2

THORNE

(Two weeks ago)

My shoes echoed across the marble floors as I walked through the corridors of my company. I had barely even finished work when I was suddenly summoned by the queen mother and the elder council for an emergency meeting at the royal castle.

“What is this about?” I asked my beta and right-hand man, Kellan, for the umpteenth time and his loud sigh didn’t give away his exasperation, then his furrowed eyebrows did.

“I have no idea, but we are about to find out, aren’t we?” He replied curtly and I wasted no time shooting him an icy glare.

“Watch your tone, beta.” I spat, instantly reminding him of his place and he bowed his head slightly.

“I’m sorry, Alpha.”

Kellan and I were werewolves along with an entire pack who lived at a great royal castle at the outskirts of Las Vegas.

Although it was bizarre to think that a pack of werewolves lived in the same city as humans, we managed to conceal our identity from them for years without getting caught and this was not because we were terrified of them.

They were weak and lowly humans after all. What could they possibly do to us when we were the superior species.

We only concealed our identities from them because it was simply more convenient that way.

Most times, the werewolves kept to the castle, but sometimes we ventured out to the human territory when it was absolutely necessary.

We finally arrived at the parking lot and my bodyguard, who had been silent and behind me all this time, stepped forward and opened the door to my black sleek car.

I slid into the car without wasting time just as Ryker got into the front seat and my driver started the car.

I watched as Kellan got into his car behind mine. He would be following closely for sure.

The driver drove straight to the royal castle and once we arrived, we made our way straight to the meeting room where the elder council and the queen mother were already seated, waiting for me as expected.

“Alpha.” The elders greeted in unison, bowing their heads once I arrived. The queen mother remained seated with a huge smile on her face.

I adjusted my expensive and well-tailored suit before taking my seat at the head of the massive round table.

“You may take your seats.” I commanded.

“Thank you, Alpha.” The elders declared before taking their seats. Kellan took his seat next to me while Ryker stood behind me.

“I’m sorry for summoning you without prior notice, son, but there are some urgent matters that we need to discuss.” The queen mother who was also my biological mother said in an apologetic tone.

“What was so urgent that you had me dropping everything at work to come here?” I growled, completely irritated. I took my work seriously and I didn’t like being disturbed.

“Your duty as alpha must always come first.” One of the elders, Elder Isak chipped in and my frown intensified. I knew that. I didn’t need a damn lecture from him.

“Why did you ask me here?” I asked in a cold voice as my eyes slowly surveyed the elders.

Another elder, Elder Thorian cleared his throat loudly.

“I’ll just cut to the chase as we have wasted enough of your time. This matter is important to our pack. You are our alpha, but we need you to pick a luna to rule by your side. We need a luna to strengthen our pack and to give you an heir to the throne.”

I pressed my fingers to my temples, feeling a headache slowly creeping into my head. I should have known. I should have seen this coming.

The elder council and my mother had been pushing the agenda of me getting a luna for quite a while and it looked like they were now running out of patience.

I let out a displeased sigh, shooting icy glares at the elder council.

“How in the world am I supposed to find my mate if I cannot even sense her presence?! What do you expect me to do?” I growled, feeling my blood boil with rage.

This was the conversation I detested having. A conversation about my mate and my wolf.

Although I was the alpha of the pack and the strongest of them all, I had a problem with my wolf.

Years ago, during an attack on my pack, I was heavily injured and although I survived, I lost my wolf, unable to feel its presence.

This spelled huge trouble for me as a werewolf, wolf was responsible for sniffing out one's mate, but since I lost my wolf, I couldn’t find my mate.

“Yes, we understand that you cannot find your mate,” Mother said in a soft tone, trying to pacify me.

“But you don’t have to make your mate the luna. You can choose one of the female werewolves we have in the pack. We have a lot of eligible ones.”

The other elders nodded in agreement which displeased me even more. I wasn’t interested in finding a luna. I wasn’t interested in any woman and I made sure to make my thoughts known.

Elder Isak spoke, highly displeased with my words.

“With all due respect alpha, you do not have a say in this matter. Without a luna, your throne and alpha title is at stake. If you are finding it difficult to choose one of the women, I would suggest my lovely daughter, Avalon.”

I let out an exasperated sigh, running my fingers through my hair. There was no getting out of this. I knew that for sure. I needed to find a luna or I would lose my throne.

But I didn’t want just anyone as my luna. I wanted my mate. I knew my mate would be a strong and powerful werewolf.

Someone that would be worthy to stand by my side. Someone worthy to rule the pack with me.

I wanted my real mate and I would do anything to find her even if I didn’t have my wolf to do it for me.

“Fine,” I said in a crystal clear voice. “I hear you, and I understand your concerns. Give me two weeks to find my mate.”

The elders glanced at each other murmuring amongst themselves before Elder Isak finally spoke up.

“We’ll give you two weeks to find your mate, but once that time is up and you have not found her, you have to make my daughter your mate.”

“Fine.” I agreed reluctantly.

***

Two weeks had passed and all my attempts to search for my fated mate yielded no results. I combed the entire city and expanded my reach to wherever I could, but there was no sign of her.

I had already made a promise to Elder Isak to take his daughter as my mate if the two weeks were up and it looked like the elder had not forgotten about it one bit.

He had the entire mating ceremony planned and it was scheduled to hold in a few days. The entire thing was honestly driving me crazy.

I didn’t want to mate with Avalon or whatever her name was. I wanted my mate. My strong and powerful mate whoever she was. I wanted her to be by my side instead. If only my wolf was here to sniff her out.

It was quite unfortunate that there was nothing else I could do. For the sake of my precious throne, I would have to forget about my mate and take Avalon as my luna.

All the heavy thoughts weighed in my heart, almost driving me crazy and I decided to go to the most luxurious club in town ‘The Red Rose bar’ which was human territory, to get some release.

And that was where I saw her. I was first taken aback by her extreme beauty, but it didn’t matter how stunning she was. She was just a stripper after all.

I studied her, her long black hair cascading down her shoulders and her bright green eyes, twinkling like stars.

But the more I watched her dance, the more my want and attraction towards her grew to the point where I couldn’t take it anymore.

I walked up to the stage and fucked her roughly like the whore that she was with no idea that I was in for a surprise.

For the first time in years, I heard my wolf stir. I shook my head in disbelief, almost sure that it was some kind of mistake.

It was when I heard its low growl that I knew I wasn’t mistaken and the next words I heard would forever change the trajectory of my life.

“Mate.” My wolf growled and at that moment I was certain that I had completely lost my mind.

No way in hell was my mate a lowly stripper.

No way in hell was my mate an ordinary human.