The Designated Mate novel Chapter 14

"That's wonderful! With the recent boom in pack births, our daycare ladies have been stretched kind of thin. I'm sure they would love an extra helping hand!" Another woman I've never seen before exclaimed.

"That would be lovely," I said with a genuine smile.

"Well, it's no wonder you're the only thing the unmated males will talk about right now. You're beautiful, and caring," Corbin added, butting into the conversation. I had no idea what to say back to that, so I just settled for a half-hearted oh...

"Well, I suppose we should go around and have you all introduce yourselves so she's not eating with complete strangers," Alpha Aaron quipped.

"I suppose I'll go first. I'm Beta Donovan," The dark-haired man across from me spoke. I smiled and nodded to show that I heard him.

"I'm Gamma Gray. I'm, for the most part, in charge of training our enforcers," The (ironically) gray haired man next to Beta Donovan spoke.

"Mostly?" I questioned.

"Yes. Well, there's also Lycan Carmichael, but...you probably won't ever meet him. He ventures off alone when he's not helping me train the men," He answered uneasily while meeting Alpha Aaron's gaze for a split second.

"He's a fucking psycho. And a Lycan on top of that. Stay the hell away from him," Corbin sneered.

"Corbin," His father growled, glaring daggers at his son. He quickly shut his mouth as everyone else at the table grew quiet, obviously realizing his mistake.

"I thought Lycans were extinct?" I asked, my voice wavering as I spoke, shocked. I haven't heard someone speak of Lycans since I was probably four-years-old, and it was just a very vague memory.

Lycans were the most pure-blooded form of werewolf there was. They were direct descendants from the first-shifted of our kind and were said to have the strength and power of a hundred Alphas combined. That was just an old folks tale, of course, but it was still scary to think about nonetheless.

"Don't listen to him. There's nothing to worry about," Luna Caroline assured me. I nodded uneasily before digging into my dinner once the Alpha took the first bite. I had a feeling he chose that moment to begin eating in order to silence our conversation, but I was starving so I didn't look into it too closely.

**

"I will."

"Do you swear to do all things with the pack's best interest in mind, never acting selfishly for your own personal gain?" He asked.

"Yes." I said with a passionate nod of my head. With that, he turned away from me to face the crowd of people to our right.

"It is upon the request of Alpha and Luna Fang to extend a position in the Silver Fang pack to Poppy Nicole. All those opposed speak now," Alpha Aaron demanded. There was a sweeping silence throughout the clearing following his words.

"We will now do the blood exchange. Would you like me to go first?" Alpha Aaron asked quietly while holding a knife whose blade was partially made of silver in order to keep the wound from closing right away.

"Yes please," I said breathily. He took the knife and made a superficial cut from his thumb to his pinky before handing the knife to me. I let out a puff of air before slowly dragging it across my own palm in the same fashion. I winced at the painful sensation before handing the weapon off to a random man next to me. The Alpha grasped my cut hand in his own, allowing our blood to mix and form a bond. I felt an intense sting throughout my entire skull as my old bond faded and my new one formed. I locked my knees to prevent myself from falling to the floor at the pain radiating over my entire body.