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I’m Kennedy, a human living among a werewolf pack. Actually, no… “outsider” might be the better word. That’s what many of the she-wolves think. They believe that, as the childhood friend of Jeremiah, the pack’s Alpha heir, I’ve taken away the attention he would otherwise have given them. But in reality, I know full well that’s impossible. A union between a human and a werewolf is a once-in-a-century occurrence. Not to mention, Jeremiah already has a mate. But to avoid trouble, it’s best if I leave. The human world is where I truly belong. Still, before I go, I promised Jeremiah I’d accompany them to visit the pack ruled by his mate’s brother. This is probably the last thing I, as his friend, can do for him. I have heard about Dark Moon pack and it’s Alpha, no one looks beat down or unhappy. I have heard that this Alpha is a tyrant and takes over packs because he loves power. He needs to kill five people before he can even have breakfast. That he basically enslaves his pack and abuses them, but I have no idea where any of those rumors came from. This pack is beautiful and all the people we have met so far have been kind and welcoming. It’s actually interesting to not get weird looks from people. I know they can smell that I’m human, but it doesn’t seem to bother anyone here like it does at home. However, what I’m most looking forward to is the training ground of the Dark Moon Pack. Even though I’m human, I’m the lead warrior in our pack! The training ground of the world’s most powerful wolf pack is naturally very appealing to me. We drive the ten or so minutes to the training ground and it looks like a ton of people are gathered already as we pull in. “Oh my God, I’ve never seen such a huge training ground. Your brother is incredible!” I whispered from the back seat to Jeremiah’s mate, Rayna. “He has the most pack members I’ve ever seen, but I really only see them when they come here. I don’t travel as much as he and my parents do. All of my training has been here, mostly with the pack hospital. I love helping with the maternity ward and the new pups.” I don’t miss the look she gives my best friend. I’m going to be an aunt inside the next year. I would bet money on it, but it doesn’t seem to bother him at all. He just smiles his wide beaming smile at her like he would give her anything she asked for right now. I would love for someone to look at me like that someday. It’s probably the only thing about mates I am envious of. The absolute dedication. There is no wondering about being faithful or all of the guessing that comes with dating. We all jump out of the SUV and follow Rayna into the training grounds. Of course most people stop and stare as she leads us right to the front of the group, ignoring all the stares and whispers. “Beta Josh, Gamma Bennet, Delta Danny, this is my mate Alpha Jeremiah and his team. Beta Ben, Gamma Jason, Delta Tommy and Warrior Kennedy.” We all shake hands and exchange pleasantries. I sometimes hate all the title stuff and pomp and circumstance that they all have to go through. I’m so spoiled being in their inner circle, it’s going to get old really quickly having to say titles all week. I know it’s part of the job, but it’s just a mouthful. We step off to the side and the leaders get started like we never interrupted. Now I know why this pack is one of the most feared. Watching them train is mesmerizing. Their movements are so fast and fluid, if you blink you miss it. They train equally in human and wolf form and I am eventually set up with female warriors, but I soon learn this isn’t an insult at all. It’s a challenge. One of their female warriors, Greta, took me under her wing immediately and started to help me refine my movements, not once mentioning my being human. She just worked with the strength I have, not what I am lacking because of my species. I have totally lost track of my pack members, I am fully engrossed in working with Greta and loving every second. Kennedy Greta has me learn with her and then pairs me with other female warriors so I can learn to adapt to each person's movement and tells. “Damn, girl, you are good. You’re fast without the added speed a wolf gives, you have clearly put the time in. This is going to be fun. Are you going to join us in the morning?” Greta asks as I dodge another swipe from her arms. I don’t think she’s really trying her hardest, but I am getting a workout so I won’t complain. I would like to see her spar with one of the guys though and just let loose. “What’s in the morning?” I pant, she’s not letting me distract her at all. “The Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and a select team of warriors train together. We work the closest with the Alpha