We had had a few skirmishes with other packs, but mostly just threats in the four months since the war was officially recognized. Dave, Patrick's human friend, had warned us that Raina and some Bulgarian women were headed our way at the same time Patrick's brothers arrived, but she had never made it. She had promised Kelsey she'd be back before the baby was born, but there had been no word of her or Dave since that night. It was still just another mystery that we couldn't allow ourselves to be consumed by.
Kyle believed Raina had gone home due to the border closures and proclamation of war, but it didn't entirely sit well with me. She had been so excited about the baby's arrival when we had last seen her.
As if on cue, Kelsey yelled out from the next room, and a hush passed through the crowd as they waited outside the alpha’s home for the impending news of our newest Westin.
“I think I’m being summoned.” Kyle said to several chuckles as he ran back into the house.
Having wolf hearing wasn't always a positive thing. We could all hear every second of her labor and it sounded so bad, I was reconsidering ever having kids. Several had begun pacing in anticipation as her groans and cries grew closer and closer together.
“Patrick, Elise, can you guys, uh, help?”
We both looked at each other, a little freaked out by the request, but how could you possibly turn down your brother asking something like that at a time like this?
“What's up?”
He grinned at us both as we stood in his living room. “Kelsey and I would really like it if you two would be present for the baby's birth.”
“No way,” Patrick said, throwing his hands up in the air and turning white in horror.
Kelsey screamed, followed by a powerful command sent with her she-wolf alpha powers that had us on our knees and ready to submit to anything she asked. I laughed and followed Kyle down the hall, dragging my mate with me.
“Oh, God, you're here, finally! Thank you!” she said. She was soaked in sweat but smiling despite the horror film cries we'd been listening to from outside. “Did you ask them?”
“No, I was getting there, though.” He looked at me and Patrick and, taking her hand in his, they shared a secret smile before turning back to us. “Kelsey and I would really love it if you two would be the baby's godparents.”
“Seriously?” Patrick asked.
“Yes, now please hurry and say yes, ҆cause this kid is coming fast.” She groaned, and turned a pale shade of green I'd never seen on a person before.
“Yes,” I blurted out. “Of course we will.” I looked up at Patrick, and though he looked terrified, he nodded his agreement, too.
“The baby's crowning,” Doc announced. “Come on Kelsey! Give me one more good push.”
She grabbed hold of Kyle's hand and squeezed hard. I watched as beads of sweat broke out on his forehead. She screamed one last time and then her whole body relaxed. It was fascinating to watch. I looked back at Doc and saw as he pulled a tiny brown-haired thing from her.
I reached for Patrick, who was staring at me and smiling. It was such a beautiful moment, and when that tiny little bundle let out a wail and cheers went up from outside, it was a perfect, magical moment.
Kelsey cried as they laid the baby in her arms. I was crying, too. I looked up at Patrick and saw his eyes were glistening, also.
“It's a boy,” Micah announced and the noise from outside was almost deafening as the pack celebration began for the new heir of Westin.
Kyle took the baby from Kelsey as she nodded and smiled through her tears. He spoke softly to the child before placing him in my arms.
“These are your godparents, Aunt Elise and Uncle Patrick.” He looked proudly back at us. “Meet Alexander Patrick Westin.”
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed Fighting Destiny. Westin Pack has been such fun to write and share with you all. I love the characters in this series as I know many of you do too.
Liam Westin is up next. His book still doesn’t have a name and despite several great guesses as to his mate, I’m afraid you haven’t met her just yet. Keep reading though for a Sneak Peek of the first two chapters and meet his mate, Madelyn Collier.
For further information on my books, events, and life in general, I can be found online here:
Website: www.julietrettel.com
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Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Julie_Trettel/e/B018HS9GXS
With love and thanks,
Julie Trettel
SNEAK PEEK
(To Be Determind):
A Westin Pack Novel
By
Julie Trettel
Coming January 2018
(maybe sooner!)
Liam
Chapter 1
I pinched the bridge of my nose and took a deep breath. Pushing back from my desk, I let the chair drift and looked around my office, reflecting over the last two years. Two years ago I was fresh out of college. I had majored in Business, unsure what aspect of the family company I wanted to someday work. All through high school and college, I had managed to stay as far away from the Westin Foundation as possible. So, what the hell was I doing here, a twenty-four year old CEO of a multi-billion dollar company?
The Westin Foundation was largely an investment firm. We had other holdings, but for the most part that's what we did. Mostly it was just a front to legitimize the small town of San Marco housing potentially the largest pack of wolf shifters ever known. It was hard to know that for fact as packs were close units that didn't always share correct info due to old fears and rivalries, but Westin Pack was certainly large enough to be a top contender for the title. Even I didn't know exactly how many wolves made up Westin Pack, only the alpha knew for sure, but we each carried a slightly unique pack scent that always let you know if someone was pack or not.
