Page 1 of Alpha Marked

CHAPTERONE

"Did you take your medicine?"

River rolled her eyes. Every month, Cherry asked the same question, and every month since she'd been twelve, the answer had been the same.

"River?" Cherry wouldn't be ignored.

River looked up from her bowl of cereal and stared at her mom. "You know, I'm twenty-one now. Do you need to keep making me feel like I'm five?"

Cherry set down her cup of coffee and leveled her gaze on River.

That gaze had stopped working on River long ago, but with everything they had going on, River didn't want to give her mom any more reason to freak out.

"Yes, Mom, I took it. You know I took it. I saw you go through my trash, looking for the empty bottle. So you know I took one every day this month."

Like clockwork, Cherry emptied River's trash at the end of the first day of the month. And Cherry didn't take the bag to the pack burn pile. Cherry put that trash with the glass bottle in the back of the old Corolla and drove it into town to dispose of, away from the pack.

River wondered for the millionth time why the hell her medicine made Cherry such a freak. But ever since the first time at age twelve when River had thought she would die, River never again refused to take the medicine. She figured Cherry didn't want anyone to know about it because something was wrong with River. River didn't know what, but it made Cherry both fearful and ashamed.

Cherry had never once let River run with the pack at the full moon. She'd never even let River shift in front of anyone except for her and Bianca and Strider on a few occasions. Those times had been on Bianca's first few shifts. Cherry and Strider had packed the girls into the Corolla and driven them back to where Cherry and River had lived with River's dad before he'd died. The four ran together in the abandoned pack grounds, teaching River and Bianca everything they needed to know to survive as wolves.

River always knew something was different about her and her wolf. Pack members talk about their bonds with their wolves. They made them seem like an extension of themselves, whereas River only ever connected with her wolf when she'd run with Cherry and Strider. There'd never been fights for control. No wolf emerging at the height of strong emotions. No cravings. No needing. And most of all, no heats. As far as River could tell, she was damaged, and everyone knew it. It was the only explanation for why her mom never let her shift or run with anyone outside her family.

"Have you showered?" Cherry asked.

River shook her head.

"Do it. This is the annual meeting. Not only our pack will be there-"

"All the packs across the state will be there. Yes, Mom. I am aware. Bianca won't stop talking about it."

Mating runs happened every full moon. But once a year, all the packs in the state got together for a run. Hundreds of unmated shifters showed up. To River, it was the most depressing of all runs. Seeing so many shifters with looks ranging from hope to complete desperation put River on edge.

At age twenty-five, if a shifter hadn't found their mate, they were ejected from their packs to find their mate elsewhere. They were only allowed to return if they found a mate. Most never returned, however. Seriously, who would want to go back to live with people who had tossed you out in your most significant time of need? Packs were more than neighbors; they were supposed to be family. Losing the connection with their packs sent most unmated shifters into a complete tailspin. The loss of family, connection, support, and, most of all, comfort. She'd heard of more than one shifter taking their own life to end the pain. Worse yet were the ones who fell into drugs to dull the pain. Would that be her fate?

"We need to be at the mating run in two hours. Hurry and shower and change into something nice."

Nice. Not comfortable. Not easy to shift in. Nice. For five years, River had gone to the mating runs wearing something nice. Other females wore soft, easy-to-remove clothes meant for shifting out of. But not River. Never River. Why? Because River never found a mate. Hell, the males barely noticed her, not that she cared. There wasn't one of them who had ever caught her eye. Even the Alpha's son Zade. Every other female in the pack had vied for his attention, primping and preening whenever he came within eyesight, but not River. River couldn't care less about the cocky jock.

In high school, he'd been the all-American favorite. But to River, he'd been like everyone else. Sometimes, River pondered if she was asexual. But in the end, she didn't care. All she wanted was to work on her art and keep to herself.

"River, did you hear me?"

River slammed her spoon into her bowl. "Yes, Cherry. I heard you."

Cherry growled. She opened her mouth, closed it again, and slammed her coffee mug into the sink.

Maybe River cared more about finding a mate than she realized.

"Problem?" Strider entered the kitchen, his eyes darting between them.

Cherry snatched her leather coat and slung it over her shoulders. Strider kissed her head, but Cherry's gaze remained locked on River.

"Spray yourself before you come," she said. "Extra spray since there are other packs."

River fought the urge to roll her eyes and simply nodded.

Cherry kissed Strider and walked toward the door. "I gotta meet with the Alpha."