West POV
Meeting and greeting his allied packâs Alphaâs and Betaâs was a long process, and he was actually glad to retire to his office and shut the door, once they were all here, heâd been unhappy, but not showed it.
About noticing Most of the Heirs to his allied packs were all un-mated as were their Betaâs for that matter.
Currently in his pack were 5 young un-mated Alphas all between 24 and 30 and there were 7 un-mated Betaâs as well, 5 future Betaâs and 2 actual Betaâs one of them he knew had lost his Mate in childbirth two years ago, the pup had survived and so heâd pulled himself together, but he was also only Westâs age.
He did not like it at all.
T.J. handed him a bourbon neat, then sank down opposite him âYou know those young ones, are going to want to head out tonight looking for some action right.â
West did know it, he was no different when in another pack.
âI know, let them.â
âMight want to check where Jo-Jo is going out to dinner then?â
âWhy? Sheâll be back before they all head out!â
âYou sure about that? Drinking and dancing to 2 in the morning, last time she was out with her friends, so drunk I literally had to carry her back to the pack-house and put her in her bed myself.â
West sighed âGreat.â
T.J. laughed âYou could just let her be, she seems happy doesnât she.â
âShe does.â West admitted had been smiling and chuckling today, had been happy and he knew it âFind out where T.J. only intercede if those Alphaâs and their Betaâs, go where she is.
âGood thinking.â T.J. raised a glass to him, seemingly approving with Wests comment.
West closed his eyes and tilt his head back, wondered if itâs always this stressful having so many packs Alphaâs and Betaâs around. He hoped not, heâd never really concerned himself with it before, but then again his father had been in charge. The stress would have fallen on his shoulders.
âWhat are you going to do about Alpha Thomas?â
âI donât now, some sort of Mating alliance, heâs going to push for l imagineâ
âAnd?â
âAnd what? The woman is not my Goddess-Gifted Mate.â
âNo, she is not. But you do enjoy her every night.â
âMm.â
Got kicked by T.J. âHmm?â
âIâve had better to be honest T.J., l just like that she does what she is told, no holds bar.â opened his eyes and looked at his Beta.
The man shook his head âSo how long till you get rid of her then?â
âMight not yet.â he thought out loud, if he didnât get what he wanted, would likely settle T.J. was really looking at him now. More than shocked âAre you actually thinking about Marking the girl?â
âI might consider it later.â West actually admitted, âBut not at this point in time.â
âWaiting on what?â
West just stare at him for a full minute âIf l donât find my Mate in the next year, Iâll likely give he girl what she wants.â
âA year?â
âYes and in that year, I will attend every bloody Mating ball and so will she for that matter, give us both the opportunity to find our Goddess-Gifted Mates, if nothing happens.â West shrugged.
âWhat brought this on all of a sudden?â West shrugged âItâs what everyone wants⦠sheâs also up for anything.â
âDoesnât mean youâll be happy West.â T.J. was frowning at him, he knew Wests thoughts on it.
âWhat else is new T.Jâ he sighed, he hadnât been happy in years, it was his normal, barely even recalled a time he was happy. Didnât think he had a right to be. Probably why heâd never been gifted a Mate, didnât deserve one.
âSo when are you going to tell Miranda? Sheâs going to go crazy happy over the news.â
âLikely start planning her Luna Ceremony with mother on the spot.â he shook his head, that will be very annoying to hear about day in and day out.
âNot till sheâs fvcked you stupid over it.â
âMm.â he supposed so.
âYou donât sound convinced West.â
âIâd rather have a Goddess-Gifted Mate than a chosen Mate, you know that.â
âI do.â T.J. nodded âGuess weâll see soon enough.â
âI guess.â West nodded and downed his drink in one go. So would his Beta, as relaxed as the man was over there, they were both staring at each other now.
West got up from the couch in his office, to head out for dinner it was just about time. Stepped out of his office and stopped dead in his tracks. T.J. ran right into him, had to step around him in fact. Westâs eyes had landed right on Jo-anne who was standing at the bottom of the staircase leading down from the first floor.
She was wearing a mid-thigh length pink dress, her shoulders both bare due to the tiny thin straps on the dress, her long legs also on display, her hair was loose and fell down her back in soft waves, why was she dressed like that? should go back to wearing jeanâs and tee-shirts. Seemed the woman liked showing off her body, wasnât even worried about the scars that she had, for all to see either. From her broken arms and legs, that had all had to be reset and healed without her wolf, so had formed scars where she been stitched and stapled, nothing seemed to bother her these days. Was like she was a completely different person.