and are usually his detail when he travels. It also gives him a chance to train without prying eyes and drooling females.” She rolls her eyes. “I mean, I see the appeal. He's an alpha and he’s hot, but I don’t understand the girls who would gladly give up their mate for a ranked member even if it’s not their Goddess given mate.” “I always wondered that too. I watched a lot of girls go after Jeremiah and even tried to target me, thinking I was c*ckblocking them.” I shrug, shaking out my arm after a hold. “Can we go one more round?” I ask, noticing for the first time that the warriors had started to thin out. “I’m just starting to get the hang of this arm release.” “Do you ever stop?” She laughs at me, but gets into position. “Danny, come check this out.” She hollers over my shoulder. But I don’t turn around, it could be a trick to get my guard down. She lunges for me like she has been for however long we’ve been here. I seem to go time blind when I train. I counter and start to spin, but she anticipates the movement and follows me, grabbing an arm. I keep twisting and duck so I spin under my own arm, locking hers behind her back and then shoving her forward. She turns quickly and comes at me again, swinging with her arm as she turns and catches me in the shoulder. I take the blow but use the momentum to wind up and send a backhanded punch to her face and then an uppercut into her ribs, getting an ‘oof’ out of her. We continue to move, each getting in hits and taking them equally. “Time!” someone shouts and both Greta and I turn around. “I know you both enjoy showing off, but if we don’t leave now, Rayna will beat you both for not having enough time to get ready for the dinner party and she doesn’t want any more visible marks on Kennedy.” Gamma Bennet walks over to us. “Everyone has already left, I am supposed to get you back to the pack house so Rayna can ‘make you presentable after all of that.’” He flutters his hand towards where we were sparing and says it in a girly high pitched tone I assume is making fun of Rayna. “You’re an idiot.” Greta laughs at him. “Hey, don’t blame me. I’m just following orders, and I’m on Hot Human detail.” My eyebrows shoot up and my jaw drops. “What did you say?” I look between him and Greta as she busts out laughing. Since Greta is laughing it can’t be all bad. But it still kind of feels insulting. “You are now the talk of the trainees, miss human girl. It’s hard to keep up with our Greta here and you were on fire. I think our trainees spent just as much time watching your skill as they did your ass.” “Aren’t you a bold one? Do you always talk about your guests like this? To their face?” I smile. grabbing the towel he handed me. “Only when they are warriors and can handle it.” He winks at me and I laugh. He’s going to be fun, a good option if I don’t find the owner of that delicious smell from our floor. Kennedy “You did fight really well today. You seem to enjoy very long and strenuous training sessions. If you ever want a one on one. I’m your guy.” Danny saunters next to me, getting between Gamma Bennet and I and all I could do was laugh. I love the flirting and the banter. I love that they aren’t treating me differently because I’m human. “Alright, shoo.” Greta pushes Danny away. “The shiny new toy needs to go get cleaned up, because for all the talk you both do, she spent the most time sweaty and tangled up with me.” She winked at their stunned faces and put her arm around me leading me back to the truck laughing. “Wait!! I can work with that!” Danny yells at our back and I laugh even harder. Gamma Bennet and Greta both walk me to my room when we get back to the packhouse, like I couldn’t find it. I don’t know if that was a protection thing or what, but I don’t have much time to think about it when I am attacked as soon as I open the door to my room. “Finally! I thought you would never leave! You’re as bad as Jeremiah said. Let’s go! Get in the shower we have to get you fabulous for tonight. Let’s see if we can find you a mate.” Rayna is talking without breathing I think. I just roll my eyes, she has mentioned finding me a mate a few times since she decided I was not trying to take hers. “Do you know the likelihood of a human having a werewolf mate? It’s like a two percent chance and I’m sure the human is like one of those crazy bodybuilders that could eat werewolves for breakfast.” I laugh at her. “I’m average for a human, but a little small as far as werewolves go, I’m not anyone’s mate. I will go off to college and get a degree and work like a regular human and just pop in to see my supernatural friends.” I smile wide at her. “Especially when I have a room like this waiting for me and a bunch of nieces and nephews to spoil.” I wave my hand dramatically. “You