Chapter 4.

Lucas stretched his shoulders and flexed his arm, pain shooting through his chest.

Alpha Bill had practically dislocated his shoulder last night after they’d all gone to bed.

His crime? The Alphas from Greensborough wanting to take him away.

He’d apologised and bitten his tongue, part of him grateful for the pain that still restricted his movements and made him want to groan aloud. Megan’s parents had liked him! And not only that—it seemed they wanted him to go to their pack and stay there.

What a dream come true that would be. Not that it would ever happen. His Alphas would never let him go, but it was lovely to think he was wanted.

The day wore on, and he did his best to avoid Megan and her parents. Despite their best intentions, seeing them would only get him into further trouble and he still had two days left to survive this festival.

He raced around all day, coordinating people, food, trucks, and events.

The shifting would be tonight, and his Alpha had already declared that only a select few Betas would be permitted to shift with the group. Too dangerous, he’d said.

Yeah, right.

He, of course, was not one of the chosen few.

He tried to tell himself that he didn’t mind too much. But inside, he did. His wolf ached to shift, run, and be what he truly was. A wild animal. Not allowing him to shift kept him weak, and they knew that.

Anger bubbled in his gut as he arranged some chairs in a circle. He didn’t want to be weak.

“What’s going on tonight? You running with the wolves?”

Megan’s strong voice surrounded him, making a shiver of longing course down his spine.

“No.”

He continued to pack away the chairs, flicking the metal rods to flatten the tables to make room for the wolf members.

“Why not?” She asked, her voice now closer.

“My Alphas wanted me to stay back and help set up for tomorrow, no big deal.”

It was, but how could he tell her that?

“When did you last shift?”

Her question took him by surprise. Females in their communities couldn’t shift. Only the males did, and only the Alphas and Betas. As far as he knew, Gamma males couldn’t shift either, although he’d heard rumours…

He turned around and his heart pounded at the sight of her, her dark hair cascading over her shoulders like a waterfall.

“Ah…um… I can’t really remember…”

“Is it that hard to answer? Last week? Last full moon?” she asked, stepping closer. Her scent made his knees weak… cherry blossom. It must be her perfume.

What had she asked him again? Every thought had flown out the window, and as she continued to stare at him with her piercing blue eyes, he struggled even more.

“Lucas…” she reached out a hand to him, and he stumbled backwards, not wanting that physical connection again. Last time she’d touched him, he’d basically dropped to his knees from the impact.

“Is it true that Gammas in your pack shift?”

There! He’d remembered, and he’d managed to get it out.

She blinked. “Yes, some of them do. For a long time, we believed only the Betas and Alphas could shift, but last year, when we had to fight off the Rogues, some of the Gammas stepped up to fight. It was pretty incredible.”

“Wow.”

He’d heard a little of that fight, but again, it had been in whispers, rumours. Their Alphas made sure their pack stayed pretty clueless about the outside world.

“I heard a bit about the Rogues, but not much.”

She laughed, a strange, strained noise. “You’re kidding? They almost killed my brother, and managed to kill half our pack, and you don’t know anything about it?”

Her tone was angry and her hands were fisted beside her.

He looked away, ashamed at being so dumb.

“I’m sorry. We’re so secluded up in Robinvale. We don’t get told much.”

“You mean your Alphas keep you in the dark, even when it could have been your pack under attack.”

He shrugged and went back to his work. What could he say? Do? His world was his world.

Megan suddenly grabbed him, turned him, and yanked his top up.

“Hey.” He went to pull it down, not wanting her to see the scars they’d put on him.

“What happened?” Megan’s soft voice flowed over him as her palms pressed to the lumpy scars around his belly button.

He froze, her touch turning whatever fear he had of her seeing his scars into jelly.

“Ah… an accident.”

And that was the lie he stuck to whenever anyone asked him. Not that one of his Alphas had taken a knife to his birth mark one drunken night in a fit of rage.

You’ll never have a mate, he’d screamed as he’d cut Lucas up, destroying any hope of anyone seeing his mark and bonding with him.

Megan’s gaze lifted slowly, heat burning inside those eyes like blue flames.

“They cut your mark, didn’t they?”

Her lips were turned down, and a muscle tightened in her jaw.

“How did you know that?”

Megan stepped back and lifted her own white t-shirt.

Lucas stumbled backwards, falling into one of the remaining chairs.

Someone may as well have hit him over the head with a lump of wood.

There was his birthmark. A crescent shaped, dark mark curling around Megan’s belly button. Her flat stomach and luminescent skin made him want to crawl over and lick her from top to bottom.

“You’re my mate,” she stated, not an ounce of question in her voice.

He could deny it, he should deny it, but he’d always been a hopeless liar.

“I don’t have my mark anymore, Megan. No one will believe you.”

“Are you serious?!” The look on her face was so angry, he flinched. Her eyebrows were drawn together, and her mouth was tight.

He cleared his throat. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“We are destined to be! Chosen by Fate to be together, and you’re letting your fucking… horrible Alphas take that from you? Grow some balls!”

She stormed off, and he was left staring after her. His wolf howled inside of him and began to fight to get out.

