CHAPTER FIVE - THE NORTH

PIXIE

-1 week, 6 days ago-

The wolves around me cheered and screamed with excitement, a nightly brawl was something most of them found interesting but not me.

I enjoyed my company alone a lot more than I did with others. My father, Alpha Silva, had made several attempts to make me interact with other wolves though I knew it was all to get me to find a mate. I would be turning eighteen in two weeks time, soon I would have to take over as Alpha of the Silvamoon pack from my father but not without a mate.

I had found it hard to to deal with courting, frankly I had not had any romantic relationship with a man, the exception being Dwight but that was years ago before he left to the North and cut contact with me. I knew I still had feelings for him, though we did not share the mate bond it was obvious he was the closest I ever had to a lover.

I shifted in my seat, uncomfortable and wondering how in hell they enjoyed watching two wolves tear themselves to pieces. Amber sat with me, she seemed to be enjoying the violence and she jumped with the crowd when either wolf struck his opponent, somehow this brawl gave her pleasure I could not understand.

Coming out here was a mistake, it was crowded, hot and worst the sun cooked me up. I had been sweating so much my shirt now stuck to my body like a second skin. I wondered how I had let Amber coax me to come with her for this, something I was sure I would never do again.

Amber threw her arms up, hooting as one of the wolves pinned the other by the throat. The noises could literally make my ear bleed.

“I’m bored Amber, I want to go to back.” I whined, though I did not think she would hear me so I tugged at her arm hard enough to get her attention.

She looked down at me, I was the only one still sitting at this point.

“What?”

“I don’t like this.”

“You don’t like a brawl?” She yelled over the noise so I could hear her.

“Yes, call me weird but I don’t see the point, I want to go back home.”

“Nah, if you’re going I have to go with you, and I’m not leaving until the special guest gets his fight!”

I rolled my eyes, slouching back in defeat and folding my arms. The darker wolf tackled his opponent to the ground, the crowd went silent and I heard the wolfs arm bone snap right the loud cheers erupted again.

Amber had moved into our mansion when I was just five years old, my father had told me he would be getting someone to look after me, like a nanny but instead he brought home Amber and told m she would be my hand maid. It only made sense because Ambers pack-family had a tight bond with mine.

In the far corner I spotted Ambers father, he was my fathers Beta and for what I knew they had been together since they were pups.

Ambers father was built like mine, they had the same broad shoulders, tall figure and hard expressions on their faces. It was easy to mistaken him for the Alpha which was something I wondered about growing up. My father, Alpha Silva he basically gown up with Ambers father so why couldn’t they be Alpha together?

They weren’t blood related but they were just as close as brothers could be if not closer. A pack could have two Alphas, mostly in the case of twins or close aged brothers so why not in this case where they even shared the same birthday?

I had had wolves who did not know much about our pack ask me about this, most of them confused on who was the Alpha because my father and his Alpha could always be seen together, when I told them about my fathers history with his Beta they would further ask me why they didn't rule together if they claimed to be so close then I had no answer.

Ambers father was one of my packs greatest warriors, he gained respect by his more quiet yet powerful nature while my father was a bit more of a boisterous type.

Still I was always admiring my father, he raised his chin up as the Alpha and made it known to anyone he was the one in charge, yet he could still be seen enjoying the rather plebeian activities like street brawls in the afternoon or grabbing a beer from a lowly bar, of course with his Beta by his side.

 I had later forgotten about my fathers relation with his Beta and ended up focusing my time on finding a mate but still failed at that, and now my time was almost up, if I did not find a mate soon I might as well give up my seat as Alpha to be as well.

Thinking about my father I tried spotting him amongst the crowd, peering over at where Ambers father stood. It took a short while but I recognized him soon enough cheering with the rest of the men that surrounded him. He caught my eyes, for a moment I paused before turning back to the arena and was lucky to dodge right when the victor threw his opponent to the crowd.

The wolf knocked several others out of their seats, I was lucky to have lowered my head but Amber not so much and she groaned at where her head had bumped into someone else’s which was the only thing I found amusing since we got here.

“It’s not funny!” Amber whined, rubbing on her temple which had a fading bruise. She gave me a nasty look as I tittered but her glower was replaced with an excited grin when a certain tall muscular man walked to the arena. He must have been the special fighter Amber was talking about but what I did not understand was why she kept throwing sly grins at my face.

“What? It’s just another fighter!”

“You just wait…”

Curious I peered at the fighters blonde hair but nothing out of the ordinary, just another fighter.

“It’s just another fighter I don't see why you’re looking at me like that.” It was when he turned, basking in his admiration from the crowd that I recognized his face, Dwight!

“Dwight?!” I yelled, staring at him so hard I thought he might feel my gaze burning into forehead.

