***22 years ago***
“This is the dumbest idea you have come up with yet. We are going to get in so much trouble.”
I laughed at one of my buddies who was crouched behind a tree with the rest of us. There were five of us hiding behind trees, looking at the football game that was going on at the time.
“They are the ‘Lobos’! How is this not the greatest idea ever? Plus, it’s not like we are going to get caught!” The soon to be Alpha of the New Mexico pack, Felix, chastised his friend.
I smiled. “He’s right though. If your father catches us, not even the goddess could save our asses.”
“Oh come on Des, he can’t do shit to you! You’re already Alpha.”
Shaking my head, we watched the game. The University of New Mexico was not known for their football team and they were living up to that expectation. However, you wouldn’t know it by how rowdy their fans were being. It was as though they were number one. This was going to top my list of stupidest things I had ever done.
“Alright. Let’s get ready. It’s almost halftime.”
I took off my shirt and pants as the others did. I placed my boxers on the pile of folded clothed and stretched.
“Goddess Des, you’re a fucking beast.” I raised an eye at Felix, who had his hands on his hips staring at me.
“Not all of us have time to slack off. I’ve been Alpha for three years.”
“Yeah and yet here we are…” His friend Ken piped up.
Laughing, I shrugged. “If we don’t get caught, it’s fine.”
There was the roar of the crowd and we watched the band come out. There were also the cheerleaders and their mascot. I rolled my eyes. Next to me, Felix winked and shifted into his wolf form. He was a brown and black wolf, much like his friends. I took a breath and let my body shift. The bones cracking and separating, readjusting and forming again. My paws hit the ground and I looked at the boys, they were smaller than I was but I knew I stuck out far more as the only pure black wolf.
Felix barked and turned around, running toward the football game. We all followed and howled in unison. As we cleared the short fence of the outdoor field, we heard hoots and hollers from the crowd. However, the band and cheerleaders knew this was not part of the halftime show. We looped around the whole field, growling at the opposing team before howling again as we ran on the Lobo’s side. They were all standing and cheering.
We were only supposed to make one pass, then run back into the forest. As I passed the last set of bleachers, I caught a smell and I skidded to a halt. For the first time, I felt my wolf fight me for control. He snapped and howled, pushing against my control. I turned my head and slowly walked toward the bleachers. The cheerleaders started to scream but I didn’t care. I smelled my mate. The scent was flowery and sweet, my wolf eyes sweeping over the crowd.
Felix came over to me and tried to push me away but I snapped at him. He seemed to back away for a moment but then pushed me harder. He growled and finally, I turned, not able to find my mate immediately in the crowd. We raced off together, the whole football field erupting in chaos.
“What the fuck dude?” Felix shifted and so did I.
“I smelled my mate. Fucking hell, I need to go.” I started to walk out but Ken put a hand on me. I growled and he lifted his hands off.
“Des, you’re naked. The only place you would be going is jail.”
He was right and I turned, grabbing my clothes off the ground. I threw them on and walked past all four of them. The football stadium had all but cleared out, the game cancelled for fear of an attack from wolves. I hopped the short fence and stalked over to where I first started to smell my mate. They had been sitting near the back of the bleachers.
Following the scent, it looped around back and through the buildings. I followed it and the further I walked, the more I started to panic. My wolf was pacing back and forth in my head, also starting to worry. My pace picked up as I followed the scent to the parking lot. Looking around, there were a lot of people mulling around, after the game was cancelled. My eyes roamed over every car and I tried to follow the scent but it was cut off at an empty parking spot. I stared at it, whining.
A hand clasped my shoulder and I looked up to see Felix. He had a look of pity on his face. Shaking my head, I didn’t want to believe it. They had to be somewhere, had to get out somewhere. My heart was starting to pound harder, every beat hurting more.
“Maybe they are on the territory?”
I shook my head. “I’ve been all over that territory. I’ve never smelled this before. The sweetness…” My voice hushed, trying to calm my frantic heart.
“I wish I could help more.”
“I’m going to be out for a while. Tell Alpha I’ll speak to him when I get back.” I strode off, not waiting for Felix’s reply.
I couldn’t lose hope. Not yet. They had to be somewhere, had to stop somewhere. I didn’t even know what I was doing. Picking a direction at random, I just started to run. Hoping by some miracle I would pick up any trace of the scent. Anything that would lead me to my mate. Refusing to believe that I would be lost after finally being so close.
-
“Alpha Desmond!”
It was raining but I didn’t care. I snapped at the men that surrounded me, my canines elongated. It had been hours. I ran for hours, circling and even expanding my search past just the city. Aamon, my wolf, was close to taking over. My gold eyes reflecting in eyes of the werewolves around me. I snarled at them, they were blocking my way. I had to keep searching, I had to keep looking. My mate couldn’t just be gone.
