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The Claiming (Book 1 of The Claimed Series)

Prologue 

“Are you excited for tomorrow?” asked Alpha Roland of his only child and daughter.

Brie shrugged and answered, “A little bit. More anxious than anything.”

Her father smiled a little as he fiddled with his paperwork. He had seemed distant for the past few weeks and, in turn, had become more silent and introspective as The Claiming ritual hurtled ever closer.

“Nothing at all to be anxious about, darling,” Roland said offhandedly.

This was the most he had spoken to her in the past few days, and Brie practically jumped at the chance to talk to her only living parent.

“But what if my mate turns out to be a s**t?” she asked bluntly.

Roland’s eyes turned stormy. “Then he’ll have me to contend with.” He fisted a form in his hand before releasing it as his anger got the better of him for the briefest of moments.

Werewolves nowadays were the minority. It was sometimes challenging to find a mate, and elders from the different packs across the country had come up with a supposed solution. If a female—or male—remained unmated by the age of 21, he or she would attend The Claiming, where all single of-age male werewolves would meet with the single of-age she-wolves from across the continent in hopes of finding their mate. If they did not find them at the start of ceremonies, the females would be set loose in the woods to be “claimed”.

“Claiming” would merely consist of the women shifting to their wolf, being given a ten-minute head start until the males all phased and were let loose upon the fleeing females. They could claim any unmated female attending as their own.

Barbaric, yes. One step above a caveman knocking a woman out, hefting her over his shoulder, and bring her to his cave.

The claimed women would have to be marked that night and mated within a week or be set free to attend the next year’s Claiming. But that rarely, if ever, happened.

The heat was what got you.

Brie smiled at her overprotective father. Ever since her mother’s passing at a rogue wolf’s hands eight years before, Brie felt like mother to the pack, and many treated her as Luna, though she was yet unmated. She was the closest thing that the pack had had to a Luna for the past eight years, and Roland hoped for his daughter to find a suitable mate. He was to attend The Claiming himself this year as well. The man was getting older and needed a Luna and son to carry on leading the pack when he would no longer be able to.

Roland was not necessarily concerned for himself. He was sure he would be able to smell a good female from miles away. He would surely find someone fitting at The Claiming, by hook or by crook.

His daughter…well, she should have only the best in a mate, he would make sure of that. She had Alpha blood in her, and she deserved better than all the Alphas-in-waiting he had met with from the nearby packs.

This year, The Claiming would take place on his own land, and he intended to make sure his Luna would be strong and self-sufficient. Brie’s mate would be staunch and virile. His Alpha blood would flow through her line and give her many sturdy pups to carry on their bloodline.

He looked over at his daughter. She was the spitting image of his late wife at her age. Flowing, pin-straight, silvery hair that hung to her waist, and light blue eyes the color of cornflowers. She was curvier than his wife was at that age, but favored her in most every other way.

“What will you wear for The Claiming?” Roland asked his daughter. The women needed loose clothing in order to strip quickly for their shift.

Brie brought out a light green shift dress and held it up to her body. “This should do. It’s a little old, but still serviceable.” To be honest, it was the only shift dress she owned, and it was a piece of clothing she didn’t mind soiling or even ruining irreparably.

“You will look beautiful in whatever you wear, angel.” Her father’s voice was soft and intent, but the look in his eyes was far off.

Brie was happy her father was seeming to be coming out of his doldrums and speaking regularly again. She felt lighter than she had in weeks now that he seemed to be getting back to normal.

Granted, Alpha Roland was never one for many words, but there had been days recently when he spoke only through the mindlink to his pack, and the silence in the Alpha’s home was deafening.

Brie yawned and looked at the time. “I’m going to bed, Daddy. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow and I need the rest.” Brie hugged her father close and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She stepped out of his office and walked the single flight of steps up to her room. She drifted off into a peaceful sleep while her father sat in his desk chair, thinking.

In fact, Roland was far from okay. He had merely made some small talk with his daughter since he knew she was concerned about him. He had caught her looking at him with a disturbed expression on her face when she thought he wasn’t paying attention, and he knew his silence was to blame.

