Midlife wolfs pack a fat.., p.1
Midlife Wolf's Pack: A Fated Mate Shifter Romance, page 1
Midlife Wolf's Pack
Bear Mates Over Forty, Book 7
Aline Ash
© 2023 Aline Ash
Midlife Wolf's Pack, book 7
All Rights Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the author’s imagination.
Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.
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Table of Contents
About the Book:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
Also by Aline Ash
About the Author
About the Book:
In Greenacre's embrace, shadows fade, secrets unfold, and hearts dare to hope again
Stephanie
After the sour sting of a failed marriage, romance is the last thing on Steph Walker's agenda.
Her compass now firmly points towards her four children, dedicating herself entirely to their laughter and dreams.
Yet, when she shifts from the familiar lanes of Ohio to the mysteries of Greenacre, Seattle upon a nudge from her best friend, she's introduced to a world where folks have a knack for transforming into bears.
Amidst these surprises, it's the enigmatic Sebastian, with his entrancing golden eyes, that truly captures her curiosity. And when she chances upon his shadowed secret, she playfully traps him: "Share with me, or I'll share with the town."
Sebastian
Sebastian has found solace in Greenacre for a year, yet an ominous past and the pull of revenge against a nefarious doctor keep him restless.
Along comes Steph, the spirited newcomer with her infectious zest and a band of joyous kids, who inadvertently shakes his guarded world.
Her discovery of his clandestine truth, combined with her light-hearted challenge, makes him question the walls he's built. With fate playfully twining their paths, can these two guarded souls dare to dream of love again?
Book 1: Midlife Bear Twins
Book 2: Midlife Daddy Bear
Book 3: Bear’s Midlife Miracle
Book 4: Bear’s Midlife Surprise
Book 5: Midlife Forgotten Mate
Book 6: Midlife Bear Protector
Book 7: Midlife Wolf's Pack
Chapter 1
Sebastian
“Tell me the truth, Sebastian, how many of these things did you get?”
When Clay knocked on the door a few minutes earlier, Sebastian had let him in. If he hadn’t, Clay would do absurd things like worry and make a fuss. It was funny how things changed, the man who had started out as his bitter enemy was now his best friend. Clay would have assumed the worst if Sebastian hadn’t come to the door. His mind would immediately conjure up past images of the wolf incapacitated by a terrible migraine, or out of his mind in some PTSD flashback like that one night in Pinefall a year ago.
Shit went down that night.
Clay had gone to get cheesecake. He had come back to find Sebastian’s cabin destroyed and his charge somewhere else—at least in his mind. Eventually, things calmed down, but not before wretched things like heart-to-heart confessions and even some mortifying shaking and tears happened.
The truth was, Clay had seen just about the worst of Sebastian. He hadn’t just heard it secondhand or learned the truth with his brother, Jem, when they’d done that research into his past and his life. Before Clay’s sister, Taylee saved Sebastian and insisted that he be given a home in Pinefall, he’d done some not so pleasant things.
Clay had saved him and made him into the man he was today.
Good food from Elowen’s restaurant and Clay’s punishing workouts had built him up—while he was never going to be big like the bears, he no longer looked half-starved. Clay had even dragged him to the barbers so instead of the long, lank, gray-streaked hair he’d worn for years, it was shorter and styled. He still wasn’t so sure about that, but hair grew, and if Clay wanted to play fairy godmother, then Sebastian was happy to go to the freaking ball.
As soon as he’d opened the solid pine door, as well-constructed as the rest of the cabin, the surly bear shoved the letter in his face. Alright, it was just Clay in human form, but he was about as burly and concerned and wild eyed as his full-blown bear would be.
“How many?” He waved the sheet in Sebastian’s face.
If Clay had to find out, of course he’d go raiding the mailbox at the most inconvenient of times. When it came to shit like this, all times were inconvenient. Sebastian would rather that Clay never found out.
“Come in, darling,” Sebastian said dryly. “I was just about to make some eggs. Let me make you some too. I know just how you like them. Over easy, which are impossible, so you’ll have to settle for scrambled when I inevitably mess them up.”
Sebastian didn’t want Clay staring him down, doing that thing with his eyes where he saw all the stuff that wasn’t meant to be seen, so he turned and stalked to the kitchen. He hadn’t been about to make anything at all. Breakfast was the worst meal of the day, but now he made a production of getting out the cast iron frying pan, greasing it up, and snatching the carton of eggs from the fridge.
