The Beta's Heart (Wilde Creek Book 8) Read online

  The Beta’s Heart

  Wilde Creek Eight

  By R. E. Butler

  Copyright 2018 R.E. Butler

  The Beta’s Heart (Wilde Creek Eight)

  By R. E. Butler

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

  Cover by CT Cover Creations

  This ebook is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locations is coincidental.

  Disclaimer: The material in this book is for mature audiences only and contains graphic sexual content and is intended for those older than the age of 18 only.

  * * *

  Editing by SJS Editorial Services

  * * *

  Special thanks to Penelope Ybarra who came up with the name for Eveny & Luke’s daughter. Rowan is a sweetie!

  Special thanks to Cindy Lyon who came up with the name for Acksel & Brynn’s son. Aiden is all-alpha!

  * * *

  Many thanks and hugs to the Wilde Shifter Babes Reader Group, who support me and love on my books so much. You rock!

  Thanks to Shelley for beta-reading

  Hugs to Joyce for the ability to send me a text just when I need one and for keeping me in line with all my stories.

  Much love to BB.

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  Table of Contents

  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

  Chapter 20

  Coming Next from RE Butler

  Contact the Author

  More Works from RE Butler

  Arctic Shifters Book Six…Coming November 2018

  The Beta’s Heart (Wilde Creek Eight)

  By R. E. Butler

  Ren Corbin has a great life as the alpha’s right hand. He’s enjoying his life, but he knows it’s beyond time to find a mate and settle down. During a spring full moon, he senses someone in the woods and knows it’s his truemate. It doesn’t matter to him that she’s a fae and not a wolf; he only cares that she’s gorgeous and she’s his.

  Kismet Thorburn, a nature-controlling fae with copper-tipped white wings, can’t stop thinking about Wilde Creek or the wolf she dreamed about. When she hides in the woods outside the alphas’ home to get a glimpse of the male from her dreams, he senses their connection and finds her.

  Ren and his wolf are both crazy about Kismet. Marking and mating her is as important to him as breathing, and starting their new life together is everything he ever hoped it would be. When a new wolf pack requests a meeting with the Wilde Creek alpha, Ren’s surprised to see his ex is the alpha and has him on her mind.

  When his ex makes trouble, Kismet and Ren must fight to stay together. Can their new love last, or will all be lost in the woods of Wilde Creek?

  Chapter 1

  Ren sat in the family room of his alphas’ home and stared at the plate of food he’d grabbed. He always had a hearty appetite on the full moon, and not just for food, but now, nothing appealed to him. It wasn’t that the food didn’t look good or smell delicious; he was certain it did. He just couldn’t bring himself to eat.

  He put the plate down on the coffee table and leaned back, taking a drink of sweet tea from a tall glass. The ice cubes clinked, and he wiggled the glass a bit until the cubes swirled in the amber-tinted liquid. All around him, pack members talked about various things – from the upcoming full moon hunt, to the welcome of a new warrior to the pack…a berserker named Lucian.

  Ren was second in the pack, and that meant he was Alpha Acksel’s right hand. The position came with a lot of responsibility, which he took seriously. He would do anything Acksel asked of him. His job was to keep the pack safe and keep the lesser-ranked males in line. There were occasional issues between males who wanted to fight for a higher rank, but he couldn’t recall the last time that had happened. In general, life in Wilde Creek was good. The only thing he was missing was a mate.

  His heart panged, and he rubbed the space absently. For the last week or so, he’d thought of having a mate so often, he wasn’t sure he wasn’t going a little crazy. Having a mate and starting a family had always been at the back of his mind. It was just something wolves did when they reached a certain age. When it was time to put the carousing aside and settle down with his or her truemate. Ren was almost thirty. He was definitely past the time when most wolves were ready to settle down. It wasn’t that he had a clock ticking in his brain, he was just certain no females in the pack were his truemate, and he wasn’t ready to just pick one and mate her. He wanted his truemate, the one female on the planet for him.

  He just wished she’d show up soon.

  “Hey,” Malachi, the fourth-ranked male in the pack said as he came over to the couch. “Did Acksel talk to you about the training course?”

  Ren nodded. “Yeah. I’m working on a curriculum. He wants it to start next week.”

  A handful of young wolves in the pack were getting ready to shift or had recently shifted. The pack normally left training up to the wolves themselves. If they wanted to eventually fight for a better rank, they had to be trained to do so, and that meant finding an older wolf who would teach them. Acksel had decided it was a good idea for every wolf to learn how to protect themselves and others. Thanks to his opinionated mate, Brynn, females were welcome to learn how to fight, too.

  “I’m happy to help if you need another trainer. I can carve time out from the security company if you need me to.”

  “That would be great. I’ve got Sam, Zander, Gavin, Caleb, and Dade.” Dade was Acksel’s father, and a powerful wolf. He could have been alpha if he’d wanted, but he’d chosen to focus on having a family. He was on the council, the group of elders who advised the alpha.