“Alpha Desmond, I can’t allow you to continue like this. People have started to report you.” The Alpha of the local pack, Alpha Rowen, stepped forward.
I snapped and growled at him, my mind nearly lost to the despair I was drowning in.
“Felix told me what happened. I’m sorry but they aren’t here anymore. They are gone.”
Stepping forward, I wrapped my claws around his neck, lifting him up. While I was only eighteen, I knew I could overpower him. He didn’t scare me and neither did the growls of his pack members. His words that spewed out of his mouth couldn’t be true. The moon goddess was not so cruel to waltz my mate in front of me and then let me lose them. I refused to believe that.
“I’m sorry, Desmond.” There it was again, pity.
I threw the Alpha back into his pack and turned, snarling and growling at them. Closing my eyes, I smelled the rain, the desert, the sweat off my own body. The scent of flowers, the sweet scent was gone. It was gone and I felt Aamon finally retreat. I didn’t want control back through, it meant even Aamon had given up. Was that it? I would never meet my mate again? That was our only chance and I let it slip through my fingers?
My canines retracted and I fell to my knees. My hands dug into the ground, my eyes staring through the ground. I wouldn’t cry. I was a fucking Alpha. I was the strongest Alpha of my generation and I had the demon wolf in me. Nothing broke me.
“Dad, come on…” Felix was looking from me to his Alpha father.
“My hands are tied, Felix.” Alpha Rowen walked up to me and I was well aware of what he was going to say. “Alpha Desmond, you are to leave my pack territory. You are not welcome back after attacking another Alpha.”
My face screwed up in anger and pain. I pushed up off the ground and stood up, looking down at the older Alpha. “No one would want to be on this shit hole territory anyways.”
“You watch your mouth Desmond. I’m only kicking you off because I know how much pain you must be in.”
I glared at him, stepping closer. His guard around him snarling but not willing to get in between a fight of two Alpha’s. “You’re lucky I don’t kill you here with my bare hands. I can say whatever the hell I want.”
“Des, come on. There is no need for that.” Felix tried to come forward but I snapped at him.
“If you wouldn’t have stopped me, I would have them in my arms. If you hadn’t pushed me away…”
Felix stepped back slightly. “You were in wolf form, they would have freaked, you would have never…”
“Never what? Gotten to my mate? Where the fuck am I now?” I stepped back, shaking my head. “You are the reason for this. You and this bullshit territory.”
Exploding into my wolf form, I raced off toward the southwest. It was the closest direction off the territory where I was. I was done. I had lost my mate and I knew the chances of ever finding them again. My heart broke and everything in my body shook. I was livid. Once I reached the edge of the territory, I jumped across the invisible line but I didn’t feel any relief. It was the opposite. I felt more pain and I howled into the night. Howled in despair of losing my one chance at a mate.
***Present Day*** I walked out of the lower level. Scott, my Beta, reached out to me. Handing me a wet towel, I wiped the blood off my hands and arms. I also tried to wipe my face to remove anything that might have sprayed up. He opened the door for me and I walked into the main floor of our pack house. “How did it go?” Scott took the towel from me as he closed the door and locked it behind us. “Enlightening.” I smiled. “Looks like we are going to have a mini raid headed our way.” I walked over to my desk and sat down. Pulling up my phone, I stuck my ear buds into my ears and leaned back. ‘Alpha Desmond, I hope to hear good news from you.’ “Victor, I’ve got good and bad news. Good news is that I broke him. Bad news is that they are planning on attacking the fey camp just north of here.” I heard a sigh on the other end of the line. ‘What’s the plan?’ I chuckled, lacing my fingers together and smiled. “We h
I took a sip of the wine in my glass. Honestly, this gathering was the most useless event I had ever sat through. The pervious Alpha King died three years ago. His son had taken over and he was just now deciding that he should meet all the Alphas? This kid was twenty-five and if he thought he was going to get a bow out of me, he was going to be sorely disappointed. My eyes fell over Alpha James, chatting up the young pup king. I smirked and looked at my watch. It would be another hour when I’m sure he would get the call that his pack had been taught a lesson in humility toward the other races. The timing seemed too perfect and I have Scott working with Victor to take out one of the cities they had in the north. Implementing the plan that they had intended for the fey in the forest. “Alpha Desmond, it’s good to see you.” I took the hands of one of the Canadian Alphas, Alpha Luka. He and I were at least on treaty terms.
