After spending her life worrying that she’ll never find her mate, Alexia finally meets him—and is even more worried! Alpha Ranier Stone of the Southridge Pack is a killer with a reputation for brutality. He takes what he wants—and now he wants her. Worse yet, she wants him too! Will Alexia be able to calm the fury in Ranier’s heart? Will she be able to save him from himself?
Age Rating: 18+
Finding Your Fate by Lunababy is now available to read on the Galatea app! Read the first two chapters below, or download Galatea for the full experience.
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1
I make my way downstairs for some much-needed coffee. Sleep has evaded me for weeks now, and I know why. Him. I have been trying to find him since my first shift ten years ago.
My mother always told me my mate would be my everything. If only I could find him. I am now twenty-six years old and still haven’t seen hide nor hair of him. For all I know, he could be dead.
I live in Wisconsin and currently stay in the pack house. It’s a beautiful place, really. Snow-covered forests and glistening, frosted lakes make up most of my pack’s territory.
We have a small pack, twenty-four wolves to be exact. The pack house is a two-story lodge with a beautiful kitchen and enough rooms for all the unmated wolves, which isn’t many.
I finally make my way downstairs and walk into the kitchen—a huge masterpiece of a room with all stainless-steel appliances and beautiful hardwood flooring.
I put on some coffee and stare out the huge window in front of the sink. Nothing but rural, frostbitten country for miles.
I genuinely love it here. It’s so quiet and peaceful I barely register someone walking into the kitchen behind me.
“Good morning, Lex,” my brother, Adam, says.
“Morning,” I acknowledge. “Want some coffee?”
“Should that even be a question?” He smirks.
Adam has always been my best friend and mentor. Our father passed away when we were very young, and our mother raised us the best she could until she passed a few years back.
Our dad was a beta, so Adam was expected to take on that role when he became old enough.
Alpha Greg, our alpha, took him under his wing and taught him everything he needed to know—how to fight when needed, and how to avoid conflict when possible. Alpha taught him how to truly be a leader.
“Where were you last night?” he asks me.
“I went for a run. I needed to clear my head, and my wolf wouldn’t leave me alone.”
He knows how I feel about finding my mate. It has all but consumed me this past year, but he just says to have patience, that my time will come.
I want to believe him, but it’s so hard when you have been looking for as long as I have. Most wolves find their mates shortly after their first shift.
“Ah. Well, before I forget, I wanted to let you know the alpha from the Southridge pack and a few of his warriors will be down tomorrow to discuss some territory issues.”
“Okay, and why are you telling me this?” I ask him, tensing slightly.
Everyone knows who the Southridge pack is.
I have heard their alpha is ruthless, a monster. He takes what he wants and kills whoever tries to stop him.
“We haven’t had a visit from the Southridge pack in years, not since their new alpha took over, so I don’t really know what to expect. You know what everyone says about him. Alpha wants everyone to keep their eyes and ears open. We don’t want a fight.”
I nod and wait for him to continue.
“Also, I’m going to need you to ask Linda and Julie to help you cook enough food to feed everyone when they arrive.”
I pour myself a cup of coffee and glare at him.
“I’ll ask, but you know those two,” I tell him while pouring him a cup as well. “You have to literally beg them to do anything. Can Gennie not help?”
Gennie is my brother’s mate and my only friend. There aren’t many wolves here so I’m as close to being a loner as you can get.
“She would, but she’s in charge of cleaning and fixing up the dining hall.”
He takes his cup of coffee and turns around to leave. Before walking out the door, he looks back over his shoulder at me.
“Keep your head up. You will find him soon, and he will absolutely adore you,” he says and leaves.
I roll my eyes as I grab a bagel and finish my coffee. Glancing at the clock, I notice it’s time to start getting ready for work.
I go back upstairs to my room and undress.
Stepping in front of the large bathroom mirror, I take in my long, black hair that falls to my waist and big emerald green eyes that stare hollowly back at me.
My gaze travels down to the endless curves that shape my body, and I let out a long sigh.
Turning on the hot water, I step under the warm spray. I can’t help but think of my mate as I scrub myself clean.
My wolf whimpers over the thought of him, of not having him. She has been shutting herself off from me more lately, only wanting to come out to roam thinking she can track him down.
Stepping out of the shower, I towel off quickly and grab a pair of ripped jeans and a black low-cut tank top. I throw them on and dry my hair before adding a touch of mascara.
After lacing up my boots, I head outside to my ’78 Pontiac Firebird and crank the ignition. “Rainier Fog” by Alice in Chains blasts through the speakers, and for a little while, I forget about everything else.
The drive to work takes only five minutes. Working at a bar isn’t what I had imagined doing growing up, but it does allow me to get out and meet new people.
As soon as I arrive, I go straight behind the bar and begin cleaning up before the customers start piling in. I hear someone come through the front door and look up.
Gennie, my brother’s mate and my coworker, comes through the door and gives me a questioning look.
“Why didn’t you answer your phone last night?”
“I had a lot on my mind. Just went out for a run and didn’t get back ’til really late,” I tell her.
