Fated Mates: Book 1 of the True Mates Series

by Alicia Montgomery

  “Good night.”

  She nodded, without a word and stepped out of the car and into the glass doors towards the elevators.

  ***

  Alynna collapsed on the grass, sweat pouring down her forehead, neck, and back. She grabbed water bottle, taking a swig of the clean, cool water. It was the fifth day in a row she’d been up at the crack of dawn to go jogging in Central Park. Her bodyguard of the day, Patrick, didn’t have any problems keeping up (he was physically fit, being a Lycan and a member of Grant’s security team), though she could tell he wasn’t exactly expecting to run a couple of miles at the start of his shift.

  “Are you alright, Ms. Chase?” he asked as he offered her his hand,

  She took it and let him help her up. “Never better, Patrick, never better,” she huffed. “I think it’s time to go back.”

  Unable to do little else with her time, exercise became Alyssa’s way of letting off steam. After that night at Blood Moon, she wanted nothing more than to drive herself to exhaustion, so she could stop laying awake in bed, wondering about Alex and that bimbo Jenna. They left together that night, and she couldn’t erase the image of them in bed together in her head. It only enraged her, and she could almost feel the wolf inside her growling and snapping, wanting to be let out so she could rip the other Lycan’s throat to shreds. By keeping herself occupied, she was able to stop herself from thinking those thoughts, especially when she collapsed in bed at night after a long day.

  They walked back to the hotel, which was only a few blocks away from where they had ended up. As soon as she got to the room, she showered, got dressed and her breakfast (pancakes and bacon, extra bacon) plus a pot of coffee was waiting for her on a room service cart next to the desk and her laptop.

  For the next hour, she answered emails, mostly from Cady, Grant, and a few more inquiries from people looking to hire a PI. She didn’t want to ignore any of them, since they could be referrals from previous clients, but she couldn’t take them on right now. While she wasn’t shutting down 100%, she couldn’t leave them hanging, so she referred them to other PIs she knew and trusted.

  Stretching her hands over her head, she looked at the clock. Eight am. Seeing as she had thrown herself into her “Lycan studies” full time, she met with Dr. Falkner almost everyday. She was learning a whole lot about Lycans, though there was very limited scientific information. The afternoons she spent with Cady, learning about customs and etiquette, as well as information about the families and clans who would be coming to the ball. Thank god, Cady was taking care of the party arrangements, as she frankly didn’t know how to pick the right silverware or centerpieces for such an occasion. In between, she would usually grab a quick bite to eat at the company cafeteria or any of the cafes in the building, but today, Grant had invited her to have lunch in his office.

  Wolf lessons, however, had stopped, at least for now. Apparently, Grant had assigned Alex to another important task and between 24 hour shifts with her and the preparations for the ball, the security team was spread thin and no one else could be tasked to help her. Alynna was relieved - as far as she could tell from her lessons, there wasn’t any real need for her to learn to shift back and forth, but as long as she could control it in public places, she was fine. Grant had said he would make time after the ball to help her but he needed a few weeks to clear his schedule of a few pressing matters. He also encouraged her to use the gym at Fenrir (and close it down if necessary) if she wanted a safe place to shift, but Alynna had yet to take him up on that offer.

  Showered, dressed, and full, Alynna left the hotel room, Patrick trailing right behind her. They walked in silence, headed towards Fenrir, as they did every morning for the past week.

  After her Lycan lessons with Dr. Faulkner, she went straight up to Grant’s office. As she stepped out of the library, she stiffened slightly, as something familiar took over her senses. It was as if Alex’s scent (and his presence) was teasing her and she knew he had just been there. She sighed when she looked around and didn’t see the Lycan anywhere, and walked to Grant’s office.

  Jared smiled as he stood up to greet her. “Ms. Chase! Mr. Anderson is expecting you.”

  “Thanks Jared!” she smiled back. “And how many times do I have to tell you, it’s Alynna!”

