Free Lone Wolf Pack 04.1 - Bonded to His Werewolf Lover by Anya Byrne

Chapter One
     
    "Do something, Nathan. Our pack is lost. Everything is in chaos. Why are you just standing there, twiddling your thumbs?"
    Nate took a deep breath and focused on keeping hold of his temper. With the ease of long term practice, he gave his pack elder a sweet smile. "You never needed me before, Elder Zachary. Or have you forgotten?"
    Elder Zachary narrowed his eyes. "Things have changed. Alpha Adler and Mario are gone. We need leadership, and the elders cannot handle the pack without an Alpha."
    Nate clenched his fists. "You simply want a puppet that you can control like you did Mario. It won't work, not with me."
    The elder would have probably continued to insist, but Nate pushed past him and left the office. He wished he hadn't come at all. Why had he even bothered? There was nothing for him here, and he'd already decided to stay away from the clusterfuck caused by power-hungry leaders.
    Throughout the past months, things had gotten increasingly tense in the Adler pack. Their Alpha—who was, coincidentally, Nate's uncle—Wendel Adler, had become obsessed with occupying the Simmons pack lands. The elders had encouraged it and had used Wendel's son Mario to coax Wendel into even more aggressive action. If they had the Simmons pack lands, they had argued to the younger werewolf, Mario could take over a pack already, without having to wait for his father to step down.
    Nate had dreaded the repercussions of his uncle's and his cousin's actions, but when they had come, it had shaken him to the core. He had not expected both of them to be killed, and him to be left straddled with the responsibilities of the Adler pack.
    He wanted none of it. His uncle had made it more than clear that his presence was only allowed because of Nate's blood connection with Wendel's deceased mate. Besides, Nate only belonged to the Adler pack in name. He was a born Alpha, and that had made him a threat. He'd been banished to live into the city, under close watch. He was probably only alive because Wendel had thought he might come of use one day.
    Either way, to think that the elders of the Adler pack wanted him to take over was ludicrous. Nate stalked out of the mansion and made a beeline for his car. Several werewolves watched him with undisguised interest, but didn't try to stop him. They must have realized he was in a very poor mood.
    He stabbed the key into the ignition, twisted viciously, and then pressed the accelerator hard. The wheels squealed as he drove off at a far greater speed than was safe.
    Moon be blessed, it would be far better if he could just ignore Zachary's demands, but he didn't have the heart for that either. That was why he'd never left. His parents had loved this pack before they'd died. At the time, Maurice Adler had been in command, and Nate had been very young, but some of his fonder memories lingered, and he couldn't help but think that some of the members of the pack didn't deserve to suffer for the poor decisions of the now-dead Wendel.
    He was so lost in his fuming that he forgot to slow down as he approached the city. As a rule, that didn't really matter—his werewolf instincts guided him, even in traffic. In the end, it was those very same instincts that had him pressing the brakes so abruptly the car squealed in protest when another car suddenly turned onto the road in front of him, going at a much slower speed. Despite his best efforts, he managed to slow down but still rear-ended the other vehicle.
    At the same time, something exploded in Nate's mind. Mate.
    ****
    Val was tired. Throughout the past months, his workload at the high school had increased more and more. Since two of the members of his staff—Gavin Price and Jessie Orwell—had left his employment, things had become progressively harder. Val had tried to find a teacher with Jessie's qualifications and skill with the students, but so far, he'd failed, and he was often stuck teaching, on top of having to handle his principal duties. Not