are a great warrior actually, you move really well against people who have enhanced abilities. Don’t limit yourself. You never know.” She winks at me. “What am I wearing tonight?” I can’t believe I am distracting her with dress options. I actually don’t mind dressing up for the right occasion, but have no idea what this party is. Is it a super formal engagement party or informal ‘welcome back sis’ type party? I get my answer when she brings out this gorgeous black cocktail dress. The skirt is layers of sheer fabric with a sparkle woven in like black crystals. The bodice is tight, sleeveless and comes up to the base of my neck with sparkles woven into the top hem like a built-in necklace. The back is fully covered in a sheer black material, so I will be covered, but it’s still super sexy. She shoves me toward the bathroom, “You have ten minutes and better have all your bits properly manicured.” “What? Why? And are you going to check the landscaping?” I laugh at her leaving the bathroom door cracked so she can talk to me. I have learned that werewolves have zero modesty and don’t care at all because of the shifting thing, so I just go with it as much as I can. Ryana has had no qualms about storming into my room, so a bathroom door will not stop her. She never answered, but I don’t take the chance of her wanting to check me so I make sure all the girly bits are taken care of. When I step out she pulls me towards the desk where she has a salon set up to do hair and make-up. She seems to be completely ready except she’s in her robe. I can’t decide if I’m excited or afraid. She hands me a bottle of lotion and I get to work. It smells amazing, definitely feminine but it isn’t flowery and over-powering. Kennedy “What’s happening tonight? Gamma Bennet said ‘dinner party’ but what does that mean exactly? I get the feeling there is so much more going on.” I ask as she starts to dry, tease and comb my hair. I have no idea what she is doing and I don’t really care. This is her party, so I will do whatever she wants. She clearly loves having a girl to play dress up with too, which makes me smile because I don’t hate having it done. She made quick work of a simple hair style. She moves on to my make-up next. It’s light without a ton of layers or heavy colors. She explains tonight’s purpose as she finishes up. “Well my brother, as I’m sure you have heard, tends to take on packs who are smaller or weaker.” “Yeah, something like that.” I give her a wry smile. Everyone has heard of the Dark Moon alpha and his aggressive takeovers. I have also heard he doesn’t speak, he just maims and he’s scary as sh*t. We haven’t seen him at all today, but he’s supposed to be here at some point and I don’t know if I am more excited or nervous. “What the rumors don’t tell you is that most of the time it’s because an Alpha doesn’t have an heir and a lot of conflict happens when the leader dies and there isn’t a natural successor. Packs tend to go to war with each other over land and control and it causes a lot of problems for more than just that pack. Or the Alphas are really terrible to their packs and pack members come to him for help. People only know the bloody details, those seem to be the only bits of information people care to remember or repeat.” She shrugs. “My brother fights hard and has had to kill a lot of nasty people, but they were all terrible. He’s not one to be messed with.” “That doesn’t answer my question, though. I know there is a party for you and Jeremiah, but as big as this seems to be, I get the feeling something else is going on too. There’s no way someone threw something this big together in a couple days. I just don’t know what to expect and I am not here to embarrass myself.” I feel like she might be being vague on purpose. She takes a deep breath and lets out slowly, like she’s trying to choose her words carefully. “He usually doesn’t have to use a lot of force to overthrow whoever is the biggest problem. He keeps the ranked members in place to help lead the pack when he can. Sometimes the corruption goes pretty deep though and the clean out can be a long and bloody process. So he has several Betas, Gammas and Deltas who answer to Josh, Danny and Bennet here like a huge team checking in. We’ve had several new packs join ours this year so this is a welcome party for them. My brother brings them in and puts them to work immediately with very little time off as he transitions them to Dark Moon. This is my brother’s way of giving them a break. But it’s also a party for Jeremiah and I since I found my mate.” She squeals and I smile at her excitement at being mated to my best friend. “So you’re telling me that all the crazy things I have heard about your brother aren’t true? Like killing five