  The young Lycan laughed nervously. “As many times as you want, but I can’t call you that,” he lowered his voice. “As least not when the Alpha is around.” As one of Grant’s trusted assistant (and only other Lycan working on the floor), he knew who she really was.

  She winked at him saucily. “I got your back, Jared, no worries!” He gave her a thumbs up as she entered the office.

  The smell of fresh-baked dough, tomatoes, and mozzarella filled Alynna’s nose and made her mouth water and stomach grumble. “You didn’t!” she said in an excited voice.

  Grant smiled at his sister and stood up from behind his desk. “I did!”

  Alynna practically skipped to the pile of white and red boxes on the bar off to the side of Grant’s office. “Mama Jean’s!” She ripped open the box on top of the two stacks and took a deep breath! “Oh my God, Grant!”

  “You approve?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

  She nodded. “I think I need a few moments alone,” she joked, hopping on one of the bar chairs. “By the way, did you buy out all there pizzas for the day?” The double stack totaled about a dozen pizzas.

  Grant laughed and sat right beside her. “Well I heard that you’d been eating a lot, I didn’t want to be left hungry.”

  She gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. “You said I could order anything from room service!”

  Grant picked up a piece and motioned for her to get one, not that Alynna needed any more encouragement. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding! Besides it’s probably your Lycan metabolism kicking in. I remember when I was growing up, the staff at home could hardly keep the fridge stocked when I was around.”

  “Hmmmm….” Alynna moaned as she took a bite of the pizza. “I think maybe…just one box for me!” she said happily. “And maybe one to take back to the hotel?”

  “Whatever you want, Alynna,” Grant said before taking a big bite from his slice.

  They continued their small talk, Grant asking Alynna about her plans and what she did. Alynna was also curious what exactly a billionaire/Alpha did with his time, so she let him tell her about his day (which didn’t sound fun; in fact, it sounded quite boring and tedious to her.)

  When they finished eating the pizza (and Alynna had put away an impressive 7 slices, though Grant himself had the same amount), he motioned for her to sit down on the comfy couch. “Jared will bring some coffee.” He called for Jared on the intercom.

  They sat in silence for a few minutes after Jared left them. Finally, Grant cleared his throat. “Alynna,” he began. The Alpha’s face was a mask of seriousness.

  Alynna looked at him, a puzzled look on her face. “Grant, what is it?”

  He let out a breath. “I think…I know I don’t know you that well yet, but something’s wrong. Like something’s happened to you. You still laugh and put on this front, but you almost seem…deflated.” He gave her a concerned look. “I know this isn’t the ideal situation right now, but I promise after the ball and everything’s settled, we’ll find a place for you where you can be yourself.”

  Alynna stared back at him. Part of her wanted to brush it off, tell him he was imagining things. He didn’t need to know. But it was like a wave of emotions passed through her all at once, seeing the look of genuine concern and worry on his face. In a move very unlike her, Alynna burst into tears.

  Grant was visibly taken aback at the surge of emotion from Alynna. The younger woman always seemed to hide her real emotions behind sarcasm and humor, so he was quite surprised when Alynna jumped into his arms. He noticed the change in her recently, but having spent more time around Alynna, he could tell something was wrong. It was almost as if something in her had diminished and she spent her days walking a
round like a zombie, going through the motions. She even smelled different to him, and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Like the usual scent of fresh cut daises had somehow diminished and replaced with something unfamiliar. He didn’t know what was happening to her, but wanted it to stop. He pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back as he whispered soothing words to her.

  Finally, Alynna pulled away, wiping her face with a tissue from the box Grant had handed her.

  “Do you want to just…I mean, I’m sure I can ask Cady if we could just send out a message to the clans or something…” Grant wasn’t sure if that was possible, but he would do his best to find out alternatives to putting Alynna through all this pressure.

  “No!” Alynna protested. “I know this is important to you…and…and if I’m honest, it’s not that, ok?” she confessed. “I…I…ugh!” she stood up and walked over the window, leaning her head against the cool glass. She took a deep breath. “If you really want to know…promise me you won’t get mad.”