He had been thinking for weeks of a way to get his daughter out of The Claiming. As far as Roland Fontaine was concerned, no man would ever be good enough for his little girl. She was strong and made to be a Luna. He had even gone to several nearby packs to check out the Alpha’s sons as possible mates. None had struck a chord, and each time he came home, he grew more morose and closed off. He had been thinking over the past few days of something almost unheard of, and hated himself for it. Roland had made it a point to speak with an elder the previous week of his dilemma.

“Well, it certainly is not completely unheard of,” Elder White spoke through the pipe he held up to his lips. “Rare, but not unheard of.”

Elder White lit the pipe and puffed a few times contentedly. He did not show it, but he was a bit shocked at what his Alpha was asking him.

“Would there be…complications of any kind?” Roland asked, his face etched with concerned.

“No, Alpha. Werewolf DNA is not like human DNA, and does not present itself to be harmed by inbreeding in such ways as human genetics does,” White said and nodded his head. White felt wolf DNA was by far superior to any other.

The Elder continued. “Like the breeding of horses and canines, our DNA can be strengthened with inbreeding. Humans do not possess such...flexibility in their strands.”

“But I’m her—” Roland started.

“Father—yes,” White finished for him. “Do not fret to believe that what you are thinking of doing is unnatural or taboo. The family trees that can be so easily soiled in the human race are not the same as the ones we share. Alas, it has become more and more frequent as our race becomes ever more hunted that we have to mate where we can.

“If you feel that she would be averse to this coupling, please let her go to The Claiming undisturbed by your intentions. There is a mate for everyone, and if she is claimed, it is best that she make do with the hand she is dealt. She is strong. One of the strongest women I have known. If anyone can hold her own, it is Brie.”

Roland dropped his head to his chest and sighed. He could not let Brie be claimed by just anyone. If there was none that would suit her and he himself could not find a mate, he would be forced to claim her for himself.

Chapter 1 

Brie woke up to the sound of voices in the house. She yawned and looked at her bedside table where her alarm was placed. She groaned. It was 8 AM, and she had been hoping to sleep late in anticipation of what was bound to be a tiring and late night for her. Previous Claiming rituals could sometimes be an all-night affair, and this year would probably be no different.

Brie stretched and headed into the adjoining bathroom to shower. She tried to be brief in there, as there would probably be many more showers to be taken here by the Alphas of the neighboring packs. The unmated pack members were to be housed in tents outside the packhouse, but in deference to their clout, Alphas were welcome to stay inside the packhouse, with their pack members, or in the Alpha’s home the day before The Claiming—and afterward, if necessary.

Brie thought over her outfit choices. She really would have liked to wear her usual, everyday clothes. That usually consisted of shorts and a t-shirt or tank top, but it might be thought disrespectful to the Alphas if she were not to wear something nice to greet them. She was their hostess, after all, just as her father played host.          Brie nodded at the white and blue flower print dress with the asymmetrical skirt and smiled. Nice enough for the Alphas and Lunas, but free enough to do her duties in.

Hopefully, she wouldn’t spill on it and render it completely unwearable. Brie had been known to ruin a dress or two while making a pot of coffee, and if the steadily increasing noise from below was any indication, there would be plenty of coffee to be made. It sounded like a small army was congregating downstairs, and they had their marching orders. Her dress flowed like liquid behind her as she went down the stairs. She crept while listening in on their loud conversation.

“I hear the boy has been ill and could not make The Claiming this year,” said one Alpha. He was a short man with graying hair and a mustache. His Luna was beside him, and she was startling. Although she was clinging to him like he was her personal life raft, she had to be half his age and devastatingly beautiful.

She also appeared to be quite young for him, maybe twenty-five to thirty years old, whereas the small man had to be fifty if he was a day.

“It’s a shame. Plain wore out from taking care of his father, if you ask me. The man’s been poorly for years. I hear he is quite outstanding as far as Alphas are concerned, though,” another male voice spoke.

“Very handsome and so young to be the Alpha,” another mentioned.

“Since his father has been ailing, he has taken on all the responsibilities of the pack, though he is only twenty-two,” someone stated. “He took full control when he was 19 when his father first fell ill.”

Brie interrupted with her presence and met her father’s eyes, which appeared to be deep in thought and not paying attention to the conversation. Something was weighing on him, Brie could tell. She also knew that he wouldn’t tell her if she asked, so she settled on introducing herself to the guests in the room.