She gives me a small, pity-filled smile.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“I just want you to be happy.” She smiles sadly.
She comes around to behind the bar and starts drying the glasses that I’m washing, and I give her my biggest smile.
“I’ll be fine. Just need to keep busy so I can keep my mind from wandering so much.”
She finally drops it, and we finish cleaning by the time customers begin to arrive. A couple hours later, the night is in full swing.
Bar patrons, humans and wolves alike, are pouring in, and I can tell it’s going to be a long night.
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2
I roll over and hit my alarm clock. Four a.m. sharp. Every day is the same. Wake up, shower, eat breakfast, go train with my warriors. But today is different.
Today, I am traveling up north to meet with the Northridge pack to discuss expanding my territory.
The tile is cold against my feet as I go into the bathroom, but soon steam fills the large room when I turn the shower on. I hiss when the scalding water laps at my back, but it’s enough to make me not feel so fucking dead inside.
My mother always told me loneliness was a figment of the imagination, but what else could it be that eats at me every day?
I have several females who accompany me when I have needs, but my wolf won’t even let me look at them anymore.
He only wants her, but the chances of finding our moon-blessed mate lessen every day the older I get.
Turning off the shower, I step out and grab some clothes. My stomach rumbles as I tug a black T-shirt over my head so I go outside to find breakfast.
The luscious green forest is calling my name. I strip off my clothes as soon as I step into the thick foliage and feel one with my wolf. I call to him and in no time my body is changing, morphing into a much larger, much stronger one.
My hands quickly turn into paws with long, sharp claws, and pitch-black fur sprouts from the pores of my skin.
I take off at a full sprint until I’m in the middle of the woods with nothing but large oak trees and soft green moss surrounding me.
I lower my head to the ground and inhale, catching the scent of a deer nearby.
I keep my muzzle down and trail it, finally finding it in a bramble thicket eating berries.
It’s a huge buck, but I know it won’t be nothing for me to take down. I lunge for it, and the deer takes off, but I’m too quick.
I jump on the deer’s back, and my teeth sink straight into his throat. The delicious coppery taste of blood fills my mouth, and after a few seconds, the buck finally goes limp.
I enjoy my large breakfast until there is no more left to eat. Licking the blood from my snout, I head back to the pack house and shift as soon as I get back to the spot where I laid my clothes.
Then, I mind-link my beta and tell him to meet me in my office.
Soon, I am behind my mahogany desk stacked with paperwork, and my beta, Lucas, knocks on the door before peeking inside.
“Alpha, you wanted to see me?”
“Yes,” I tell him. “I need you to tell Jay to be ready to leave by two this afternoon. Make sure Toby and Damon are ready to go as well.”
“Yes, Alpha,” he says. “I will make sure they are ready.”
“Oh,” I continue. “Relay to the pack that we will only be gone for two days. I want to get back as soon as possible.” I hate leaving my pack, but I know they will be in good hands.
Lucas nods and exits my office, leaving me to wander in the darkness of my own thoughts.
A few short hours later, we are on the road.
“Alpha,” Jay says, “what exactly are your plans for when we arrive?”
“We tell them we want part of their land. I have heard they have had a problem with rogues getting too close to their pack territory, so we offer them protection in return,” I reply casually.
“And if they reject your proposal?”
“Then we take their land by force,” I say. Jay, Toby, and Damon all share a look but say nothing in return.
I’ll do anything for my pack to make sure they are taken care of. We need more land, and the Northridge pack has plenty of it.
The number of wolves there is only a fraction of ours, yet their territory spans across several states.
Surely a trade for protection for land they do not even need would be a great benefit to them.
We ride in silence for the next few hours, and the dense greenery gradually turns into snow-covered evergreens.
My wolf grows restless the closer we get to our destination, but I assume the growing distance between us and our pack is the reason.
Finally, the exit sign comes into view, and Toby speaks up. “I could really use a drink after being cramped up in this car for so long,” he says, and Damon readily agrees.
We aren’t supposed to arrive until tomorrow so I thought we would get a hotel in town for the night and go meet with the Northridge pack first thing in the morning.
I stop at a small bar on the edge of town and pull into the parking lot. “Come,” I tell them, “let’s grab a few drinks before we go to the hotel.”
Damon gets out first and stretches, followed by Toby and Jay. “I hope we find some decent-looking females here,” Toby says, stretching his arms over his head.
“Like you’d know what to do with them,” Damon replies under his breath.
Toby smacks him on the back of his head, and they both continue bickering and laughing. The two brothers are always joking and squabbling like children.
I find myself wondering sometimes what it would have been like to have siblings, but I always trash the idea.
I had a hard enough time trying to protect my mother growing up.
For some reason, my wolf’s restlessness grows into a strange excitement as we walk toward the bar. Then, as soon as we step inside, the scent of orchids and blackberries filters into my senses.
I take one deep breath after the other, the divine scent firmly demanding my attention. My gaze immediately lands on an incredibly beautiful female behind the bar, and in an instant, I tense as I realize who she is. Mate.
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