As a pup, I had grown up the second son and fourth child of the alpha. My twin sister, Lily, was technically only three minutes older than me. She'll never let me forget it either. Growing up in the royal family, so to speak, had its ups and downs. I wasn't ever one that required a lot of attention or enjoyed the spotlight. Good thing too with Lily always around.
Most of the spotlight revolved around my oldest brother, Kyle. Kyle was a great guy, and when the first battle of the war with the Bulgarians began, leaving my father critically injured, he had stepped up to become a great Alpha, too.
Before the war began, wolf shifters had lived in relative peace, governed by the Grand Council, compromised of five men who gave up their own packs for the betterment of all wolf shifters. This had worked for hundreds of years and during this time of peace, my ancestors had started and grown what we know today as Westin Pack, and also the Westin Foundation.
Wolves of Westin had much better lives than other packs because of the Foundation. All profits were split between the pack members providing us with a very comfortable lifestyle. Not all packs agreed with how Westin managed its pack, its money, or its wolves, but I've learned through experience, that is almost always jealousy talking.
Almost two years, my brother Kyle found his one true mate, Kelsey. There can only ever be one, true mate. Those wolves that don't find their true mate at a young age, often settle for a compatible mate. There could be hundreds or even thousands of compatible mates, but only ever one true mate.
Kelsey had been a lone wolf that moved into Westin territory without any proper protocol. I had been away at college for much of their early years, but I heard it had heard of the scandal and uproar it had caused. Kyle had been CEO of Westin Foundation at the time having taken the position over from our dad after he had graduated college. He had hired Kelsey and made it clear no one was to touch her. It h
ad been years later before we all found out that was because she was his one true mate.
I saw how crazy the mating call had been for my buddy, Patrick, once he had gotten a whiff of his one true mate, who turned out to be my sister other sister, Elise. I consider it a blessing that I had been away during that period of Kyle's life, especially since he had been such an idiot and refused to act on it.
Later on we all learned that Kelsey knew she was a wolf, but she thought she was a werewolf like they depict in scary movies. She didn't know anything about shifters. If he hadn't been so stubborn, they'd have gotten together a whole lot sooner. Turned out there was a reason Kelsey didn't know who she was though. Her backstory was pretty rough to discover. She's an alpha she-wolf. For thousands of years, alpha she-wolves had been thought too dangerous to live. Death sentences were placed on them at very young ages when their powers first surfaced. In Kelsey's case that had been age four. She had been a triplet. When her sisters had been killed, their individual powers had all transferred to Kelsey.
I don't really understand how all that works, but her parents had smuggled her out before she was killed and had kept her hidden away until they were killed when she was twelve years old. They had never told her what she was. It had been difficult for her to find out everything, but also a relief to no longer be alone. Wolves by nature don't do well in solidarity, though sometimes, it would be nice to have some alone time. Having four siblings, even with all of us grown, there never seems to be a dull moment or time alone.
Kelsey, we now knew, was from the Bulgarian Pack and their alpha broke all truces amongst the packs to get her back and finish what had been started when she was four years old. That didn't go over so well with Westin. Kyle and Kelsey had already mated by the time her past came to light. The first of several battles had left my dad near death. Mom too, as they are fully bonded.
My phone beeped with a reminder. My nephew, Zander, was turning one and the family was celebrating at mom's Tuesday night family dinner. I still had to run out and pick up a gift for the little guy. I glanced at the time on my phone. One thirty. I had worked through lunch again, a bad habit I'd gotten into trying to just keep things in order. There was always some sort of emergency or some fire to put out in the office. It was never-ending and often overwhelmed me.
A year ago if someone had told me that I'd be flying solo in the CEO position, I'd have laughed in their faces. Kyle was trying to transfer the position over to me before the baby was born, and dad had recovered enough to try and step in to “help”. I love them both, but they are both control freaks that weren't ready to let go of the reigns. Even after Kyle finally stepped back, consumed with his new alpha duties, I still had Dad hovering around.
Dad's injuries in the first battle with the Bulgarians had been extensive. Kelsey's extra powers, one being healing, had saved him, but weakened him to the point that pack power had transferred to Kyle and without a fight to the death, there was no getting it back. Dad would never fight Kyle for a position he would have eventually held anyway, so that left him plenty of time to groom me for the duties of a Westin Foundation CEO. It had been a very trying time for both of us, but once Zander was born, he and Mom had been so consumed by love and grandparent duties, that he had slowly eased up on me and channeled all that focus on Z.
Sorry little man. Someday I was going to owe that kid big time for it.
I pushed the intercom button on my phone, “Chris, what's on my schedule for this afternoon?”
“Nothing, sir. You had asked last week to clear today for Zander's celebration.”
“Thanks,” I replied, grateful for the break.
