Chapter:-4

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Allen stared intently at the liquid he was brewing. He stirred it once more before boiling it with a click of his fingers, smiling when it turned a pale, almost translucent golden colour. Perfect, he thought as he decanted it into a crystal bottle and wrapped a ribbon around the neck, the words 'Allen emporium' printed on the ribbon. Nobody could say their money was wasted when it came to the presentation of his products, he thought with a smile. He glanced up when his wards went off, a few seconds before a portal opened into the room.

"Just wait!" Rose, his twin sister, said over her shoulder as she stepped into the room, closing the blinds with a wave of her hand before her mate, Jordon stepped through the portal. "Three more orders," she said as she handed him a piece of paper and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"So, has the A-Class wolf arrived yet?" Jordon asked by way of greeting, glancing into the corners of the room as if he expected the man to run at him with a stake. Which wasn't really such a strange reaction considering vampire hunting was considered a something of a sport at the station, they had come up with some very creative ways capturing and killing vampires. "I've heard he's a hardass, a proper tyrant. I spoke to a few friends when I found out his name, they all said the same thing, apparently, Sebestian is extremely powerful, a true ALPHA. Not somebody you want to make an enemy of. Good job you are an extremely powerful omega wolf. You can put him on his ass if he tries anything" he said with a laugh.

"Well, he's due in half an hour, which probably means he will be here in about an hour. We will see when he turns up" Allen said with a scowl. A-Class Wolf! "Why did they have to make me their leader? I was happy enough taking care of the Omegas now I m responsible for everyone and I have to meet with the new head of the station" he muttered angrily, not for the first time. He certainly hadn't asked for the job.

"We made you our leader because you are one of the most omega wolf in Nigaland. The night children wanted someone that could actually fight for them" Jordon said, grinning at the grimace on his brother in laws face. "One of the most powerful after my beautiful wife of course" he added quickly when Rose glared at him. "You are equally powerful?" he asked when Allen glared at him. They were far too competitive!

"Stop whining Allen, you are 27 years old, not 5," Rose said as she took the bottle from his hand and placed it into the waiting silk lined box, pressing the lid into place and hand tying a ribbon around the box. She sent it, with a wave of her hand, to the vampire that had ordered it. "What a vampire wants a love potion for is beyond me, why not just wait for your mate to come along?" she muttered as she turned to her brother. She saw him wince at her thoughtless words.

"Some of us don't have that luxury" Allen said, avoiding both their gazes, not wanting to see the pity he knew he would see on his sister or brother-in-law's faces. "Some of us weren't born with a mate. It's fine" he said with a wave of his hand when he heard his sister start to speak. "I just need to grab something," he said, rising to his feet and making his way down the small hallway that joined the storefront and workroom of his store.

Allen face fell as he closed the curtain over behind him upon reaching the store. As hard as he had tried to bury the feelings they always reared up. Every time somebody mentioned mates in a casual way like that, it hit him, like somebody was trying to rip his stomach from his body. He had no mate. He had travelled the world meeting warlock after Alphas none of them where his Alpha. When his sister had mated Jordon a years ago he had gotten his hopes up. He had desperately searched, meeting vampires and werewolves alike, even going as far as visiting the faries. There was nobody for him.

He had wondered time and time again if there was something wrong with him, was he defunct in some kind of way? He tried to be a decent person, kind and loyal. He worked hard and looked out for so many people, always making everyone else happy. Where was his own happiness? Where was his Alpha? Oh yeah, he didn't have one. He would live for an eternity watching those he cared about be happy and in love. He would watch his niece and nephew find their mates, raise their own families. And he would be stuck like this, on the sidelines, watching what he could never have. All he had ever dreamed of was a family of his own.

He realized then that he hadn't taken his potion. He stalked around the counter, wiping the angry tears he hadn't realised he was crying from his face and reached under the counter. He grabbed a bottle and drained it in one gulp, cringing at the taste. He stared down at the bottle, his only salvation from being an unmated omega, the potion that stopped his heats. It was his best invention and his best seller. His next heat was due in the next two weeks and he was already pushing his luck taking it this late.

If he didn't have an Alpha, he sure as hell wasn't going through that misery every three months, desperately trying to find some way of getting through those torturous three days alone was more than he could take. And he refused to partner up with unmated Alphas. Sure he'd had his fun and distractions over the last two  years but shacking up with some random guy for three days every few months was more of a headache than he needed. It was too hard to sustain any type of relationship or even an arrangement with somebody that wasn't your Alpha so he had tried to resign himself to the fact that he would always be alone. It wasn't working!

