Canyon's Choice - Taylor Rylan

Prologue

Canyon

June 2019

I couldn’t help it. I was excited. I’d searched near and far for decades for my mate and kept coming up empty. No matter where I went, I could not scent my mate. My wolf and I both yearned for our mate. Someone to come home to, to spend long winters with. To run through the forest together and to give us pups. I wanted what most shifters did—a mate, that connection with them, and pups.

And when I’d been told that Sterling’s brother Elwood was arriving soon and that I should be prepared, well, I went out and stocked my house and cleaned it from top to bottom. If I was going to be welcoming a mate soon, I wanted to make a good impression. Which was why I was loitering around Forest’s house, waiting. They’d been spotted a few miles outside town, and Forest had gone out to meet them. We would be getting another group of omegas, it seemed, and that added to the excitement. Hopefully there would be a few more matches with the new group.

“You look nervous.”

I nodded, because I was. I stared out toward the woods, waiting.

“I haven’t seen my brother in quite some time, but he’s an amazing person.”

“You don’t have to sell your brother to me, Sterling. Family heritage aside, just from knowing you I’d expect your brother to be a good person. Are you excited to see your family again?”

“I am. I’m anxious for them to meet Wren and Dane. So much has changed since I’ve seen them last.”

I couldn’t imagine the full extent of what they’d gone through, what they’d done. Each and every omega was precious, and no one life more important than another. If even one omega was saved and went on to find their mate, the trek would have been worth it. We’d die out without omegas. I couldn’t understand how it was that some alphas couldn’t see that, accept that.

“There they are.”

I would have known my brother’s black wolf anywhere, but the incredibly large white wolves with him…they made Forest look like a pup.

“Is that your parents?” I asked Sterling. I knew the shock was evident on my face.

“It’s my dad, Dane, and one of my brothers, Regis.”

I stared at the pair. They were…well, huge, like Sterling was.

“Oh, there they are. There’s Mom and…yes, there. That’s Elwood there. Next to that black wolf.”

I stared at the group as they approached. Who wouldn’t? We had clothes of various sizes ready for everyone inside; we were simply waiting for them to arrive. When they entered the yard, Forest trotted right up to me, pushing his head into my stomach, causing me to laugh.

“Brother. It’s good to see you again,” I said before rubbing his ears. Sterling had gone over to his parents and was hugging them in their shifted forms. It was good to see that they had been reunited at last. I opened the door, allowing my brother to enter, and he trotted off in the direction of his office where he’d left his clothes. He was back, fully dressed by the time Sterling came inside with his family.

I stood in the back room waiting until Elwood got closer, and when he came inside…nothing. But I noticed that the scent of the black wolf overpowered both of them, and that usually meant one thing. The black wolf was the alpha of the two. But…

“Sterling?”

“Yeah, I scent it too, but I’m not sure. Not until they shift.”

It didn’t take long, just seconds for everyone to shift and start pulling on clothes. When they did, still nothing, not even from my wolf, and he would have been the first indication that our mate was among the group.

Forest, Aspen, and I were introduced to everyone. When it came to Elwood, we learned that the black wolf with him was in fact his mate, Theo. They’d met just days ago along the trail, Theo having scented his mate and searched out the group. But how could that be? Elwood was supposed to be mine.

I watched, somewhat confused as Aspen quickly took Theo and Elwood off, out the front door. Elwood, having just met and been claimed by his mate, was going into heat, and, well…

“Man, I’m so sorry. That’s…that’s not what they said. I never would have mentioned it to you if it hadn’t come from the fates themselves,” Sterling said.

“Don’t apologize, Sterling. It’s nothing you’ve done yourself.” I knew Sterling felt bad but it really wasn’t his doing. And since Elwood