0

Chapter One

Sheppard

“Alpha.” Holt had knocked on the door, but he hadn’t really waited for me to answer before bursting in. “There’s a man at the pack gates. He said you requested him?”

I groaned and slapped down the paperwork I was going through. There was a chunk of property that butted up to our lands, and the government had made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, but there were stipulations that I questioned.

“What man? What does that even mean, I requested him?”

I was only half paying attention. I had betas for several reasons, one of which was to take care of bullshit like this so I didn’t have to.

“Alpha,” Holt said with a new tone, an urgency that made me look up and pay him some mind. “The man is a polar bear shifter. Says you requested him on an app for mates. Something called Male-Order app? He’s come here all the way from Alaska.”

I screwed up my face but stood. I would have to take care of the situation whether I had betas or not. I stomped through the house and into the security room where all of the video surveillance feed was. The two betas in charge of said security stood when I entered, and I pushed past them to look at the screens lining the walls.

“This man?” I pointed to the monitor in the dead center. The pack gate monitor.

The male at the gates was shorter than me, by about five inches if I was judging the vision correctly. His bronze skin and blue eyes could make a weaker alpha forget his own name.

I wasn’t that weak alpha, for the record.

“Let him speak,” I commanded the security guard at the gate through a walkie-talkie.

One of my guards waved two fingers at the male. He smiled at him for some reason that gripped my chest. He reached the security booth, stepped inside, picked up the walkie, and spoke into it. “Hello?”

His voice washed over me, but I steeled myself against such things. Always had. I had no room in my life for romance or a mate.

Pack first. Pack always. Then self.

That was what my father had ingrained in me since birth, and I lived by the creed.

“This is Sheppard, alpha of this pack. State your purpose.” Okay, that sounded a little more Marines than alpha, but that was my job. I didn’t have time for this bullshit.

“I am Toklo. I have been messaging you on the app and you told me to come here at my earliest convenience.”

I scoffed as he put his phone up to the camera as though I could possibly see it.

“Alpha, is this an enemy? Someone trying to infiltrate our lands?” Holt said behind me. He always had been a bit skittish.

“No, he’s clearly just confused.” “Look, I don’t know…”

Just as I was about to tell this man to hit the hills running, my best friend and number one beta, Ren, arrived, his chest heaving like he’d run all the way from Canada to be here at this moment. “Alpha…Sheppard…”

“What?” I barked, needing to know what the holy hell was going on. “I did it. He’s here because of me.”

My bear wrangled inside me, not pleased about this male being here for

Ren.

“Explain now before I start busting skulls.” Gods, it was one of those

moments when I cringed, knowing I sounded exactly like my father.

“Alpha, I’ve been talking to the male on the app. Pretending to be you.” Gasps filled the office, but I said nothing. My anger wouldn't let me. “Sheppard, you need an omega to steady you, and you won’t look for one,

and we don’t see you date…”

“So, you took it upon yourself to find me an omega on some app, and now this male is here expecting something?”

He nodded though, to his credit, his gaze stayed locked on the floor. “Yes, alpha. He is here to be your husband. Your omega. I…”

I whirled on the screen and forced myself not to take another look at the man before I did what I had to do.

I’d been betrayed by my best friend and set up in the worst way. Pain curled around my sternum like a venomous snake that had just stricken me right in the heart.

“Toklo, whoever you are. This is a mistake. Go home. Forget the app. And one more thing, don’t ever come back.”

Chapter Two

Sheppard

I’d just sat back down at my desk after slamming the door when I heard a commotion and scuffling outside. I stood, cursing time and space while I did, and walked to the window to see what the hell was going on out there.

Holt and Ren and the man I distinctly remembered telling to leave and not come back approached the alpha house. The man was flanked by my betas, and though they were just walking, I didn’t appreciate the positioning nonetheless. He should be walking behind them or in front of them, anything but between them.

Like a deer more than a bear, I ducked when Ren looked upward to my office and hustled back to my desk to make sure it looked like zero fucks were given that they not only disobeyed my orders but were blatantly being assholes.

I listened, poised over the paperwork to look like I was working. Their footsteps pounded against the stairs that led to the meeting room, the security room, and my office, all located on the second floor. The first floor was a common area, and the third was the bedrooms of the alpha and his betas. It was intended for the alpha and his children, but we already knew the situation with that little fairy tale not come true.