He sighed when he heard footsteps coming down the hallway, shaking himself off and pushing his morbid thoughts down as best as he could, he turned and pushed his way through the curtain, meeting his sister halfway down the hall.

"Allen, I'm sorry. I should have thought about what I was saying" Rose said, taking Allen's hand in her own and clutching it tightly. She looked into his hazel eyes, just that bit lighter than her own brown eyes, noting the red rims and damp eyelashes. She cringed internally when she thought of the news she had to share with him, deciding to just come out and say it as she led him back into his workshop. She took a deep breath, forcing herself not to cry. "There was another reason for our visit, other than bringing the order forms, Olivia has found her Alpha," she said quickly, trying to soften the blow.

Rose stared at her brother as his eyes sort of glazed over. She watched as a shudder ran through his entire body, his shoulders sagging slightly as if a huge weight was being lifted from him. She heard his breath huff out in a deep sigh. "Allen... did you hear what I said?" she asked with a frown. This was not the reaction she was expecting when she told him the news of their cousion finding her mate.

Allen didn't hear a word his sister had said. He was too busy grinning to himself like an idiot. For some reason, he felt as if all his worries were floating away, one by one. He felt light, relaxed almost. He had this feeling in his stomach, not as if it were being ripped out, more like it was being rung out. This fluttering, giddy hopeful feeling. As if happiness was there in front of him, just out of reach. All he had to do was reach out and grab it. The thought made him laugh.

"Allen, are you okay?" Jordon asked, rising from the stool he was sitting on when he heard his brother-in-law laugh. Allen didn't laugh, he barely even smiled, so sad all the time. He put his mask on when it came to anyone that wasn't family. But Jordon had known him over  years, and that noise rumbling through him was as alien as the thought of an Omega not having a mate. He stared at Allen, grinning away to himself.

"Allen," Rose said, shaking her brother. "Allen, are you listening to me? What is wrong with you?" she asked with genuine concern. Her eyes darted to her mate, he looked just as worried as she did.

Allen rose to his feet when he felt something push through the wards on the front door, a light brushing against the door handle. He frowned when it stopped, maybe he had imagined it. He sat back down again, a huge grin spreading across his face when that feeling returned, that wonderful, strange, beautiful feeling of peace, mixed with equal parts of anticipation. It was spreading through his entire body, pulling him in a thousand different directions. Something good was coming. He felt the wards go off again, he hadn't imagined it, maybe he had a customer.

"Allen, did you hear what I said? Olivia has found her mate" Rose said, shaking Allen's shoulder to get his attention. She watched as he slumped in his chair, his eyes welling up as he inhaled a massive lungful of air, dragging in breath after breath through his nose as his eyes slammed closed. This was the reaction she had been expecting, kind of, maybe not the sniffing but the rest of it certainly. She almost shit herself when he barked ALPHA! Out at her. "Yes, she found her Alpha.....Allen?" she asked, staring at him.

Allen wasn't listening to his sister, he was listening to the voice in his head, screaming the same two words over and over again as the most amazing, intoxicating scent wrapped around him. The scent climbed into his nose, burrowing down into every cell that made up his body.

He could feel it as if it were a tangible thing he could caress as it filled every hole in him, the hole in his gut, where he had been punched again and again whenever that feeling of loneliness rose up in him. The hole in his brain that told him he was unworthy of having somebody to love, somebody to love him. The hole in his heart, the hole that had been chipped away over the last years, slowly but surely with each happy event that he had been a part of but apart from. And the hole in his soul, the hole that should be filled with a sliver of his mates' soul. And as it all crashed through him, he listened to that voice screaming those two words, again and again, ALPHA MATE ALPHA MATE ALPHA MATE. he couldn't stop the words from pouring from his mouth as he shuddered, inhaling the scent over and over again. The scent of sandalwood and honeysuckle and mint. And pure, raw Alpha. His Alpha. It was a heady combination.

"Rose, he's..... He's..." Jordon couldn't get the words out past the lump in his throat as he watched his brother in law. His mate was oblivious, not even taking in the scent that was wafting down the hallway from the storefront. She was too preoccupied with her brothers' reaction to realise what was happening to him. Jordon pulled her away as Allen leapt from his seat and vaulted towards the hallway.

All Allen could think of was getting to his mate. He obviously had not travelled the world far enough, met enough Alphas. How long had he been missing out? How many years, decades, centuries had he spent lonely and miserable when he could have been with his Alpha? It was hard to think about that when he felt the happiness and relief sweep through him again and again as every instinct in his body dragged him towards the curtain at the end of the hall, pulled him irrevocably towards his future, his happiness, his mate!