“My apologies for keeping you all waiting,” Brie said dutifully. “I trust that everything is to your liking so far? If not, please make me aware and I will see to your needs. My name is Brie Fontaine, daughter of Alpha Roland Fontaine.”

Brie was overly formal, as many were with the Alphas of the packs. She nodded her head in deference to their standing, and offered them more coffee.

“Your father has been most generous, Miss Brie, and we have been fed and watered sufficiently,” the short, stout Alpha with the young Luna said. “My name is Alpha John Witherspoon of the Silver Claw pack. This here is my Luna, Emily Witherspoon née Pierce. I suspect you will meet my children in due time.”

Brie nodded and smiled as he shook her hand. She made her rounds in the room, introducing herself, and then walked over to take her place by her father’s side.                

“Good morning, Father,” she said, still in formal mode in front of the other Alphas and their mates. “Did you need me to oversee any of the preparations for this evening’s events?”

“No, angel. I have Beta James and Gamma Edward on it.” In fact, Roland wanted Brie nowhere near the festivities until it was absolutely necessary. She would have plenty to do here in the house until then, and he didn’t need any of the visiting pack members to get any unsavory ideas in regards to his daughter. He didn’t know them from Adam, and as far as Roland was concerned, it could stay that way.

His wolf scratched at the surface with all the unfamiliar scents of the visiting wolves on his territory. He would have done anything to be able to phase and take a long run in the woods as his wolf to clear his mind.

Brie excused herself to make breakfast, and she made quick work of her cereal so she could attend to her guests.

As she ate, she watched the other pack members through the kitchen window as some set up for the evening, and others simply talked or made up their tents in the long grass in front of the Packhouse. She saw that a handsome blond male about her age and a female of her pack named Liza were very aware of each other. Brie wondered if they were true mates.

It sometimes happened that the mates would meet each other before the festivities commenced, but for the most part, Alphas kept their unmated pack members separate from the others until the ceremony began. As much as they could, at least.

Brie sighed as she washed her bowl and spoon and then dried her hands on the towel next to the sink. She was loath to use the dishwasher as it simply made too much noise. The sounds coming from outside were enough to disturb her usually tranquil home life, and she found herself longing for the silence her quiet home held when it was only her father and her.

The day passed in a dizzying blur as she kept vigil, watching the ceremony’s preparations taking place from afar. It seemed that all the festivities were happening to someone else, and she was simply watching it all through an ever-changing television screen that resembled the picture windows of her home.

At 7 PM, the house was relatively quiet, and the Alphas and Lunas had gone to their respective packs to speak with the unmated about their decorum and what would be expected of them. The unmated already knew the rules, but the Alphas figured there was always one in the bunch that would try something radical and pretend they simply hadn’t been warned about their possible misdoings.

Brie walked up the steps to her room where she would prepare herself for The Claiming. She had her light green shift dress laid out on her bed since that morning, but she wished to wash the day away. To start fresh. Hopefully after tonight, she would have a place in this world, a mate to whom she would belong to.

It was an old-fashioned idea, but custom was a highly honored tradition in the werewolf community. Just as any she-wolf was expected to deliver pups for her soulmate, all males were supposed to protect their female and resulting said pups from their union.

As forward-thinking as her father was, she knew that she was expected to do right by her mate, and she wanted to start the process with a clean slate.

Brie washed again, and brushed her teeth for good measure. She sincerely hoped her mate would do the same. Nothing like meeting your mate and having foul breath as they attempted to mark you.

After a too-short shower, Brie blew her hair dry and put on her shift dress, foregoing the undergarments as the dress would be shed soon enough, and the extra layer of clothing would be an unnecessary and time-consuming hindrance.

The dress was thin, but the night was warm enough, and she felt no need to cover herself up before heading to the clearing that was prepared for the unmated. She let her hair lay straight down her back and unencumbered.

Brie put on sturdy, nude-colored leather sandals and made her way down the front steps of the home to where her father was waiting in his own Claiming attire.

The unmated men usually only wore bottoms to The Claiming and left their chests bare. Whether it was for convenience or pride, they often went only with shorts or pants to the place where The Claiming would commence. As Alpha, Roland felt the need to wear something over his chest, and had opted for a muscle tee and light khaki-colored shorts.

