Chapter 5

Elise

“Elise, honey, you've barely touched your dinner. Is something bothering you?” My mom asks as I push my food around my plate. How do I tell her that I think I found my mate and that he is in human territory? If she finds out I went there on my own, Sammi's right, I’ll be grounded for life. Not to mention that my mate may be human. That’s an entirely different problem. I am the Alpha’s daughter, to be fated to a human is unheard of. But I can’t get him out of my mind and my wolf is screaming at me to go back to him.

‘We need to see him, Elise. We need more time with him to try to see if he truly is our mate.’ My wolf, Lily, nags at me for the hundredth time. She wants to see him again as much as I do.

‘Sunday, after the party we can go.’ I tell her and she finally quiets down and is settled with the answer. I just need to figure out how to go back without getting caught.

“I’m good, mom. I'm just excited for the party tomorrow is all.” It’s not a lie, I am excited to see my friends from other packs. My parents have earned the respect of many of the surrounding territories and tomorrow we will have visitors from everywhere coming in to celebrate them. My parent's aren't just the Alpha and Luna of our pack, but they are also the King and Queen of the all of the northern territories, and there has been a lot of talk about why I haven't found my mate yet.

“Maybe you’ll find your mate tomorrow,” she says with a smile on her face as if she can read my mind. She rustles her hand in my hair as she passes me. “Don’t be late for training, you better get going,” she calls as she heads down the hallway. I take a quick glance at the clock and realize I’m later than I thought and I quickly toss my hair in a ponytail and dart downstairs and out the front door where Sammi is waiting.

“I have to see him,” I tell her as we head to the training grounds.

“You really have it bad Elise, I’ve never seen you like this. You haven't stopped talking about him all day!”

“What if he’s the one? My gosh that hair, and that jawline. He’s so tall and his smile...the dimples... I can’t.” A smile creeps on my face just thinking about him. “Even his name is sexy. Leo...” I say it in my head a few times and I love the way it sounds.

“Just be honest with your mom, she’ll help you. Your parents didn’t meet in the most normal way either. She’d understand.”

“My parents met in battle. This is something very different. I need to be sure first. I don’t want to bother them if it's all in my head. I’m going Sunday morning. There’s going to be so much commotion with all the visitors packing and heading out after the party tomorrow night, they won’t even know I’m gone.” I jump in front of her and stop her. “Come with me.”

“No. No way. My dad will kill me if I get caught. Besides, I have to take care of my little brother. My parents are going to the council meeting Sunday morning with Alpha Roman and the elders. I heard him say something about a storm brewing. The way they were talking honestly had me a little worried. Sounds like there's trouble from the Southern region.”

“There's always trouble down there, and you don't have to call him Alpha. He's my dad, you can just say ‘your dad’, you don’t have to be so forma-” Sammi cuts me off before I can finish.

“Elise, he is the Alpha of this pack and King of the North. I respect him and I will only call him Alpha.” She says a bit sternly. Sammi is dedicated to serving the pack and tradition, and with her father as my dad’s Beta, it makes sense. The two of them have been friends since childhood, but Beta Lucas is fiercely loyal and protective of not only my parents but of me too.

“How are you going to get there?” Sammi asks as we listen to tonight's lesson on sparing techniques.

“The tunnels,” I whisper back.

“Oh hell no!” She blurts out and then covers her mouth quickly.

“Is there a problem Sammi?” our instructor asks, annoyed that she's been interrupted.

“No. No ma’am. Sorry.” Sammi slouches into her seat and after a few minutes leans over again and whispers in my ear. “No tunnels. I forbid it.”

When the lesson is over, we get our opportunity to spar and show what we've learned, and by the time we are done we are exhausted. I quickly grab my things in desperate need of a shower and I can hear Sammi yelling at me as she chases me. “This talk isn’t over Elise!” I won’t see her for the rest of the night, which gives me time to think of how to convince her to come with me.

Leo

“Hey, Frank,” I drop my bag down on the sofa in the back of the store before I sit down next to Frank at the counter. He has turned the back of the pawn shop into a makeshift kitchen and living room of sorts. He has a refrigerator and stove back there, they look like they are a hundred years old, but they still work. He has a couch and lazy-boy chair and a TV, and that's about it. His room is off to the side of the front counter. Even though he advertises that he's open twenty four hours a day, the shop is rarely open past eight o'clock. I often wonder if he even makes any money, or if he is just an eccentric millionaire that loves junk and does this just because he can.

“You're here pretty late. Want some?” He is pouring a glass of whiskey and slides the bottle over to me.

“That stuff is gonna kill ya one day, these too,” I lift up the cigar that is sitting in the ashtray.

“Gimme that,” he reaches over and snatches the cigar from my hand and then looks at me and whistles through his teeth. “Looks like you got a good ass-whoopin’ today.” He points at my swollen eye and lip.

“Yeah, another point for the assholes I guess, I'd rather not talk about it.” I watch him get up and limp over to the refrigerator. He opens the freezer and tosses a bag of corn at me.

“Put it on that ugly mug of yours. Keep down the swelling.” He says and then perches himself back on his stool.

Frank isn’t the best role model a kid could have, and lord knows he isn’t the cleanest or most socially adjusted person, but ever since I was fifteen he's been there. He’s the only constant in my life, and I know he watches out for me when he can.

“Look! Dinner, courtesy of Angie.” I take the cooler and set it down on the counter in the back of the store and start unpacking it. “Chicken and mac and cheese,” I say as I take it out.

“That Angie girl sure likes you,” Frank says and winks at me. “Maybe you should go after that.”

