"I may be your second chance, Wade, but I will not be your second choice."
Reeling from the death of his mate, Alpha Wade tried everything in his power to bring her back to life. So consumed with raising her from the dead, he almost missed his secon...
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AS Welcome Week finally drew to a close, I couldn't help but sigh in relief. While I knew I still had a long road ahead at the Training Grounds, I was closer to the future I had envisioned for myself. Each day, I grew nearer to the daunting reality of equipping myself for life on Patrol.
Regardless though, I still had several months to endure the cold shoulder from Alpha Wade and his ensemble—even if I couldn't wait for the day the Training Grounds became nothing more than a distant memory.
And then maybe my mate would be nothing more than a distant memory as well.
I closed my eyes. While I had tried to savor the thought, it brought a sharp pang to my chest. Shaking my head, I instead pictured myself and my lean frame clad in the black and blue Patrol uniform. A hat, way too big for my head, would be draped over my head, Bluestrike's glaring emblem stitched on the front.
Often, I had dreamed of wearing the lackluster uniform, fantasizing of the day my name would be amongst the Patrols' roster.
But that was before I had received a seventy-one percent match.
And that was also before I had come face to face with my mate.
A mate, who not only owned and operated the very pack I called home, but a mate who did not want me.
No matter how hard I ran or suppressed my natural desires, I would never be able to outrun the legacy Alpha Wade and his family (primarily his family) had built.
He had not shown his face officially in Bluestrike, but he was still our Alpha; he was still my Alpha.
My Alpha.
My mate.
I snorted. Over the past couple of days, I had become partially conflicted about whether or not I truly did want Alpha Wade and his claim—even if he did not believe it to be real—to vanish from my life.
My head and heart were at war, and it felt like my heart was winning. Throughout all my classes and training lessons, I would be on high alert. Not because I thought danger loomed around the corner but because I was constantly sniffing the area for his scent.
A scent I had grown used to by now.
Cursed with the knowledge my mate resided nearby, my wolf would not grant me even a moment of peace. It was as if my body burned alive with fire ants running up and down every inch of my skin whenever I had an idle moment.
Instead of being able to rest and relax, Alpha Wade had been at the top of my mind.
While I had thought about Bluestrike's illustrious and illusive Alpha before, he had never so wholly consumed my thoughts.
Of course, before a week ago, I had not known the claim Alpha Wade held in my heart.
My heart faltered, and I gritted my teeth. I had to—no, I needed to—get Alpha Wade off my mind.