  “Well count me in for whatever. I’m sure Lucian would be willing to help, too.”

  Lucian, the berserker, who was joining the pack that night as Prime Protector and would be watching over the alpha’s family and the pack. The male was a huge creature when he was in his shift, with glowing red eyes and deadly claws and fangs. Ren was glad Lucian was on their side.

  Acksel called for the pack to head outside for the ceremony. Ren walked out onto the deck and paused, inhaling deeply and letting the warm, spring air fill his lungs. His wolf growled in his mind, pushing against his skin as if it wanted to shift immediately and head into the woods. He always looked forward to the full moon hunts, but he’d never felt quite like this before.

  As he walked off the deck and onto the grass, he looked to the woods that surrounded the home. He could feel something calling to him, and he wondered briefly if he was going crazy. Or if his wolf was.

  Acksel called for quiet, and Ren forced his attention to the deck where Acksel, Brynn, and the elders performed the ceremony to bind Lucian as a protector of the alphas and pack, and announce the mating of Lucian and his truemate, Mia, who was a pack member and Mal
achi’s sister. During the ceremony, Ren couldn’t help but want to go into the woods.

  Just what the hell was out there?

  The pack began to clap, and he snapped his attention back to the deck where Acksel announced his approval of Mia and Lucian’s mating and welcomed Lucian to the pack. He forced himself to clap and tried once more to shake off the feeling that something he needed was in the woods.

  Sam, the third-ranked pack member and head of the protectors, clapped Ren on the shoulder. “Ready for me to kick your ass on the hunt tonight?”

  Ren chuckled. He and Sam had a long-standing bet over many things related to hunting, everything from the quickest kill to the largest prey. They were evenly matched when it came to hunting, but Ren most often edged out Sam in one way or another. He had a reputation as second-best male in the pack to keep up, after all.

  “I’ll be kicking your ass on the hunt,” Ren said as they walked over to Lucian and Mia. He shook Lucian’s hand. “Welcome, man.”

  Something drew him to stare into the woods again, and his wolf’s growl bubbled up in his throat. There was someone or something in the woods, he was sure of it.

  “Is everything okay, Ren?” Mia asked.

  Giving his head a shake, he tried to clear his thoughts. “Yeah. I…feel like we’re being watched.”

  Lucian’s eyes turned deep red and he spun with a growl, facing the woods. He straightened immediately and relaxed, turning back to face them. “It’s Kismet.”

  “Who?” Ren asked.

  “Kismet is a fae,” Mia said. “She gave the oath ceremony book to Acksel. Her twin is Noah, Doc’s brother-in-law.”

  Rich, otherwise known as Doc, was the pack doctor. He had a brother who was a wizard of some sort.

  “Why didn’t she come to the ceremony?” Sam asked.

  Mia shrugged. “Acksel invited her, but she said she had some kind of party to go to for her father. Maybe she was able to get away for a bit and watch and didn’t want to make a scene.”

  Ren opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say. There was someone in the woods. He wasn’t going crazy at all. He knew then why his wolf had suddenly started acting crazy.

  “Welcome to the pack, Lucian,” Ren said.

  Then he walked straight toward the woods, a happy, curious growl rumbling in his chest.

  Kismet.

  His mate was named Kismet.

  Chapter 2

  Kismet Thorburn lifted the goblet to her lips and took a slow sip of dandelion wine, looking around the room and trying to hide how bored she was. Her father was a highly decorated member of the fae military, and no one liked parties to celebrate achievements more than the fae. There were military balls every few months, for one victory or another. Her father had joined the military when he was a teenager. He was known as a lifer, a womb-to-tomb male who wanted to do nothing else but serve. And since he was unmated, he always asked her to be his date, and she always played the dutiful daughter and stood with him.

  After the receiving line, the speeches by other highly decorated males in the military, the handing out of medals and awards and other such niceties, a seven-course meal was served followed by dancing well into the evening.

  She normally would stay for a dance with her father and then discreetly leave, finding a place to portal home so she could get out of her ball gown and into something comfier, like leggings and a well-worn t-shirt. But she’d been feeling strange all day, and she knew it had less to do with her lack of interest in the military ball and more to do with the dream she’d had of a wolf with dark-gray fur and a white patch on his chest. She’d spoken to the alphas of a wolf pack in Wilde Creek and discovered the name of a male fitting that description.

  Ren.

  She’d been tempted to open a portal back to Wilde Creek since she’d learned his name, but she’d held back. It had been driving her slowly crazy, though…the idea that Ren was her mate.

