by Jody Morse
Kyana shrugged. “It’s obvious that you’re not mated to Chris or Josh, or you would have been pissed that they both seem to have a thing for me. I didn’t sense any chemistry between you and Colby. That leaves Kyle or Luke . . . and I noticed you and Luke holding hands and making puppy eyes at each other.”
“Not to mention that Kyle’s my cousin,” Samara laughed. “Well, you’re right. Luke is my mate.”
“When are you planning to have a puppy?” Kyana questioned, taking a small sip from a glass filled with a clear liquid that Samara guessed had alcohol in it.
“I don’t know. I’m only fifteen. Not until I graduate from high school, at the very least. We’re not in a rush or anything. I mean, we only just met not that long ago. I’d rather go to college and have a career before we even consider having kids.”
“That’s such a long time to wait,” Kyana said, offering Samara a sympathetic pout. “I’m hoping that I’ll find my mate sometime this year so that I can have a puppy by next year. I’m the only girl in the pack who hasn’t had at least one puppy yet.”
Samara stared back at her with wide eyes. She couldn’t imagine why Kyana would be in such a rush to have a puppy—err, baby—when she was only seventeen. “It’s not so bad to wait, you know. Maybe you should wait until you finish school and get married and everything. I mean, why rush? We have forever to have kids.” Literally, Samara thought to herself.
“It’s not like that for us,” Kyana replied. “We can’t wait. The Koto pack expects us to have at least one pup by the time we’re eighteen—in human years—and two by the time we’re nineteen, and three by the time we’re twenty-one. We’re allowed to have more later on, but we need to have three . . . at the very least.”
“Wow, that’s crazy. They pick the number of pups you need to have? I didn’t know that packs could have that type of control over you.”
Kyana nodded and took a long swig of her drink. “Of course our Alpha can decide things like that. It affects the pack more than it affects us.”
“How does the number of pups you have affect the pack?” Samara asked blankly.
Kyana met her eyes. “You are joking, right?” When Samara shook her head, Kyana explained, “The only way to make sure our pack stays powerful is to build up our numbers. We don’t believe in biting people to turn them into werewolves. We think it’s unethical unless it’s absolutely necessary, like if the person is about to die unless we turn them or something, so the only other way to build up a big pack is to have lots of babies.”
“And you’re okay with that?” Samara whispered. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like to belong to a pack like the Koto. It made her realize, yet again, how fortunate she was to be an Ima.
Kyana shrugged and tossed her long, black hair over her shoulders. “It’s not like I have much of a choice. To be a Koto, I need to obey our pack rules unless I want to be exiled.”
“Well, maybe there’s a way to change the Alpha’s mind,” Samara said slowly. “Maybe you can convince him that it’s okay to wait a few years before you have puppies. It shouldn’t matter, as long as you have them at all, right?”
Kyana rolled her eyes, which were framed by smoky charcoal eyeliner. “My father is the Alpha of our adult pack, and he has most of the say over what goes in our youth pack, too. He would never go for that. He’s old school, Samara—and all of the Koto pack mating guidelines say that we need to do things this way.” She shrugged. “I wish it didn’t have to be this way sometimes, but . . . it is what it is. Just consider yourself lucky that you don’t have to go through this. Who’s your Alpha, anyway?”
“I’m Alpha,” Samara replied. She watched as Kyana’s golden honey eyes widened.
“What do you mean you’re the Alpha? Girls can’t be Alphas!” Kyana exclaimed over the loud music.
Samara noticed a few heads turn in their direction, people’s mouths agape, at what Kyana had said.
“Well, that’s what we thought, too,” Samara replied, with a lowered voice, hoping that no one would overhear her. “As it turns out, we can. Or at least, I can. I’m the first female Alpha in history that we know of.”
“Hmm. It must be because you’re Joe McKinley’s granddaughter,” Kyana said matter-of-factly. “I can’t think of any other explanation for it.”