Chris, or Christine Canine, was my administrative assistant. I hadn't wanted her to be at first, but she had turned out to be a damn good one. I couldn't function day to day without her.... not that I'd ever admit that to her. Chris and Kyle had been close friends growing up, so I had known her forever. When they had turned eighteen and discovered they were not true mates, she had changed into someone I couldn't stand. Heck, most people couldn't! When Kyle mated Kelsey, they had to face what we call the Challenges. It's a pre-determined period that any wolf can challenge either mate for pack position. It's used often to advance one's place in the pack and as future alpha, with the Pack Mother role on the line, Christine had jumped at the chance to battle Kelsey. She had lost, but while the challenges are usually a fight to the death, Kelsey had chosen to spare her at the last minute. The gesture had humbled Chris and although she could still be a bit high strung, overall, we'd found an easy routine and worked well together.
Grabbing my keys off my desk, I headed for the door. “I'll be out the rest of the afternoon. Call my cell if there's any emergencies. I'm going to head down the mountain to see about a present for the little man.”
“Sure thing, boss. When I saw him last week at the park, he was mesmerized by a group of guys playing basketball. If he doesn't already have a hoop, but consider that?”
Basketball? For a one year old? I shrugged. “Seems like a weird gift for a toddler, but I'll look into it. Thanks for the suggestion.”
The phone rang and I used it as my signal to leave. If there was one major fault with Christine Canine, it was that she loved to talk and sometimes it was hard to escape her.
Driving down the mountain with the music blaring, I felt strangely relaxed. I had been so stressed of late that I wasn't sure I remembered what it felt like. It was so nice of a change, that I decided to stop at the Watering Hole to grab a beer before beginning my hunt for the perfect gift for my nephew. The Watering Hole was appropriately named, a restaurant and bar on the lake at the base of the mountain below San Marco. The views were gorgeous and it was a popular eatery for tourists too.
As I sat at the bar and ordered a root beer, a small child climbed up in the seat next to me. I looked down at him as he stared back at me. He couldn't have been more than seven or eight years old. The bartender noticed our new arrival and and shook his head with a scowl.
“What's your son having?”
I started to protest, but the kid answered instead. “Chocolate milk, please.”
“I know it's crowded this time of you, but kids really don't belong at my bar,” the man said when he delivered the drink, though he did not force us to leave and for some reason I didn't bother to comment.
“I'm Liam,” I told the kid.
He nodded with that serious expression he'd originally given me. “Oscar.”
“Your folks here?”
He nodded again, “Mom, Mimi and Papi. They're waiting for a table.”
“Don't you think they'll wonder where you are?”
He shrugged and turned to scan the front waiting area. He waved at a man that didn't look much past forty who waved back.
“That's Papi, it's cool.”
I was strangely impressed by the kid. I wasn't sure anything in this world bothered him. How I wished I could go back to those days when the weight of the world didn't feel like it was constantly pounding me into the ground.
I took a long sip of my beer. “You like basketball?” I asked the kid, remembering Chris's gift suggestion.
“Sure, who doesn't?”
“How old does one start playing?”
He looked at me with an odd expression and smiled for the first time. “My mom bought me my first basketball for my first birthday. Still have it. I've always played basketball.”
I smiled. Maybe Chris wasn't so crazy afterall. “Thank you, I told him. My nephew's turning one today and I was trying to figure out what to get him for his first birthday.”
“Oh, you can't go wrong with a basketball, and be sure to get the little kid hoop that adjusts down to his size. He'll love it!”
“They actually have something like that for a one year old?”
“Oh yeah. It adjusts. I grew out of mine last year and got my first real hoop for Christmas.”
“You just might make me the coolest uncle ever then.”
The kid scann
ed me from head to toe. I wasn't sure I had ever felt so exposed in all my life. Then he shrugged, “Maybe.”
I laughed as I drained the last of my beer.
Offering him my hand, he took it and shook it. I left enough on the counter to cover us both. “It was nice to meet you, Oscar. Thanks for the advice.”
“Sure, anytime,” he said and then tuned me out as the bartender turned on a basketball game on the big screen above the bar.
As I exited the bar, a sort of frenzies excitement hit me. It was so sudden and unexpected that it freaked me out. My skin felt like it was crawling and I had a sudden urge to change. Something like that had never happened to me. My wolf wasn't an alpha, so I had never had the struggles Kyle did to control him. I scanned the area in a panic, ready to run for my car.
A commotion on the bench out front distracted me for a moment.
“Jane, honey, you're safe. I promise. We're not going to let anything happen to you.”
“Annie, you don't understand. I can't explain it, but we cannot stop here. Please, just get them and let's go.”
“It's not good for you to be so agitated. You were making such good progress.”
I gawked awkwardly at the young woman pacing back and forth. The hair on my arms stood up and I couldn't believe what my heart was telling me.
I saw her sniff loudly in the midst of her hysterics and her whole body froze. She turned slowly and golden brown eyes locked with mine. My super charged body slowed and I think I forgot to breathe. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I was staring at my mate. My one true mate, but all I could think was this can't be real. I was seeing a ghost. Maddie. An incoming group of people passed between us and just like that, she vanished before my eyes.
Fighting Destiny (Westin Pack Book 2) Page 24
