“I’m not going to be picked, mother,” I said, turning from my mother to my little sister. Without answering me, she pulled the zipper of my dress up my back. It was the last thing I wanted, being chosen by this new alpha.

“The showing is just a formality,” she said, putting her hands on my shoulders. “They asked to have all the female wolves presented. You are of age, Ariana.”
“I know, but I already have a potential mate. Why would I need to be paraded in front of the wolves who killed our previous alpha?”
“This is how it works.” She turned me to face her and let a slight smile fall to her lips. “You never know.”
I groaned. “There is no way this alpha is going to be a mate for me. I’m perfectly fine with Finn.”
“Only because you’ve been in love with him since fourth grade,” she said, letting a smile come to her face. She adjusted one of the straps of my light blue dress, and a sliver of blonde and silver hair fell forward into her eyes.
“You act like that’s a bad thing,” I countered.
“Maybe you should be more open.”
I sighed. “I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”
“Not for this. When the alpha calls, we answer,” she said. “If we don’t, it means we’d be banished from the pack.”
“I know,” I said. What if he did pick me? I’d have to be the mate of the alpha and hope things would be okay. There was no way I’d be happy with that kind of responsibility. I hated the politics of the pack and the idea that there was only one mate for the rest of of your life. Sure, Finn hadn’t said I was his mate, and I hadn’t felt that pull, but he was the closest thing to a mate I’d ever had.
“We need to hurry. The alpha will be expecting us soon,” she said, giving me one last look over.
“Am I alpha material?” I joked, and she raised an eyebrow.
“To me, you’re good enough for anyone to mate, especially an alpha.”
I forced a smile and followed her from my home and towards the meeting hall where I’d be inspected for the alpha and my life might change forever.

***

I wasn’t the only woman wondering why the hell they were in this meeting hall waiting for the alpha to come look at us. It had been years since an alpha had had any kind of mate link to any woman. I doubted that this one, who wasn’t even of our pack originally, was going to have a different experience.
The hall was large enough to accommodate the entire pack, with a small stage area where announcements were usually made. Normally, the entire pack wasn’t called here unless there was a war or a wedding. When we lost our alpha to the pack challenge, it was known we’d probably be called here to be introduced to the next alpha. I didn’t think anyone realized we’d also be showing our women for potential mating.
The second in command, stepped onto the little stage area and held up his hand. He wasn’t what I expected from a pack known for its brutality. He was smaller and wore jeans and a dark button-up shirt. His short blond hair was styled neatly like he wanted to give the idea he was stronger than he was.
“Thank you for gathering for this occasion,” he said as soon as everyone was quiet. “Your new alpha will be inspecting the potential Lunas for his choice.” He turned and glanced to the left. I was guessing that was where this alpha was going to come in from. God forbid he wanted to actually walk in the door and be a part of our pack.
The minute I laid my eyes on the man walking in, my breath caught. He was tall and very muscular. His dark hair was a huge contrast to his second in command, but his dark eyes were breathtaking. I wasn’t sure why he was looking among us for a mate. A man like that probably had plenty of potential Luna to mate.
“As you know, I took the position of alpha by challenge. Your previous alpha was weak and needed to be pruned.” He glanced at each of the women who were standing in the hall. When his dark eyes fell on me, I swallowed hard. His eyes seemed to linger on me for longer than was appropriate. “I’m looking for a Luna to join our pack. Each woman here is a candidate.” He whispered something to the other man, and he stepped off the stage, walking towards us.
I glanced at my mother as he walked through the group, pulling another woman and then stopping in front of me. He motioned for me to step forward.
“The rest may leave,” the alpha said, glancing from to the other woman.
This was not good. If I was a candidate that he was really thinking about, then it meant I might get pushed into this whole mate thing. The last thing I wanted was to deal with being a Luna to the alpha himself, especially one that took the post by force.

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Chapter Two

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