Bound by Fate (Moon Bound Series Book 1) by Mandy Lou Dowson Page A

hear it.  Tried not to listen.  But it was impossible.
    “… all the way probably!”
    “… Den Father…furious…”
    “… her great stamina…in bed…”
    She wanted to put her hands over her ears.  Surely they knew she could hear them.  Wouldn’t someone put a stop to it?  She felt like a scarlet woman.  Passing one of the un-mated males in question, she could sense his hunger in his scent, see his interest in his gaze, and feel his desire in the air around her.  She tensed. 
    This was not an auction.  She was not an item, and she was not for sale, damn it!  She stopped.  “See something you like, Darwin?” she whispered to the male. 
    He colored a deep red blush and lowered his eyes.  “And you, Blaze, do you see something you’d like?” she asked another.  His gaze lowered with no hesitation.  “And you, Tobias?  Anthony?  Any of you?”  She straightened her back and strode on, satisfied that their gossiping about her was finished for one day.  Apart from one little morsel that reached her ears before she got out of range.  “Poor Gareth.”
    Poor Gareth indeed, thought Beth.  He’s the injured party here, isn’t he?  Ass.  
     
    “Elisabeth,” the Alpha greeted her with a warm smile on his scarred face.  He had been a handsome man once, she supposed.  He had the coldest eyes she’d ever seen.  Colder even than her Den Mother’s, and that was saying something.  His dark hair had grown new shocks of silver since she’d last seen him, reminding her of the poor creature she’d freed from the poacher’s trap in the woods.  Streaking above his ears, the gray gave him a distinguished appearance, as on an aging college professor.
    His generous lips formed a smile, pulling at the scar running from his right eyebrow, across his nose, curling like the careless flick of a pen to an end just at the corner of his mouth above his top lip.  It marked him as a fighter, and she would do well not to antagonize him.
    “Alpha,” she answered on a whisper.  “I come to present myself for your consideration for the mating ritual.”  The words drove a stake through her heart, though she hid it well.  She no more wanted to go through the archaic ritual than lop off her own arm, but she had no choice.  The only way to gain any standing back in this community was to make an honest woman of herself.  David was right.  It was time.
    “ I know why you have come,” he took her hand and pulled her to a sitting position beside him on the couch.  It was somewhat softer than she would have thought the man preferred.  Everything was that bit more opulent than she would have thought, if she was honest.  There were plush carpets, and rich wall hangings, a roaring fire and – of all things – fresh flowers in a crystal vase by the window, which was hung with prissy, flower printed drapes. 
    He noticed her perusal and grinned.  “The decor is Melinda’s doing, Little Wolf, not mine.  As you might have guessed I am well used to the harsher side of life.  Although,” he continued, his thick fingers caressing the brown velvet couch.  “There is something to be said for a home that has a female touch.”
    She laughed.  Melinda was quite the female.  As far as Beth knew, Melinda would snap your neck, soon as speak to you, or alternatively die fighting for your life.  She was fiercely loyal and frighteningly intense.  But sitting here in her home, she could see that underneath it all, she was the same as any other woman.  Doting on her mate, creating a comfortable home for her cubs and dotting fresh flowers about the place.  Her laugh trickled off and she glanced at her Alpha.
    “ I don’t think you’re truly ready, Beth,” he told her.  “But I also know that there is no other way for you right now.  So be it.  The ritual will commence two days from this, at moon’s rise.”  He rubbed his cheek along hers.  “May the decision be a wise one.”
    “ Thank you,