The Alpha's Runaway Mate

JACE

Looking through the paperwork for the pack's accounts, I couldn’t help but rub my eyes with frustration.

I’m a werewolf and the Alpha of the Shadow Moon Pack. I have been Alpha for the last five years, since my father was killed in a rogue attack. I was thrust into the alpha position at the age of eighteen. I had help from my best friend, my Beta Dan, who has been helping me run the pack, but I am without a mate. I have been sent to many galas to locate her over the last three years, but no luck.

I have been waiting for my mate. We find our mates at seventeen as a werewolf, but I have been looking for mine for over four years. I am now twenty-one. I don’t date, I have had a few one-night stands, but they are with humans from neighboring towns. I make sure they understand that they are nothing more than a one-night stand with which some have been okay.

I want to find a mate. I want to feel love from someone and want to be with them. I need to make my pack strong.

A knock at the door brought me back from my thoughts, “Come in,” I shouted as I leaned back in my chair.

The door opens, and my Beta, Dan, walks in with my Gamma Aaron.

They both look at me and smirk. “Okay, Alpha, we need to take you out tonight,” says Dan as he approaches the chair in front of me with Aaron, who takes the seat next to him.

I growl, “ Why would you want to take me out tonight?” I ask, “I need to finish the paperwork, and there is...” but I get cut off by Dan shaking his head and tutting at me.

Dan sighs, “Look, we know the paperwork is important, so Aaron and I have come up with a plan,” he says and turns to look at Aaron and then back to me, “We will get you an assistant to help you, till you find your mate but Jace, I mean Alpha Jace,” he says with a smirk, “You need to go out tonight, you haven’t been out in ages, and I think you need to get laid.”

I glare at him, but Dan chuckles and holds his hands up in surrender, “Jace, come on, there is a new nightclub in the human town, and we think,” he says and leans forward, “We think we should go and have a lad’s night out, we all need one.”

I looked at my friends but turned my attention to Aaron, my Gamma. “What does Rita think about you going out?” I asked him.

Aaron is mates with Rita. We visited her pack while looking for my mate, but Aaron found Rita instead. The next day, Rita moved to the pack as she had no family and was on the verge of being banished from her pack, The bloodstone pack, all because Rita stood up to her Luna. The Luna there was a mean b***h; she was all about money and looks, and she treated Rita with no respect. Rita has become a massive part of our pack. All the females come to her about everything; she will be helping my mate and the Beta’s mate when we find them.

Aaron looks at me and smiles, “She is fine with me going out with you guys actually; she was the one who suggested it,” he says.

I nod.

I know Rita has been helping me with some stuff around the pack, but she also knows I have been feeling lonely lately.

“Okay, we will go,” I said, letting out a sigh. “What time are we leaving ?”

Dan smiled. “We will get ready now; we will leave in an hour. Let's go and get ready now,” he says.

I nod. I moved all the paperwork on the desk back into the folder I had it out of and placed the folder in the holder, ready for me to do in the morning.

I looked up at my friends, who were both standing, looking back at me.

I sigh, “Come on then, let’s get ready to go out,” I say with as much enthusiasm as I can muster.

They both grin and turn to leave the office. Dan goes, but Aaron stops and looks over at me as I get out of my chair. I stopped and looked at him, “What?” I asked him.

Aaron c***s his head to the side, but he smiles, “I have a good feeling about tonight. I think you both will find your mates,” he said.

At the mare mention of the good feeling, he has me feel slightly good about deciding to go out tonight with them and somewhat nervous as I hope she will like me.

I nodded and smiled, “I like the sound of that,” I said to him as I reached him. He nods and leaves the office.

I leave and lock the office behind me, but I turn around and bump into Ariana.

I can’t help but groan inwardly. Ariana has been trying her best to get with me since all of her friends have found their mates, but she also seems to think I would choose her as my mate. Her father has been trying to get the werewolf council to select a mate instead of waiting for mine to turn up as our pack needs a Luna, even though our pack is one of the most substantial packs and we have the least attack rate around.

I’m not saying we never have any rogue attacks or anything, but when we do, we never leave any alive unless we need to find out information, but that very rarely happens.

“Ah, Jace,” Ariana says, trying to sound sexy. She looks like she has been rummaging through a tarts shop with what she is wearing. I hate women who dress like a slut to get what they want. This is one of many reasons why I am so happy to know she is not my mate.

“Ariana,” I said as I walked straight past her.

“Jace, please, will you talk to me?” She says.

I came to a complete stop and turned to look at her, “I don’t need to talk to you; I made my feelings very clear. I will not accept you, and also, I don’t want you anywhere near me, which also means near my room,” I said. I let a little of my alpha aura slip through. I walked toward her and stopped a few yards away from her. “Do you understand me?” I said to her.

Ariana bows her head in submission, “Yes, Alpha,” she says quietly.

I turned and left, but I could hear her mutter under her breath, “For now, I will leave you alone, but I won’t stop wanting you.”

As I turned around the corner, I couldn’t help but groan.

After being in the office one day, I walked into my room to find Ariana in sexy underwear lying on my bed. I got angry and threw her out. I even had to ask Rita to speak with her, but she never listened. It all falls on deaf ears. I can’t banish her for her actions unless she causes harm to anyone, but at the moment, she's my stalker. She and her father have become a massive pain for me, but I need to try and take more control of the situation, but I don’t know what to do.

As I reach my room on the fifth floor of the packhouse, I live here on my own, like a penthouse. It is enormous, but I would never have my mate live here. It looks more like a bachelor pad than a home to bring a family up.

I walk in and head straight into the shower. I strip off and let the water run over me. After about fifteen minutes, I shut off the water and wrapped a towel around me. I headed into my room and walked into the walk-in closet. I pick dark jeans and a black button shirt to wear. I also grab my shoes. I quickly dressed and fixed my hair.

Once I'm ready, I can’t help looking back to make sure I look good.

I sighed and walked out of my room. I locked the door behind me and headed straight back downstairs. Dan and Aaron are there waiting while Rita is leaning on the wall looking between them when I get there, but as she sees me, she-wolf whistles.

Both men look around and grin, “You scrub up, good Jace,” says Dan.

I can’t help but groan out.

Rita and Aaron kiss, but Rita turns to me with a smirk on her face, “Have a good night, lads, and Jace,” she says, “Don’t f**k anyone tonight, just have a good night out and enjoy yourself.”

I nodded. I didn’t say anything to her as I don't know what will happen tonight, but I will try to have a good night.

All three of us leave. We headed for that taxi and drove away as soon as we all got in.

“So, what’s this place we are going to?” I asked.

“This place is new; it’s called Angel secret,” says Dan, “Liam, who works in town, told me about this place; he says it’s full of hot women, the drinks are cheap, and the music is excellent.”

I look over at Dan and groan, “Is Liam going to be there?” I ask, and he nods.

Liam is Dan’s brother. He is older and also a werewolf. He works in the human town as we need a representative for the firm, the pack, but for the humans, it's a firm. As he was good at helping my father out, I thought he would love to be around humans as he had always been in human towns before. Liam has a human mate he has been dating for the last six weeks. 

I want my mate, and I don't mind what my mate is, whether she is another shifter or human, but when your mate is human, werewolves have to date them like a human first before we can even mention anything about our kind until they accept us.

“Liam will be there; he has been picking up some shifts there,” Dan says and smirks. “He wants us to go as there is something he wants to talk to you about as Alpha, but also he wants to have a night out. His mate is sweet, and she is out with friends tonight.”

I nod, but I can’t help but growl inwardly at the whole thing. 

I hope to god no one decides to set me up with anyone.