Alpha's Moon: A Dirigo Pack Novel (Dirigo Pack Series Book 1) Read online

  The moment of distraction was all Samuel needed. He leapt forward and jabbed Kane in the lower right, just under his ribs and right into his kidney. Fuck that hurt. He swung around, a snarl on his lips, and before he could react, Samuel had taken a couple of steps back, involuntarily ceding dominance. But that action wasn’t enough for Kane’s wolf. The jab had fucking hurt, and the beast was off the leash and done with the game.

  Kane spun away from Samuel and bared his teeth in a facsimile of a smile, lulling the other male into a false sense of security. Judging by the way he blanched, the smile didn’t work. “Lucky shot.”

  Samuel bared his own fangs, painting on an image of false bravado. “You gonna fight or dance, old man? Maybe the Dirigo Pack needs a different Alpha if you can’t handle a little Challenge.”

  With those words, Samuel spun in a roundhouse kick, probably hoping to catch Kane off-guard again, but Kane wouldn’t be fooled a second time. He grabbed Samuel’s ankle and twisted, flipping the other man so he landed on his ass, his knee popping loudly in the night air.

  “You think you can take me? Then get up.” His wolf strained to be let out, to pounce while his opponent was down, but Kane had been trained ruthlessly from birth to be in control, and with his Alpha, an elder, and his Pack watching, he wasn’t giving in. Not now.

  Samuel rolled to his feet, favoring his knee, which would be healed on its own overnight, or quicker with a healer, and glared at Kane, a glimmer of hatred forming through the gold that was gleaming.

  Kane cursed inside. Why didn’t he just stay down? They weren’t battling over Kane’s sister. It was a stupid Challenge, with no purpose. Just a stupid male fueled by hormones and the need to dominate when there wasn’t a point. No sense tempering his actions. Kane feared for the future of the Sacramento Pack if this male became the Alpha-Heir.

  Shaking the thought away, he focused on the other wolf and waited for his next action. He wouldn’t start this next round, but by damned, he would finish it.

  Samuel lashed out, his temper clearly getting the better of him, and Kane’s wolf said enough was enough. Kane punched the other man in the jaw, then followed him to the ground, pinning him to the grass. “Yield,” he growled, the wolf in his voice.

  Samuel struggled for a moment, the last-ditch motions of a prey that was beaten but hadn’t quite given up. Finally, not finding any space to escape, he pounded the ground with his open hand and angled his chin to bare his throat, signaling defeat.

  Kane jumped up and brushed the dirt off of his clothes. “Everyone, back to your quarters for the evening. The entertainment is over.”

  With a final pointed glare around the circle, everyone scattered, a few of the guests moving more slowly than others to indicate they weren’t fully accepting his authority but not directly challenging him either. His wolf, still just under the surface, wanted to force obedience, but Kane clenched his fists and stood firm, letting the gold in his eyes show through so they all could see his dominance. None met his gaze.

  Sloane Wyman, a she-wolf who was his third in command, sauntered over to him, sparing a glance for Samuel who was limping away between two of his Pack mates. “Should I send the healer to his cabin?”

  Kane nodded. “And keep an eye on them. He won’t be happy by this embarrassment.”

  She gave a throaty laugh. “He’ll be gone as soon as he’s healed. Just like Curt from Portland. He wasn’t thrilled about being shown up by Kayleigh on the hunt last night. We Dirigo women are too much for these pansies.”

  She ambled off with a head nod to a couple of wolf enforcers to follow. Kane faced his father, who stared at him with an inscrutable expression on his face. Elder Hastings sneered a bit, his upper lip curling as he took in the dirt on Kane’s clothes.

  “You took your time defeating your challenger,” Elder Hastings muttered.

  “He wasn’t a real Challenge. Samuel was testing the rules put in place for guesting in our Pack, and I was reinforcing them. If it was a true Challenge, he wouldn’t have walked away.” Kane met the older man’s eyes evenly, knowing full well their dominance levels were an issue.

