the folder at the top of the stack.

In the bedroom on the second floor of the packhouse…

"Do you need to leave?" Maya asked Caden in a plaintive voice, moving the comforter to expose her left leg, tempting him to stay longer.

Maya knew that Caden was late for work. Even though this was their third year of living together, every morning was a struggle to separate.

Looking at Maya's seductive smile, Caden clearly felt her desire for him, just as she felt his.

*Mates.*

Caden's wolf clawed at him to pounce on the woman they both adored and make her scream in ecstasy, but Caden reminded himself that there were things he needed to do.

He groaned in frustration while buttoning up his jeans.

Leaving Maya was always difficult, but the sight of her delicious skin upgraded the difficulty level to: mission impossible.

"I must go, baby. Your man is a Beta. Duty calls," Caden said in a husky voice that made her smile foolishly.

Caden leaned over Maya and gave her a long, lingering kiss.

He breathed heavily while inching away. Maya bit her lower lip temptingly in a last-ditch effort to keep him for another round of carnal pleasure, but Caden grabbed his T-shirt and pulled it over his head.

He winked playfully before leaving the room. "Keep those thoughts for tonight, sugarplum. I promise to make it up to you."

"I'm counting on it!" Maya shouted after him.

Caden didn't tell Maya that the 'duty' calling him was another marriage request for the Alpha of their pack.

This time, the prospective bride was Marcy Redmayne, the daughter of the Alpha of the Red Moon pack.

Telling a man that a woman is interested in marriage might seem like a small thing, but to Caden, this was more stressful than facing an attack from rogues where they were heavily outnumbered.

First, a little background.

Werewolves were able to sense their mate after their eighteenth birthday, and within the next few years, most of them were mated.

Of course, there were exceptions. One of them was Alpha Damon, a twenty-seven-year-old Adonis with a full head of raven-black hair and blue enigmatic eyes to match his unpredictable personality.

Even straight men admitted Damon was attractive.

Damon's relationship status: not mated, not married, not taken, and not interested in anything beyond the pleasures of the flesh.

One might think that was the description of a despicable guy everyone would avoid, yet the she-wolves were crazy about him, each thinking that she was *the one* to thaw his icy heart and claim the position of Luna in the Dark Howlers pack, the largest pack in North America.

Caden knew that Damon was not an asshole. After all, they had grown up together.

They had trained together, studied, and competed in everything. When Damon became an Alpha, Caden had supported him unconditionally, and they became the youngest Alpha-Beta pair among all the packs in the history of werewolves. Badass.

Damon took over the Dark Howlers pack at the age of seventeen, after his parents died in an ambush set up by rogues. At that time, the Dark Howlers pack was not the largest in North America, but its influence was not to be underestimated.

The seventeen-year-old Damon had been the best warrior in their generation and great academically, but he had found himself unprepared for the role of leader that a big pack needed. On top of it all, a number of Alphas and Elders started pressuring Damon into handing over his power and territory.

Caden stood by Damon's side and helped him to the best of his abilities. To everyone's surprise, instead of succumbing to the pressure and allowing the pack to crumble, Damon showed skill, determination, and strategy that not only maintained the Dark Howlers' power but strengthened and expanded it.

In the last ten years, Damon had experienced numerous schemes aimed at using him. People approached him as friends, enemies, allies, and anything in between, all with an agenda to swindle him. Some were more successful than others.

Those bitter experiences had formed the man he was today: righteous, strong-willed, unyielding, controlling, unforgiving, and completely focused on the prosperity of the Dark Howlers pack.

Saying that Damon was the most eligible bachelor was an understatement. Women were throwing themselves at him, screaming that they wanted to have his babies.

Damon never allowed any she-wolf to label herself as his girlfriend, and a wife—aka Luna—was out of the question. But that didn't discourage ambitious wolves with some standing from trying to matchmake Damon with their daughters, sisters, aunts, cousins, or any other she-wolf of marriageable age.

One Alpha from a pack in Southern Canada had even sneaked his wife into Damon's bed.

Unfortunately for them, Damon was not moved by an endless stream of potential brides coming his way. Actually, with every next woman who threw herself at him, Damon erected more walls that made him emotionally unavailable.

Damon had nothing against bedding a woman, but giving her a title because of their relationship was a different thing.

Damon was disgusted by people who latched onto him for power, and that was exactly where these brides were classified.

Alas, Caden was about to pressure Damon to meet another of those leeches. Caden hated it, but as a Beta, it was part of his work because Damon was avoiding—or refusing—Elder Parker, and things were getting heated.

Caden reached the study and knocked twice before opening the door.

"Why did you shut down the mind link?" Caden asked. Damon was behind the large executive desk that had several stacks of documents on it.

He was a hard-working Alpha; no one could deny that.

"Good morning to you too…" Damon said dryly before responding, "I didn't. I only shut *you* out."

Caden clicked his tongue irritably.

No one in the pack dared to act so freely in front of Damon, but Caden and Damon were childhood friends.

Of course, Caden would never show anything other than respect when others were present because Damon deserved it, even though sometimes Caden wanted to start a brawl.

Damon's lips lifted into a mocking grin. "Did your duties get in the way of your time with Maya?"

"Why ask if you know?" Caden was irritated that Damon wasn't looking at him. "I take my role as Beta seriously and I don't skim on work, but there are things that could be avoided if you stop pushing unnecessary burden my way. Every minute of my existence is for Maya. Once you find your mate, you will understand."

Damon raised his gaze from the document he was holding and frowned at Caden. "I don't need a woman in my life to obstruct me. A girlfriend is a nuisance, a wife would be a problem, and a mate would be a disaster."

Caden rolled his eyes. *Damon was being such a drama queen.*

There were many she-wolves eyeing the position of Luna of the Dark Howlers pack. Despite Damon's killer looks, those women didn't care who the Alpha was, as long as they could climb into that coveted position. Because of this, Caden understood Damon's aversion toward officially accepting a woman as his partner.

However, a werewolf couldn't pick his mate.

Old Shamans told stories of how the Moon Goddess created werewolves and navigated their destiny so that every experience until one met his mate was molding him into the perfect soulmate. When mates met, they recognized each other, and the bond was formed immediately as they were halves of a wonderful whole.

But for a stubborn unmated male like Damon, talking about that divine bond was like casting pearls before swine.

Caden waved at Damon, indicating him to drop the topic. "Enough with useless talk. I'm here for important business."

"If the important business is about the repeated emails that Elder Parker sent, that's the reason why I shut you down," Damon said casually, like he was discussing the weather.

Caden felt rage and dejection swelling inside him. Damon did it on purpose! Somehow, Caden was not surprised by it.

"We are the biggest pack, and you can win against anyone in a one-on-one fight, but their influence is undeniable. If they unite to pressure us, we won't be able to resist. You can't avoid Elders, Damon."

"Watch me," Damon spat.