At a knock, I growled, sending some of my alpha power right into it so they knew they were entering the lion’s den and should act accordingly.

“Come in,” I ground out after making them wait a minute because I could.

Ren and Holt came in first and then the omega who kept his eyes on the floor but then raised them. I met him second for second, but he never dropped his stare.

You could tell so much about a man’s stare. He was an omega of worth for

sure.

He might be one deserving of an alpha. It just wasn’t me.

“You are dismissed, betas. We will discuss your disobedience and

repercussions later.”

Ren and Holt left, and I was alone with this man. I cleared my throat and sat down, looking him over as he stared out my window. My first impressions were wrong, or at least understatements. He wasn’t just attractive, he was downright gorgeous.

Someone should photograph him for one of those hot men magazines, gorgeous. Crystal-clear blue eyes seemed to glimmer and made me want to know things. Like was his skin a gleaming bronze from hard outdoor work, or did genetics gift it to him?

“Toklo is it?” I asked, already knowing. The name was engraved on my brain.

He nodded and turned his attention to me.

“Why don’t you take a seat.” I waved my hand toward the chair in front of me, and he sat down. They must’ve left his bags downstairs.

He was dressed in dark-green cargo pants and a gray thermal that fit him like a second skin, showing the leanness of his frame along with biceps and pecs that almost defied the fabric that covered them by stretching them so thin.

Work boots were on his feet. They weren’t dirty, per se, but I could tell they were well-used and not for hiking.

Fuck, I had to take the high road here, which was something I hated to do. “Toklo, I need to apologize to you on behalf of my betas. They were wrong

for not only getting on whatever app…”

He cleared his throat. “The Male-Order app.”

“Oh…okay. The Male-Order app. Anyhow, they were completely out of line to get on there and pretend to be me and speak to you as such. I’m sorry they have wasted your time.”

The whole time I was speaking, he wrung his hands in his lap. Something was wrong beyond this app and my stupid friends.

“Sir, alpha, I understand the predicament, but I have nowhere else to go.” I raised my hand to stop him there. “I understand but—”

“Alpha, I have nowhere to live.” The tone in his voice gave no hint of dishonesty, and I could smell none on him either. In fact, he scented of forest and aspen trees with something underneath it, something sweet and smoky I couldn’t quite place.

“We don’t usually take species outside our own.”

He jutted his thumb over his shoulder. “But someone said there is a Lynx who may become a member of this pack?”

Loudmouth betas.

I breathed in and let out a heavy exhale, taking the moment to think of what to do and only came up with one plan. “Fine, you want to stay here?”

He nodded.

“You may remain here for the time being. You will be put to work outside just as the other low-level shifters are, and you will live in the bunkhouse with them as well. We don’t give handouts in this pack, and there are no freeloaders.”

“I understand, alpha. Thank you.”

“Go out the same door you came into my house, and I will have someone meet you there and show you your new job and accommodations. Be sure to ask about the rules of our pack. I don’t want or need any more trouble than you’ve already brought.”

I cursed as he left the office. Gossip would flow like a river about me letting him stay. I would be made a mockery among my own people. But even with that knowledge, I couldn’t deny him. The look on his face. The glint in his eyes. His scent that begged me to pay attention. I couldn't deny any of it.

I got on the phone as he left and called down to Ralph who worked in the fields.

“Yes, alpha,” he answered.

“I want the polar bear on cutting wood. With the axe only. We’ll teach him what it means to be pack. And he’s last on the feeding line. Understood?”

Silence answered me.

“I said, is that understood?” “Yes, alpha. Understood.”

That would teach the polar bear. He would be gone soon enough.

Chapter Three

Toklo

I don’t know what I expected, but being thrown out on my ass was a big possibility. And I wasn’t lying when I said I had nowhere to go. I had sided with the wrong candidate for alpha, not something forgiven easily by the winner of the challenge. And despite my strong feelings, cheating had been involved in his win, which mattered not at all.

The Male-Order app had seemed like a godsend. Especially when the possible match had been nearly 100 percent, and everything about him went right with that. He was hot, so hot, and smelled amazing. I had no desire to be in charge of anything, but I had great respect for those who were and who did it with grace and garnered respect from their followers.