Seeing her father made her nervous. She wanted a mate, but did not want to leave him alone either.

“You look beautiful, princess,” Roland said quietly as Brie moved quickly into his waiting arms.

Her eyes pricked, and she shuddered as he held her like he used to when she was little and had nicked her shin on a rock after falling.

“What’s wrong, angel?” Roland asked.

“I don’t want to leave you,” she said as her eyes filled to the brim with tears. This land was her home, and she wasn’t ready to leave it just yet. She and her father were all the other had left. Her heart broke a little to think that this may be the last time she left this house as her home.

“Don’t worry, angel,” Roland said to his Brie. “You will always and forever be mine.”

Chapter 2 

He isn’t here.

It was the first thing Brie thought when she took her place in the clearing and had let her wolf come out a bit, sniffing the evening’s fragrances. Wolves—many of them—but none of them were hers. Brie felt it as her wolf drooped a little at the realization, but Brie herself was conflicted. She may have not found her mate, but maybe she could somehow avoid being claimed and stay at home with her father for another year. Her wolf whimpered, and Brie ignored her. She would remain vigilant.

The Claiming was a relatively silent affair until the women shifted. Howls would be heard and grunts evoked as the male unmated readied themselves for the chase. The unmated were set in a circle, women on the outside, with the boundaries of the circle lit by torchlight. Men moved in the center of the ring, letting the scents of the she-wolves wash over them. If they found a scent they liked, they may pursue it after their shift.

Brie caught sight of a large male in the corner of her eye and fought a cringe. There was something menacing in his stature. She slowly looked over at him and stared into his eyes in the dim light. Even with the flickering torches as background, his eyes were black as coal and cold like ice. His returning gaze made her shiver, and she looked away, hoping he was not as fierce and as cruel as he seemed.

She tried to ignore him and his scrutinizing stare, and her wolf whimpered. He wanted to claim them. She could practically hear his wolf salivating to come forth.

Brie closed her eyes and looked anywhere but at the wolf who stood staring at her. She looked over at her father, and his concern was apparent. Roland had seen the hungry look in the large wolf’s eyes, as well. He looked between the two and felt conflicted.

Roland knew the wolf to be the son of an Alpha of a pack a few states to the east of his territory. His infamy had reached as far as the Pacific Northwest. He was brutal and robust, said to be sadistic in some circles. The man’s name was Gabriel Stride, and his fearful reputation preceded him.

And he was eyeing Roland’s daughter like she was a meal he could lap up.

Roland eyed Gabriel, barely concealing a growl. He would be a strong Alpha to his daughter’s Luna, but his brutality knew no bounds. His wolf itched to come out and mangle the savage. Roland nodded resolutely to himself. He knew now what had to be done.

As if the full moon had been suddenly eclipsed, the torch lights were snuffed out, signaling that the unmated women could shift and flee to the woods. As if on some silent cue, the females undressed and tossed aside their clothing. Most wore shifts like Brie, and the separate pieces of fabric hit the dirt inside the circle almost in tandem.

Brie was naked for only a split second before she shifted to her silvery white wolf and ran headlong into the woods directly in front of her. It felt exhilarating to be letting her wolf run free, but her anxiety over the man who had eyed her in the clearing was predominant in her mind, making her run faster and harder than she ever had. She hoped he would not be able to scent her.

Brie had always been a fast runner, but the fact that the woods were dark and her fur so pale worked against her. She hoped that the unmated females’ ten-minute head start and the Alpha blood flowing in her veins would assist her in a quick getaway. She planned to flee to the edge of her pack’s territory and hopefully into the unclaimed land just to the west of it. Knowing it was a good 20 miles to the end of her pack’s land—and even if she were to fly like the wind—it would be a mean feat that Brie should remain unclaimed after tonight.

Brie urged her wolf to run faster and faster. She panted heavily, having pushed her wolf harder than she had ever asked of her before. She could hear the precise moment ten minutes after shifting when the male unmated stripped themselves of their clothing to shift for themselves. Howls filled the air for the first time that night, and she stumbled slightly in her sudden panic. Brie didn’t know how, but she pushed herself and her wolf even faster as she heard the howls coming ever closer.