  Not that fae had mates, per se. Traditionally, parents chose appropriate mates for their children when they were old enough. Thankfully, by the time she’d come along, that tradition had all but disappeared, and fae were allowed to choose their own mates based on whatever criteria they had. Her father, no matter how old fashioned he was, had promised he wouldn’t choose a husband for her unless she asked. And she wasn’t about to do so. Her father knew a lot of military males, and because of his high rank, she was a sought-after bride. A male who was son-in-law of the prestigious E’lahn Thorburn would be respected by proxy. She’d had too many marriage offers to count, and not once had she ever felt like anything but a stepping stone to a male’s military success. She didn’t want a male to choose her for a mate because he wanted to get in good with her father. She wanted to be chosen because the male couldn’t live without her.

  She wondered if Ren would choose her. Just because she’d had a dream about him and believed he was her mate based on nothing but that dream, didn’t mean he would feel the same way. If she could ever get up the nerve to go to Wilde Creek and seek him out.

  “Ugh, this dress makes it hard to breathe,” her best friend, Keyarielle, said in a loud whisper as she joined Kismet. “And I’ve got an underwire poking my right boob.”

  Kismet stifled a snort as her friend fiddled with the dress, which was as elaborate as hers, all layers of silk covered with pearls and crystals.

  “I warned you about the dress,” Kismet said. “If the balls were any fun, I don’t think we’d even have time to think about the uncomfortable dresses, but these functions are the very definition of boring.”

  Key waggled her brows. “I can think of some balls that are fun.”

  Her bestie was one of those people who could turn anything into a dirty comment. “I swear,” Kismet said. “Your mind gets dirtier and dirtier every time we talk.”

  “It’s why I’m so charming.”

  “I’m not sure that’s accurate.”

  Key leaned against the wall and slipped off her shoes. “My dad is trying to get me to see the benefit of marrying one of the lieutenants.”

  “Some of them are handsome.”

  “Meh,” Key said, tucking a lock of silvery-blonde hair behind her ear. “Good looks are only part of what I’m looking for.”

  “What are the other parts?”

  “Hotness is like sixty percent important. Then niceness, honesty, and bedroom skills are equally important.”

  “Does your dad know the percentages?”

  “Heck no.” She looked aghast. “He thinks the most important thing a male can do is provide for his bride. As long as the males who are interested in me are in the military, he believes they’ll make good mates just based on their jobs.”

  “I think there’s a lot more to a mate then good looks and niceness.”

  “I also said bedroom skills.”

  “Oh, okay.” Kismet chuckled. “Be serious.”

  “If I must.” Key sighed deeply and looked around the room. “I mean looks are a little important. If a guy is a total uggo, I won’t want him to poke me.”

  “I’ll give you that.”

  “But, it’s not the most important thing. I just want a male who treats me well and loves me for who I am, dirty mind and all.”

  When Key spoke, her gaze stayed riveted on one of the servers at the ball. Jerhal was the son of a baker and worked at his family’s business. He was good looking and nice, and most of all, he liked Key, and that made him golden in Kismet’s book.

  “So, tell your dad that he’s the one for you. He ticks off all your boxes, plus he’s got a good job.”

  “They don’t live in a nice area, though. Dad doesn’t think much of people who work like his family does.”

  “Well, no offense to your dad, but he’s wrong. It shouldn’t matter what a male does for a living.”

  Key shifted her gaze from watching Jerhal to looking at Kismet. “Are you talking about me or that wolf you dreamed about?”

  “Maybe both.”

  “Your dad won’
t mind if you marry a wolf, though. My dad will definitely object to me hooking up with Jerhal in a permanent way.”

  Kismet wasn’t sure how her dad would feel about Ren, but he’d told her once that as long as she was happy, then he’d be happy.

  “I think you should go for it,” Kismet said. “You already know that he cares for you, and if your dad isn’t happy, then I’ll walk you down the aisle, okay?”

  “Aw,” Key said. “Would you really?”

  “Of course. You’re the sister I never had. I’d be honored.”

  Key arched a brow. “I’ll talk to Jerhal if you find your wolf.”

  “What?”

  “If I’m going for it, then you should, too.”

  Kismet’s heart sped up a little as she stared at her friend. “Deal.”

  Key hugged Kismet. “Good luck.”

  “You, too.”

  The two parted ways and Kismet found her father and pulled him aside.

  “I’m heading to Wilde Creek.”

  His brow rose. “What on earth for?”

  For a moment, she considered telling her dad about Ren and the dream she’d had, but instead, she opted to keep it to herself. She wasn’t sure what would happen when she met him, if she could even find him. “The alphas invited me to the berserker oathing ceremony, and I’d like to witness it.”

  He stared at her in silence for several moments, then smiled and kissed her cheek. “Have a good night, sweetheart. Be careful.”

  “I will.”

  She hurried out of the building and turned the corner. She looked down at her dress and thought about going home to change first, but she knew it was getting late and didn’t want to show up after the wolves were already out in their shifts hunting. She’d just have to meet Ren in a ball gown. Centering her thoughts on Wilde Creek, she opened a portal to the woods outside of the alphas’ home. She stepped through and found herself at the tree from her dream, an old pine that had been struck by lightning and split in two.