An Alpha's Duty

Chapter 12

"Will you stop fidgeting and tell me why you had to drag me all the way out here when I could still be sleeping back at home?" Luke's grumbled words did nothing to stop Ryan frantically pacing in front him.

He just couldn't sit still. His parents' acceptance still rang in his ears and he was desperate to go find his mate and claim her. The only thing stopping him was the fact she seemed almost determined to leave.

He had no idea how he was going to convince her to stay. Which is why he'd practically dragged an exhausted Luke away from his bed to get some advice. Out of his pack, Ryan knew, Luke would be the only one not to completely freak out.

"So come on. What are you so fidgety about? And will you at least stop moving, you're giving me a migraine." Ryan watched his friend rub at his temples with an annoyed expression on his face.

He wasn't sure how Luke would take his news about Lenah, so he'd opted to tell him in one of the more inaccessible parts of their land, specifically as far away from Virginia Beck as possible.

That woman was just too nosy for her own good, one whiff of this and he knew the whole pack would know within the hour. It wouldn't be fair to Lenah to spring something like that on her so soon.

So instead of having this conversation in a nice cosy sitting room they were both soaked through in a secluded part of the woods.

Ryan took a deep breath.

"I found her. My mate." Ryan watched as Luke's face morphed into one of shock as he stared back at Ryan.

He couldn't blame his friend for being stunned. Less than 24 hours ago he couldn't decide between any of the females he'd known his whole life and now he was choosing one he knew nothing about. But that was fate for you. And if he'd learnt one thing from his recent experiences it was to never mess with fate.

"Who...who..who is it? Not Becca, please say you haven't chosen Becca?" Luke now looked at him as if he had two heads instead of one.

Becca was a very dominant and vocal female in the pack. She was mostly vocal about how good a mate she would make for an Alpha, in particular her interests had fallen on Ryan. A situation made worse after he had gotten involved with her.

Ryan regretted ever being with her in the first place. He blamed it on loneliness but in truth he knew there was no good excuse for the way he had behaved.

He knew she was bad news but he hadn't been able to resist himself, indeed many others in his pack had also failed to resist her charms. He'd been blinded by his lust for her and hadn't seen the true person that laid beneath.

Becca was not unlike Virginia in her scheming way to climb the pack hierarchy but Virginia would have never been as catty as Becca.

It was almost comical the difference between Lenah and Becca. One couldn't wait to get away from and the other would throw herself at him at every available opportunity. Talk about a no win situation.

He shuddered at the thought of taking Becca for his mate. That was one mistake he was not relieving again.

"Of course it's not Becca. Not in a million years will it ever be Becca." If there was one thing he'd learned in his time with Becca it was that she would never be his mate.

Luke let out a relieved chuckle and looked at his friend.

"It's just I know the hold she seems to have on you, the hold she seems to have on most of the males in this pack. But she's nothing but a jumped up show pony, she couldn't handle being an Alpha's mate that's for certain." Ryan was not surprised to hear the venom in Luke's voice as he talked about Becca.