She was five miles from the border when a large russet wolf caught the periphery of her eye. Her wolf whimpered in the back of her mind again, and started on a path to the northwest, away from the tawny-colored wolf. It was him. The man with the fathomless black eyes.

A small whimper broke out from the back of her throat, and Brie’s suspicions of the large man with the deep pits for eyes was confirmed when she saw his coal-colored orbs. He was coming for her. Brie let out a brief pained yowl and turned even more northward, hoping for reprieve from this wolf’s hunt.

A flash of black coming from the north startled her, and she instantly felt cornered. Brie tried to run parallel to the two wolves, and was only two miles away from being free when she noticed that the chestnut colored wolf had increased his speed and was catching up to her quickly. She looked to her right slightly as the outline of the black wolf pulled ahead and was coming straight toward her.

She had nowhere to go, and huddled onto the ground as the two wolves headed straight toward her. Wishing she could scramble up the nearest tree, she was now frozen between the two large beasts as their paws padded loudly on the ground in the direction of her body.

When they were mere feet away from her, something astonishing happened. The large black wolf jumped over Brie’s body with a snarl and caught the chestnut-colored wolf’s neck in its jaws. Brie had never gotten a very good look at the black wolf, and she didn’t care to now. She tried creeping away slowly, but since her fur was so visible in the dark night, the russet-colored wolf made a pointless leap toward her.

Brie yelped, and the black wolf snapped his teeth at his opponent, turning the cool night air coppery in scent.

Hearing the russet wolf yip in pain and the sounds of the black wolf shifting made her pause. Brie’s fur was pressed up against a large conifer tree with the black wolf between her and the now-injured russet wolf. She was caught, and could now be claimed by the black wolf. He had won.

At least it’s not the other, Brie thought to herself. There was something menacing in the eyes of that one that caused the blood in her veins to turn to shards of ice.

“Gabriel!” Roland roared.

Brie was so shocked at this unexpected twist that she unexpectedly shifted back to her human form. Her eyes, wide like saucers, looked up at her father’s bare back, aghast.

What the hell is he doing? Brie thought. He needed to claim his Luna, not play knight in shining armor to his daughter.

“Back away, boy!” Roland bit out, a steady growl echoing in his chest cavity. “She’s mine! I claim her as mine! She will never be yours!”

Brie knew then that she must be dreaming. Her father could not claim her truly, could he? She was his daughter. Claiming would entail marking, and—eventually—mating. Oh God, Brie thought as she came to the realization that this was happening. Truly happening. Her father had somehow claimed her, and she would be expected to be marked and mated within a week.

Brie was strong. Alpha blood swam within her veins through and through, but this was more than her mind could handle at the moment. Her head fogged over as she forgot to breathe. The last thing she saw before the darkness came was the profile of her father’s face as he started to turn toward her to claim what was his.

∞~∞~∞

A soft murmuring sound wafted to Brie’s ears like a cool summer breeze. She was being held close to a warm, hard body, the breath of which was coming out even and deep. Through the slits of her eyes she could tell that there was a light up ahead. The scent of pine needles faded as it was taken over by the cloying smell of acrid smoke lingering in the air. They had left the thick of the woods behind them and were now back to where The Claiming had commenced.

Brie was weary and confused. She knew she was claimed, but she felt as if she must have dreamt it. She couldn’t be claimed by her own father. It was ludicrous. She was flesh of his flesh. It was so...so wrong.

Nestling further into the strong arms surrounding her, she hoped it would bring her further away from the strange, lucid dream she seemed to be having since leaving the pack border.

The movement around her stopped, and she realized the person holding her had come to the edge of the circle and halted in place. A voice spoke, and Brie’s eyes shot open at the sound. Her eyes met with a stiff column of neck that she knew all too well.

“I have claimed my Luna,” Roland’s voice spoke out in his Alpha timbre. There were gasps among the crowd gathered as the magnitude of what had happened slowly began to sink into the stunned shifters.

Roland was a man of few words, and he moved forward a few steps, bare as the day he was born toward the murmuring voices. Brie closed her eyes again as she stifled a helpless whimper. She found she could not face the crowd of onlookers as her father proclaimed her as his Luna and future mate. It was something she would deal with tomorrow.

One brave soul spoke out in the crowd.

“But, Alpha,” the male voice said. “She is your daughter. It is simply not done to have offspring as your mate.”

