Page 5 of Chased By My Grumpy Alpha
I unwrap the bundle, revealing fresh bread, cheese, roasted meat, and a bottle of wine. My stomach growls loudly at the sight. “It was her nephew who destroyed the herbs. Why should I get paid half price? She’s a mean, nasty, little witch. I thought healers were supposed to be kind and gentle. She’s a nightmare.”
“Only to you,” Selene corrects me. “And to the healers-in-training, like me. But that’s rare.”
I grimace in response.
I know it was Healer Morrigan who pushed my mother to kill me when I was born. She was already a respected healer at the time, and when my mother refused, the two parted ways on their friendship.
“I hope a shadow bear mauls all that shiny, gray hair of hers,” I mutter under my breath.
“Now, now.” Daciana sinks down to the floor and sits cross-legged. “Don’t feel too bad. She asked the mess to make a nice dinner for her because she’s having some company tonight. I stole most of it. Enjoy!”
Delighted laughter spills out of me as Selene sighs, shaking her head.
We dig in at my small coffee table, and for a few minutes, the cottage feels warm and normal. These two women—a healer who could be stripped of her position for associating with me and a warrior whose uncle would disown her if he knew she was here—are the only family I have left.
“By the way, I heard something interesting,” Daciana says as we eat. “News came from the palace in the capital today. I overheard my uncle talking about it.”
“The royal family contacted us?” I ask curiously. “What could they want with a pack that’s so isolated?”
“King Alaric has issued a decree,” Daciana says as she chews a turkey leg. “Each of the eight packs must send one female to serve as a mate to a warrior in another pack. I think the King is trying to encourage cross-mating ever since the Umbra Council’s divide.”
Selene and I exchange a look.
The Umbra Council is the highest authority after the royal family. However, in recent years, there has been a divide in the Council based on their ideologies. It is normal for shifters, or at least it used to be, to mate outside their own kind. The offspring that result from such matings have special abilities. Even cross-matings between packs have often produced gifts among the children. However, one faction of the Council does not like the idea of different abilities or changes that might lead our kind to evolve.
This has resulted in packs taking sides and a sharp drop in cross-matings between packs. But for the King to announce a mandate like this is strange. “I didn’t know King Alaric had chosen a side.”
“He has always been pro-unity among the supernatural beings,” Daciana explains. “The other faction wants to get rid of all hybrids, which is insane. Do you know how many of them are around? It would be a massacre.”
I shudder.
“Our pack has been ordered to send someone to the Blue Crest Pack,” she adds. “And according to the decree, it must be our most powerful female.”
The cottage falls silent except for the purring of Luna in my lap.
“That means Harper,” Selene says quietly, referring to the Alpha’s daughter. “She’s the strongest healer we have, the most magically gifted female in the pack.”
The Silver Stone Pack is known for producing both powerful healers and warriors, and Harper is the most gifted out of everyone. But if my mother were still alive, who knows?
Harper. Beautiful, talented, perfect Harper, who can heal mortal wounds with a touch and commands respect from every pack member. The thought of her being sent away to mate with some stranger in a rival pack makes my stomach turn, even though she torments me to no end.
Harper used to be nice to me when we were younger. She didn’t go out of her way, but she never joined in if I was being harassed in public. For me, that was nice.
Sometimes I wonder about my own standards.
“It’s going to be her, but her father is not happy about it. Neither is she. The only way out of the decree is if you’ve found your fated mate.” Daciana’s voice lowers even though it is just the three of us. “I think Alpha Gareth is going to summon all the eligible males in our pack to check.”
I exchange a look with Selene. “If Harper had a fated mate within the pack, she would have found him already.”
Daciana shrugs. “They’re desperate. I mean, who would want to send their daughter to the Blue Crest Pack? They’ll probably imprison Harper or torture her. They hate Gareth, especially since he denied their pack a healer when they were attacked and all of theirs were killed.”
I wince, remembering the incident from two years ago.
The Blue Crest Pack had been in need of healers desperately and had reached out to us, the pack that produced the most powerful healers, only to be turned away. Alpha Gareth’s reasoning was that the Blue Crest Pack hated hybrids and had sided with the faction of the Council that was determined to exterminate them. The Blue Crest Pack’s grudge has been festering ever since. Having Alpha Gareth’s precious daughter delivered straight to them will be their wettest dream.
I don’t even think they’ll care that she is a powerful healer. They’ll just want revenge.
My heart sinks as I gaze out the window.
