by Sam Crescent
EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2020 Sam Crescent and Stacey Espino
ISBN: 978-0-3695-0205-6
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer
Editor: Audrey Bobak
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE ALPHA’S VIRGIN PRIZE
Mated for Life, 1
Sam Cresent and Stacey Espino
Copyright © 2020
Chapter One
“It can’t be that hard to find a woman for him,” Reese said.
“Really? The guy would rather spend the entire day cutting logs than finding a woman,” David said.
“We’ve got to do something. It’s not healthy for a man to go without a woman. I mean, how does he not want to have a woman he can fuck and fill with his babies? I know I want it,” Brian said.
Caleb heard his men and knew they were desperate for him to find a mate. The curse of the wolf meant only the alpha could find a mate first. Until then, the pack had to wait to find their true mates and live happily ever after. It also meant they couldn’t have babies. To a wolf, an heir was everything. All of his men were desperate to mate, to breed. Not that he blamed them. He got it, he really did.
Having a woman was high on his list once upon a time, now, he just wanted to continue cutting his wood and not living in a land of fairy tales. He’d hit the big forty not long ago. Wouldn’t he have found his chosen mate by now? Caleb was tired of wolf lore and the idea that one perfect woman was out there for him.
After lifting his axe, he brought it down on the wood and it came apart. He didn’t need the axe. With his unique strength alone, he could go around tearing pieces in half, but then he wouldn’t be able to feel normal.
He was a strong wolf, but for some odd reason, the fates had decided to grant him an even bigger burden. According to the gossip, he was a monster, an abomination because of his sheer size and strength.
In his old pack, he was feared, even when there was no reason to. He’d been a large child, strong even before his transition. The moment he first turned into a wolf, everything had changed.
Within two months, his alpha had cast him out. He’d deemed him too much of a risk. For such a young alpha, he wouldn’t know how to properly manage a large pack. Of course, he’d been frightened. Eighteen years old, alone, and lost in the world. There hadn’t been anyone to care for him, to help him understand all the hungry cravings. From food to sex and everything in between. After two years of living from town to town, doing odd jobs, trying to curb all of his cravings, he’d finally been able to be free. Only this didn’t always feel like freedom.
There were times he couldn’t believe that had happened twenty years ago.
Finishing with the wood, he turned to the three men at his back. They should be paroling the perimeter. Rumors were flying that bears were making an advance on all wolf packs. He’d yet to encounter a bear nearby. He’d dealt with a coyote who lived a few miles down-stream, a rather pleasant man, even if he was a little eccentric, constantly talking to himself. He liked him.
“Are you girls finished watching?”
“We’ve heard of a storm coming, Alpha,” Reese said. “We need to head into town for supplies.”
There was no storm. “You mean head into town where all the females are. You’re hoping I’ll take a chance with one of them.”
“What harm would it do?” David asked.
“I’ve been to town many times. I’m telling you there’s no female destined to be mine. This is getting old.” He also didn’t want to delve into all the trouble women could cause. He wasn’t in the mood, not today. Was he growing old and bitter? He didn’t give a fuck.
“New women are arriving daily,” Brian said. “The old town is growing.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Come on, let us help you.”
He couldn’t criticize them and their need to find a woman of their own. They also wanted to have children. He was constantly holding them back. In their view, he was punishing the entire pack by not mating. But it wasn’t about choosing just any woman, it was about finding his fated mate.
“Fine, fine,” he said. There was no harm in giving his men what they wanted.
He placed the axe next to the tree stump and pulled off his gloves.
“Are you going to change?”
“Not a chance,” said Caleb.
“But you’re dirty.”
“Then the woman who’s going to be mine better get used to me being dirty. I’m not changing, not for anyone.”
He walked into the house, well, it was more than a house. This place had ten different rooms. He took the master bedroom on the top floor with the amazing view while his pack had their own rooms. They were a small group but fierce nonetheless. He hoped their pack would have grown by now, but four was still fine by him.
In their own way, they were all outsiders. All outcasts and drawn together to bring one new pack together.
After grabbing his keys, he walked over to his truck. He rarely liked to be in metal cans, but his truck was his pride and joy. He’d turned her from a rust bucket into a machine that purred to life.
This was the dream. He loved this damn truck. It was stupid, he knew that, but there was nothing wrong with admiring a good car.
Pulling on his seatbelt, he waited as Reese, David, and Brian all rushed to the truck. He only had room for two so he let them fight it out. David ended up traveling in the back, not that he minded.
One thing about being a wolf, the outdoors was the best place to be. No one held them back. No one told them what to do.
Feeling the crisp air and relishing the sensations that Mother Earth had to offer, it was a heady experience. Even without the full moon, they loved being part of the world.