people in one go and putting bloody, rotting dead bodies out on pack borders to set an example.” I scoff. I thought maybe those were exaggerations. “Oh no! Those stories are absolutely true.” She smiles at me in the mirror as she finishes fluffing my hair. I think my jaw hit the floor and my eyes are about to fall out of my face. “Don’t look at me like that. He didn’t get to be as great as he is without spilling some blood, it’s really the best way to teach our species and the best way to show dominance. But, he had reasons for all of it. You should really just ask him about it.” She winks at me. Kennedy “Yeah, because the most notorious Alpha is going to give two sh*ts about talking to me when he has a whole room full of people to entertain, new pack members to welcome in and a sister who’s newly mated. He’s going to be busy. And no one wants to be asked questions like ‘how many people have you killed recently’ and ‘did you have a valid reason? Walk me through that thought process.’” I mock as sarcastically as I can. “I am a human at a wolf welcome party slash engagement party. I am not going to be on his list of people to make time for. I will be lucky if I get to talk to you and Jer at all tonight. So many people are going to want to congratulate you and fawn over how beautiful you are and how handsome your mate is.” I say in a mocking voice, pretending to gag. “Well, when you look this good, you never know, I feel like many people are going to want to talk to you. Especially after training today. I have a feeling you are going to be the one too busy to talk to.” She spins the chair I am in to face her and her eyes are lit up in the worst kind of ‘up to something’ look I have ever seen. She has spent way too much time with Danny. “Go get dressed, I want to see the whole look before the guys get here.” She basically picks me up out of the chair and shoves me towards my bed where she laid the black dress and all the accessories. She is strong for being so tiny. I turned away from her, because I understand the werewolf, no modesty, naked in front of everyone thing, but I’m still not super comfortable with it when I’m the one who’s naked. I was told no bra was needed and she gave me a very specific pair of black lace panties. At least it wasn’t a thong. I would rather go commando than wear floss in my butt crack. I just rolled my eyes, slipped them on and dropped my towel. Then I grabbed the dress and slipped it on. The dress feels like butter on my skin and it fits perfectly. I don’t know how she knew my exact size, but it’s a dream. I didn’t notice before, but the material that runs from the beaded neckline is the same sheer material as on my back and covers my upper chest down to a sweetheart cut of black material tastefully covering my boobs. The sheer material travels down between my cleavage ending in a point all the way down by my belly button. It is subtle, but super sexy. Somehow the bodice is snug and secure, even with all of the sheer fabric and no apparent corset-type structure. The flouncy layered skirt hits right at the top of my thighs making my legs look really long, but I wouldn’t be afraid if I had to bend over. Everything has a hint of shimmer that looks amazing and not gaudy or overly flashy. She gave me these sparkly black strappy heels that are high enough to make my legs look toned and amazing, but not so high I feel like I’m going to fall on my face. Once I slip on the heels and buckle the clasps, I stand and straighten everything out. As I make my way over to Rayna at the vanity mirror her eyes go wide. - Ryker “Alpha, you are not going to believe who just graced our pack with her presence.” “I hate guessing games Danny. What’s going on?” I rub my temples. The paperwork from Linda for the most part seems on the up and up, but there are a few numbers that don’t make sense on the first glance. “Your new brother-in-law’s lead warrior is a female.” “So what, we have a ton of very talented female warriors. I’m pretty sure Greta beat your ass with one hand tied behind her back last week.” I laugh at him the same way I did last week when it happened. Greta is a force and one of my closest friends outside of my Beta, Gamma and Delta. It’s hard for us to have real friends and I basically close myself off to everyone but them and my sister. Greta worked her way into my good graces when we took her pack from an Alpha that was literally abusing his pack members. His Beta was no better, but he had killed his Gamma and Delta for trying to go against him. He had the pack living in medieval times, no contact with the outside world. Greta’s father and grandfather were warriors for the Alpha’s father and several of them went into hiding in the forests around the land. None of them left though, they couldn’t leave the pack unprotected. They fought every day, but the Alpha’s forces were very strong and had no morals for any life. They killed just to kill. I found her pack early in my career as an Alpha. Her father and grandfather fought hard and paid the ultimate price with their lives. Greta saved me and allowed me to defeat the Alpha and Beta and set the pack free. She has been a part of my team since then. “She’s a female… human. And gorgeous!” Danny brings me from my memory, emphasizing the word ‘human.’ “Wait. What do you mean ‘human?’” “Exactly what I said. She’s a human. Rayna said they are going to join us for training after they settle in. You should stop at the training grounds as soon as you get here.” “I don’t know why it’s such a big deal. They will be here a couple days max and then they will all go back to their territory. Let her fight, don’t let her get hurt, I don’t need a war on my hands because they let her play at fighting back home and she doesn’t understand the depth of what we do here. He was probably forced to bring her out of some kind of rotation obligation.” “Well, she’s hot as f*ck. So if she isn’t attached to any of the guys that came with them. I call dibs.” I just laugh. “You can‘t call dibs over me, nice try though.” I tease him, knowing I won’t interfere. We don’t usually have the same tastes. “Bro code man, come on. I saw her first. At least give me a chance to talk to her before you look at her, smile and melt her panties off with your alpha ways.” He groans. “I do nothing of the sort. And besides I have too much sh*t going on right now, I don’t want to deal with any of that. Even some of Edward’s females gave off the clingy vibe. I just need a break from the females.” “That is a lie and you know it. You can’t stay away from the p*ssy any more than the rest of us. Ask Bennet how he feels about the chick from River Falls Pack. He had that girl wet and ready for him and all you had to do was walk by flash a grin and she asked if the two of you wanted to be a packaged deal. When he said ‘no’ she followed you around the rest of the night leaving him with blue balls.” He laughed. - Ryker “That wasn’t my fault and I left her hanging too. I don’t do clingers and neither should any of you.” I laugh with him. “Yeah, well, blue balls ranks up there on the ‘I don’t do’ list. I’ll fill you in on the hot human. What’s your ETA?” “Maybe thirty minutes, but I have a few things that need to get done. Edward’s pack needs extra protection and a few of the other small packs made requests too. I just didn’t have time to deal with that before I left the meeting. I will come down to training as soon as I can.” We pull in and I get out meeting Robin at the door to the packhouse. She begins immediately rattling off everything that she has accomplished and what I need to do. “I have a meeting set up with Matt in two days for you to go over the project information from Oak Lake Pack. He will be here for the dinner and party tonight, but he has been forbidden to bring up business in any way.” She gives me a stern look letting me know the rule applies to me as well. “If you give me the files I will forward those on to his secretary and he can review them before the meeting and you can move forward more quickly.” She puts her hands out, knowing if she doesn’t take them from me I will just hide in my office and work, which was my plan. “Robin, there are still a few I need to look at.” She ignores me and continues walking. If it were anyone else I would lose my temper and honestly throw them into a wall, but she has some kind of force about her and I just can’t be mean, let alone violent with her. She’d actually probably skin me alive if I tried. She’s almost as scary as my mom. “That is why I set the meeting for two days from now. Your sister is about to leave the pack for good, you will spend time with her. Got it?” “Yes, ma’am. Is everyone still at training?” “I believe so.” “Did you get to meet with them?” “No, not yet. I had a few errands to run for your mother and father and I was not here to receive them. They had already left for the training grounds when I got back. So far they all sound very respectful and pleasant from the reports of the Omegas they have interacted with. I think she’s in good hands.” I just nod. I don’t think the Moon Goddess would put Rayna with anyone less than what she deserves. No one could. My sister is the sweetest, most pure hearted person there ever was. She was probably the first and only person to ever steal my heart. She is the kind and gentle to my rough and aggressive. She has always been able to calm me down and help me see reason when no one else could. I don’t know what I will do without her here to balance me, but I also know I can’t keep her forever. She deserves to be with a strong and loving mate. Speaking of which, I should probably get a feel for this guy. I know it won’t matter what I think of him, but I want to know how he is with my sister when I’m not around. I have come across sh*tty alphas who abuse their Goddess given mates, cheat on them to cause pain and are even worse to their pack members. “Josh, Danny, Bennet. Is my sister and her mate still at training?” I link my guys. Ryker “Yeah, boss. They’re still here.” Josh is always ‘on.’ “You coming down to check out the fresh meat?” Danny laughs. “Danny, don’t be a d*ck, they actually aren’t bad. They’ve all kept up with us.” Bennet, always looking for the positive. “Even the human is decent, boss. She’s actually training with Greta…and keeping up. I was worried about her getting hurt until she threw Tanya about ten minutes ago.” Josh is less easily impressed. “You should come take a look. Like I said, she’s hot and if she’s single I call dibs over all you f*ckers.” “I still think you’re trying too hard. Did you really have to stop them and shift when they got here? Don’t think Josh and I missed that little d*ck swinging stunt.” Bennet laughs through the link. Man, I have missed these guys. They keep me sane and somewhat normal. I am nothing special to them when we are hanging out like this. Even if it’s just over the mindlink. “It is my job as the head warrior to check out all incoming visitors and welcome them. If they happen to notice what I’m packing, that’s on them.” “Unless any of them are gay, the only people who would have looked were Rayna and Kennedy, you jackass. How do you think your Alpha is going to feel knowing you were swinging your d*ck around in front of his little sister and her mate?” Bennet continues to fight with Danny. If it was anyone else, Bennet is right, and I probably would rip his balls off, but they’ve known my sister her whole life and they feel the same way about her as I do. Unfortunately she’s the only girl amongst the ranked members, so we may have gone overboard with being protective. “Yeah, well dibs on Kennedy. But you really should come check them out. In all seriousness I’m impressed with all of them. Rayna is in good hands.” Why does her name give me butterflies? Kennedy. I’ve met impressive female warriors before, hell I have one as a close friend. Just a name should not make me want to run at Danny’s command to go watch them, and yet, that’s exactly what I am going to do. I have a few phone calls to make to get things moving for the other packs that made requests at our monthly meeting, so I head to my office first and to save time I get changed into the spare workout gear I keep in here. I might as well be prepared to join in if I am going to go observe. I decided to jog to the training grounds. I still have pent up energy for some reason, like a current under my skin. Anticipation of something that’s coming. My wolf isn’t agitated, but even he knows something’s up. By the time we get there I am nice and warm with a light sheen of sweat. I decided to observe from the uppermost seats in the arena. Of course I find Rayna easily, she is easy to spot in the crowd as the female version of me. We have been mistaken as twins many times. Her mate is tall and confident like an Alpha should be. I can tell who he is just by the fact that he doesn’t let Rayna get more than about three steps from him. He’s staking his claim without restraining or holding on to her in any way. He’s letting her be her own person, but making it clear that she has a barrier that begins and ends with him. He is smiling and seems to engage with anyone who approaches. The rest of his guys seem to be the same. They are all interacting with my warriors and working on different skills. Sometimes teaching and other times being taught. I could rest easy leaving my sister with him. I smiled and waved at them. “Rayna!” She jogged over, looping her arm through mine, chattering nonstop as she dragged me off to meet her friends. Whatever. She’s always this enthusiastic. I followed at an easy pace—until something hit my senses. A scent. Rich honey, laced with spice. But… wait. Why is it making me feel so restless? I almost drop to my knees. What the f*ck?! Every nerve is on fire, my blood is pounding in my veins along with my heart trying to beat out of my chest. The pain darkens my vision, and I squeeze my eyes shut. Until Rayna stopped in her tracks. “We’re here! Big bro, look—this is Kennedy. She’s human, but she’s our toughest warrior!” “Kenne…dy?” When I opened my eyes again, my vision was drowned in crimson. The self-control I’ve always prided myself on snaps like a frayed wire. I heard an urgent roar echoing in my mind: “MATE!” From my wolf...