Settling In

Alpha Martinez

How does one express their in-depth gratitude? It is overwhelming and satisfying. I have a reason to rejoice and I will tell it to the world.

I do not care that our neighbors abhor humans. As for my mate, I will treasure her and show the world that the mate bond has nothing to do with race. Who am I to question my creator? I was raised well, therefore I know how to appreciate and treasure gifts.

That is all I will do henceforth till my last breath. I know that my mate is special even if she is just a human. There is a reason why fate chose to pair the two of us. I hope it is for the greater good of both our races. Had she not been important, why else would the moon goddess show her face to her?

I was stuck in a dilemma when she woke up wondering how I will tell her about us. Even my mother and beta were impressed by her calmness when she let us know that she is well aware of our true identity. That is a whole new level of maturity on its own.

Her calmness and acceptance made me want to scoop her up and smother her in kisses. My job was made easier for me. I expected her to freak out and bail. What I least expected was that the moon goddess would have enlightened her already. She sure is a special human indeed.

She has been relatively calm about our existence which quite honestly, baffles me, to say the least. As she has not fully recovered yet, I have not taken her around the pack. Only a few higher-ups have come over for an introduction. I have also entrusted Juan with recruiting security detail for her.

Although I fully trust my pack members, I still have to ensure that her safety is not slack. Remember I found her battered and barely breathing. I have no idea who could have wanted her dead at all costs. That is why I have to make sure she is well-protected even if she is still bedridden.

She has not yet opened up to me about her ordeal and I am not pushing. When she is good and ready, I know that she will tell me. I have made a vow that once I know who they are, I will hunt them down and tear them up limb by limb. They will die a painful death and repent for their atrocities on their way to hades.

Juan interrupts my train of thought when he budges into my office. He is unruly like that but a very reliable companion. I always tell people that I trust Juan with my life. We grew up together and were good buddies since then.

Although the war tore our family apart, we managed to regroup and pick up the pieces. While I lost my father in the war, Juan lost his twin brother. It was a heavy blow for him but we both came out of it and turned out to be great leaders.

I had to take over as alpha at a young age and Juan's father was there to guide me until Juan was twenty. Since he is a year older than me, I see him as my older brother. He is twenty-four this year and has since found his mate. I am happy that the mate bond helped heal his broken heart. I feel mine has healed my heart as well.

"Hey man, what are you thinking? Don't tell me that you are so smitten by your mate that even your big bro has become invisible now."

I glare at him and mock punch him on the chest. Of course, we can only display our closeness when alone. Otherwise, if we are to joke around in front of the pack members, they might just stray.

"Sorry, buddy. Did you say anything?"

I motion for him to take a sit and he does. I pour him a drink and he scratches his head. I am well aware of this habit of his. He probably has something on his mind that he is not sure if I will accept. So I just raise my eyebrow and stare at him. Making sure there is no emotion displayed on my face.

"Alpha, I trust that luna is settling in well. However, I am having a hard time forgetting the state we found her in. Are you just going to sit back and let it slide? If it were up to me, I would never let luna's attackers walk stock free."

"What then would you do? How would you find these attackers if it were up to you buddy?"

I make sure that I sound neutral. Not entirely approving of his idea and not discarding it as well. Of course, I will do anything to do justice for my mate. But if she does not know them, it will be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Juan clears his throat and comes up with a brilliant suggestion.

"Alpha, how about we start with the human territories nearby and surrounding our packs? There has to be at least someone who could know of a missing teenage girl right? We might even locate her family if we do that. Although if you ask me, I do not think luna wants to be reunited with her family.

Which leaves two possibilities only. Either she has no family or her family did this to her."

A growl rips through my throat when he says that. What kind of a family would do that to their own? Who in their right mind would turn all lethal on their family as they did to my luna and mate? Nonetheless what my beta just said is quite plausible. Since she woke up two days ago, my mate has not asked or said anything about her family. I know that she is not suffering from any form of amnesia. Her silence concerning her family ascertains Juan's speculation.

I did think of this but I did not want to believe it. However, Juan has just made me realize the horrifying truth. Somehow, I can't concentrate anymore. I just want to go and comfort my mate. If she suffered so much at the hands of her family, I dread to imagine how her childhood has been.

"Juan, do what you must. Take care of everything here. I am going back to the pack house."

I neither wait for his response nor do I take the car. I just dash toward the tree line and take off in wolf form, once I know that I am far from human sight. Clad only in sweatpants that I grabbed from the tree line, I head straight for my bedroom.

When I get there, I see that my mate is absent and her scent is weak indicating that she has been out for a while. Bone-chilling fear grips me and I slump to the floor. After a while I regain my composure then a raw rage consumes me.

I let out a vicious growl that reverberates in the whole house. Slamming the door, I head out ready to tear through limbs if my mate is not found. I can feel my wolf pushing forward and by the way, the omegas are shaking, I know that I must be looking scary.

"Lez! Calm down. Why are you scaring everyone? What happened to you? Goodness, Leanne, call May here right now!"

I could barely hear my mother's shrieks but when she says my mate's name, my anger slowly dissipates. Then I see her being pushed in the wheelchair towards me by my sister. When she gets closer to me, she extends her hand and I just scoop her up and run back to our bedroom with her.

"What happened Alpha? You are scaring me."

Her soft voice snaps me back to reality and I place her gently on the bed. I take time drawing huge amounts of her sweet scent to calm my racing heart.

"You scared me, little mate. When I got here and did not see you, my heart almost shattered."

"But it gets boring staying here all day. I just wanted to make something for you. Cooking has always been my passion. I was just showing the ladies a few new dishes. Since I am going to stay here now, shouldn't I be helping out where I can?"

Now that's a luna talking. Even without explaining things to her yet, she still feels the need to interact with the pack members. I mentally chided myself for being too insecure. May is settling in quite well and all I do is restrict her.

"I am sorry mate, I just cannot forget the state you were in when I found you. I cannot suppress the fear. Forgive me if I scared you."

She smiles and tells me that apart from that tumultuous rumble I made, for some reason, she is never scared of me. I know that it is the mate bond. I will explain things to her soon. She is quite accepting and that is a good thing.