Roland growled loudly, and the crowd hushed. “It is done if I say it is done.” He spat the words out. “I am Alpha and what I say, goes. If it does not please you, Lawrence, you may leave this pack and become rogue.”

Roland hefted Brie’s body a bit higher, cradling her face in his neck as if he was shielding her from the words being spoken. When he next opened his mouth, his voice resounded even louder.

“That goes for all of my pack! If you do not wish my daughter as Luna of this pack, leave before the sun rises. She has acted the role these past eight years with no complaint from any of you. And if I should hear one word of disrespect against her or me, I will know.”

Roland’s voice had risen even further at the end, and Brie could practically feel the trembling of the crowd as they took in his proclamation.

“It will be as you say, Alpha,” an older male spoke out. Brie had to struggle to place the man’s voice, her head was so groggy. She had heard it before somewhere, certainly. It spoke clearly and with aged wisdom.

“Wolves of the Diamond Falls pack, friends, and honored guests,” the same wizened voice spoke again. “In these times when we are hunted, our numbers diminish faster than we wish to admit or even realize. While it is a rare thing to take kin to mate, it is not an anomaly of any sort. With the two joined, their bloodline will be stronger, and their pups will be unblemished and inviolable of any possible tainted blood. Werewolf genetics, as we all should know, are different from any other creature’s as we are not spoiled by the inbreeding that occurs in so many of nature’s children. Please do not be alarmed but rejoice. Our pack will finally have a Luna—a true Luna—once again.”

There was a brief silence before Roland spoke. “Thank you, Elder White. Your loyalty does not go unnoticed nor unappreciated. You will be rewarded accordingly.” He turned to the crowd en masse and said, “I will take my leave so the rest of you can make preparations—if there are any to be made.”

Brie felt the change in air current as the ground began moving beneath her again. She could tell from the silence that none had moved from their places. She also could hear the distant howls as many of the other unmated found themselves being claimed or doing the claiming. The sounds of the forest and crowd grew dimmer, and Brie struggled to remain calm as she felt herself nearing her childhood home.

This was never the way she thought things would turn out when she went to be claimed. She’d played at being Luna these past eight years out of necessity, never imagining it would become a reality in such an alarming fashion. With that thought, she closed her eyes and fell into a stunned half-sleep, hoping that somehow, this was just one very vibrant dream that she could wake from.

∞~∞~∞

Brie woke from her shallow slumber as soon as her naked bottom hit the cool sheets in a darkened room. Her eyes fluttered open as firm arms placed her gently upon clean linens. She tried to rouse her wolf mentality, but all was silent on that front.

There was a faint rustling before a dim light at the bedside table flickered on. Brie’s eyes wandered up to find her father’s face, looking somehow both determined and ambivalent.

She discreetly pinched her inner thigh, and scrambled to cover her nakedness as she realized that this had really happened. It was no dream she could wake from.

Claimed by her father. Fated to be marked and mated to him within a week.

Brie was as silent. Her father was still very naked from his shift back to his human. She watched as he sauntered over to his dresser where he pulled out the top center drawer. He grabbed a few items from it and placed them upon the top of the dresser. Shifting to the right, he pulled out another drawer and grabbed a couple pairs of boxers from them and slipped one on. Roland turned and grabbed the other items before walking over to the bed.

He dropped them softly next to Brie. “Here. Put these on, angel,” he said quietly, as if not to disturb her mental state further. He knew she was in a bit of shock at this surprising turn of events.

She looked down and saw that he had given her a pair of his boxers and a long t-shirt. Without slipping out of the covers, she first put on the boxers, then the white tee. She felt slightly better to be covered to decency, but her silence soon vanished like a soft wind on the branch of a tree.

“Father, what have you done?” she asked, voice low but steady.

Roland stood still. “I couldn’t let that wolf have you. I’ve heard much about him and his kind, and he is an evil man. There was no Luna for me here, and if I had not claimed you, you would be marked by him and taken away.”

He sighed, averting his eyes to look towards the window. “If he had been worthy of you...” Roland trailed off. He shook his head as if not suffering the thought. “It’s no matter now. What’s done is done, and now I will do what I have to do to ensure your safety, as well as the safety of our pack.” Our pack. Brie thought about that.

