Unwanted Mate (The Alpha Shifter Collection)

Tears sprang into her eyes at the remembered pain. “It did.”

“They all do,” Sean said. “It never stops.”

“We all have a story to tell,” Simon said. “It doesn’t make a pack sound like a nice place to live.”

“Yeah, but you have to admit ours is the exception to the rule,” Books said. “We’re like spies, living amongst the humans. They never know who we are, or what we’re capable of.”

“Here we go again,” Melissa said. “Be careful with him. He thinks he’s got the next great blockbuster on his hands.”

“Hey, I could, you know.”

“Yeah, and you could also be a giant pain in the ass,” Melissa said.

“Look, I simply demand twice a year, we have a movie marathon.”

The whole pack groaned.

“What? It’s coming up to that time, and we’ve got to be more inclusive now that we have the miss. What do you say?”

All gazes turned toward her. “What?”

“What kind of movies are you into?” Books asked.

“Er, I don’t know.”

He frowned. “What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I’ve never watched a movie.” In the pack, she hadn’t been granted the money to have a television set, or to enjoy movies, or anything like that. Since renting her apartment, she didn’t feel it was a good use of her income.

“No,” Books said. “This is … ugh, your pack is pure evil. Movies are like constant gifts.”

The pack started to chuckle.

“Enough. The next movie pack marathon, or whatever it is you call it, Sofia will be there,” Caspian said, handing her a plate filled with breakfast.

She took the knife and fork from his grip and waited as everyone was served.

“You can eat,” Sean said.

“I can wait.”

“Is that a pack rule thing?” Melissa asked. “You can’t eat until everyone else?”

Her hand shook at the stark reminder.

“We’re not going to starve you,” Raine said. “Eat before it gets cold. Believe me, the alpha cooking, it’s a big deal.”

She chopped up some of the mushrooms, glided it through the pool of tomatoes, and popped it into her mouth. Her eyes closed as the flavor seemed even more intense than she remembered.

“A good English breaky. I knew there was a reason I loved you,” Liam said, tearing into a sausage and groaning as he did. “Good nosh.”

They all burst out laughing.

“You’re English?” Sofia asked. She hadn’t detected an accent when he’d been telling her his name.

“That I am. I can’t even remember where I met our boy. You visited the UK, didn’t you, mate?”

“I did. The one and only time I traveled.”

“Yeah, I was nothing more than a rat on the street, in all honesty. Caspian here, he got me on my feet, helped me out, and then was heading away. Knew I didn’t want to live in the shithole I’d been living in. My pack were monsters. They would starve me for fun and all that good stuff.” Liam put his hand on Caspian’s. “This man, this man is the shit.”

“Ew,” Melissa said. “Come on. Can’t you think of a better thing to say about him?”

“Fine. This man is the dog’s bollocks.”

Sofia burst out laughing, not quite understanding how the dog’s bollocks could be good, but she wasn’t going to question it.

There was a round of laugher, and as she ate her breakfast and watched them, she slowly started to relax. They were a family.

Did they even realize it?

They were close to each other and had this connection.

Caspian was their grounding. He brought them all together.

She finished off her breakfast, and Liam demanded a slice of bread to finish off the juices on his plate.

The rest of the group agreed, and Sofia joined in, soaking up the juices in a slice of buttered bread. The breakfast was tasty.

Books took the dishes to the kitchen, while Simon got to his feet and made them all a nice cup of tea.

Liam rested his feet out, putting his hands behind his head and smiling. “Now this is the life. Secluded in a cabin. Some of the pack around us. Peaceful.”

“Some of the pack?” Sofia asked.

“Yeah, there are a lot more of us,” Raine said.

“The others are busy working,” Melissa said. “Otherwise, we’d have needed to rent a much bigger space.”

“You guys are staying here?” Sofia asked.

“Yes,” they all said together.

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry. We won’t get under your feet,” Sean said. “We’re just going to be close by, just in case.”

She pressed her lips together and nodded. Truthfully, she wasn’t used to the pack being so close all the time.

“So, do you want to tell us what your deal is?” Simon asked, coming in with a tray full of hot tea.

“My deal?”

“Yeah, we all have a vague notion of why we’re unwanted. It sucks, but what is your story?”

“We don’t have to delve into that,” Caspian said.

“I’m a freak. At least that is what I figured,” Sofia said.

The group all came back to join in the sitting room. Caspian stood by the window, his arms folded.