“That’s what everyone says,” Samara muttered. She was beginning to hate that she was constantly being compared to her grandfather. What if she had been destined to be an Alpha all on her own, even without him? It sometimes felt like no one wanted to give her credit for her own accomplishments, like they didn’t think she was capable of doing it all on her own.
Samara glanced over at the bar, and that’s when she saw them. Two girls were staring at Luke, giggling. One of the girls tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned to look at the girl.
Samara’s hands turned to fists at her sides defensively, as she watched the other girl flirt with her mate.
Kyana followed Samara’s gaze, her eyes falling on the girls. “Damn. I hope you don’t let them get away with that.”
Samara forced a tight smile, relieved that she wasn’t overreacting. “They’re from your pack, right?”
“Nope, they’re from the Savia pack,” Kyana replied.
Recalling that Luke had told her that the Koto were the only pack in the area, Samara was about to ask questions when Kyana explained, “They’re a smaller pack in the area—the only other pack I know of beside us in all of Alaska, actually. They try to act like they’re all high and mighty, but they don’t have anything on us. We outnumber them three to one.”
“Well, I’m not about to let her put her dirty paws on my mate,” Samara said, staring at the girl, who had now cocked her head back with laughter. Glancing over at Kyana, she added, “Pun not originally intended. Come on, let’s go.”
She led Kyana over to the girls, who eyed her as she inched closer to Luke. “Hey, babe,” Samara said pointedly, glaring at the girls. She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a tiny kiss on the lips.
“So, Luke, as you were saying,” one of the girls—an auburn-haired one—interrupted, smacking him dramatically on the arm. “How long are you going to be here? Do you want to come to my house? If you bring a bathing suit, we can go in the hot tub. Actually, it doesn’t matter if you bring one or not.” She winked suggestively.
“Excuse me,” Samara hissed at the girl, and she could have sworn that she felt a low growl escape from her own throat. “I would appreciate it if you would leave my mate alone.”
“Who says he’s yours?” the second girl asked, crossing her arms. “I don’t see a mark on either of you.”
“A mark?” Samara asked, glancing from the girls to Luke. “What is she talking about?”
Luke sighed. “It’s sort of like the mark Colby got when his mate died. The only difference is that he got it when he was in his wolf form. When we mark, we get a tattoo that’s visible in our human forms, and it’s usually in a location where everyone else can see because it lets others know that we’re mated. A mark can only happen between two true mates.”
Samara wondered why no one had thought to mention this to her before. “So, why don’t we have a mark?” She began to feel worried; did it mean that Luke wasn’t her mate, after all? What if all that she felt for him, the electric feelings that pulsated through her body when she touched him, the fact that she was in love with him, was all some sort of lie?
“It’s not a lie,” Luke replied, staring into her eyes. “It’s because we’re not married yet. We’ll get our marks once we’re married.” He turned to the other girls and added, “And we will get married eventually because she is my mate.”
“Yeah, so back the hell off,” Samara snapped at them. She noticed his emerald green eyes flitting over at her nervously, and she knew that he was surprised at how aggressive she was being. Heck, even she was surprised at how aggressive she was being; it wasn’t the way she would normally act in a situation like this.
Bo
th of the girls glared at Samara for a moment before whirling around and walking away, their heels clacking against the dance floor.
“Good for you,” Kyana said, bumping Samara with her hip. “I’m glad you got rid of those nasty bitches.”
Samara had to laugh. For someone with such an ‘old school’ father, as Kyana had put it, the girl definitely swore a lot . . . and drank a lot. Samara was pretty sure that Kyana was a little more than tipsy.
“You should be careful about what you say, Sam,” Colby said. “I don’t want you saying the wrong thing to the wrong person. You never know when it may come back to haunt you.”
Samara rolled her eyes. “Yes, Dad . . . I’ll be fine. Don’t you worry about me.” Turning to Luke, she grabbed his hand and led him onto the dance floor. “Let’s dance.”
It wasn’t until an hour or so later—after most of the pack was intoxicated and Samara had danced so much that her feet were beginning to hurt—and two tall, muscular guys who looked like they could be bouncers hovered over her when she realized that Colby was right.
