Chapter 2

Kaelen

I watched the last of the pack members clear out of the training grounds.

I ran these sessions twice a week. Mostly I trained the elite warriors, but lately, my father had me teaching the entire pack. It was just one of the many ways he was preparing me to take over as the next Alpha.

I looked over at my best friends, Jayden and Shaun, who were busy throwing the remaining gear into the equipment shed. Before I could call out to them, a sharp mental tug pulled at my mind.

“Kaelen,” my father’s voice rang through the mind-link. “Where are you?”

“Just finished up on the field, Dad,” I replied. “Putting the gear away now.”

“Good. Come straight to my office. We need to talk.”

The link snapped shut before I could even answer.

I looked back at my friends, who were already watching me with raised eyebrows.

“What’s up?” Jayden asked.

I sighed, wiping the sweat from my forehead. “My father wants me in his office.”

Jayden frowned and shook his head. “Dude, he’s been working you like a dog for weeks. We haven’t had a guys’ night in forever.”

At the mention of a night out, my wolf, Lou, stirred with interest in the back of my mind. I just shrugged. “I don’t have a choice. Especially not after the announcement last night. Susan’s daughter is arriving today, and my dad expects me to be around.”

Jayden smirked. “She’s turning twenty-one this weekend, right? I wonder if she has a fated mate yet.”

“Why do you care?” I asked, throwing a stray punch-mitt into the shed.

Jayden chuckled. “Not for you, man. For me.”

I didn’t reply. Last night, my father and his second-chance mate, Susan, had sat me and my seven-year-old brother down to announce that Susan’s daughter, Elara, was coming to stay with us for a month.

It had caught me completely off guard. Susan had been our Luna for seven years, ever since my father met her at a regional gala. My own mother had passed away shortly after giving birth to my little brother, and my father had raised us alone while running the Crescent Warriors. When he brought Susan home, she seemed quiet hardly the fierce Luna type but she stepped into the role anyway. She was a good mother to my little brother, but she always felt a bit distant to me.

Strangest of all, she had never once mentioned having a daughter until last night. She told us Elara lived with an uncle in another pack because she was “difficult to handle.” My father’s face had been unreadable during the conversation, and it left a bad taste in my mouth.

“Hey, you okay?” Shaun’s voice broke through my thoughts. “Where did you go just now?”

I looked at my two best friends. “Just thinking about last night. How does a woman hide the fact that she has a daughter for seven years? She must have been in contact with her.”

“Maybe the daughter will give you some answers when she gets here,” Shaun suggested.

“Something is off,” Lou murmured in my mind, his tone unusually quiet and distant.

“I better get to the office,” I told the guys. “I need to see what he wants. I have another training session later, so hopefully he doesn’t keep me long.”

“Wait, aren’t you supposed to attend the family welcome dinner tonight?” Jayden asked.

I shook my head. “I’m skipping it. They know I’m busy, and someone has to run the warrior drills.” I turned to jog toward the pack house. “See you guys on the field later.”

The pack house was bustling as I walked through the corridors. A few she-wolves watched me pass, but I ignored them. I wasn’t interested in any of them, and I hated the pack gossip.

I knocked on the heavy oak door of the Alpha office.

“Come in,” my father called out.

I walked inside and closed the door. My father was sitting behind his desk, and Susan was standing beside him. She immediately smiled when she saw me.

“Kaelen, are you joining us for dinner tonight?” she asked.

“I can’t, sorry,” I said, keeping my tone polite but firm. “I couldn’t find anyone to cover the evening warrior training on such short notice.”

Susan’s smile dropped slightly, and she looked over at my father. “So it will just be the four of us, then.” She sighed, smoothing down her dress. “My brother called earlier. Elara left their pack three hours ago, so she should be here within the hour. I’ll go make sure everything is ready.”

She leaned down, kissed my father’s cheek, and walked out of the office, closing the door behind her.

I turned to my father. “Shouldn’t she look a little more excited that her daughter is arriving?”

My father sighed, gesturing for me to take the chair opposite his desk. “You don’t know the whole story, Kaelen. Susan and Elara have a lot of history. After Susan’s first mate died, things turned incredibly bitter between them.”

“How?” I frowned. “When Mom died, it was brutal, but you stayed strong for us. You ran the pack and raised us. Why couldn’t Susan handle her own kid?”