“Was he really thinking about trying to attack with that measly group?” I looked over the vampire sitting in my kitchen. He was frozen in time in his early thirties. The man was dressed to impress and didn’t have a wrinkle on him. Victor was head of the Northwest division of vampires and oversaw all vampire covens in the area. It even stretched into Canada and he took a lot of the fey under his wing as well. There was a race issue between the supernatural beings. Most werewolves hated all fey and vampires. Vampires usually tolerated fey to the point where as long as they didn’t get in their way, there were no issues. Too often then, packs would make a play for territory that was deemed vampire or fey protected areas. That’s where Victor and I stepped in. I was a traitor to my own kind. I housed fey in my pack, made friends with vampires, and outwardly showed my disgust for the Alpha King’s rule. “Honestly, I don’t think he puts much thought into anything.” I
The moment I walked into the house, I scowled. “Helena?” She stepped out of the kitchen, wide-eyed. “Sorry dear, I didn’t realize you would be home so early.” “Get it out of here. You know I can’t stand that smell.” Helena nodded. She took the Five Point Coffee cup and poured it down the drain. She rinsed out the drain and I took a deep breath, the smell of the hibiscus tea finally leaving my senses. I knew it was one of her and my daughter’s favorite teas. Hell, even my parents liked it. The smell of hibiscus, though, made me sick. I made sure it never was in the house while I was in the house. It was irrational but I hated the smell. One of the few rules I put my foot down. “Where are Liam and Natalie?” “At a friend’s house. I would say studying but you know that’s probably the last thing that’s happening.” She smiled. I nodded. “I’m going to shower and do some work in the office.” Helena came up to me and ran her hands down
“What the hell is all this?” My nose wrinkled as I flipped through the paperwork that Ricky sat down. “Work, Alpha. You know, when you aren’t setting fires to cities or helping with picking out colors of balloons for your birthday.” I growled. “I am doing work. What are you doing?” “Working, Alpha.” Ricky started to head out. “Our new buyers showed up for the Magis house. I’m going to hand over the keys and show the place.” He scoffed. “Show all the holes and moldy floorboards. It should be the most fun showing I’ve ever done.” “What took them so long? It’s been weeks?” Scott looked over at Ricky. He turned, rubbing his forehead. “Get this. They don’t drive.” “What do you mean they don’t drive? Like they just walked across three states?” “Exactly! Literally walked across states.” Scott and I looked at him, our eyes narrowing. “You sure you did a
I threw on a tank top and some sweats. Going down to the indoor gym, I started through my routine. Running, weight lifting, and today was specifically abs, back, and pecks. My home gym had more equipment than you found at the local gym. I preferred to work out alone. I would even help Liam out sometimes but I wouldn’t even work out with him. “Show no weakness.” I inhaled as I hung from the bar upside down, doing crunches while holding 50lbs. Breathing in and out, I counted out. “One. Two. Three. Four.” My mind wandered off, thinking about the Summer Festival that we would be throwing this year. We brought in a lot of money last year and we were wholly unprepared for just how many people wanted to come to our little town. This year we had ramped up our preparedness but we also were thinking about running some ad campaigns for the daily activities that people could join if they were in the area. We also set up a
My finger was tapping my desk. While I told Ricky I would take care of it, it didn’t mean I was happy about it. Looking at the two in front of me, you could tell they were mates. Other than the glaring mate mark on May’s neck, if either of them moved, so did the other. They just sat down in the office after Scott let them in and he was looking at me with a surprised expression. Taking a deep breath, I looked down at the paperwork in front of me. “So you’re a soldier for the Alpha King. What are you doing in my territory pup?” The man sat up and looked away from May’s hand which he was holding. “I was out visiting my grandmother. Ariel Stone.” I knew Ariel. I also knew she doted on Ricky and I wondered what she would think of May’s behavior. May looked everywhere but at me and I knew why. “Are you proceeding with a divorce then May?” I asked her directly and she snapped her eyes to me. Her mate looked at her, confused. “What do you mean divorce
My dad walked out of the hardware store and closed the door behind him. “I apologize, I didn’t realize you boys were coming over. The tea was a gift from our newest resident. It’s fantastic by the way, not that you care.” “Hey Marcus.” Scott shook hands with my father. My father nodded to him and smiled. “Hey Scott, good to see you. How is Richard doing with all this May business?” “Of course you would already know.” Scott rolled his eyes and patted me on the back. “He has been hanging in there. Our Alpha here kicked her mate off territory. Before she leaves though, she needs to provide the divorce papers.” He huffed. “Serves her right.” I stood up and blinked the tears away from the sudden bout of nausea. “Says the one who believes in the mate bond so fiercely.” “I believe in the mate bond but it doesn’t mean I don’t believe in love as well. The two of them loved each other. She should have thought about it before just throwing hersel