Mating the Alpha Read Online Free Page A

something there that I didn’t expect. Sympathy. That was a surprise.
    “You’ve got quite the impressive reputation,” I said. “It seems like it would be difficult for anyone to underestimate you.”
    “Like you, people think they pegged me a long time ago,” Vivian said. She caught my eyebrow raise. “Oh, I know all about you, Lukas Kasper. The Greyelf Grizzly bad boy turned good. Or maybe you never were really all that bad to begin with.”
    I chuckled, but it wasn’t really with any sort of amusement. “Oh, I was. Every story you’ve heard is probably true, and likely still doesn’t have the full sordid details. If there was a mess anywhere in Greyelf back then, I was guaranteed to be in the middle of it. If I wasn’t in trouble, I was out looking for it. It was kind of my thing.”
    “Some psychiatrist out there would probably have a field day with you then,” she said.
    “I’m sure I have a whole host of psychological issues,” I agreed. I wondered if I played up the angle of being fucked up if that would make her question my desirability as a mate. But as I looked into her face, I realized that the stories about my bad boy reputation might have just had the opposite effect. I needed a new plan.
    “It seems to me that a bright, beautiful woman like you would have taken issue with being auctioned off in an arranged mating like a piece of property,” I said.
    “No matter how far I went from my clan, the fact that I was my father’s daughter went with me. My family’s reputation always proceeded me. And my father has never let me forget that duty to the clan trumps everything else.”
    “Sounds familiar,” I grumbled.
    “It might surprise you to know that my father always held your brother in high regard,” Vivian said. She was right. That did surprise me, and I said so. “Being an alpha isn’t a job I think I’d ever want even if the clans ever changed their archaic rules of only allowing males to have claim to it.”
    “That’s actually on the agenda for the Summit,” I said.
    “Who do you think put it there?” Vivian chuckled. “I told my father that it’s silly that I’m out there arguing for equal rights for shifters in the world of humans when our own laws don’t adhere to the same standards.”
    I couldn’t help it. I found that I liked this woman a little bit. She reminded me of Maren. I didn’t think most female clan members in her position would have been so forthcoming with their beliefs. They’d be falling all over themselves trying to impress me, or worse, trying to coerce me into their beds sooner rather than later. It was a phenomenon that I had encountered ever since I reached maturity simply by being related to the alpha.
    “So I go back to what I said before. I’m surprised that you agreed to do this,” I said.
    “Why wouldn’t I? Once we’re mated, I have the power of the two strongest shifter clans behind me to help drive my own agenda. I hope you aren’t expecting some simpering dolt as your mate. I thought that if anything, you’d appreciate someone who had a strong personality and ability to influence and negotiate.”
    I absolutely did. It was just I didn’t want that mate to be Vivian Reddon. I was saved from answering by the last note of the song playing. The next chord of the following song indicated that the beat was picking up. “How about I get you a drink?”
    “Gin and tonic,” she said.
    “Sure.” I left her on the dance floor and headed for the bar. I definitely hadn’t had enough to drink yet. As I reached the end of the bar and signaled the bartender, I found myself next to another person that I had no interest in talking either.
    “The big boss man is drinking gin and tonics?” Billy Miller was a council member, acting sheriff and had recently been my competition for Maren’s affections. I thought I had squashed that piece of it, but with recent events I had to wonder if Billy figured he was back in the game.
    “It isn’t for