The Alpha's Unwanted Mate: (BWWM) Paranormal Romance Standalone Read Online Free Page A

In every respect, she was a strong role model, and influential in their small community. But she hoarded her secret like a precious gem.             
    “Mom.” The elder woman’s face jerked up, exposing sharp brown eyes and plump lips identical to those of her daughter. “There’s someone…a wolf here to see you.” Madeline’s eyes widened.
    “Christ, child. When did you get here?”
    At her reaction, Angeline couldn’t help a small smile. “I told you I was coming to get my sweater, didn’t I?”
    “Ah. So you did.” Madeline continued to pat her hair into place. “Well I’m lucky you happened by. I might have missed Clyde otherwise.”
    So his name was Clyde. Interesting. It suited him – from silvery eyes to booted feet, Angeline mused.
    “So you know this one already?” Usually, Angeline tried to keep herself out of matters containing wolves and their matches, but this time, she couldn’t put a handle on her curiosity.
    “Know him?” Madeline chuckled in amusement. “Honey, he’s the one that made the pact for his pack in the first place.”
    Angeline’s stomach clenched immediately in shock; him, she thought, he was the one who had made the arrangement for all those young women of color to be spirited off into the middle of nowhere before they’d even begun to reach their full potential? That man? With the cultured voice and mysteriously alluring eyes.
    “ That’s the Alpha?” Her surprise was evident in her high tone and her mother merely shook her head, shrugging into a deep blue cardigan.
    “His brother. I might have mentioned to you that the Alpha already mated – before this whole arrangement.” The elder woman pressed gently past her daughter. “I have a meeting now, darling. You’re welcome to stay if you want. We’ll just be in the kitchen.”
    Angeline had absolutely no intentions of staying anywhere near the man. He was the cause of all her trouble. Once her mother had moved past her, Angeline dropped her wary smile before racing into her mother’s room to shut the door behind her. She took a deep breath to compose herself, trying to quell her anger.
    That man was the one who had changed her future forever. Of course, she would have been attracted to him at first sight. The world was utterly screwed up that way. She wanted nothing more to do with him. Hopefully, his business would be finished within the hour and then he’d be gone. If she never saw him again, it would be too soon. Angeline waited about three minutes until she was sure her mother would be engaged in conversation with Clyde , before she slipped back down the staircase and fled the house, grabbing her sweater on the way out.
    Once she was outside, in the fresh air, she felt a bit better. Her mother may see it as her inherent duty to make sure that wolves got human mates, but Angeline had long decided that she didn’t quite approve of the methods involved. In her opinion, young women were tricked into going with men who, for all she knew, could be monsters.
    When her best friend, Samantha, had been handed off to one of them a year ago, the two had parted tearfully, with the new bride promising to call often to update Angeline on her progress. The two had known one another almost their entire lives and had barely gone a day without speaking to one another.
    Angeline hadn’t heard from her since the day she’d watched her drive away in a beat up truck, her new mate by her side. To be completely honest, she resented the secrecy of this pack and its traditions. Even though she knew the few things taught to her by her mother, it wasn’t enough to reassure her that Samantha was, indeed, safe. If she wanted that proof, she’d need to see her friend herself. And that was impossible.
    Angeline spent the rest of the day in quite a mood. Even lunch at her favorite restaurant and a movie couldn’t put her at ease. What she wanted more than anything was to speak to her mother about the morality of what she