Chapter 12
The tall, muscular guys stood inches away from Samara; they were so close that she could smell the strong scent of the salmon that they had just ate on their breath. One of them had dark skin and curly hair, and the other had freckled skin and strawberry blonde hair—but both of their faces were twisted into angry expressions.
“How dare you humiliate Natalie and Alexis in public?” the strawberry blonde-haired guy bellowed.
“I don’t even know who that is,” Samara replied, cautiously taking a step back from him. Luke’s voice quickly filled her head. Natalie and Alexis are the girls you told off.
Glancing back up at the strawberry blonde guy, she gulped. “They humiliated me if you want to be technical about it. I don’t appreciate them hitting on my mate.”
The dark-skinned wolf laughed loudly and bitterly. “I don’t know where you come from, but here, we don’t consider someone as your mate until you’re marked.”
“Well, we’re engaged to be married,” Samara lied. “Either way, Natalie and Alexis needed to back off.” She turned away from the guys and back to her pack. She was ready to tell them that it was time to leave if they were going to get Kyana home on time when the strawberry blonde-haired guy grabbed her by the elbow.
“But the thing is, you’re not married yet. So, what we’re saying is, your mate is fair game,” the dark-skinned guy said. “So, you need to back off.”
Luke took a step forward. “Get your hands off my mate.” His voice had taken on a deep, defensive tone that Samara had never heard him use around anyone before.
“Last time I checked, you’re in Savia territory,” the strawberry blonde-haired guy shot back. “Therefore, you play by our rules.”
“And the last time I checked, we were invited here by a Koto, so I seriously doubt this territory belongs to your pack alone,” Samara snapped. “Leave us alone, and we’ll do the same.”
The dark-skinned guy laughed and turned to his friend. “You hear that, Norm? She really thinks we’re the ones in the wrong. She’s the one who threatened to kill Natalie.”
“Excuse me? I said no such thing,” Samara replied, shaking her head, her chocolate brown hair bouncing against her back.
“That’s what Natalie told us,” Norm said. “Martin and I are here to warn you not to mess with our pack.” He stepped closer to Samara, his hot breath against her chin. “You don’t know who you’re messing with.”
“And you don’t know who you’re messing with, either,” Colby said from somewhere behind Samara. “She’s Joe McKinley’s granddaughter. I guarantee she could kick your ass any day.”
Colby, you shouldn’t have said that, Samara told him through mind-speak when she saw the way Steve’s eyes flashed with anger.
“Joe McKinley? You’re a relation to Joe McKinley?” Martin asked, dumbfounded.
Samara nodded hesitantly. “Yes, I am. And we’re just passing through here. If you have a problem with that, then you can just get over it. We’ll be gone within the next few days.” She turned around to walk away from them, when she was whirled back around by strong hands.
“Joe McKinley was a traitor. He betrayed me. He was a no good son of a bitch,” Martin said, his dark eyes burning into hers. “I want you gone. Get the hell out of here. I’ll give you until tomorrow, but if I catch you anywhere within five hundred feet of my territory at all after that, I’ll kill you.”
“Right,” Samara replied, rolling her eyes at him defiantly. “Sorry, but I’m not afraid of you.”
“You should be,” Norm said. “We have the highest number of kills in this region of Alaska. Make a fool of either of us, or one of the girls from our pack again, and consider yourself dead.”
Norm and Martin shot her and the rest of the Ima pack one last glare before turning around and disappearing into the crowded club.
“Dang,” Kyana said, staring at them as they walked away. “I’ve only ever heard about those guys before, but I’ve never actually met them. I know they like to start a lot of unnecessary drama. Everyone around here thinks they’re just crazy, but they’re pretty intimidating, if you ask me.”
“I don’t find them scary,” Samara replied, shaking her head. “I think they’re all talk. Come on, though. We promised your dad we’d take you home.”
Kyana nodded, grabbing her purse from a nearby table and linking arms with Josh. His face glowed, and Samara couldn’t help but feel relieved. Maybe Kyana would never be his mate since Lilly had been, but, if nothing else, hopefully this showed him that there were other girls out there. Even if he only ever chose to have a companion instead of a mate, it had to be better than staying single and miserable for the rest of his life.
