Chapter 4: Nolan

Nolan sighed as he checked the time on his phone, which he hoped was discreetly, for the fifteenth time. As the future alpha king surely, there were more important matters that he could be attending to. The she wolf in front of him was certainly attractive, but that was all he could say for her. What was her name again? April? Alice? Allison? Alyssa? Yes, that’s her name. Alyssa. She is the only child of Alpha Scott of the Harvest Moon Pack. 

Sighing, Nolan tried to contain his boredom as he listened to Alyssa drone on about herself, shopping, and the latest gossip from her pack. This date was slowly killing him. Nolan also had an issue with the way that she had spoken to the waitress several times that was serving them. He did not believe in talking down on or treating anyone as if they were not worthy of kindness or respect due to their position or job. Every job and position had a purpose within the kingdom to help keep everything working smoothly. Nolan had quickly seen that the she wolf that he was dining with did not have the same views. She considered most to be beneath her and made sure that they knew it. 

How could his parents think that he would ever consider someone as selfish and shallow to lead the kingdom with him? How many more of these dates would his parents set up and force him to attend? Surely his parents did not mean for him to go on a date with every single female shifter in the kingdom he thought barely containing a groan. He knew that his parents wanted him to settle for a chosen mate since he has not found his fated mate. Most wolves find their fated mate within the first few years of their first shift. Since most wolves shift for the first time on their sixteenth birthday, they are happily mated by eighteen to twenty. At twenty-four, he knew that the chance that his mate had died or settled for a chosen mate was higher, but he knew that she was out there. He had seen her once briefly two years ago. 

Before two years ago, Nolan had been willing to entertain the thought of taking a chosen mate. He had not found his mate, and did not want to waste time traveling around to find her. There were several attractive she wolves that he had been dating at that time that would have been satisfactory for the job as his luna. He knew that he was considered good looking due to his tall six foot five inch frame that was strongly muscled and his dark hair that he kept a little on the longer side. Currently it was just long enough to go past the collar of his dress shirt if he had worn it down and loose. Mateo, his beta, had talked him into pulling his hair back this morning since they had a meeting to attend later this afternoon. 

Wolves are stronger once they find and claim their mates, but chosen mates can be beneficial too. A chosen mate can  help with establishing allies, settling feuds, and if they are of a strong line they can help increase your strength and possibly status. A fated mate is what most hope to find though. With your fated mate not only does the bond make each of you stronger, but that is also the other half of you. They were created for you by the Moon Goddess herself. 

Two years ago Nolan had woken up in the middle of the night after the most amazing dream. During the dream, he had seen the most beautiful girl in the world. She had long dark blonde hair and deep brown eyes. Her wolf was a pure white wolf. Pure white wolves are among some of the strongest. They come from strong shifter lines, and usually have some magical ability. He knew that she was younger because she had just gone through her first shift. That was the only time that he had connected with his mate. He could not tell where she was, but he knew that she was out there and that was all that mattered after that moment. 

As soon as he saw his mate and knew that she was out there, no other she wolf could hold or even stand a chance of capturing his attention. Nolan had quickly ended things with the she wolves that he had been dating and began searching for his mate. He knew that she had to be from a stronger line since she was a pure white wolf, so he had started with visiting other alphas, warriors, and others with strong lines. No one had any idea of the beautiful girl from his dream, and none of the packs had reported any white wolves for the last thirty plus years. After two years of unsuccessfully searching for his mate, Nolan’s parents were now pushing him to go on dates with single she wolves every chance that they got. 

Nolan looked at the she wolf in front of him again and realized that she had still been talking while he was lost in thought. Hopefully she had not noticed that he had not been paying attention. Judging by the way that she was still going on, she had not even noticed that he was not paying attention or replying. Nolan checked his phone again and saw that he had been on this date for a little over fifty minutes. Surely that was long enough for him to be able to leave without him seeming too rude. 

He was already done with the steak that he had ordered and he saw that his date was finishing her meal too. She had only ordered a salad. Why do some women do this? She must have thought that ordering a salad would impress him. Nolan wanted a mate that actually ate. It was not healthy for wolves to only eat salads to stay thin. He wanted a mate that could stand by his side and a mate that would want to have cubs and that could help protect them. Looking at the she wolf in front of him he barely stopped his lip from curling in contempt. He could never imagine her wanting to have cubs, because they would ruin her perfect figure. Nor could he imagine her standing by his side for anything other than a photo opportunity. Glancing up he saw their waiter and signaled her to bring their check. 

Seeing Nolan signaling for the check, his date perked up and asked, “Are you ready to go? I know the perfect little place right down the road–”

“I’m sorry,” Nolan interjected quickly. “It was a pleasure to meet you, but I forgot that I have a very important meeting in a few minutes that I cannot miss. My beta, Mateo, will actually be here in just a minute to pick me up.” 

“Oh,” his date said, looking defeated for a second. “I understand,” she said, quickly changing from defeated to coy. “Maybe we can meet up when you come back next month,” she said leaning forward to make sure that Nolan got a good view of her assets that were on clear display. 

Nolan just stopped himself from rolling his eyes at her blant invitation. Didn’t she have any respect for herself? She knew that she was not his mate. Didn’t she care how her mate would feel about this? Nolan bit his tongue since she is the daughter of an alpha that has been very supportive of him and his parents. Needing to get away from the shewolf in front of him, but not wanting to sound too rude, Nolan quickly agreed even though if he had his way, he would hopefully find his fated mate before then. “Yes, that sounds great. I’m sorry again for having to rush off,” he said as he quickly signed the bill when the waitress brought him back his credit card. Nolan made sure to leave a larger than normal tip since his lunch date had been so rude a few times. As soon as he finished signing he apologized again for having to cut their date short and was barely able to stop himself from running out of the restaurant. 

Please let this be the last forced date that I have to go on, he thought to himself as he hurried down to the dark SUV that Mateo had been waiting in the entire time. Mateo knew that Nolan was not interested in going on these dates, and he knew to stay close by in case Nolan needed a quick excuse to leave. Nolan quickly got into the cool interior of the SUV and told Mateo to drive. He did not even care where as long as it took him away from the she wolf that he was sure would have followed him if he had given her the slightest inclination of any interest. 

“That bad,” Mateo asked with a chuckle. 

“Yes,” Nolan said with a sigh as his head dropped back on the headrest of the comfortable leather seat. “She was of course not my mate, but in addition she was rude to the waitress, talked the whole time about herself, shopping, and gossip within the pack. She did not even notice when I zoned out for a pretty good while.” 

Mateo suppressed a chuckle. He really did feel bad for his friend. He knew why Nolan’s parents were insisting on these dates, but he also knew that Nolan would never budge now that he knew his fated mate was out there. Seeing that they had a few hours before their meeting he offered a suggestion. “Would you like to go for a quick run? We have a little over two hours before we need to head to the meeting.” 

“Yes. That would be amazing,” Nolan said with a grateful smile to his friend.