His new cabin was small, much smaller than Clay and Elowen’s, but he didn’t have any kids and truth be told, he was more of an afterthought to the community, while Clay and Elowen were real, welcome members. Between them, they had three kids that they needed rooms for. It was just Sebastian in his little cabin beside theirs. It would only ever be just him. He didn’t need much more than the one bedroom he had, but Clay had worked hard and convinced his family and friends to construct something nice. Because it mattered to him, they’d done a good job and they’d done it willingly. The fridge and stove weren’t new, but they worked well. Everything ran on propane except for the wood stove in the corner, but given that it was summer, no one actually lit theirs and cooked on the small apartment-sized stove instead.
“Seb. I need to know what’s going on.”
“I think it’s obvious. You don’t need a number.”
Clay grunted, but pulled out one of the two chairs at the wooden table—handmade by one of the residents of Greenacre—the chair was so well constructed it didn’t make a sound as Clay sat down. He might not be as big as some of the monstrously sized shifters in Greenacre, who even in human form were large human beings, but he was an ex-cage fighter and he was rippling with enough muscle that regular furniture didn’t like having anything to do with him.
Sebastian couldn’t remember the name of the carpenter, but it was clear he was a true craftsman. Not only was the wooden furniture beautiful, it was also supremely crafted. It would last for generations.
Even if the current owner wasn’t planning on being around that long and he certainly wasn’t going to have generations proceeding him—at least not ones who carried his own DNA. Other inhabitants would likely enjoy the cabin long after he was gone. He used to dream about escaping Clay and all the members of Pinefall who had his best interests at heart and believed there was good in everyone, but now when he thought about leaving either Pinefall or Greenacre, it caused some part of him that he didn’t like to even claim that he felt, to start to throb pitifully. It felt a little bit like the mother of all panic attacks, so not going anywhere near that was best.
“How. Many.”
Smoke rose up from the pan and when Sebastian slid in some butter off the edge of the flipper, it hissed and popped right away. He cracked the first egg in, making a mess as he usually did, breaking the yolk before it even hit the pan. Sorry, Clay, scrambled it is.
He kept his back to the bear. “Don’t know. I haven’t been counting. They make a good kindling, though.”
“They’re literally anti-wolf sentiment. It’s harassment.”
“That’s a little bit strong.”
“Don’t be glib about this stuff and pretend you don’t care. If someone doesn’t want you here, Seb, it matters. You should have told me about this. You should have gone to Sam.”
“Yeah, well, he’s busy. He’s a new dad.”
“Knight is over a year old now.”
“Okay then, so he’s busy with being this clan’s alpha. He has enough going on. He doesn’t have to worry about wolf problems.”
“He worries about everyone. That’s an alpha’s job.” Clay managed to convey all his frustration in a single low sound that wasn’t quite a grunt or a sigh.
Sebastian stirred the eggs in the pan, then chopped at them halfheartedly with the flipper.
“He worries about bears. The only time he worries about wolves is when he has to face them down, because traditionally they’ve been clan enemies.”
Clay actually facepalmed himself. It wasn’t hard to make him frustrated. Sebastian had a special knack for it. “You’re not this clan’s enemy.”
“I don’t think that you saying so is going to make anyone trust me anytime soon. You and Taylee are the only ones who like me and you’re from Pinefall. That doesn’t exactly make you a part of this clan.”
Sebastian scooped the eggs onto a pretty plate with a floral design and set it down on the table in front of Clay. Elowen outfitted the cabin with dishes and her thing was to find as many antiques as possible, and even though he hated to admit it—and had complained about the overabundance of flowers—he liked the mismatched crockery she’d found.
“We’re a part of this clan now just like anyone else,” Clay insisted. “Taylee doesn’t feel that way. She has Kier. He was born in Greenacre as was their daughter Onyx, and their adopted daughter Misty is part of the clan.”
“Maybe it’s different for her, but you’re still a Pinefall member through and through, living here just because your human mate does. She’s been here for a year, but just because she runs the restaurant in town doesn’t mean that she’s here to stay. It doesn’t mean that you are. One wrong move and you’ll both be kicked back into the world. You’ll have to find a house and a town and make it your own. You’ll have to hide what you are. You can’t go back to Pinefall because there’s no place for outsiders there. Greenacre might be more open, but that doesn’t mean that—”
“Whoa. Seb.” Clay nudged the chair across from him with his boot, pushing it out a few inches. Meaning, sit down, Wolf, and let’s talk about what’s really going on.
Sebastian didn’t sit down. He got a bottle of hot sauce out of the fridge and thumped it next to Clay’s plate instead.