  Elders in the Pack advised the Alpha and acted as counsel for all members, sometimes serving as a jury for some cases. But they were still subject to the authority of the Alpha. They were never higher in dominance to the Alpha, though some, like Elder Hastings, struggled with that distinction and liked to throw their weight around with lesser members of the Pack. Kane’s father had often had to step in when the elders overstepped their boundaries.

  “You still appeared weak. We can’t have a weak Alpha-Heir in the Dirigo Pack.” He waved his hand as if dismissing Kane, and Kane’s wolf snarled at the insult.

  Kane throttled the beast, who was still pissed at not tasting the blood of the vanquished wolf and now wanted to finish the fight with the thinly veiled dig from the elder. But Kane had to find a way to work with the elders. It was the way of any Alpha, and his father had told him to learn his own strategies. Out of deference to the rank, he didn’t outright Challenge the older wolf.

  “Don’t mistake mercy for weakness,” he said. “It was more politic to allow Samuel to save face than to embarrass him and create an incident. I acted prudently rather than rashly.”

  “Offer your enemies mercy, and you may as well slash your own throat and that of your Pack. We can’t afford a weak Alpha.” And with those final words and a pointed look at Kane’s father, Elder Hastings turned his back and stalked away.

  Damien wordlessly handed a bottle of beer to Kane then offered another to his Alpha with a deferential partial bow. Duncan MacKinnon accepted it with a single nod, and Damien backed away, disappearing around the corner of the Pack house following his father.

  “Well, Elder Hastings still doesn’t like me, does he?” Kane stated the obvious, not that he really cared about the older wolf.

  Duncan sighed. “The elders have been a thorn in my side in recent years. They’re not adjusting to the modern changes we’ve had to make, and Graham is the most resistant to them. I think he’d prefer a less progressive Alpha in place.”

  “The Dirigo Pack has always been led by a MacKinnon. Is he talking about a coup?” Kane couldn’t believe he was even asking the question. Pack revolts rarely happened, even in packs that were dysfunctional and damaged, which the Dirigo Pack certainly wasn’t.

  “Of course not,” Duncan said, dismissing his words immediately. “But he could continue to foment unrest. He hates the mixed breeding and how open we are with the outside world.”

  Kane snorted. “He’s close-minded and prejudiced. A recipe for disaster. We’ve seen how that mindset has played out in other packs. If we’re not to his liking, maybe he should join another Pack.”

  Duncan put a hand on Kane’s arm. “Don’t talk of excommunicating an elder lightly, son. When you start talking about things like that, wolves get nervous, and that’s when you start trouble. Even an Alpha has to be careful with his words.”

  Kane nodded once, a concession to his Alpha. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intention. I only meant if he was unhappy with our philosophy, perhaps he’d be happier elsewhere.”

  “I know what you meant, but it’s a slippery slope.” Duncan started walking towards the tree line and Kane fell in beside him. “Do you need the healer?”

  Kane shrugged, every step stabbing his ribs like a white-hot knife blade. “I’ll be healed by morning, sooner if I shift for a while. Provided none of the other dumbasses decide to Challenge me.”

  “They’re not really challenging you, are they?”

  “Nah, they’re just testing our rules and looking to blow off steam. But they won’t spar with each other, and I can’t let one of the other Enforcers embarrass them.”

  Duncan let a small laugh out. “I’ve already heard from the Portland Alpha. Did Kayleigh really show up Curt on the hunt last night?”

  Kane cast him a sideways glance. “If you had joined us on the Pack hunt, you would’ve known. And it did
n’t take long for him to run home to his father.”

  Duncan sighed. “I really wish she hadn’t done that. I needed his father’s support.”

  “You’d rather she pandered to his ego? Trust me, Dad. Curt was a terrible hunter. He scared half the game away. I think he was afraid of the woods.”

  A rueful smile tugged at Duncan’s lips. “I guess Curt spends more time in the city, as does most of their Pack.”

  “So does Benedict, and he can handle himself in the forest.”

