The Alpha's Secret (Book 2: The Raven Chronicles)

Chapter 1

Lucinda

A dark shadow looms outside and circles the cabin. It stops underneath the window and paces back and forth as the sun rises. The silhouette of a wolf stretches along the leaf-scattered ground. I know who it is before he enters.

Caiden. Alpha of the Blood Moone Pack and my true Fated Mate.

His once-striking solid white wolf is turning a dingy gray as the cursed beast residing within him fights for control. Damn that witch for cursing him all those years ago. Though, it wasn't until recently, when him and I met, that the beast began to change him.

"I thought I'd find you here," Caiden says after he shifts from his wolf-beast to human form.

"Yup, I'm here." My legs dangle over the edge of the couch, and I wiggle my bare feet to get warm by the heat of the fire.

The cabin is Caiden's special place, deep in the woods away from everyone and everything. He comes here when he needs to relax and unwind. I come here to get away from daily pack life.

Caiden crosses the room, and my heart flutters at his nakedness as he heads to the bedroom. The sound of drawers opening and closing comes from the room, then he walks back into view wearing red plaid flannel pants and an oatmeal thermal shirt.

My lips twitch, exposing a wry smile. Damn, he looks sexy.

"Is everything okay?" he asks.

"Yeah." But everything is far from okay. I'm freaking out. Caiden and I are at the center of everyone's attention. I have a twenty-page survey to complete for the planning of our mating ceremony, and that's just to decide what food to serve.

I close my eyes and turn my head away from Caiden.

As the daughter of an Alpha, I was raised to be a Luna—the wife of an Alpha—and a leader of a pack. I know what's expected of me as the mate of an Alpha.

But I've always done what I wanted, when I wanted. The list of rules and regulations the Blood Moone pack has—not to mention their unwritten traditions and unspoken expectations—is daunting.

When I was born, my father promised my hand in marriage to Dylan, my childhood best friend, until that damn witch cursed him, too. And now he's Caiden's Beta, second-in-command.

I smirk at the irony of our complicated history.

Dylan and I are still working to salvage our prior friendship. However, I'm realizing that my time alone as a rogue living outside of a pack, which Dylan forced, changed me in ways I don't think will ever be fixed.

"Then what's up?" Caiden asks.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

Lie.

Why am I lying to Caiden? He's my mate, and not just my mate by marriage, but my Fated Mate. Our souls are bound to each other by destiny. I should trust him with everything. Don't I expect the same from him? Would he—has he ever lied to me?

I watch him through the slits of my eyes.

No, I don't think he would ever lie to me.

My heart drops to my stomach, and queasiness stirs from lying to him.

He sits on the couch, lifts my legs, and drapes them across his lap.

With a calm yet serious tone, he says, "Lucinda, I can tell when something's bothering you."

"No—" I take a deep breath and let out a long sigh. My shoulders slump forward, and I dip my chin to my chest.

Do I look as pathetic as I feel?