“Leah,” the dark-haired enforcer said to Leah as she opened the front door of her mother’s house.

What was Taren doing here? Leah felt a sudden unease as she looked up into the face of the wolf shifter. He was so much taller and broader than her. She felt like a rabbit caught in the unyielding stare of a predator. Alpha males were usually bigger than the other members of the pack. But Taren was even taller than the typical alpha.

He often used his size to intimidate people. To make them bow to his requests and follow his orders. In his line of work as a pack enforcer, his size was a forte. Anyone stupid enough to attack their pack would soon face the wrath and the muscles of Taren and the other enforcers.

It was no wonder the Alpha wanted Taren on his side. Not just because of his fighting skills, but also because he was loyal to the pack. Most of his ancestors had held similar positions. It was like a family of protectors. Always standing beside the pack leader. And Taren had even been promoted to Head Enforcer. Which emphasised how highly their pack leader and her uncle thought of him.

Her uncle was lucky to have him. But that didn’t mean that Leah felt comfortable in Taren’s presence. She looked into his eyes, before she quickly averted her eyes. It was impossible to look at him for long. All her wolf instincts forbid her to challenge him.

She lowered her gaze to make sure the alpha didn’t view her as a threat. Ideally, she should also have shown her throat to him, but she ignored that urge. She had spent many hours fighting the omega wolf inside her that wanted to lower herself to the ground in front of the stronger male. She hated those instincts. It made her aware she was like one of the animals she liked to study.

Taren growled slightly as if he felt annoyed by her lack of submission. His growl made her wolf scream to her to do what nature instructed and submit to him. But having spent so many years among humans, she had found ways to fool her wolf. She had to in order to blend in, instead of being betrayed by her instincts.

Based on her smaller stature and her looks, no one would ever suspect her of being anything other than a normal human being. Only another shifter could tell the difference. They could smell her species. But luckily for her, there weren’t many shifters around the university she attended.

If there had been, they would soon figure out what she really was. An omega. Any shifter would be able to scent her, knowing she was of a lower rank than most. Always doomed to be subservient to any alpha or beta.

She usually got on quite well with betas. They either ignored her or wanted to be friends but nothing more. But the alphas were different. Particularly towards female omegas. They wanted to both command and take care of you at the same time. Always making sure that the omega did her duties and produced enough offspring to keep the pack thriving.

Every alpha she met would first sniff her out as a potential mate or fuck partner. They never bothered to get to knew her as a person. It was one of the reasons she hated alphas and tried to avoid them at all costs.

The man standing in front of her was someone she went to even greater lengths to avoid. He was an alpha, but the sight of him had always given her the jitters. Making her even more nervous that she usually was when confronted with a male alpha.

Taren scared yet intrigued her at the same time. She could deal with the fright. It was the fact that he intrigued her that worried her the most. Why would she feel any different toward him than the rest of them? It was probably because she sensed how dangerous he was.

She had heard countless stories about scuffles and fights, and Taren was known to be ruthless and brutally efficient against any of their enemies. She had never witnessed any of it, but she knew he wasn’t a man to waste words. Or his time.

Which meant that it was a bad sign to find him knocking at her door late in the afternoon. What bad news would he bring them this time?

Her wolf cringed at the sight of him, transferring her fear into the human. Her refusal to bend to him only added to her wolf’s distress. Leah forced down the whimper than wanted to come from her throat. She refused to cower.

“Taren,” Leah murmured, lowering her head in a formal greeting.

She had no choice but to follow some of the ancient pack laws. Especially when she visited her mother inside the pack territory. Taren’s rank was higher than hers, even if she was a niece of the Alpha.

Since she was only an omega, all alphas had a higher status than her. Pack laws were old-fashioned in that sense. The only way she could increase her rank within the pack was to mate one of the alphas. But Leah had no intention of doing something so desperate.

It was only when she visited the pack that she was reminded of her lowly rank. Particularly the way some alphas would treat her as something between a servant and a child.

Among humans, she was an equal. Just a female student like the rest of them. It was one of the things she really liked about living with humans. They had equal opportunities to improve themselves and to rise beyond the rank they had at birth. But among the pack, she would always be ‘just an omega’.

“Alpha Fergus wants to see you,” Taren said, his deep voice making her heart jump.

If she’d been in her wolf form, she was certain she would have lowered her ears in appreciation of his male baritone. The silly chit. Leah wanted to kick her wolf out of its teenage infatuation with everything male and taller than herself.