  “Alynna,” Grant started.

  “Promise!”

  He sighed. “Alright, I promise.”

  “And that you won’t do anything hasty.”

  “Now you’ve got me worried,” Grant crossed his arms over his chest.

  She turned around. “Grant, please.”

  He gave another sigh. “Alright, alright. I promise I won’t get mad and I won’t do anything hasty.”

  Alynna felt her heart beating wildly in her chest, but she took a deep breath. “It’s…I was…this is silly! I don’t even know why I’m acting this way! He’s just a stupid man and I won’t act like a fool over this!” She balled her hands into a fist. “I swear it’s over, I’m over it!”

  Grant looked at her with a confused look on his face. “Alynna, what’s wrong? What are you rambling about?”

  She sighed. “I…I slept with Alex. And now it’s awkward between us.”

  “I’m going to kill him,” Grant launched to his feet.

  “Grant!” she admonished. “You said you wouldn’t do anything hasty!”

  “I won’t!” he growled. “I’m going to kill him slowly and deliberately. Nothing will be hasty about it.”

  Alynna could practically feel the waves of anger radiating from Grant, his eyes glowing with barely contained fury. She hadn’t seen Grant’s wolf before, but if she didn’t do anything, she probably would be in for quite a show.

  “Jesus Christ on a cracker, Grant!” she stalked up to him and put her hands on her hips. “Stop it with this Lycan Alpha shit!”

  “You’re my sister! He’s my employee!” he shouted.

  “And so what? So, maybe it wasn’t very professional of him, but this isn’t the 15th century! I’m not a princess in a tower, he’s not your vassal and we are consenting adults!”

  “But—“

  “No buts!” she put her hands up to stop him. “You wanted to know…and I told you…it wasn’t easy to admit that I lost my head over a charming face and I gave into my needs, but you wanted to know.”

  Grant ran his fingers through his hair. “Christ, Alynna! I…” he sat down, his shoulders slumping in defeat. “You’re right. You are both adults, though Alex should have known better, seeing as you’re new to being a Lycan.”

  “As much as you might want to think I’m an innocent in this, I’m not. I wanted him, I was the one who seduced him,” she admitted. “And if it blew up in my face, then I’m to blame in all this.”

  “What happened?” Grant asked. “Do you want to tell me?”

  “Ugh!” she sat down next to him, putting her palm on her forehead. “I won’t go into detail…”

  “Thanks,” Grant groaned.

  “Eww, no!” she playfully threw one of her balled up tissues at him. “Oh Grant…you’re going to think me naive and a fool.”

  “I won’t,” Grant said quietly. “I promise.”

  “I…I just wanted…I mean, I thought I could handle it, you know? No strings attached, just se-, uh, a roll in the hay, so to speak. He didn’t promise a relationship or anything if I went to bed with him, you have to believe that. I went into this with my eyes open. But then, afterwards, it just…got awkward and I think I scared him off. I thought, well…that he felt something, but I misread him. He said he didn’t think we should see each other anymore. He said he wasn’t a relationship kind of guy and it just wasn’t working out. And then, that night at Blood Moon, he was with some…some…hussy and I almost lost control.”

  “Alynna, are you…in love with him?”

  “I don’t…no!” she denied. “I mean, I can’t explain it. I was drawn to him from the beginning, like I couldn’t help it. Maybe…it was the Lycan biology. I had never felt something like that. It was pure physical attraction.”

  “Alynna,” he began. “This is probably confusing for you, and yes, Lycan biology and urges are quite different from normal human ones. You were never taught about this, never warned about it. But, aside from that…what can I say? Alex perhaps - and it’s hard for me to say this as your brother - but sometimes men just want sex. If you were willing and agreed to the no-strings thing, then he assumed you’d be on the same level.” He paused, then thinking about how fate and karma. He’d left a string of broken hearts himself throughout the last decade, so if some higher being was laughing at him now, he probably deserved it. “Your feelings changed, but that’s not your fault.”

