Free The Alpha's Unwanted Mate: (BWWM) Paranormal Romance Standalone by Ellie Valentina

He’d been so absorbed in trying to straighten out his household, he’d almost forgotten his duties to his brother. To his Alpha .
    “Jesus, Lex. Why didn’t you call me sooner?”
    “You’ve got a lot on your plate, and don’t you think I don’t realize it.” The Alpha growled lowly. “But now that it’s all said and done, Clyde, I have to tell you…this is getting out of hand. Tirion’s become far too bold and our pack doesn’t have nearly enough strength to face his head on.”
    The admission made Clyde’s blood run cold. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t noticed more frequent Reef pack attacks, but for Lex to say that he expected open conflict…that was no small matter.
    “So what are we going to do?” Clyde spoke in a tone below the hearing of the children playing a few feet away from them. There was no need for him to tell his brother that he would support any decision he made as Alpha. Clyde had been supporting him since he’d earned the position, and would support him until it was taken from him.
    “There’s not much we can do for now. We wait, and we fortify. If Tirion is bloodthirsty enough to move against the settlement, we’ll know what we’re dealing with, and we’ll be ready.”
    Clyde nodded stiffly, understanding the gamble they were taking. If the Reef pack was really as strong as Lex feared, and if its Alpha still held the same grudge he had for decades, there was a good chance their rivals would attempt to wipe them out. If that happened, the camp would have to be prepared. 

    His children would have to be protected. Clyde exhaled hotly as he imagined Elias, in his wheelchair, struck down by one of Tirion’s savage pack mates, or Ian, running blind from imminent death. He shuddered. No such thing would happen on his watch. If there were still breath in his body, he would protect his sons, as well as his mate.
    He might be crazy to still care for her safety when it seemed she wanted nothing to do with him, but Clyde couldn’t help but be drawn to the young woman. Her standoffish attitude hid a fragileness that he longed to expose, and a desire he hungered to unleash.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER FIVE
     
     
    The next day was quiet. Clyde took Ian and Elias down to Lex’s cabin early. Alicia had promised him she would care for the boys to give him some time to think. He could only imagine the trouble they might be causing, running wild with  her own three daughters, but he was perfectly at ease knowing that Alicia regarded his children with the same affection as her own.
    He remembered Leila; the sweet scent of her hair and the softness of her skin. He remembered how she would curl up next to him after a long day and lay her head on his chest to sleep. He had watched her stomach swell twice with his pups and couldn’t have been prouder. She might not have been the strongest physically, but he could have not have wished for a better mate.
    Perhaps it had been too soon for him to seek another. The boys obviously weren’t ready yet, and Clyde was clueless about what angle to approach Angeline from. So far, he’d left her to her own devices, praying she didn’t get into any more trouble. He couldn’t deny that her body tempted him, but she seemed to be hiding something. And he’d never taken well to secrets.
    He was on the cusp of rising to head into the forest to run on four legs when a sharp gasp reached his ears. He stiffened immediately, his ears perking in awareness. After a moment of silence, another sound reached his ear, a low whimper. Slowly, Clyde stood, striding towards the hallway to pause in the doorway of the kitchen and listen intently.
    There it was again: a soft moan of distress. Clyde took the few steps down the hallway to pause before the door to Angeline’s room. He hadn’t seen her all morning, and so he assumed she hadn’t yet emerged. Softly, he tapped on the door. There was no answer. For a moment, he fought a brief inner battle. He had no desire