Alpha's Fate (Black Moon Saga Book 2)

A Long Time Ago ...   Hazel Azurath has travelled the path that leads away from the Black Moon Pack’s territory to her own secluded cottage in the woods so many times in recent weeks that she could do it with her eyes closed. It’s late and pitch dark, but she’s not worried because she knows the feel of every stick, stone, and dirt trail along the way. Besides, this time it feels especially exhilarating as she carefully creeps away from the cozy home of the pack’s Beta, Jason Dalton. With her careful movements she aims to avoid detection not only from the patrols that roam the outskirts of the town this time of night, but also his unsuspecting wife. This time she travels the path not because she was called to aid in important pack business, but because she and Jason finally decided to act on the tension that had been building between them for weeks. Every time they sat in the same room together, she couldn’t help but notice his smoldering eyes gazing longingly at her across the table. This sort of attention was something she was not used to, and she ate up every second of it. She knew he was already mated and married and had a little boy with his wife, but for some reason she just didn’t care. All her life she had lived near one werewolf pack or another, but never had she been fully welcomed or accepted. Any shifter who came close enough to her could smell the faint scent of her wolf blood on her, but they were always more concerned about that other smell, the smell of immense magical power. Most said it smelled like a repulsive mix of sulfur, sage, and the musty smell of decay. They tolerated her presence because her skills and abilities were useful and she was always more than willing to help if there was something in it for her. Besides, her demands were always much more reasonable than others like her. But Jason looked at and treated her differently than anyone ever had. If he found her repulsive, he certainly didn’t show it. As much as she wanted to show she was strong enough to resist his charms, she just couldn’t even bring herself to try. It felt so good to finally be desired. When he pulled her aside after the meeting in the Alpha’s office earlier that day, she could feel that whatever he was about to say was something that would change her life forever. She hoped he would say something along the lines of how he was so in love with her that he just couldn’t stand being with his wife anymore. She craved the sound of the words that would confirm that he wanted her to be with him as his new mate. Instead, he asked if she would meet him after dark behind his home. Not exactly the proclamation of undying love she was hoping for, but she had agreed, nonetheless. Now here she is leaving from their secret and risky rendezvous, smirking and satisfied. It had been her first time with a man, and she knew from how he had spoken to her after that it would be her last with him. Maybe it was just something that he needed to get out of his system and something he would regret later, but she didn’t care. She felt satisfied knowing she was able to have such an effect on a man that he would betray his mate, and right outside the home where she slept at that. Hazel had never had a mate, but she knew that the mate bond was so strong that it was incredibly difficult to be unfaithful and could cause both mates immense pain. Jason had been fine the whole time, seemingly experiencing nothing but bliss with Hazel. Apparently, the woman he called his wife was not his true mate and his bond to her was not that strong now that he had set his eyes on Hazel. Somehow it was empowering for her to realize that she could meddle in such a mystical force of nature as a mate bond, true or not. And then there was the other thing. The moment during their c****x where she had felt a sensation of some great power entering her body and invigorating the magic that flows through her, and the moments after when she felt the flutter of new life pulsating from her womb. It was then that she knew that this encounter would result in a child. Her child. A person of her own to love, and who would love her back unconditionally. Once she realized that, nothing Jason told her after their time together could break her heart. She had wanted him to promise her forever, and now she just wanted to get away from him before he was able to figure out that she possessed enough wolf blood to be able to carry his pup. She wanted this baby all to herself. Now here she is sneaking away from the man and the life she had always dreamed of that would never be hers, but for the first time she felt satisfied, content, and maybe even happy. ************************* That blissful feeling didn’t last long after she returned home. Two nights later she had the most vivid dream of her life and knew that it must be because the child within her had strengthened her powers. She had heard of those of her kind referred to as oracles whose power allowed them to experience visions of possible futures. This dream felt like that, and she knew that it was meant to serve as a warning. In it she had witnessed two possible futures for her child, which she now knew to be a girl. In the first, her daughter was treated as an outcast to both the worlds of witches and werewolves because she was a hybrid, a life much like the one Hazel herself had experienced. She knew this sort of life was one of poverty, rejection, and vagrancy. This path also resulted in her daughter being rejected by her true mate because he viewed her to be a freak and an unsuitable mate. This possible future allowed Hazel to raise the girl as she so badly desired, and this way her daughter was also destined to meet her true mate. Nevertheless, this path meant the girl would lead a miserable life like her mother. The second possible future depended on her daughter being raised by her father, a werewolf of wealth, power, and influence who could protect the girl. Her association with him, without influence from her mother who was a known witch, would ensure that people viewed her as a werewolf. Her witch blood would remain dormant if no one were there to nurture that aspect of herself, and her wolf aspects would dominate. In this future, her daughter would find a powerful werewolf who would fall in love with her and take her as his chosen mate. If Hazel could bring herself to make the ultimate sacrifice and give up her daughter, the girl would live a lavish life of prestige and wealth. People would love and respect her in ways that her mother had never experienced or even dared to dream for herself. There was a catch, though. Her daughter would never meet her true mate in this possible future, and the man who would one day come to love the girl would only choose her if he could be convinced to reject his own true mate. Hazel awoke from her dream realizing the weight of what had just transpired and the gift she had unlocked. The decision presented to her in her dream was both the easiest and most difficult decision she had ever been forced to make. She had to choose between raising the child she already loved with every fiber of her being to fulfill her own happiness, or to give her to her father once she was born so that the girl could have a chance to experience a good life filled with comfort, love, and happiness. Though it ripped her apart inside, the choice seemed obvious. Just to be certain that she did everything she could to ensure that her daughter led the best life possible, Hazel began to take advantage of her heightened powers. She focused her energy on developing her new ability to observe the future in hopes of learning who would grow up to become her daughter’s romantic competition, and she practiced and created new spells that might help give her girl some advantage in securing her future mate. And finally, after more than a month of study and practice, the pieces of her plan were beginning to fall into place. Another dream revealed the identity of her target, a beautiful Alpha female who had not even been born yet. She couldn’t bring herself to harm a child directly, but there was nothing stopping her from seeking out the mother. It would be tricky, the most difficult spell she had ever cast, but with the gift of the additional power from the child in her womb, she knew it could be done. According to her research, a lineage curse should do the trick. Without harming even a single hair on the other child’s head, Hazel would be able to make her into a less desirable mate, thereby elevating her own daughter’s appeal in the eyes of the Alpha who would one day promise himself to her. With the pieces of her plan in place, she was finally able to focus on enjoying every moment that was left of her pregnancy, knowing that too soon it would come to an end. On a warm, sunny summer morning only a couple months later, Hazel delivered to the doorstep of her former lover the product of their tryst behind the woodshed, her beautiful and beloved newborn daughter, wrapped warmly and securely with love in a hand-knitted pink quilt folded into a woven basket. The unsigned note she tucked into the blanket simply said, “I have heard that you and your wife have longed for a daughter, and it is my hope that you can find it in your heart to accept mine as your own. Her name is Summer. May she bring warmth and joy to your family and your home.” Once Jason opened the door and laid eyes on the infant in the basket in front of him, there was no question in his mind that he would love and care for her as his own. He and his wife had suffered for many years trying to complete their family with a daughter, and now fate had gifted them with the most beautiful baby girl he had ever seen. Little did he know that she was his own daughter, or that fate was not done with her yet.