Alpha Raze's Surrogate Mate novel Chapter 1

AMBER

"To us!" Father yells proudly, raising his glass in the air.  "To us!" Everyone chorus, clicking their glasses with each other.

I'm standing alone in a corner and the few people around me act like I'm totally invisible.

I have no one to click my glass with so I just suck up the pain and sip my drink quietly.

The soft music comes up and slowly, almost everyone is paired up and starts doing a routined waltz on the dance floor.

Most of them are mated werewolves and few others are just friends.

Being one of the few mated werewolves that aren't on the dance floor breaks my heart.

I grab another drink from the passing waitress and pretend to be nonchalant about the dance.

But deep down, I feel rather embarrassed and out of place as always.

I wish I didn't have to come to these social gatherings. They only leave me more miserable and lonely than I really am.

If I could have it my way, there will never be a social gathering in Wolfsbane pack. Except for the mating balls.

But then, it's just wishful thinking with zero chances of being a reality.

My father, Alpha Reagan, is a huge sucker for social gatherings and he makes sure to throw one every month.

As the Alpha of a growing pack, he believes it's very important to maintain a cordial relationship with the neighboring packs. That way, we can keep them as allies and take good advantage of them.

It all has to do with the rogue invasion years back which cost the life of my mother.

I was three. Father wasn't able to protect her. And ever since then, he seems obsessed with wanting to grow stronger.

To never allow such tragedy to fall on him again.  But then, I'm the complete opposite of my Father.

I'm introverted, a loner, and clumsy to a fault. Worse, I'm an Alpha's daughter but an Omega. Yeah, an ugly twist but that's the kind of fate the Moon Goddess gave me.

And that keeps me in the bad books of my Father.  To him, I'm just the useless excuse of a daughter who he'd gladly toss inside an inferno if he could.

I grew up facing his disappointment over my existence.

He always vents his rage on me, leaving me with gashes and bruises.  Childhood was terrible, my teenage days weren't any better.

I had my first shift at 17, and my wolf is one of the weakest in the pack.

Another shame to my Father who swore to never see me in my wolf form again. The humiliation he got at my first transformation was more than enough.

I turned 19 a few months ago and I found my mate. It wasn't like the usual fairytales of perceiving a certain alluring scent or making deep eye contact or having some electrifying connection when you hold hands.

There was nothing too romantic about it.

He just came to me and Father confirmed he was my mate.  Alpha Reece is my mate and the strongest Alpha male of our pack.

Father loves him to bits and keeps preparing him to be his successor after he dies.

I know I'm right when I say that having Reece as my mate is the only thing I've ever done that Father loved.

Every other thing else, he despises with his gut.