She was standing talking to that big bastard Alpha Nicholas and his Beta Jeremy, she was looking at the manâs phone, he was standing directly behind her, leaning over her shoulder, showing her something. He didnât like it.
âCalm down West, theyâre both Mated.â T.J.âs voice came down the mind-link at him.
âI know that.â and he did know that, was in fact very thankful for that right this minute. Those two had been the last to arrive today, having flown in on Wests plane at that. They were allied through business, it wasnât likely theyâd ever be able to help each other out in the event of an attack, not unless they knew about it a day in advance.
That being said. The Man was known to be viscous, killed his own brother to take over the pack at just 25, with a massive pack and a huge amount of well-trained warriors. The man was also a pure-blooded Alpha wolf.
Not even West was that, not many of those around. Westâs father was born an Alpha male but his mother was born to a Delta b***d line, both still strong lines but did not make him a pure b***d.
Technically T.J. had a better bloodline than even West. Just wasnât the right bloodline to take over as Alpha. Though if something did happen to West and he didnât have an Heir heâd already set it up that T.J. would take over as the new Alpha. A contingency, not many packs had one, but with Wests history and no Mate it was needed. T.J. had simply nodded at him when heâd been informed. Nil objections at all.
West watched as Jo-anne walked away from the Alpha and Beta, looked right at her, and then at them, noted both of them were looking at him and his interaction with Jo-anne, West didnât particularly care what they thought. Turned his eyes right back to her, watched her look where he had, she understood his unspoken question.
âoffered my artist service, the Beta is interested Alpha.â
Anger welled in him at that word, he had a bloody name âmay I go?â she asked.
West nodded, though could feel anger rolling off of him, he really did not like her calling him Alpha, when he had a name, he didnât understand her, sometimes she called him West and other times Alpha. Why?
âCalm down West.â T.J. urged him again.
He glared right at his Beta and then turned to look back at Alpha Nicholas and his Beta Jeremy, the two of them were just standing there watching him, looked like theyâd been having a private joke, Alpha Nicholas nodded to him and the Beta was smirking right at him, made West want to walk over and punch the man right in the face. Why was he looking at him like that?
Had they been discussing him via their mind-link? He didnât like it.
Turned and headed for the dining room. Alpha Nicholas fell in step with him, and T.J. stepped back automatically out of respect.
âSeems that young lady is a problem for you Alpha Westley.â He commented though sounded fully amused to West ear.
âItâs not a problem.â
âHmm, if you say so.â sounded like he didnât believe him.
âFound your Mate finally I hear.â he turned the attention back to Alpha Nicholas, all Alphaâs enjoyed talking about their Matesâ it was the easiest way to distract one.
âI did. She is handful to say the least.â he smiled âcaused me all sorts of grief, constantly till she marked me.â
âShe Marked you?â he questioned which was not normal most Alpha males would never allow that always marked their mates first.
âYes didnât even see it coming to be honest. Marked her right back though.â
âCongratulations then.â
âThank you.â he nodded.
âPlease donât bring up that woman during dinner.â West asked, received and oddly curious look, but the man nodded and said nothing more.
Alphaâs always had their own personal reasons for requests to other Alphaâs, most were respectful of that and abide by those requests. He was likely to see for himself anyway, Miranda would be at dinner, at the table with her father and brother and the way she was likely to address him, familiar, would make it clear why he didnât want the woman brought up.
West was not wrong either.
Miranda sat right between him and her father, touched his arm frequently, and called him West Darling like she always did, couldnât bloody help herself, even after their conversation the other night, sheâd just gone right back to hanging off of him, like nothing had happened. Like it didnât bother her that he had not been faithful to her, and was not likely to be in the future either. The girl was crazy it seemed, any other she-wolf would have up and left him for it but not her.
He saw Alpha Nicholas watching the two of them, his annoyance with her did show on occasion, heâd tried to keep it in check, especially with her father right there, but just couldnât at times. Especially when she talked like she was already the Luna to his pack. Irked him instantly. She wasnât the Luna, heâd told her she wasnât going to be, and yet she went on like she was the Luna. Maybe he wouldnât settle after all.
West caught a raised eyebrow from not only that big bastard but also his Beta, had to ignore it. The dinner went well other than him being annoyed with the woman next to him. All six coursed delicious, why six courses he didnât know, it was at his motherâs insistence, though he did note everyone ate everything. Wolves naturally ate a lot, their metabolisms ran high needed the energy. Feeding not just their humans but also their wolfen counterparts.