“Right now?” Leah asked and met his eyes.

Taren gave her a stern look as if he wasn’t used to being questioned. He was the ultra-typical alpha in that sense. Always using his larger size and cold stare to force anybody into submission. Leah felt her shifter instincts kick in, forcing her to lower her gaze again.

The wolf part of her whined internally and wanted her to submit. To lay down and show her soft belly to him. But the human side of her had long since fought down such instincts. She knew that it wouldn’t do her any favours to allow her instincts to guide her.

She had spent too much time among humans to know her instincts could easily fail her and make her seem weaker than she was. It was all a matter of appearance. Never to back down from anything. Particularly not a man that used his bulk to scare other people. She lifted her eyes again and met his.

She could see his annoyance grow. But the surprise on his face was worth the risk she took. It might console her for a while before he decided to bite her head off, Leah thought glumly. It was foolish to challenge him. But she was sick and tired of men who tried to push her around simply because she was a woman.

She had always backed down to Taren. Avoiding the dominant male who always ordered her around as if she was a slave. Based on pack law, every omega was effectively considered a slave.

But in the human world, she was a highly trained scholar and scientist. A straight-A student and a force to be reckoned with on the topic of animal behaviour. With her almost photographic memory, she had studied and learnt all the theories in her field. Up to the point she had even been offered a PhD position. She was the only one in her class who had accomplished that much. In the University and in science, she was someone that fitted in. Someone who had the opportunity to make a name for herself.

But everything changed as soon as she came home. Among her pack, nobody cared about her degrees and all she had accomplished. All they cared about was whether she was mated and how many kids she had. It was like travelling back in time. Back to a place where she was only judged based on her looks and how fertile her womb was. She hated it with every cell inside her body. She loved her pack, but some of the members needed a reality check and a fast forward into the modern world.

It wasn’t the first time she felt like she was born in the wrong body. And it would certainly not be the last either. Some things must have gone completely wrong when her body turned her into an omega instead of the alpha she had always thought she was.

But at the same time, the fact that she didn’t stand out, made it easier to be accepted among humans. Through the years she had also managed to put a lid on her need to shift. It was as if the need lessened when no other shifter was around.

She had even taken up meditation to keep herself calm and silence the wolf inside her when she needed to focus. Even when the men tried to treat her as ‘just a woman’, she had learnt it worked well to use a hard, cold look and demolish them verbally with her vast knowledge and intelligence.

Her wolf always rejoiced when she did it, even if the victory was verbal. It made her feel confident and tough, fighting her way forward in a male-dominated world of science.

An omega served the pack, and the favour would never be returned. It was the way the pack worked and had worked for centuries. Even if her uncle was the Alpha, it didn’t change her status. She would always be an omega.

Her parents had been worried before her status was known, and after they learnt she was an omega, it had become even worse. But since her father’s untimely death in a car crash, her mother was constantly nagging her about finding a nice alpha and settle down. As if. She was never going to do that. Not voluntarily.

She looked at the man towering over her. He had it so easy. Taren was at the opposite end of the hierarchy. As Head Enforcer, he was the pack leader’s right hand. Staying with her uncle all the time.

It didn’t matter one bit that the pack leader was also her uncle. She would always be known as ‘just an omega’. It pissed her off. She wanted to rebel against the ancient system. It should have been updated centuries ago.

“Now, Omega!” Taren ordered her.

“I have a name, Alpha,” Leah said icily.

“I’ll use it when you behave, Omega,” Taren said nonchalantly and crossed his arms in front of him as if he was bored.

“I never pictured you as an errand boy, Taren,” she said smugly.

He gave her a hard stare. “I do what needs to be done.”

“Oh dear,” she said. “You’ve obviously dropped down on the pack hierarchy lately. What did you do wrong this time?”

He moved closer to her. She could see the anger in his eyes.

“Who did you sleep with last night?” Taren fired at her.

“What?” Leah blinked at him. What on earth was he talking about? She hadn’t slept with anyone since she’d split with her boyfriend about a year ago.

“I can smell him all over you. A human.”

Oops. Did he smell the date she had dinner with last night? He had hugged her when they parted. Damn. She had forgotten that these shifters could smell anything. The medication she needed also reduced her sense of smell. She should have showered earlier.

She had forgotten all about the medication. It had become a habit to take it daily. She needed it to deal with the heats that she would otherwise have to endure as an omega. Ever since she had known she was an omega, she had taken the medication to control everything that would weaken her.