Dwight had been a childhood friend, his father worked with my father in ruling the West before he tried to seize power in a coup and was banished to the North, his father left with a large faction of our wolves that supported him and they conquered the North forming a new pack that had been at odds with mine.

Being the only male friend I had at the time it was natural for me to develop feelings for him, feeling I thought I must have lost to time only for them to rekindle at the sight of his bare muscular chest.

He raised his hands to the cheering crowed, urging them to hoot and howl as they praised him.

I had been so dumbfounded by his rather sexy appearance I forgot about the Amber who was now staring at me with half smile and sly look on her face.

“How long had you known he was back?!” I asked, wishing she would wipe that disgusting smirk off her face.

“I didn’t…”

“Lie! No wonder you were so bent on making me come with you to this brawl!”

“No,” she laughed. “I wanted you to come so you could finally leave that shell you’re always cooped up in.

“Shell?” I asked, perplexed. “Staying at home day just means I’m mature minded.” I said with a scoff.

“Mature? Says the girl who still cuddles her seventeen year old teddy before she goes to bed!”

I gasped, wondering how she knew about that. Did she spy on me in my sleep? “I was one when I got it, and it was the craze back then! At least I’m not the one who lied to everyone I could shift I would sprout a prop wolfs tail from under her skirt to make everyone think I was cool!” I guffawed.

“So you did think I was cool back then?”

“Well of course.” I chucked, allowing the warmth of nostalgia to take over me.

“Remember when I stole your fathers badge and flaunted it in front of Dwight?” She nudged me, the memory flashed back like a warm stream.

“He thought you were so badass he started calling you queen-Alpha!” I laughed, remembering the very younger version of Dwight while staring at the older version in front of me. Very little had changed, he still had the same striking grey gaze, same blonde hair and same sparkly smirk. It was odd how he was a lot more older now, he was a fully grown man yet as I looked at him I found myself staring at the round faced, cute little boy I snuck kisses with in the dark corridors.

“Remember when I caught you two making out five years ago before he left to the North.”

I gasped wide eyed, placing a hand over my mouth. “You saw?”

She was laughing so hard now, elbowing me gently at my sides.

I tried nudging her away, my cheeks burning with embarrassment. It had been the first time I had kissed a guy, he had made me go crazy with hormones.

“Do you think he’ll still… well…” I was nervous, my childhood crush who I hadn’t for half a decade now stood before me in the most alluring body I had ever seen on a man, not like I had seen many nude men anyway.

“Of course Penelope!”

“Do you think I’m any better than five years ago?” I cocked my head to the side.

Amber frowned.

“Better? You’re a whole new person, a better person, you’ve grown a lot stronger not to mention you’re the Alpha to be!”

“Easy for you to say, you’ve found your mate, you’re already married… while I’m still…”

Most girls age sixteen had already found their mate, I was turning eighteen in two weeks and I still hadn’t found mine. It made me feel ridiculous to think that after all that time Dwight would still be the same person, he had moved to the North, he was already the Alpha over there so I guessed he must have already found his mate, just thinking about it like this knocked away any hope I had of rekindling any feelings we might have had for each other.

“But what if he’s already found his mate?”

“Then it’s his loss.” Amber said firmly amd that put a smile on my face.

For a moment he locked eyes with me, I gasped softly when he didn’t take his eyes away and slowly, as we kept eyes contact, the noises from he crowd around started to disappear. His gaze pulled me in slowly like I was being entranced and I liked it, he made my wolf stir.

Heat rose to my cheeks when a small smile brightened his eyes, I only broke our connection when Amber shook me violently.

“Huh?”

“You okay? You were just staring!”

But he had walked away, towards the entrance  he had come in from.

“Where’s he going?” I asked to no one in particular.

“I don’t know, to prep?” Amber answered.

“I need to go with him!” I shuffled through the crowd, stepping in people’s feet and whispering apologies as I tried to get to entrance.

He had looked at me, not the awkward look that would be usually followed by a cringy smirk, he had looked at me and I felt a connection.

When I get outside I first breathe in lungfuls of fresher air, I had stayed in hay crowd for so much that I had not even noticed it had gotten so much stuffy.

I easily spot Dwight a few meters ahead, he had his back to me and walked to him, something churning in my stomach as I remembered the time we had tasted each other in that dim corridor five years ago. His scent now was enough to excite me, made me crave for him in a way I had never before.

“Five years and you still haven’t found your mate!” His voice was strange, an unfriendly tone. It made me pause on my tracks, a frown contorting my face.

“What do you—”

“Five years and you’re still a push over."

He turned around, a disdainful look on his face. This was not what I was expecting. He walked to me, I took a nervous step back, his scent filled my lungs and I gladly breathed it in.

He looked at me, a long look before he scoffed brushing past me and walking back to the arena.

I stared after him, half confused, half hurt in my heart and half at tears. It was funny how after all this time I still wanted him to be my mate even if he was a stranger now.