West had not bothered arguing about the menu with his mother, only put his food down on soup, did not want it, did not like it, didnât think other wolves did either for that matter, never had he ever seen one choose that option willingly. But other than that he had let her go about doing her Luna thing. She had been a Luna for well over 30 years now.
As dinner wrapped up he heard some of the younger Alphaâs comment that they would like to head into the town centre for a casual drink and some fun. West had told them he had a fully stocked Alpha bar here in the pack-house, to try and deter them though knew it was not going to work. They had other thoughts in mind, he just nodded to them, would be rude of him to decline them, seeing as when in their packs he did the exact same thing.
They were all on the prowl for willing she-wolves to take back to their rooms. He did not stop them, didnât want to cause any trouble with the alliances he held with their respective packs. He had however sent T.J. a head of them when his father offered up the Tavern, unwittingly knowing that was where his mother had sent Jo-anne and her friends for the night. He told them about Maxiâs if they were interested in a nightclub atmosphere. A much better place for them to all find a willing she-wolf. Not that he thought any of them would have a problem with finding something to f**k.
Only one of the young Alphaâs knew where the place was and headed off by himself with his Beta, West offered to escort them himself, they were fine with it.
Saw T.J. coming out of the Tavern with his arm draped around Jo-anne, looked very possessive over her, like she was actually his and heard the man state âHome now.â The implication of those two words would not be lost on any of the Alphaâs or Betaâs around him, at least it should keep them all away from her while they were here. Not that he was at all happy about the tone or display neither was Volt for that matter snarling inside his mind.
Heard her reply about him warning them away from her, and T.J, outright tell her he was. She had not even realised that he had been trailing behind the Alphaâs and Betaâs her attention was solely focused on T.J. clearly annoyed with him now.
West did not like her stating she was a free agent and could sleep with whoever she wanted. Technically it was true, she was an un-mated she-wolf right this minute. Likely wouldnât be if he or T.J. got their way.
Outright asked him if he was jealous that she might be interested in one of the smoking hot wolves. His jaw had tightened instantly over the comment and heâd stopped walking to stare at the woman. Waited on his Betaâs answer actually, he was also curious about that. There wasnât one at all, he just grabbed her hand and pulled her up the road away from the Tavern âAlpha.â he acknowledged West as the came to where he was standing.
Saw her eyes move right to him a little wide in surprise, at seeing him, the silver in them a little brighter than normal he noted, wondered if it was just because it was dark out and that silver was gleaming in the light. Or because she was angry, eye colour did usually change with emotions.
He acknowledged him right back, then as he walked away towards the Tavern he heard her loudly and pointedly state, likely directed at him, that she was un-mated. Had to ignore it he could smell alcohol on her, scotch he recognised the scent.
Likely well on her way to being very drunk. Drinking it seemed loosened her tongue. West stepped into the Tavern and found several she-wolves dancing on the dance floor, already had an Alpha and Beta being all hands on. Stayed put and had one drink with them out of courtesy, most of the alphaâs and betaâs were a bit on the hands-on side he noted. Not that any of his she-wolfâs seemed to mind at all.
More un-mated she-wolves arrived not long after he did and started drinking and dancing, he could smell the scent of arousal strongly, wrinkled his nose and downed his drink. It was going to turn into a free for all at some point, all them hot bloody horny wolves, likely be mating all over the pack without concern as to who saw. Left them to it, he did not want to see that, was glad T.J. had removed Jo-anne.
Found T.J. with a beer in his hand, chatting away with a couple of the other packâs Betaâs, he looked right at him, âIn her room boss. Unhappy so.â he informed West, knowing exactly what Wests unspoken question was. He didnât care that she was unhappy right this minute not with what he saw down in the Tavern.
âGood.â he stated âIâm headed for bed, see you in the morning.â he headed for the stairs âFirst meeting at 9.â
âI know the schedule, West,â he replied.
West nodded and headed for his room, it wasnât that late but he was actually tired. Glanced down the first-floor hallway and hoped she had locked her door, thought about going and checking for himself, but decided against it, T.J. would have locked it and he knew it.
Miranda was not there, likely still off with her father somewhere, he took the opportunity to have a long hot shower and just relax, alone for the first time all day. Then just lay down in his bed to let sleep claim him.