And a heat without it would only make her crave to be fucked and knotted by any alpha in her proximity. It was like nature avenged itself by forcing the omega to make sure they got pregnant. To use the heat to force any reluctant omega to follow her instincts and do what they were meant to do. A heat without it was also extremely painful.

Leah had only experienced one heat, and that had been more than enough. She had lost every link to sanity. All her usual boundaries had been shattered and replaced by the all-consuming need to be fucked long and hard by an unmated alpha. It had been terrifying. If it hadn’t been for her mother’s quick thinking, she would have been mated that evening.

Luckily, the medication had calmed her enough to start thinking again. She had been shaken to the core. Vowing never to become that person ever again.

“That’s none of your damn business, Taren!” Leah threw at him.

“You’re wrong. It is my business. We don’t mess with humans. They are too weak.”

“I think they are kind of cute,” Leah said.

“They can never give you what you need.”

“Any man with the right equipment and some bed skills can give me what I want,” she said sharply.

It had been the wrong thing to say. Leah could see he was angry. Somehow her words had rubbed him the wrong way. His control seemed to slip and he seemed to be on the verge of shifting. It was eerily intriguing. Taren never lost control of his emotions. He was always the disciplined one. Calm, collected. The one that barked out orders.

It was like she had a front seat at a horror movie, that moment of suspense, knowing that it was about to happen, that an explosion was coming. Only this was real. She was too close to escape unharmed. She swallowed nervously as she saw him struggle to control himself. She backed away. Another wrong decision.

In less than a blink of her eyes, Taren grabbed hold of her arm and hair. He pushed her against the wall and went for her throat. She whimpered in pure fright and a quake went through her. He could easily rip her throat out and kill her in an instant. His strength was far greater than hers. Taren held her so tight she couldn’t move at all.

She backed down, baring her throat to him. There was nothing else to do. For once, both her wolf and her human side totally agreed. Taren was a killer when he needed to be. She had made him lose control, the worst possible condition for her. She felt his teeth against the thin skin of her throat. Hoping she would faint before she saw herself bleed out.

“Why isn’t his scent underneath your clothes?” Taren suddenly asked.

Still in fear for her life, Leah struggled to answer.

“Tell me!”

“I didn’t sleep with him,” she finally managed to croak.

“But you wanted to?”

“No. He’s a friend,” she confessed. “We hugged. That’s all.”

“Good,” Taren said in a more satisfied voice.

He placed his lips on her shoulder and kissed her. A flush of desire quickly replaced her fear and made her focus on something else entirely.

No, no, no, Leah thought hastily. This was even worse. She could feel her body starting to become aroused. And if she could feel it, so could he. He chuckled against her and moved his lips to her neck, making her gasp as he kissed her. She needed to get control of the situation.

“Get off me, Taren!” Leah said sharply.

“Why?” he murmured. “You want this.”

She pushed against his chest. “No, I don’t. Get off me!”

He did as she asked and stepped away. “I’ll make you eat those words one day,” he said.

“Not very likely,” she sat and grabbed a sweater. “Mom? I’m going to visit uncle for a while,” Leah called into the house.

Her mother came rushing to the doorway. Always curious to talk to whoever was visiting.

“Oh, hi, Taren,” her mother said. “I thought it was an alpha talking to Leah,” her mother beamed.

Leah rolled her eyes. Her mother was always looking for an alpha for her wayward child. And with her extensive hearing, her mother would have known from the start who was at the door. She had probably wanted to leave them alone, hoping that her daughter might fall at the alpha’s feet or something.

“Are you going out together?” her mother asked, hopefully.

Her beaming voice only confirmed Leah’s suspicions. Her mother obviously considered this to be a date.

“Yes, Mrs Reid. Alpha Fergus wants to talk to Leah,” Taren said.

“Oh,” her mother seemed confused. “Really? Does that mean that her mate has come forward?”

“Mom!” Leah said. “I don’t need a mate.”

“You’d be so much happier, Leah.”

“No, I won’t,” Leah said.

“It must be something important since Taren is here,” her mother said with a broad smile.

“Taren enjoys making my life hell,” Leah said.

“You’re right about that,” Taren said and smiled.

His smile was so unexpected Leah felt even more worried. The jitters in her stomach morphed into pleasant butterflies. Creating a bubbling sensation she’d never experienced before when Taren was around. Something was way out of balance. As if her world had suddenly decided to tilt on its axis.