  “I’m not…I swear, I’m just…”

  “Your pride was hurt?” Grant finished. “I’m not an expert in relationships, but maybe that was part of it?”

  “True,” she nodded weakly.

  “Yes, I still want to kill him,” he said with an edge to his voice. “Not because he’s my employee and you’re the sister of an Alpha, but because you’re my sister and you’re hurting and I don’t want you to feel like this.”

  She sighed. “I’ll get over it. He’s just a pretty face. Plenty of fish in the sea and all that.”

  “That’s my girl,” Grant gave her a tight hug. “Just…don’t rush into anything ok?”

  Alynna nodded. “Please don’t treat Alex differently,” she pleaded. “Don’t punish him and have his hard work go down the toilet because I’m being a stupid, girly-girl, who can’t handle a one night stand.” she sniffed. “He really is devoted to you and you can’t punish him for one mistake.”

  “You are not stupid,” Grant put his hands on her shoulders. “You’re a person with feelings and emotions too…and as for Alex, while I still want to wring his neck for sleeping with you and hurting you, as you said, it’s not the dark ages around here and I’m not selling off your virtue to the highest bidder. He is a good worker and as long as he stays professional, he’ll have a place here. I’lll do my best not to let my personal feelings interfere, ok? But, I still am your brother. He’s been going back and forth from here and Chicago, taking care of a few other matters. I’ll have Nick arrange his schedule so you don’t have to see him too much, at least for now. Until I see that you’re ok.”

  She nodded and stood up. “I’ll get over it and act like an adult around him. Thank you. I should go…you probably have more stuff to do.” She gather her things and walked to the door.

  “And Alynna?” Grant called after her. She turned around.

  “You’re not a mistake. If anything, Alex is making the mistake for not seeing what a great girl you are.”

  She smiled weakly at him. “Thanks Grant. I’ll see you tomorrow, ok?”

  ***

  True to his word, Grant did not let his personal feelings interfere with Alex and his duties. He did tell Nick that the younger Lycan should be rotated out of Alynna’s and his personal detail, but his second in command didn’t question the decision.

  Alynna was just glad that she didn’t have to face him again, at least until the ball. Unfortunately, security would be tight and all teams (plus the non-Lycan ones they had hired) would be on duty. Grant warned her that Alex of course would be working that night, but o
ther than that, she didn’t have to see him.

  The days seemed to rush by her, and there were so many preparations. Soon, there was only two more weeks until the ball. She had to have her dress altered a couple of times, as her body seemed to change shape with all the exercising she was doing, plus the stress. Cady, mercifully, had been taking care of all the details, but did consult her on a few things.

  “Did you want to do a formal entrance from the top of stairs?” Cady asked, as they sat down in her office one afternoon. The two women agreed to sit down for a few hours and just get all the planning out of the way. This must be what planning a wedding feels like, Alynna thought.

  “Good god, no!” she sputtered, choking on one of the tea she had been sipping on. She cleared her throat. “That’s not necessary, is it?”

  Cady shook her head. “No, but that means…you’ll have to be introduced to the guests. The alternative to the formal entrance is a receiving line. Grant can introduce you to the people on the line.”

  She sighed. “That’s better than being on display like a zoo animal, I guess.”

  Cady frowned. “Alynna, you’re not—”

  “I know, I know,” Alynna interrupted in an exasperated voice. “So, how many people are coming to this thing?”

  Cady looked at her computer screen. “About 500 people.”

  Alynna almost choked again. “Five—what?”

  “You won’t be introduced to all of them,” Cady explained. “Only to the Alphas and Lupas. We have about a 95% RSVP for now. The rest are members of the ruling families, Alliance families, and a very select group of humans who know about us. We like to keep friends in high places after all. It’s not required attendance for everyone, as long as they get the message that you’re one of the clan and Grant’s sister, that’s really all we care about. However, the Lycan High Council will be there and you will be presented to them at the beginning of the evening. Privately, in the ante room.”

  “What do I have to know for that?”