Liam by Toni Griffin (best novels to read in english TXT) 📕

the man's height. Yep, must have giant blood somewhere in his ancestry. Ben stepped up, his hand out. Declan looked down at his, both still holding onto the sweets they had brought.

Liam, seeing his dilemma, took the containers and Declan reached out to shake the Alpha's outstretched hand.

The sheer power pouring from the man in front of him had Declan's wolf wanting to roll over and expose his belly. To satisfy his urges, Declan tilted his head to the side, exposing his neck. Alpha Taylor acknowledged him with a gentle touch.

Liam spoke. "Thank you, Ben. I can't tell you how happy I am to have finally found Declan." His mate wore a huge smile.

It looked good on him. His entire face seemed to light up.

"Declan, welcome. I hope you will consider making the Atherton pack your home," Ben said.

"Yes, Alpha. I would be honoured." Declan couldn't believe the easy acceptance the Alpha offered. Humbled to belong to Benjamin Taylor's pack, Declan truly hoped he could one day count the man as a friend.

"Now, why don't you tell me how you two met?

Come take a seat and we can talk." Ben gestured to a comfortable looking couch and chair combo off in one corner of the large office.

"If you'll excuse me for a moment, Ben, I'll go and put these in the fridge for later." Liam exited the room before Declan could even call him back. He looked at Ben and hastily moved in the direction of the couch and took a seat.

"Relax, mate. Everything is going to be fine."

Declan jumped nearly a foot off the couch when he heard Liam's voice inside his head.

A chuckle opposite him took his attention away from his mate for a moment and he saw amusement on the Alpha's face.

"I take it that's the first time you've used the mate link?"

"Umm. Yeah. To tell you the truth, I had completely forgotten all about it." Declan could feel the blush creeping up his cheeks. Thankfully Liam walked back into the office and headed over to take a seat next to him on the couch.

"What did you need to put in the fridge?" Alpha Taylor asked in obvious curiosity.

"Declan is a pastry chef."

"Is that so?" the Alpha asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Please, call me, Ben. I don't stand on formality in my own home."

"Thank you, Ben." Declan didn't think he had met another Alpha quite like Ben Taylor. "My mother always taught me never to show up at someone's house empty handed, so I made a couple of desserts."

"I can't wait to taste them."

Declan blushed again.

"Now back to my original question. How did the two of you meet?" Ben asked

"Would you believe he showed up on my doorstep last night naked?" Liam said casually.

"No, I wouldn't." Ben laughed.

Heat rose once again to Declan's cheeks.

"Seriously?" Ben asked, looking a little astounded.

"Yeah. I was in the middle of cooking dinner and I turned around and there he stood, on my back porch, naked as the day he came into the world and freezing his very sexy ass off," Liam answered.

Ben seemed to think over what Liam had just said before he turned in Declan's direction and asked the one question he had been dreading.

"What brought you to Atherton in your shifted form, Declan?"

Declan took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. He hadn't done anything wrong, but the sound of the gun being discharged still haunted him. He had done everything possible today to keep himself busy so he didn't have time to stop and think about what he'd witnessed.

Liam reached over and took his hand, squeezing it gently. "Please, honey, we can't help if you don't tell us what's happened."

Declan nodded. Liam spoke the truth. Ben needed to be told about what had happened, but it didn't stop him from being scared.

Declan looked down at this hands, marvelling at the difference between his and his mate's. His hands were white, almost porcelain as he spent so much of his day indoors, whereas Liam's were a nice rich olive colour, the black of his tattoo standing out even against his darker skin tone. A distraction from having to talk about what came next, Declan knew. He also knew he couldn't avoid it no matter how much he might want to.

"I witnessed my Alpha kill a pack member," he finally answered, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Ben took a moment before he spoke. "There's nothing new in that. Challenges for the Alpha position sometimes end in death. As much as I hate to admit that, it's a way of life for wolves."

Declan completely got the survival of the fittest concept. His old pack Alpha had gotten the position in a fight to the death. If he'd witnessed the ritual there wouldn't be a problem. But that wasn't the case.

"It wasn't a challenge for Alpha." Declan paused for a moment before ploughing on. "Kegan Wallis, Alpha of the Cairns pack, murdered my pack mate, Nigel Cummings, in cold blood over drugs."

Liam whistled beside him. Declan finally raised his eyes from their joint hands and looked first at his mate then towards Ben. Ben sat back in his chair and scrubbed his hands down his face. The man looked tired all of a sudden.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

Ben looked at him. "You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for. I would like to hear the complete story though, please."

Declan nodded.

Not sure where to start, Declan figured right at the beginning would probably be better than skipping a whole lot and not giving the Alpha all the information.

Declan told how he and his brother had come to live in Cairns. He also mentioned not having many friends within the pack, and how few meetings he actually attended.

"The meetings I did attend, I didn't like very much and Alpha Kegan Wallis, in my opinion, is an asshole and a sleaze. Three quarters of the pack are scared of him and the others seem to love him and even cheer him on.

Unfortunately no member of their