Page 1 of Undesired Mate

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LEVI

“Levi,”a distant voice calls.

I only hear it as a mumble. Standing at the perimeter of the village, I can’t stop staring into the forest that lies beyond. My eyes are not quite focusing on one thing alone. I can feel something out there. A pull I can’t explain.

A hand touches my shoulder, and my body reacts on its own. Spinning around and taking steps back simultaneously. My eyes focus on the face of my Alpha, Thorn. His brow furrows, and he takes a defensive step back as well.

“Are you all right, Levi?” Thorn asks, with concern in his deep voice.

It takes my brain a couple of seconds more to register what he said.

“Yeah, I’m good. What’s up?”

Thorn scans my face to make sure I’m all there. He comes bearing orders.

“I need you to take a team out and search the woods. I was hunting earlier and caught the scent of another shifter. Go find whoever it is and deal with it.”

Thorn’s voice is haggard, as if every word he spoke took energy. Since taking over the pack, he’s spent most of his days trying to fix all the shit Alistair fucked up. Along with his mate being pregnant, I’m sure his hands are full.

“How’s Abby doing?”

“She’s fine. Do you not think I can take care of my mate?” he says.

“Of course, I know you can take care of her. I was just showing concern,” I say with my hands up.

Thorn’s body relaxes, and he puts his hand on my shoulder.

“Sorry, things have been difficult. To answer your question. She is doing well. Just on bed rest.”

“That’s great news. Where did you catch this scent?”

Thorn pulls out a map of the area and shows me the location. It’s in a remote part of our territory. Usually used by teens to sneak off to and rut.

“What were you doing there?” I chuckle, giving him a fake punch on the shoulder.

“I hadn’t been there in a long time. Just wanted to see it.”

I nod. I’m sure there are a few places he missed. Hell, I’ve lived here my whole life and there’s still places I haven’t been to in forever.

“I’ll get the team together and take care of it.”

Thorn nods and heads in the direction of his cabin. I turn the other way and make a beeline to the barracks. We keep the newly trained wolves together there.

“Kiera and Gable, you’re with me,” I bark.

These two are the most promising of the new recruits. Kiera was slender for a wolf, but she was fast as lightning. Gable was huge. Around the same size as Thorn. He should be groomed as a potential Alpha down the road. That won’t happen because, unfortunately, he is as dumb as a box of rocks. But in a fight, he is a monster.

“Don’t worry about bringing anything. We are going out as wolves.”

Kiera and Gable both give me a look of surprise. Young warriors are notorious for not being able to fully control their wolf. This is a kill mission, though. Perfect for them to learn how to use control.

“Are you sure, sir?” Kiera asks wide-eyed.

“You’re never going to get to the point of controlling yourself if you never practice doing just that. Besides, we are meant to eliminate whoever this is. If you lose it, no big deal.”

They both give a curt nod. Turning to leave, it’s not lost on me how big of a deal this is for those two. A chance to show the pack they belong. Heading to the stables, I start to strip my shirt off. The structure has been here for nearly a hundred years. But it’s well-maintained, so we use it as a place to turn and still have a bit of privacy in human form.

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