Clay picked it up, shook, it, and doused the eggs beyond recognition. “I’m not getting kicked out of Greenacre and Elowen and her kids certainly aren’t either. This place isn’t like Pinefall. Greenacre is open to humans and has been for some time. Glendy, January, Josephine, Sam’s own mate, Lily—they’re all human and none of them are going anywhere.”
“Maybe.”
“What does that mean? You can’t just say maybe like that. You’re so frustrating sometimes.”
Yeah. Yeah, he was. Sebastian got to work on a second round of eggs even though his stomach was churning like a cement mixer. “It means that without you as my keeper, I’d be gone from here. It means that even though I have this cabin and we’re in Greenacre, I’m still little better than a rock tied around your ankle.”
“You’re not a burden. I’m not even your babysitter anymore.”
“No one really wants me here, but we came as a package deal. Clarence didn’t want to deal with me in Pinefall and Taylee was the one who wanted to try and save my damaged, broken wolf soul. I don’t have a pack. I’ll never have a pack. The lone wolf thing might be cheesy, but there’s never been a better label for me. You’re trying to give me a clan. It’s not going to work. Wolves don’t operate that way.”
Clay’s fork banged down on the table. Sebastian scrambled another set of eggs, but he could feel the hot gaze searing between his shoulder blades. “Guess what, asshole? You’re not just a wolf. You’re part human too. Wolf or human, everyone needs companionship. Everyone needs someone. You’re always so sarcastic that sometimes I can’t tell what part of you is trying to piss me off and what part of you means it. You’re so used to pushing people away. You’re so used to maintaining that hard shell and thick skin to protect yourself. I know you’ve been on your own for a long time. You had to be, to keep your secret. You’ve done everything under the sun to keep yourself alive, and you’ve done it all on your own. That’s not an easy thing to set down.”
“What can I say? The animal instinct to survive is strong.” Sebastian poked at the eggs.
“It’s more than that.”
“Have you ever thought what would happen if Sam wasn’t the alpha here any longer?” Sebastian carefully plated his eggs and sat down. He made himself stare into Clay’s dark eyes. Everyone here had regular eyes. He was the only one with the abnormal golden irises that sometimes flashed silver, though to be honest they hadn’t been doing much of that in the past year.
“Have you lost your mind?” Clay hissed. “Don’t let anyone hear you saying things like that.”
“I’m just asking. You know that.”
“I do know that, but other people might not.”
“So you readily admit that Greenacre isn’t always the warm, welcoming place that Sam wants us to believe it is?”
“There are plenty of good bears here. Tavish, Kier, Trace, Sam, Rory, Flint, Craik, Connor—”
“Sam is the alpha, so anything he says goes whether people like it or not. Kier and Tavish are his guards and so they think the same. They can’t be counted on for a proper opinion. Same with Trace. He’s all tied in with them because they all work at the clinic together or grew up together. Rory watches their kids, or his son does while he’s running his butcher shop, so again. Not impartial. Flint is friends with all of them, Craik is the clan dentist and he won’t take sides with anyone. Connor teaches school so he has to act like he’s impartial. It’s like one big happy hairy family until you scratch the surface.”
“Sebastian! Stop. I know you. The moment things start to get real you try and deflect.” Clay picked the sheet of paper off the table and waved it in the air. It made a snapping sound, like it was angry too. “This is important. I don’t like it. Why haven’t you told me about it?”
“Because I can take care of myself. I don’t need you to go around defending me. It’s perfectly fine that some bears don’t like a wolf living amongst them. It’s fine that people don’t trust me. They shouldn’t. They have no reason to.”
“You saved my life. You protected Elowen and her kids and Emma.”
“All of you outsiders.”
“I said that Greenacre doesn’t work like that. If you’re accepted here, then you’re part of the clan.”
“Are you? Or is it just what Sam says while some dissenting views go unvoiced in his presence, but get louder when he’s not around?”
“What the actual fuck?” Clay’s throat bobbed violently as he tried to swallow down that shock. “Did you hear something? Are you saying that there’s going to be a challenge for alpha? Does Sam have enemies here in his own clan? If that’s true, that’s not something that can be taken lightly. Greenacre doesn’t elect their alpha through challenge. There is no beta position here. It’s a democratic process and the alpha has complete power, but they can’t run it like a dictator would.”
“I’ve heard that there were some rotten apples before Sam. Trace’s own father to be more precise.”
“That’s true, but he wasn’t always like that. It’s still a democratic process and people believe in their alpha here.”
“Why hasn’t anyone challenged Clarence for leadership over at Pinefall then? You’d think there would be young, impetuous bears chomping at the bit, ready for power, wanting to do things differently.”