  Though, now that Kane thought about it, he couldn’t remember the last time his younger brother had been home for a Pack hunt. He made a mental note to check with the Den leader in Boston to ensure Benedict was joining in the Boston den’s full moon hunts as he’d promised.

  Then his father’s words registered. “Wait, why did you need the Portland Alpha’s support? Is something going on?”

  By the point, they’d reached the tree line, and Kane’s log cabin was in sight. Duncan glanced around and headed for Kane’s place, Kane following on his heels, scanning the forest for any Pack members or others, but not sure why. They headed inside and sat in the living room, Duncan in the easy chair by the fireplace and Kane opposite him.

  “This is for your ears only.” When Kane nodded, Duncan pursed his lips as if unsure what to say. “Things are changing in the Council. Faster than I expected. Simon’s mate is dying. This isn’t common knowledge, not outside the Council ranks or the Alphas.”

  Kane lowered his beer and stared at his father. Simon was Supreme Alpha of all shifters and ruled all of them with an iron fist. He had the Council of Alphas to advise him but, ultimately, his word was law. He was the face of the shifters to all other races, including vampires, Fae, witches, and the humans. Simon was also a good friend to his father, so Kane and his siblings knew him on a more personal level, though they hadn’t seen him in many years.

  But with his mate dying, this affected all of them in deeper ways, for Simon’s mate was his true mate, his fated mate, and when a true mate died, their mate generally followed shortly thereafter. In the rare cases where true mates don’t follow, it was often because they had business remaining in this world, such as children or vengeance. Simon and his mate’s only child had died years before in a skirmish with the vampires, and the only reason he would stay on would be vengeance for her death. A powerful Alpha at his level seeking vengeance could soak their world in blood, the likes of which they had not seen since the Territory Wars centuries ago.

  Kane scrubbed a hand over his face and slumped in his chair. “We’re so fucked. How is Martha? Do we know what happened?”

  Duncan sipped his beer. “Simon is convinced she was poisoned, but the healers don’t agree.”

  Kane looked at his father. “What do you think?”

  “Does it really matter? What matters is Simon is on the warpath, ready to burn down every treaty and pact we have to avenge his mate and honor, and we’ll soon need a new Supreme Alpha because he won’t long outlive her, even with his fury fueling him.”

  Kane’s mind raced over the possibilities, the political implications, and eyed his father. “So, why all the dominants in our territory?” Realization dawned. “You want a political alliance. You’re making a move on the Supreme Alpha position. You’re hoping Kayleigh will find a mate among one of these males, cementing an alliance.”

  Duncan studied him over the bottle. “Simon mentioned it to me, that I could be a possible successor, but I need to have a few things lined up before I’m ready, including a few alliances to get the votes in the Council and someone ready to take over here.”

  The meaningful look was enough to make Kane want to flee the cabin as fast as he could because that look could mean only one thing.

  Kayleigh wasn’t the only one on the mating block.

  Kane sipped his beer, the discomfort in his ribs and kidney fading as the news his father laid on him settled in his mind. The implications were far-reaching for him, for his Pack, and for all shifters, not to mention all supernaturals. The pact that had ended the Fae war centuries earlier was expiring soon, and all supes needed to be in a powerful position when that occurred, if they wanted any chance of keeping the Fae in check.

  No one knew what had been going on in the Seelie and Unseelie courts for the past five hundred years but, knowing both groups, they were gearing up for war, since they seemed to be unable to co-exist and used the other races to fight their battles. Most races had tried to put spies in each court, even though it was against the Pact, in an effort to keep an eye on things. The Pact only allowed them to monitor the portals between the realms, keeping the Fae in their own realms and isolating the Seelie from the Unseelie. Unless they’d found a way to navigate between realms other than the main gates, the Fae had remained isolated for the past five hundred years, except in extreme circumstances.

  But that was about to change. And if the shifter world devolved into chaos with their Supreme Alpha distracted, one key faction keeping the Fae in check would be compromised. It was a delicate balance between the races, each group fighting for supremacy, none trusting the other, not truly. There would be war in his lifetime. War he wasn’t sure they would survive, and the weaker races would fall if the shifters were distracted.