Pain ripped through him as he tried to push him down, not allow the Beta wolf in him to escape.

A groan ripped through his vocal cords as he fell to the ground, silver fur sprouting out of his skin as his body contorted into that of a wolf.

Prickles of fire burned along his skin, but the full moon above his head called to him like a siren.

When he had fully shifted, he relaxed, accepting his fate. There was no going back now. He turned and began to run, his feet clumsy and awkward as he made his way through the throngs of females and into the pack of wolves.

The Alphas, all huge black wolves, threw back their heads and howled to the moon, calling forth the run.

I am so going to be punished for this.

One of the Alphas, probably Bill from his pack, spotted him, and the look on his face was murderous.

Better stay away from him.

The combined pack turned and headed into the forest, running through the overgrown brush.

Despite the danger, the run was thrilling. The fresh, cool air in his lungs. His awkward wolf body stumbling through the woods as though shifting for the first time.

Whack.

Someone slammed into him, throwing him to the ground.

The black wolf who’d hit him kept running, thank God, but the warning was clear.

Lucas hung back from the pack, but kept moving with them. The smells of the forest were beautiful. So different to the arid places they would run in around Robinvale.

His legs went out from under him, and a sharp, knife-like pain cut into his back legs.

A whimper went through him, and he looked up, his big black Alpha looming over him, blood-stained teeth bared.

Anger stirred in Lucas, and he pushed up from the ground, despite the intense pain.

He bared his own teeth and growled back. He was half the Alpha’s size and was weak from lack of food and shifting, but if they wanted to kill him, they’d have to do it while he was standing.

He’d taken enough from these arseholes. He would not die like a dog in the dirt.

The Alpha in front of him crouched back on his haunches, ready to pounce, and the ground shook with the running of the wolves.

The combined pack ran past them, sweeping Lucas up in the tide as they all moved back to the campsite.

His heart pounded like a bass drum and pain exploded up his leg, but he hobbled back to the clearing, where the men were shifting back to their human selves.

Lucas let go of his wolf, slowly transforming back to his human body. The shift was painful, like someone scraping his skin with a piece of flint, but he managed.

Just. It took every ounce of will power not to scream aloud.

Blood dripped down his leg, and he raised his gaze to his Alpha, who had blood running down the side of his jaw.

Bastard.

Megan came bolting over to him, her mother Katherine behind her.

“Who did this to you?” she gasped, grabbing at his arm to steady him.

Bill may have torn the muscle from the bone. Lucas couldn’t put any weight on that leg, and he didn’t want to look down and see the damage Bill had done.

His shoulders ached, and Lucas was pretty sure there was damage down to his back from the original knocks.

“It’s okay, Megan.”

He’d left his clothes in the clearing where he’d shifted. He’d have to ask someone to get them for him.

Jack walked over as he tugged on his jeans, his face a mask of concern.

“Who did this to you, Lucas?”

His gaze shifted to his Alpha, who was wiping the blood from his face.

A loud growl echoed in the clearing and the crowd parted, Jack facing off against Bill.

“Is this true?” Jack roared, and Lucas straightened as much as he could.

His pack rushed to stand behind Bill, and Jack’s back became crowded with his pack.

Twice the number Bill had.

Lucas looked behind him. Gammas, Betas, even their women had rushed to protect the Alpha they knew had just issued a challenge.

Bill spat on the grass, red glistening on the space in front of him.

“He’s my pack, and I decide how he is punished.”

Lucas shifted his weight and took a step towards his own pack.

“I should go back, Jack. Thank you. But…”

Jack’s arm snapped out, stopping Lucas’s progression forward.

“No. You stay with me.”

The command was unfightable.

Something snapped inside of Lucas, and he straightened taller. Pride filled his chest, something he had never felt before.

Someone was standing up for him.

Someone wanted him. And that someone was Jack Nox of Greensborough.

“Yes, Alpha.”

Bill growled back, the other Alphas coming to stand with him. “No! He’s mine. You will not take him from me.”

Jack got down on all fours and growled. “Try me.”

The shift happened so fast, Lucas didn’t even blink, and he still missed it.

Two huge black wolves stood before them, and as one, launched themselves at each other.

Lucas staggered back, his allegiances struggling inside his mind.

“Lucas!” Tom yelled out for him, calling him back over to Bill and Raymond’s pack.

Part of him wanted to go, sickness and guilt at causing such a fight eating at him as the two black wolves snarled and snapped, ripping into one another.

Megan’s hand slid into his and tugged hard.

He turned towards her and saw the moonlight shimmering in her hair. A beacon calling him home.

He went where she called, and Megan wrapped her arms around his waist, standing behind him so they could both watch as Jack got the upper hand.

He planted Bill on the ground, paws pushing him into the dirt.

Bill whined, a signal that the match was done, and Jack nipped him on the ear before backing off, his fur disappearing as he became the huge Alpha he was once again.

When Bill shifted back, he seemed smaller, the blood on his face fitting for the horrible man he was.

“Go,” Jack commanded.