He drove into town, which was a twenty-minute ride by car. It was faster to get there in wolf form, but he rarely ventured near humans in his fur unless he had to. In some towns, there were hunting parties that liked to scope out the woods and forests for big game prizes. He didn’t know if humans were aware of werewolves or if they even suspected men turned into beasts around the full moon.
Either way, he did what was necessary to keep his pack safe. He never risked exposure.
Even the coyotes didn’t risk it. The last thing their world needed was humans hunting them for sport. Humans always feared the unknown, and discovering men turning into animals once a month wouldn’t exactly go over well.
He parked near the diner and as he got out, Caleb paused. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to hide what he’d already detected.
Brian took in a deep breath. “She’s close,” he said.
Another little pesky problem—his pack could apparently detect his mate.
They could be so fucking irritating. It was why one or more of them insisted on coming with him whenever he went to town. They believed he would purposefully avoid his mate. He wouldn’t dream of doing that. It had just never happened for him.
This scent though…
It was sugar and cinnamon and all things sweet. His mouth watered, not to mention how his dick reacted to it. He wanted her instantly and he didn’t even
know who she was or what she looked like. It didn’t matter.
For all he knew, it was a damn good cinnamon roll.
“Enough,” he said to his men.
He was drawn to the diner. Without waiting for his men, he stepped through the door and found a table right in the back.
He had no idea why humans always wanted to be the center of attention. All his life, he’d tried to hide his size and strength. None of it had done him any good. He couldn’t change who he was, and now with his pack, he didn’t want to.
His men joined him at the booth. They were all larger than most males and from what he’d heard, even their dicks were bigger. He’d never seen a human man to judge, not that he cared. His pack seemed to know many useless facts about the species living side-by-side with them.
“She’s here,” Reese said.
The scent got stronger. Almost irresistible. Caleb had never felt this pull in his life.
He glanced around the diner, eager to find this specific woman. The table helped to shield his cock that was getting thicker by the second.
Get a grip. You’re the one in control.
He didn’t like anyone taking control away from him. Unlike his pack, he wasn’t at the mercy of the full moon. He could change on any whim. It was one battle he’d spent years perfecting.
Always in control.
Never giving himself over to anyone.
When he was all alone in the world, he’d made multiple promises to always be the one in charge, to never allow another to take that kind of control from him. He was born to be an alpha.
The scent of his mate grew even stronger.
The door to the kitchen swung open, and he knew it was her. Even as she tripped over her shoelace, nearly dropping the order of food, he sprang into action. He captured the tray, holding it for her as he caught her with his other arm.
Instinct took over. The need to protect stronger than anything else.
Green eyes stared back at him from a flushed face. She was kind, he saw that. Her black hair was held back in a ponytail. Such long hair he wanted to run his fingers through it.
“Great reflexes,” she said.
Even her voice.
His wolf was more than happy with this mate.
Mine.
****
In all of her twenty-five years, no one had ever made her feel so incredibly small, fragile even. Bethany smiled at the stranger who’d caught her and the tray of food. There was no doubt Joe, her boss, would have taken it out of her pay at the end of the week.
Joe had hired her reluctantly. Of course, he was also pissed that she wouldn’t sleep with him. Just because he was sexy as hell and all of the other women swooned over him, he didn’t seem to understand she wasn’t interested. She couldn’t be bought, and Bethany believed there was more to a relationship than sex and big muscles.
This man though, there was something about him with his messy brown hair, and were his eyes gray?
He helped her to her feet.
“Bethany,” she said, holding her hand out.
“Caleb.”
He was large in every single direction. Muscular too. The clothes he wore hugged his body, showing off the definition of his thick arms and chest. The man had clearly been working before he came to the diner.
“How about I get you a coffee? My treat as a thank you?” She took the tray from him. For some odd reason, she had this desire to feed him.
“We’d love that. How long have you been in town, Bethany?” one of his friends asked.
She glanced over his shoulder to smile at the table. “A couple of weeks. Really not long. Thank you again. I better serve this food. I’ll be right back though with coffee and I’ll get your order.”
She took the food over to table six then headed back to the booth. As she walked past the counter, Joe grabbed her arm.
“I want those men out of my diner,” he said.
“What men?”
“Those men. The ones you’re being really nice to. I saw how clumsy you were.”
“Er, I want to buy them a coffee.”
“I don’t care what you want to do. It’s not happening. Get them out.”
“Oh,” she said.
Joe glared at her and something flashed in his eyes that unnerved her. Her boss scared her. There was always something in the way he watched her, as if he expected her to do something.
Always confusing.