She liked the idea of our pack, and her inner wolf stirred, raising its muzzle from its paws at the words.

With her wolf coming back to the fore a bit, Brie’s head cleared from its hazy retreat, and she realized precisely where she was. Her father’s bed. The bed she most likely had been conceived in. This was where she was to sleep night after night for the rest of her days. The idea of it was foreign.

She remembered having nightmares when she was still a pup and coming into her parents’ room to be comforted. Now it was her turn to comfort her father, the same as it was her wolf’s job to calm Roland’s beast.

Roland sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at Brie. He sighed heavily again and said, “I’m sorry, angel, but I have to mark you, and you shall mark me. It cannot be avoided at this juncture. I do not know where that other wolf is, or even if he is near, but once you are marked, he cannot touch you.”

“I could almost hear his wolf’s thoughts, somehow,” Brie said softly. “He…he wanted to claim me.”

“I’m so sorry, princess.”

“Daddy—” Brie started to speak, but was cut off by a low growl.

“Do not call me that anymore, angel,” Roland said, his voice a low rumble. “I am no longer to be considered your father. We are to be mated soon and it doesn’t...it doesn’t sit well with me to be called such.”

He paused, reflecting.

“Call me Alpha, or Roland.”

Brie had never called her father by his given name. She didn’t think she could call him Roland—at least not yet—so she felt it was safer to stick with Alpha to start with. Roland seemed too...intimate for her to say.

“Will it hurt?” she asked Roland.

He knew she was speaking of the marking of her skin with his teeth. “Only for a moment, dear one,” he told her.

“What will happen afterward?” she asked, curious. She had heard being marked by a chosen mate was quite a different process than being marked by your true mate, if you were indeed lucky enough to find yours.

“I will mark you, and then you will mark me. A sort of tether will form between us. It pulls the two of us—and our wolves—together.”

“Can the tether ever snap?” Brie asked.

Roland paused, chewing over her words. “The tether that holds us together can only be severed when—or if—either one of us were to find our true mate and have them mark us instead. The mark of one’s true mate is more complete, more binding.

“If either of us were to die, the tether would snap, and the mark would vanish from our skin. It is particularly painful to break the bond. Since my mate is already gone, I cannot break it. It can only be broken if you were to find your true mate or if one of us were to perish.”

Brie sighed. “I don’t think I have one—or one that lives still.” Talk of her father’s former mate, her mother, made Brie blush, and she shook her head, trying to ward away the unwelcome thoughts that came to her. She could not think of her mother at a time like this. It shamed her.

“How...how long before we must mate?” Brie asked, her skin flushing furiously in the dim light.

“Well, with other wolves who have been marked, they either mate right away, or they wait until their heat comes upon them.” Roland was taciturn as he said this, and his expression was stony and unreadable.

“When does one’s heat come upon them? And what does it feel like?” Brie asked, and wondered if her inquisitive mind was subconsciously putting off the inevitable.

“As I’ve never been in heat, I can only speak from what I have heard. Most females have said they go into heat anywhere from three to five days after being marked. As for your second question, I don’t know what it feels like. Still, from what I have heard, it is very uncomfortable and will only go away when you mate with your intended,” Roland grumbled out.

Brie’s mind scrambled for another question. Anything to delay the intimacy it required to mark someone.

“Do you know anyone who has gone into heat I can ask? A female, of course—” She rattled off the first thing that came to mind.

“Brie,” Roland said firmly. He only used her first name when he was impatient with her, and she was cowed into silence. “You are postponing this joining, and it must stop.”

Brie choked back a whimper, and Roland sighed again.

“Angel, I need to do this before I lose my nerve,” he admitted gently.

She nodded, looking down at her hands in her lap. “Yes, Fa—Alpha.”

Roland moved over on the bed and leaned over Brie, pushing her back against the mattress gently. He pulled the covers over her, just up to under her chest and leaned into her neck.

He sat there breathing in and out a few times, gathering the strength and will to do this deed. “I am sorry, angel,” he said, and immediately sank his incisors into the tender flesh of her neck.

This book is obviously found here on Dreame but is also found fully edited in paperback at Lulu. 

www.lulu.com/shopk-knightly/the-claiming/paperback/ product-24485495.html 

It's available in a number of countries in paperback :)