Slowly, defeated, they left. Jack waited until every one of the pack members from Robinvale had gone. Then he turned his back on them and came over to the Greensborough pack.

“Thank you, sir.”

Lucas didn’t know what else to say.

Jack was puffing, but otherwise looked unharmed.

“What was he wanting to punish you for?”

Wow. Jack fought for me without even asking what I’d done wrong.

“For shifting and running tonight. He told me not to.”

Jack’s eye brows quirked. “I don’t understand.”

Megan’s huffing came through clear, but he tried to ignore her. He needed to explain.

“The Alphas don’t allow us to shift at will, and it’s been… Three or four months for me. I couldn’t stop my wolf tonight, and I’m sorry I caused such a problem.”

Megan squeezed him tightly, and Jack’s eyebrows shot up, then they lowered menacingly.

“I’ll deal with your Alpha later. No wonder you looked so weak. They have no right to keep you all from shifting. Are they trying to make you sick?”

He had to be honest there. “I believe they are. They like us dependent on them.”

Jack’s growl could be heard through the whole clearing, but finally, he shook his head.

“Let’s get dressed and back to the cabin to talk. Megan, I think you’d like to speak to us?”

“Yes, Dad.”

Jack pulled on his clothes once again, but Lucas had left his too far away.

“I…”

Reagan, the blond Alpha Mate, came running with a bundle of clothes.

“Here, Lucas. Put these on. We need to look at that leg, too. It’s nasty.”

Lucas looked to Megan for guidance.

“Oh, Reagan’s a doctor. Works in our hospital.”

Wow. Another reason he was an Alpha’s mate.

“That would be great. Thank you.”

Reagan tucked himself under Lucas’s arm and took some of his weight as they hobbled back to the cabin Jack spoke of.

He pulled on the t-shirt and loose-fitting shorts Reagan had brought him and let the doctor fuss over him.

“Fuck. He did a good job.” Reagan said, as he wrapped and cleaned the wound.

Lucas shrugged, his mind fighting the pain with age-old techniques.

“He’s done worse before.”

“He’s done what?” Katherine asked, her voice high pitched and upset.

Lucas looked down as the family stared at him.

“Nothing, please forget I spoke.”

Megan grabbed his hand and stared at him, as though trying to give him strength.

Jack’s deep voice filled the air. “No, son. I think it’s time you told us the whole truth.”

Lucas took a deep breath, fear tickling the back of his mind.

“I can’t. If they find out what I’ve told you, they’ll make my life a living hell when I go home.”

“You’re not going back there!” Megan gasped. “Never! You’ll come back and live in the Borough with us, won’t he, Dad?”

Lucas raised his head, the paralysing fears trickling away to make room for the light filling his heart.

“Damn straight, son. So, spill.” Jack’s voice boomed around the room, and whereas in the past, an Alpha’s voice would have made him cower, instead, he settled. Was made to feel safe, and strong.

“Well, I don’t really know everything, to be honest.”

“Just tell us whatever you can.”

He took a deep breath. He’d never envisioned telling his story to anyone. Where to begin?

“Well, my parents died when I was a teenager, but the Alphas never liked me. They let me finish school because I was smart, but they’ve always given me twice the workload of anyone else. I don’t really know why.”

“It’s because you smell like an Alpha,” Jack said, and Lucas’s mouth fell open.

“What?”

That didn’t make any sense. His dad had been a Beta, and they’d all told him he was a Beta, too.

Katherine nodded. “You do. I think that’s why one of our Gammas sent you over to us. Your Alphas would have seen all the Alpha qualities in you that they should possess, and don’t. Intelligence, empathy…”

“An ability to work like the devil’s chasing you.” Megan continued.

“Yeah… well…” He swallowed hard, the emotions choking him. They saw him for who he was, which had to be for the first time in his life. “I… like being part of a pack. Helping everyone. They’ve always taken advantage of that part of me, and yet they hate it, too.”

Jack nodded. “Of course they hate it. If you’d known what you could become, you probably would have challenged them when you reached maturity.”

He shook his head. “No one challenges an Alpha. An Alpha is born, not won.”

Jack shook his head. “That’s not true. We’ve recently allowed lots of challenges, including a new Alpha. Our pack is stronger for it, because our Alphas protect their pack, and do a lot of the work. Why wouldn’t you want more of that heart leading the pack?”

Lucas snorted. “Yeah, like the Alphas do anything except sit in their castle and point out the jobs for the rest of the pack to do.”

The room vibrated with anger, and he let his gaze drop. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean you.”

Jack grunted. “It’s okay, Lucas. We’re just upset that you have been raised to see us, and our kind, in that way. When you move to Greensborough, you will see a very different sort of hierarchy.”

Reagan winked at him. “Yeah, and lots of all-male Alpha pairs, so you better be cool with that.”

Lucas laughed. “Oh, I don’t care about any of that.”

“Good.”

Then Jack sat forward in his chair, his mouth quirking up. “So, Megan. Tell me why I just risked my life for a young man I barely know. Do you think you know the answer?”

Lucas looked over at the Alpha’s daughter, and Megan sat up proudly.

“Lucas is my mate.”