He made her feel guilty just doing her job. This town was lovely for the most part, and this was the only job she could get on short notice.
She entered the kitchen where Ronnie, a real sweetheart of a man, was serving up more burgers.
“What’s the matter, darlin’?” he asked.
“Joe wants me to kick some customers out. Should I be the one to do that?”
Ronnie sighed. “Probably not, but you know Joe. He’ll make your life a misery until he gets what he wants.”
“Yeah, how could I forget.” Either way, she grabbed four travel mugs to go, filled them with coffee, and even packed them all a muffin each. She’d baked them. Ronnie had said she had a gift. While she didn’t think of herself as overly talented in the kitchen, she loved to cook. It had been a passion of hers for longer than she could remember.
With everything wrapped up, she placed them in a box. Her hands shook as she left the kitchen. Caleb and his friends were still waiting.
“Hi, I hate to do this but my boss says he doesn’t want you in here. I want to thank you for rescuing me. I’m really, really sorry about this. I don’t know why he acts the way he does.” She shrugged.
Guilt clawed up her body. Why did Joe have to be such an absolute asshole?
She wanted to hug the man in front of her. And damn, he was huge.
Caleb.
Such a nice name.
Sexy.
Dangerous.
He smiled at her, and she felt it radiate through her entire body like sunshine.
It seemed like he didn’t smile enough in his life and needed to learn to do so. I could help him. The thought struck her so hard and so fast, she nearly stumbled. Keeping her smile in place, she tried to ignore her rioting feelings.
She felt odd. “Anyway, it was nice to meet you.”
“It was nice to meet you, Bethany,” Caleb said. “How long will you be staying in town?”
“Awhile, I’m hoping to settle down here. That’s the goal, anyway.”
“What about family?” one of his friends asked.
“Nope, it’s just me.” Where was her filter? She didn’t have anyone in the world, but telling a complete stranger who could be an axe murderer wasn’t going to help. She returned her attention to Caleb.
He was so handsome, crazy sexy, and for some reason, he made her feel safe.
“It was nice to meet you,” she said, repeating herself to prolong their encounter.
She held her hand out and he took it. She didn’t want to let go but forcing a man to hold her hand wasn’t exactly the politest thing to do.
“I hope I see you again soon,” she said.
Caleb made no move to pull away. “You can count on seeing me very soon. Of that, have no doubt.”
His friends got up out of the booth, complete with the order of goodies she’d given them. Caleb finally let go of her hand and it looked like he wanted to say more.
He didn’t.
She watched him go.
He didn’t say anything. Bethany had hoped he’d slip her his number, but no. It was over. She sighed her disappointment.
She wanted to go with them. Screw the job and follow her instincts.
Don’t. Don’t ever set yourself up for disappointment.
Bethany squashed whatever hope she had building inside her. Unlike the people in the diner, she didn’t have anyone. She’d come to learn it didn’t matter how nice or amenable she was, people didn’t like her. They used her for what they could get and then dumped her.
That was what she was. A dumped baby. Aba
ndoned only a few days after she was born, starved and neglected. She didn’t even have any clothes on. Only a blanket and a cardboard box.
She’d been put in the system. Babies were supposed to be easily adopted. Not her. She stayed in the system until she was eighteen years old. Then she was on her own.
She could still remember the hope each time a new set of potentials came. How she’d look her best, always be nice. The foster homes only ever said nice things about her, but she was invisible, and no one had wanted to adopt her.
Not once did she step out of line, even as her smile dimmed and she stopped hoping. Some of the foster families she’d been with were nice. A couple weren’t, but at least being invisible meant no one had touched her.
She knew of the horror stories. She didn’t have any to tell. Her life had been a whole bunch of nothing.
Pulling herself out of her depressing thoughts, she grabbed the coffee carafe, forced a smile to her lips, and served customers. She was a pro at pasting on a fake smile.
Some of the men thanked her.
She made some good tips, but her life was invisible even as an adult. Only a few people took notice of her. She was plain and forgettable, and she certainly didn’t have a Barbie doll figure. Basically, she had nothing going for her. Being nice had only invited people to take advantage of her.
Had Caleb already forgotten her?
Did he even care who he’d saved? He probably would have helped anyone.
She had to wonder if she was ugly. Ugly would be worse than being plain. Maybe she didn’t see something others did. She tried to stop her rambling thoughts and focused on work.
The day wore on and her feet hurt from being on them all day.
Checking the time, she saw it was a little after seven. Even though customers begged for Joe to stay open, he never did. He only ever worked until seven, sharp. Most of the time, he was hunched over some numbers and paperwork. The man was paranoid and jumpy, always wanting to know what was going on in and around the diner.
