[Book One in a three-part series]
At the age of twenty-six, Slater still hasn't met his mate and the pack elders are running out of patience. They want him to either take a mate or step down as alpha. To keep the pack out of the hands of his younger...
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Something was wrong.
It's the first thing that passed through my mind when I woke up. Rolling over, I cracked my eyes open and searched around the room, trying to find what was bothering me. Immediately, I realized it when I glanced over at the left side of the bed.
Slater was gone.
Instantly perking up, I stood and climbed out of the bed. I shook my coat before stretching and then making my way to the bedroom door. It was slightly cracked so maybe Slater was in another room?
Using my paw, I pushed the door open causing it to squeak and causing an unfamiliar man to turn to me. My ears immediately were pinned back against my head and I bared my teeth at him, my eyes searched the room for any sign of Slater but there was none.
What did he do with him?
"Good morning," the man replied in a calm tone, his eyes never leaving mine almost as if he was waiting for my next move. I growl lowly at him and his hands raise slowly in surrender. "I'm a friend of Slater's, I'm sorry if I scared you. He had to leave earlier this morning."
The man stood and he took one step toward me, but I growled again — deeper this time —causing him to pause and frown. My head tilted at him. I didn't trust him but he also didn't seem to be that bad. Maybe there was a chance he was telling the truth.
The sound of a knock on the door caused both our heads to turn toward it. The man glanced at me once again before he moved to answer it. Through a small gap, I was able to make out the features of a man I'd yet to meet and the smell of food quickly invaded my nostrils.
"Hi, Beta Stellan! This is the food Alpha Slater ordered to be delivered here," the man said cheerfully, my ears perked up at the mention of Slater and I eyed the man. His face was turning red as he stared at the home intruder he referred to as 'Beta Stellan'.
The intruder didn't seem to return the smile with the same enthusiasm as the boy outside the door, but he managed to smile ever-so-slightly.
"Thank you, Philip," he said to the man whose face managed to turn impossibly redder.
"O-Of course! I should get going now, here you go!" The tray containing the heavenly-smelling items was thrust into the intruder's hands who seemed surprised and the other man—Philip—quickly took off.
The intruder closed the door and turned around with a face of surprise. He shook his head before placing the food on the kitchen table and glancing over at me.
"The food is for you," he told me. "Slater order it."
Immediately, I began to move toward it, but the memory of what happened before played in the back of my mind. I stared at the food suspiciously instead. Did they drug it again? Was this his way of trying to get rid of me? Were they going to send me back?