“Will you stop that? You’re making me nervous,” Leah flung at him.

Taren’s smile turned even broader, and he winked at her. Her mother looked back and forth between them as if there was something she was missing. Something she couldn’t piece together.

“I won’t be long,” Leah said.

“Take your time, dear.”

Her mother sounded all too pleased with the idea that Leah would spend time with any alpha. Even it if was only Taren acting out of duty and not by choice. Leah sighed and started walking toward the main building where her uncle lived. Taren fell in beside her.

“I don’t need a babysitter. I know the way to my uncle’s house,” Leah reminded him.

“I’m heading the same way.”

She tried to ignore him. The way she had reacted to his kisses had rattled her. She couldn’t afford to show softness in front of any male alpha. They might think she was interested in them. And before she knew it, they would knot inside her and tie her to them. It would ruin all her plans for her future. It was the main reason why she avoided all shifters. Particularly the alphas.

The betas were more easy-going, calmer. Leah could have taken one of them to bed and shared some fun without worrying he would bond with her. The alphas were the opposite. Dominant and protective. And if they caught your scent and decided to keep you, you were completely in their power.

They would shower you with their attention, making you submit to them both inside and outside the bedroom. And before you knew it, they would breed you and leave a mating mark. And then you belonged to that man forever until one of you died.

There was no such thing as divorce in the were-shifter world. No second chances to leave a man and find someone else. When you were mated, you were stuck. And as an omega, getting mated would mean that her alpha would make all the important decisions.

He could decide who she worked with, who she met, while keeping her swollen with one child after another. The instinct to breed was written into their DNA, but for an alpha, it was an all-consuming need to mark and keep their mate in a state of confusion, making any career almost impossible to follow.

Leah shuddered. There was always a chance that fate would one day deal her that fateful card. That she would be forced to follow the traditions and start acting like a true omega. She dreaded that day. Hoping it would never happen.

“Are you cold?” Taren suddenly asked beside her.

She jumped by hearing his deep voice. She had been lost in her own thoughts.

“No, I’m fine,” Leah replied automatically. ‘I’m worried about my future,’ she wanted to add but didn’t.

It was a redeeming quality that he asked such a normal thing. Usually, he only barked at her. Expecting her to jump when he spoke. Ordering people around as if it was his right to decide for everyone else. She knew both his father and brothers were also enforcers, so based on that he had the job waiting for him when he was presented as alpha. But it was his own ability that had made her uncle appoint him the highest-ranking enforcer. Which meant her uncle trusted him absolutely, with his very life.

Still, she felt sorry for his future mate. Taren would be the ultimate alpha both inside and outside the bedroom. Making his poor mate succumb to all his wishes. She would never want a man to control everything in her life.

Particularly not Taren. Even if he had out-of-this-world bed skills. She felt her heart jump at the thought. Focus, she reminded herself. She couldn’t afford to feel any attraction to the man beside her. He would take it as an invitation and pounce on her.

She tried to force her mind onto other and safer grounds.

“What does he want with me?” Leah asked Taren.

He seemed to consider what to tell her. She wondered if he hadn’t heard or was deliberately ignoring her.

“It’s better if he tells you.”

“That bad, eh?”

“He wants what’s best for you. We all do.”

“And that doesn’t correlate with what I want?”

“He’s our Alpha. He’ll do what’s best for all of us.”

“How convenient. Always following the old laws without an ounce of individual thinking.”

“If you knew me, you would never accuse me of that,” Taren said.

“Internal rebelling is not the same as questioning the old ways.”

“And you think the humans are so much better?”

“At least they have allowed women to vote, to work and to decide who to fuck,” Leah said coarsely.

“There are plenty of countries where that is still a dream.”

“And the Mooncrest Pack is one of them. Allowing omegas to be raped and calling it marriage.”

“A true mate will never do that.”

“True mates don’t exist,” Leah said.

“You’re wrong,” Taren said and knocked on the door of her uncle’s office.

“How would you know?”

“I listen to my wolf. You should try that someday.”

Before she could reply, Taren opened the door for her and let her walk inside. She never got the chance to respond to his statement. Not that it mattered. She didn’t know what to say. True mates were nothing but a figment of one’s imagination.

Some couples were lucky enough to feel love between them. But believing that true mates could find each other in such a large world of individuals was too much of a fairytale to ring true.