Chrach, the new alpha up north, was none of those things, but until someone stronger came along, he would hold his place despite all his negative qualities. I just hoped he didn’t do too much damage to those I loved. My leaving eliminated one of his great annoyances. Perhaps that meant my family wouldn’t be a target for his meanness. I mourned the death of the old alpha still.

But I could do no more for them, at least for now, and since the alpha here, Sheppard, had made his complete lack of interest in me apparent, I must turn my attention to being a useful member of the pack. I could earn my keep and then some. Work scared me not at all. Idleness rather did, coming with time to worry about those I left behind.

Ralph was chattering away as he led me down a long gravel path to a long, single-story wooden structure. “Here’s the bunkhouse. Leave your stuff on one of the beds with the mattress rolled up. I’m afraid you’ll find mostly uppers, so I hope that’s okay. You can move everything into one of the open, empty lockers this evening before bedtime.” He waited while I walked to the other end of the building before finding the promised bed, and it was an upper bunk. But I didn’t mind. As a cub I’d climbed anything I could find, not always much in the great whiteness, but there were a few trees and quite a few boulders.

I followed the beta back outside and we continued along the path. It curbed toward the back of the house and then farther to a woodlot. We’d had one up north as well, although the abundance of trees in this area made it easier, no doubt, to gather enough for everyone. Lengths of wood were piled around three sides of the area, with a mechanical wood-splitter on the fourth. A solar panel appeared to power it, which I found admirable. But Ralph stopped in the middle of the yard, where stood a stump with an axe in it. “The alpha wants you to use this instead of the machine, got it?”

“Sure.” I reached for the handle.

“We need a lot of wood for the winter.” He fixed a stare on me. “It gets very

cold.”

I arched a brow at him, pausing. How cold did it get here in the Pacific Northwest? Did it even snow? But perhaps people’s idea of hot and cold were based more on what they were used to. “No problem. Are there any gloves?” I didn’t mind chopping wood, but hands could get sweaty.

“Do you need them?” His voice held a little bit of snark, but I’d heard worse.

“They help prevent injuries. I’m fond of all my fingers.” I waited. He knew that. I hoped this pack didn’t have a penchant for hazing new arrivals.

“Gloves are in the shed over there.” He pointed. “Help yourself but don’t take more than you need.”

“Thank you.” I released my grip on the axe handle and started toward the shed.

“Toklo? That’s your name right?”

“Yes.” I waited. “Did you need something?”

“Remember all those rules I went over. We take them seriously.”

Oh shit. While he was chattering about nonsense, he’d managed to slip something important past me. Deliberate or not, it didn’t matter. Although most were probably common sense, like be respectful to the alphas and betas, courteous to the others, don’t draw negative attention on the pack, every group had its own preferences based on the area or the personalities of its members.

Or some that seemed to hold no logic but were enforced with a vengeance. “Uh, there is a lot to remember for my first day. Are the rules written down

anywhere?”

He stared at me like I’d grown two heads. “You mean like a handbook?” His sarcasm warned me that I should have paid better attention. Of course, I should have. “Since there are only four rules, we’ve settled for writing them on the whiteboard on the back of the bunkhouse door.”

Thank the gods.

“Oh, right. Sorry, I’ve been traveling a long way, and I just want to be sure to do my part and fit in.”

He seemed to consider a moment then gave a nod. “You’ll manage. I can’t wait to see you on the first run though. All that white fur. It would be entertaining not to tell the rest of them.”

I shrugged. “Don’t they already know, since apparently, they were all in on the joke of inviting me?” The rejection stung, I couldn’t pretend it didn’t.

“They know about the app, but not about your background at all.” His grin won me over. That and it couldn’t hurt to have the man who was apparently my boss on my side. “Okay?”

“All right.” I started off again then stopped and turned. “They aren’t going to want to fight or anything?”

“Nah. Holt knows and a few others, and they will love to be in on the joke. Now, go get the gloves and get to work. I would razz you about them more, if you had said you didn’t want blisters.”

I held up my hands. “I have calluses on top of calluses. I don’t see blisters happening while chopping a little wood.”

“Listen for the dinner bell.” And he was gone, leaving me to my thoughts and my axe and a pile of fire-ready wood that grew until it was taller than my head before I heard the chime announcing dinnertime.

I was hungry enough to eat almost anything.