The Alpha's Other Woman by Vielle Nye (best fiction books of all time .txt) 📖

Did I ever hate it when my mother was right.

I was saved from having to come up with a non-snarky response by my father.

"Starting a new pack sounds pretty risky." Apparently his curiosity about the beginnings of a new pack had finally led him to the fact his baby girl was helping with the risky venture.

"No worse than living as a lone wolf amongst humans." Like my mother now felt free to say 'I told you so' since I was in a happier place, I no longer needed to sugar coat the dangers of lone wolf life anymore. "I was lucky and did fine, but it's a dangerous life. And this is something I feel really good about. Jason is amazing. He's already a great alpha—way better than Asshole Dane—"

My mother choked. "Asshole..."

"—Sorry, Mom, the nickname's habit now. Alpha Dane. Jason is a better alpha. I know I'm biased, but now that I'm not in the pack anymore, I'm free to say that Alpha Dane is wound too tight. It's funny how much clearer I see it now. I cared about him, but was I in love with him, or was it the idea, or even the pack I loved? Now I think it was mostly the pack. I did love being luna there, but here I'm meant to be luna. I'm joining the pack officially on the full moon. I'll be official luna then, too, although I'm already doing the job. And there's a lot to do."

I paused, and considered. “You’re welcome to come to the ceremony if you want, although I know it’s late notice so I understand if you can’t. Everything just happened so fast.”

“We’ll see if it’s possible.” My mother sounded excited.

"Is he treating you right?" my father asked.

"Mmhmm. We had a slightly rocky start, but things are great now."

"I'm so happy for you, Carrie. Have you talked to your sister? But I guess it’s good that you didn’t because you ended up exactly where you were meant to be."

"No, sorry." I probably should. My pack could use all the connections to other packs it could get. And we might not be close, but she would always be my sister.

"Can I tell her?" My mother was clearly excited.

"Sure, but don't tell anyone else yet, please. I'll let my friends know myself, and I don't want Asshole Dane hearing about it. Maybe I'm being petty, but I don't want him to know that I’m doing well."

"Sure thing, dear," my mother said. "It might be hard to keep it from him since I can't contain my happiness."

"I doubt he'll notice. He's so..." my father trailed off.

"He's so what, Dad? I'm over it."

"Wrapped up in Luna Heidi."

"As well he should be," my mother added. I could picture the stern look she was giving my father.

"I understand it, I really do," my father was quick to assure my mother. "But that's the battle of wolves, right? All you want to do is..."

"Be around," my mother supplied helpfully.

He continued, "Yes, be around your mate, but you still have to give attention to your other responsibilities. There's more to life than your mate, even if that is the best part."

I actually could sympathize a tiny bit now. I was still angry with the way he treated me, but I understood why he had felt the need to be with Heidi. If I had been forced to pick Dane over Jason, I would have been miserable. It would have been different if he and I had been marked before he met her, but once he did, there was no going back.

In retrospect, I was so glad Asshole Dane never marked me. The idea of missing out on Jason was terrible. I touched Jason’s mark on my neck and smiled.

My mother decided it was time to change the subject. She had always been less comfortable with criticizing the alpha than my father. "So, are you marked?" she asked, as if she read my mind..

I smiled at the memory. "Yeah. About a week after we met. We had some...miscommunications before that."

"Well, I'm just glad it all worked out, sweetheart."

"Me too."

It was just nice to talk to my parents and have the worry in their voices lessen for a change.