“I had a whole pack of warriors and staff to help me,” my father pointed out gently. “Susan had no one but her brother. Her old Alpha told me it got ugly between them. Hopefully, this month will let them patch things over. But that’s not why I called you in here.”

My father leaned forward, his expression hardening. “When are you going to start looking for your Luna?”

I groaned internally. Here we go again. “Dad, I don’t have time to travel to other packs. I’m drowning in pack paperwork and running the warrior defense splits every single day.”

“Then start delegating,” he snapped. “Hand the drills over to Shaun and Jayden. You know the rule, Kaelen. I am not stepping down and handing you the Alpha title until you have a Luna by your side. A leader needs a mate to be fully whole.”

“I’ve worked too hard to get our defense metrics up to just walk away,” I argued. “Our last three border skirmishes had zero casualties because of my training routines.”

My father nodded, but his eyes remained deadly serious. “I know. Which is why I received a proposition this morning from Alpha Bryce.”

In my head, Lou suddenly stood at full attention, his ears pinning back.

“He wants to form a political alliance,” my father continued. “A marriage of chosen mates between you and his daughter, Lyra.”

Lou let out a vicious growl in my mind. “Absolutely not.”

“You already know my answer to that,” I said, my voice dropping an octave. “Lou won’t accept a chosen mate. He wants his fated one.”

“Then you better find her fast,” my father warned. “I told Alpha Bryce I would give him a final answer in three weeks. If you haven’t found your fated mate by the time that deadline hits, I am signing the treaty and arranging the marriage to Lyra. She is an Alpha-blood female. Strong, ruthless, and capable of helping you run this territory. Together, you two would be unstoppable.”

I shot out of my chair, anger flaring in my chest. “That’s a political trap! What if my fated mate turns out to be an Omega? Will you force me to reject her for a title?”

My father looked at me, a flash of defeat crossing his face before he hardened it again. “I want you to have your true mate, Kaelen. I really do. But a political match with an Alpha female secures our borders forever. Go look for your mate. If you don’t find her in three weeks, the choice is out of your hands.”

I couldn’t even speak. The absolute unfairness of the deadline choked me.

“I need to get ready for training,” I said numbly.

I turned and walked out of the office, heading straight up to my bedroom on the third floor to change. I threw on a fresh pair of black athletic shorts and a t-shirt just as a knock sounded on my door.

Jayden walked in. “How did it go?”

“I’ll tell you when we get out to the fields,” I muttered, grabbing my sneakers. “Too many ears in the hallway.”

Just then, the sound of tires crunching on the gravel driveway drew my attention. I walked over to the window and looked down. A taxi had just pulled up to the front steps.

“Come on,” I told Jayden. “My stepsister is here. Let’s get the introductions over with so we can get to work.”

We walked out of my room and headed down the grand staircase. But as we cleared the second-floor landing, Lou suddenly went wild in my chest, scratching to get out.

Before I could ask him what was wrong, a scent hit me like a physical blow. It flooded my senses, heavy and intoxicating the rich, sweet scent of fresh strawberries and cream.

I froze on the steps. Lou started pacing in circles, his digital howl echoing in my brain.

“MATE,” he roared.

My heart hammered against my ribs. I slowly rounded the final curve of the staircase and looked down into the foyer.

My father, Susan, and Thomas were all gathered around a girl. She had striking, vibrant red hair and a sharp outfit that immediately drew my eyes. But when she turned her head toward the stairs, her bright blue eyes locked directly onto mine.

My father smiled, completely oblivious to the bomb that had just gone off in my chest. “Ah, Kaelen, there you are.” He gestured toward the girl. “Elara, this is Kaelen. Your new stepbrother.”

The room spun.

No. No, no, no. This is impossible.

Elara stepped forward, offering me a polite smile and extending her hand. “Nice to meet you,” she said. Her voice was soft, sending a jolt of pure electricity straight to my gut.

I stared at her hand, completely paralyzed. She was turning twenty-one this weekend, which meant she couldn’t smell me yet. She had no idea.

But I did. I was twenty-three, and my wolf knew exactly who she was.

I was mated to my own stepsister. And I had exactly three weeks to figure out how to claim her before my father forced me to marry someone else.