“It’s not like that. She’s a friend, that’s all.” I say as I pull out a couple of paper plates.

“What, you don’t like girls who treat you nice?” He teases and I just roll my eyes.

“That’s one of the things Angie and I have in common, we both like girls who treat us nice.” I slap Frank on the back and plop down on the chair. “Can I sleep here tonight?”

“Kid, you sleep here all the time, you don’t have to ask permission. You check in at the hell house first?”

"Yeah, that's why I'm so late. The got three more kids in tonight, and apparently someone stole some shit. We all got grilled and our stuff searched." I pause for a minute and watch Frank heat up some of the chicken, "Frank, I really appreciate you lettin' me stay here, I know you don't have to."

Frank turns and looks at me, and for a moment I feel like he get's emotional, but he recovers quickly from any accidental show of feelings.

"Small price to pay for having some extra help around here." he says as he pushes a plate of food at me.

After I finish eating I kick my shoes off and climb onto the couch. My mind drifts to the girl from this morning. I've been thinking about her all day. I know she would never want anything to do with someone like me, but I go to bed fantasizing about what it would be like to find someone and have a house and family; to have a home.

Elise (Saturday - Night of the party)

“Oh honey, you look stunning.” My mom stands at the bottom of the stairs with my dad as I make my way down.

“That dress is a little too low cut, don’t you think?” my dad says. I swear he still sees me as a nine-year-old.

“Dad, I’m eighteen. If anything I may be too covered up.” I joke back to him and he kisses me on the forehead.

“You look beautiful,” he says and smiles at me. “Are you ready to face all these boys tonight? You may find your mate, after all.”

“I’m in no rush,” I say, knowing deep in my heart I've already found him. “Dad, is it possible to be mated to a human?” I ask, trying to make it sound like a general curiosity.

“Well, yes, those without titles can be mated to humans, but not those who hold a ranking. You, as future Queen of the Northern Territories, would only be mated to someone of royal blood or Alpha status. Unless you took a chosen mate, of course.”

I think about that, and the boy in the city certainly didn’t look royal, and I’m pretty sure royalty doesn’t hang out in filthy pawn shops in the shittiest part of town either. I need to see Leo even more now, and I can hardly wait until this party is over and morning comes so I can sneak out.

“Hey! Elise...wow you look gorgeous!” Sammi runs over and spins me around.

“Me?...what about you! Damn Sammi!” I look at her and she looks stunning. She is wearing a long red dress that hugs her figure perfectly, and her blonde hair is in curls down her back.

“If my mate is here tonight, you know I need to look good!” She laughs. She has been desperate to find him.

The ballroom has been decorated beautifully, twinkle lights are everywhere, and pack members from all over the North have come to pay respects to my parents. After standing in the receiving line for what seems like ages as guests are announced, we finally get to the point in the night when we can give our gifts. When my mother opens mine and sees the locket she starts to cry and my father just stares at me with a questioning look on his face. He’s probably wondering where on earth I found it.

Sammi dances with a few boys, but I can tell she hasn’t found her other half, and I have been approached by nearly every Alpha’s son here and the fact that there hasn’t been a match has a lot of people whispering. Nearly every available suiter is here, so there are questions about who it could be.

Alpha Roman (Elise’s Father and King of the Northern Territories)

“She looks so grown up doesn’t she?” my wife grabs my hand and I squeeze it. “She is beautiful like her mother. Would you like to dance?” She looks up at me and her beautiful smile gets to my heart every time. We go to stand when Lucas approaches with a worried face and whispers in my ear.

“I’ll have to take a rain check on the dance. Hold down the fort, I need to go see what’s going on. Apparently, we have a rogue situation.”

Anna looks at me worried, but I assure her that it is taken care of. “Lucas has it under control, I just need to get a debriefing from him and make sure everything is secure. I’ll be right back.”

I follow Lucas out of the ballroom through the back entrance and we head to the pack hospital.

“Who did you say he was?” I ask as we open the double doors and head to one of the rooms.

“Alpha Jonathan, he’s the young boy from the South, his father died in a car accident a few months ago.”

“I remember hearing of that. ” We get to the room and when I enter I’m shocked by what I see.

“He’s just a child. How old is he?” I ask and Lucas hands me a file that contains his information.

“Fifteen. He’s the current Alpha of the Southhill Pack. One of the patrols heard him screaming outside the perimeter. They found him like this, naked in the woods.” Lucas steps back as the doctor comes into the room.

“What on earth is he doing up here? And why the hell would he have taken over the pack at such a young age? His Beta should have stepped in.” I ask and take a long look at the boy. He has deep wounds and torn flesh all over his body, and his face is covered in blood.

“If I had to guess, I would say he was dumped. He has burn marks on his wrists and ankles. Someone tied this poor boy up and dumped him naked in the woods. I’ll bet we find wolfsbane in his bloodstream as well."

“Who the hell would do this to a child?” one of the Nurses asks as she gets an IV into his arm.

Lucas looks at me and we are thinking the same thing.

“I need a council meeting and all of the visiting Alphas present tomorrow. Let them all know that we will hold it in the board room directly after lunch. Doc, I want to be notified the minute this boy wakes. I don’t care what I’m doing, mind link me instantly. Lucas, please have two of our warriors guard his door. Whoever dumped him didn’t intend for him to survive. I want him protected. No one goes in or out except for the Doc and his nurse. Understood?”

“Yes, Alpha.”

If my gut is right, the rumors we have heard of civil unrest in the south are true and King Eric has completely gone mad.