Page 1 of Elusive Alpha
Chapter One
Rook
Now what do I do?
Being born and raised in a pride with all of my litter mates, I didn’t realize how our fathers managed to stretch our resources so that we never felt poor or underprivileged in any way. We played together and learned together and went on pride runs in the local forest, followed by the biggest, best bonfire parties. Until a tragic accident took them both away from us and we were split up among other families.
Sure, we’d had chores to do at home, but the family that took me and one of my siblings in considered us unpaid help and never missed an opportunity to remind us of that fact. Or of their kindness in welcoming us to their home. Basically, we worked hard all the time. For our keep. Not even a little pocket money for a treat when we went into town, which was a rare and exciting occasion.
I ran away at sixteen and never looked back, with the exception of letting my siblings know how to contact me if they needed me. The vow I made that night was one I worked every day and night to accomplish—to build a company big enough and valuable enough that I could sell it and never work again.
From the first day, I put aside all thoughts of a personal life and focused on my goal, kept my eye on the prize. There would be plenty of time for travel, hobbies, entertainment and, most important, mate and family, when I had the money to ensure security both for me and for them. No cub of mine would be thrown to the winds, put into a situation where they had to rely on the kindness or lack thereof of strangers.
Other companies courted me, wanting to purchase my company, but I held out.
As I watched the balances rise in my bank accounts and my passive investments grew, I worked even harder until the day came when I received an offer too good to pass on. In fact, it was 150 percent of the amount I’d had in mind. I accepted, asking only that they keep my staff on, and then I walked out the door of the building I’d helped design and moved to another town.
It would be too hard to drive past the structure and no longer be a part of what went on inside.
Besides, I’d always wanted to live in the mountains, somewhere close enough to a town for convenience and to socialize but also far enough out for my cat to run wild. Although he’d never complained, my lack of a personal life had included what bordered on neglect for my animal side. I’d done research before buying, making sure there were lots of shifters in the area, since I also planned to meet my mate. Start a family. Live the life I’d put off.
It was going to be incredible.
Except, a year later, the only thing I’d achieved was a daily run for my panther. Yes, there were other shifters in town, and they were nice enough, and I made a point to go to events like picnics and other gatherings, but shocker! My mate was not there. And I didn’t really connect with anyone else beyond the barest courtesies.
As the months rolled past, I began to question every decision I’d ever made, including and especially putting off life to earn money. All that cash and other investments tucked away because I’d been unwilling to take a chance until I had them were cold comfort now. I’d met quite a few nice omegas over the years, any one of whom might have made a great life partner for me. I dated a number of them briefly. Were they my fated?
No.
But there was no guarantee that any of us would get one anyway. If I’d worked a little less hard, fewer hours a day, I couldstill have been successful. Perhaps in a more modest way, but with balance.
I never had to break it off with any of the omegas I dated because they’d all learned soon enough that being with me involved mostly nights alone while I worked.
My cabin here in the mountains had been built nearly a century before for the use of a large family, the Realtor told me. The box of vintage toys in the attic seemed to confirm the fact. I had upgraded some things, but structurally it was sound, and ready for the life I’d promised myself.
The one it seemed I would not be having.
Sitting in front of the fireplace with logs crackling and sending sparks up the chimney, a glass of whisky on the table next to my chair, I considered putting the house on the market and moving back to the city. Starting up another enterprise, since it seemed that was all I was good at anyway.
For a man who most would envy, I was spending an awful lot of time feeling sorry for myself.
As a child, I’d had no control of what happened to me, but in my attempt to control everything, I’d left out leaving room for the most important things. Something my panther, patient for so long, was no longer willing to do without.
Chapter Two
Idris
I loved my job at the local used bookstore. I enjoyed nothing better than being surrounded by biblichor, the smell of books. Some found it musty and s more than one patron came in fine and left sneezing, but to me and my bear, it felt like home.
“Mrs. Davis brought in another stash,” Magda called out from the front. I’d just finished rearranging the old Fabio-type romance books with their warped, well-worn pages. Some victims of the fold-over-the-corner monsters who couldn’t be bothered with a bookmark. The covers cracked me up. Most of the titles were barely visible through the cracks in the spines. But…they were still a big hit. Older people. Younger people. The love for those once-forbidden romance novels never died.
“I’m coming.” A voracious reader, Mrs. Davis brought in a box full of trades every week and sometimes left with even more.
My work paid the bills and brought me joy, but I was destined for more.
“She hit a garage sale.” Magda pushed a produce crate full of paperbacks toward me and nodded to the other box on the floor. Mrs. Davis had enough credits to buy the whole damned store but, after her husband passed, reading brought her peace.
“I’ll get these into the system and on the shelves.”