  He let out a breath. “Will you ask Kayleigh to make a witch bond?”

  He referred to the bond a shifter could make with another if they did not find their true bond, or if they fell in love with one who was not a true bond. The witch bond simulated the true bond, allowing a shifter to have children, but it wasn’t the same as the true bond. Those who experienced a true mating said it was a pale imitation, but the witch bonds had become more common especially among the elite in the shifter packs in order to create alliances with pure blood shifters, maintaining the blood.

  Duncan sighed. “I swore I would never force my children into a bonding they didn’t want. But time and circumstances have changed.”

  Icy fingers clutched Kane’s chest, digging talons into him. “You would force Kayleigh?”

  He wondered if he would be forced to choose between his sister and his father, between his Alpha and a female of his Pack, between duty and honor. He’d sworn no woman would ever be forced into anything as long as he had the power to do anything about it, as his father had stepped in when his mother had been forced into the Claiming Rite. He might not be the Alpha his father was, but he was trying. However, as his father had spoken, Kane had had a moment of doubt. Could his father be more focused on the power and reversing his policy? How would Kane respond?

  Duncan snarled at Kane, and Kane resisted the urge to bare his throat against the power of the Alpha. “I would never force any female, much less my daughter. You insult me. But it would be beneficial if she found a mate among a Pack with whom I need an ally.”

  Kane let out a quiet breath of relief. “I don’t think any of these males you’ve invited fit the bill. None are her true mate, and none interest her in any other way either. I’m surprised the Chesapeake Pack isn’t here. Isn’t their Alpha unmated?”

  “I invited him, but he didn’t respond.” Kane arched his brow, and Duncan shrugged. “I hear he’s on edge, not having mated, and rumor says he’s on the verge of Moon Madness.”

  Kane shuddered. The dreaded Moon Madness, when a shifter doesn’t find their mate and the isolation drives them mad until they go feral. In the case of an Alpha, the Pack is affected through the bonds and becomes unstable. Generally, the Council sends their enforcers to handle the situation, if the Pack isn’t strong enough.

  “Did you hear this from Connor?” He referred to his youngest brother who’d become the pack’s representative to the Council enforcer ranks six years ago. Taking down an Alpha was dangerous, and something no shifter wanted to do.

  “Your brother is on another mission, and I haven’t heard the details.” His irritation was plain in his tone. But then he turned his full attention on Kane. “Which brings me to you. I should have let you go to th
e Council as was tradition years ago, but we needed you here.”

  Kane nodded, remembering those tense days after his brother’s accident and the instability in their own Pack, not to mention the war they had brewing. “We were a young Pack then and needed all the enforcers we could get.”

  “And the Saranac Pack was infringing on our borders, trying to start a war. I feared that I would need you here. Your brothers were too young to fight at the time, and while you would make valuable alliances and maybe meet your mate, you needed to lead our Pack.” He sighed. “Maybe that was a mistake, since you haven’t found your mate or even someone you feel something for, or have you?”

  Kane gave a raw laugh. “With what time? We’ve built our defenses and are one of the strongest packs around. Connor was a better choice, much more suited to building alliances with other groups. Benedict is great at our finances and the business end of things. We’re strong now. It was the best decision.”

  Duncan nodded. “But now, we’re in a tough spot in that you need a mate to take over the Pack.”

  “That’s years away, unless you’re not telling me something.” Kane tried to make it a joke, but it fell flat between them.

  “For me to be Supreme Alpha, I have to renounce my Pack bonds, and a new Alpha has to be ready to step up. Any Alpha considered will have put that contingency in place so their heir is ready. No one wants a situation like the Chesapeake Pack where the Alpha is going Moon-Mad, and our elders have already expressed concern about your unmated status.”

  Kane jumped up, his anger too much to be contained. “So, I’ve dedicated everything to this Pack, and I’m being punished for not taking time to get laid and fuck my way through the wolves of North America to find a suitable mate? My experience, my leadership don’t speak for themselves?”