When they arrived at Orkos’ den, which looked dark from the outside, Kyana let them come inside. “Maybe Papa found the name of that man you were wondering about,” she told Samara.
Orkos was sitting at a small table in a corner of one of the rooms. It looked like it was supposed to be their version of a kitchen; there was a grill, and pots and pans were scattered across the ground. Samara wondered if the den had electricity or not. If it didn’t, she couldn’t imagine what life must be like for Kyana—but it also made sense, considering how traditional Orkos was. It made Samara wonder how Kyana seemed to be so normal in other ways; she wore makeup and had normal clothes. If Samara met Kyana on the street, she never would have guessed that Kyana and her father lived the way they did.
“McKinley! You’re back! Did you find the storage facility?” Orkos asked, lighting up when he saw her. Samara realized that she probably reminded him of her grandfather somehow. It seemed like Orkos and Grandpa Joe had been really close friends, so it was probably like what it would be like for her to meet Emma’s granddaughter one day . . . if Emma should ever pass away.
“We did,” Samara replied, sitting down on what looked like a mattress on the floor. She realized that it was hay covered by a thin sheet once she was sitting on it. “I’m not sure that it led us to much, though. There was an address, and we had to go to this house—”
“Ah, the cabin,” Orkos replied with a nod. “I thought that’s what the storage facility would lead you to, but I didn’t want to ruin the surprise.”
Samara raised her eyebrows. “You knew about it?” When Orkos nodded, she asked, “Who does it belong to?”
“It belongs to Joe,” Orkos replied. He frowned and then added, “Well, it did. It belongs to you now. I have the name of his estate attorney and the deed to the house, once you’re ready for it.” He paused, glancing down at his moccasin shoes. “The cabin was one of Joe’s secret hideouts. No one really knew he had it, since his primary residence was in Michigan.”
“Nobody lives in the cabin now?” Samara asked, confused. She had half-expected the house to belong to one of her grandfather’s old girlfriends or something; that would have been less surprising than to find out that the cabin belonged to her grandf
ather himself.
Orkos shook his head. “No one lives it now. Well, no one except for Nuka, that is.”
“Nuka?” Luke asked. “Who’s that?”
“Nuka is Joe’s Siberian Husky. There’s something very special about Nuka.” He looked up at Samara, meeting her eyes. “At one point, Joe hated dogs. He used to say they were just nuisances, but I later came to find out that the real reason he didn’t want any pets at all was because he grew too attached to them. If he was going to live forever, he didn’t want a dog who was only going to die after he grew to love it.
Samara remembered that her grandfather hadn’t been too fond of her Golden Retriever, Buddy, the few times that he’d visited her family when she was a kid. It was nice to know that he wasn’t just cold-hearted towards pets; he was afraid of growing attached to them.
“When Joe found out about this old witchy woman who claimed to have a potion that would make things live forever, he was skeptical at first. So, he tried her potion on a few mice that lived in his barn. He watched them all drink the potion,” Orkos explained. “And once they were done, he got out his rifle, and he tried shooting them—except they didn’t die. That’s when he got Nuka. Once she was about two years old, he fed her the potion. He said he wanted a lifelong pet.”
Samara raised her eyebrows. “So, the dog’s an immortal?”
Orkos nodded. “That, she is. I’ve tried to persuade her into coming here to live in our den. There’s enough space for her here, and Kyana and I both love animals. She won’t come, though. She doesn’t want to leave the yard of the cabin. So, Kyana or I go over there every day to make sure that she has plenty of food and water.” Meeting Samara’s gaze, he explained, “I think she believes that Joe will come back for her one day. She’s waiting for him.”
Samara felt tears building up behind her eyes. She normally didn’t cry, but hearing about how loyal Nuka still was to Joe, even after he had been gone for so many years, made her feel so sad. “Thank you for taking care of her,” she whispered. “I’m sure my grandfather would have appreciated it.”
