Stalker

Andrew

"Don't get mad and hear me out."  That is how Judith started our conversation this morning after I got to school.  I really wanted to talk to her about what happened last night with Beta Austin because I was literally reeling right now but with a start like that I don't know where to go from here.  I haven't mentioned to anyone yet that he is my mate.  "Okay..."  She looks nervous but dives right in, speaking so fast I have a hard time concentrating.

"So I know you have asked me before why I would have ever approached you on that first day of high school and why I would stick with you all these years.  First let me tell you that you are my best friend and nothing that made me approach you that first day changes how much I love you and never want to not be your best friend.  So Alpha Elijah asked me to approach you and befriend you so I could protect you and take care of you all those years ago.  Now I can see your face right now and I just need you to let me talk and get this all out before you start yelling at me and deciding you hate me.  So I guess after Xavier rejected Beta Austin he was so lost and depressed so Alpha Elijah let him start researching second chance mates and he even helped him some.  They found some writings on this theory around how the Moon Goddess can sometimes make a mistake...I know what you are thinking but bear with me...and assign a close relative in error as a mate if the ideal mate is to far in age or geographical location.  This theory started after a large number of second chance mates were seen amongst the relatives of the lost mate and more couplings came forward to share that they had had felt an attraction to a relative of their mate, which was thought to be impossible.  Only if the mate bond was weakened in some way or if one mate was not right in the head or "damaged" as they say can something like that happen.  All those that came forward had strong ties to their mates and had no history to support any reason for this attraction.  Beta Austin did not dig into this anymore as he had forgotten that Xavier had a young cousin but Alpha Elijah thought that there was a chance.  He did not understand why Austin did not feel the bond with you after Xavier's death if this was the case so he started digging more and the elders who believed this theory thought that with you being so young that maybe the bond would show itself when you turned 16.  Alpha sent me to befriend you and keep you safe so his best friend would not lose another mate and could find his happiness in the future.

I was also tasked with learning if you would reject Beta Austin when the time came so when you told me you were gay at 15 both Alpha Elijah and I were very excited that this could work out.  You also mentioned a few times how stupid and cowardly your cousin was for what he did.  When we talked about your family's views and you mentioned your parents would only accept you being gay if it was a mate match and not a love match I was nervous but at least you did not have as much pressure as Xavier obviously felt.  When you turned 16 and Beta Austin still did not realize you were his mate we started to doubt ourselves so the Alpha reached out again to the elders and they suggested that maybe because of how traumatically Beta Austin lost his first mate his wolf was shying away from his mate and not allowing him to feel the bond.  They suggested waiting until you turned 18 and allowing you to seek him out instead and see how it went.  When you came to school the morning of your birthday and did not seem to show signs of having a mate I texted Alpha Elijah and he begrudgingly started encouraging Beta Austin to set up some dates so he could start looking for love matches.  Then you mentioned a smell and I got very excited.  Even when you brushed off my attempts to direct you to Beta Austin I was hopeful.  I don't know what happened last night but I know you did not leave to go to any of the neighbouring packs so please tell me...is Beta Austin your mate?  How did it go?  Do you hate me?"

Well that was a lot to take in all at once.  I took a couple minutes to digest everything that was just rapid fire thrown at me.  I know our friendship may have started out of duty to her Alpha but I can tell Judith is my true friend.  She did not have to tell me all of this and could have just walked away but she didn't.  I make the decision to trust her and open up.

"I really wish you had told me about all of this but I guess if I wasn't his mate then I may have been disappointed.  So while I was on my way to get the car from my parents I could really smell that intoxicating scent of my mate and I literally ran into the wall that is Beta Austin.  My wolf instantly knew he was my mate and I could tell he realized as soon as he saw me that I was his.  He was very confused and thought that I was newly widowed and new to the pack.  He did not realize I was Xavier's cousin at first.  We spoke a bit but long story short he told me that he would not pressure me in any way as he does not know if he could have done anything differently to save Xavier so he was going to walk away and let me think about this all.  He did briefly caress my cheek, which sent shocks all through me and left my face where he touched tingling for hours but other than that he just walked past me towards the café with his shoulders slumped.  My wolf was screaming for him but knowing the pain he went through with Xavier I just let him walk away.  That is why I was looking for you this morning.  I just don't know what to do!"

"You don't mean you are thinking of rejecting him do you?!?"

"Oh God no I don't want to reject him I just don't think that I am what he needs.  And I don't want to be a constant reminder of what my idiot cousin did to him.  Also, he is much older than me so I imagine I am grossly inexperienced for him.  I just don't know if I am what he should be given, especially after all he has gone through.  I have heard that he prefers women and that he was going to look for a female love match once he was past the age of finding his second chance mate so I just don't know if I can make him happy.  I know we will be mated but what if our bond is weak?  I don't know if I could handle us having an open marriage or whatever the equivalent of that is in a mated match.  Also, I don't think my parents will believe that he is my mate and allow us to be together.  I'm stressing out to the max here and I need my best friend to talk me off a ledge."

We talk a lot, deciding to skip school.  I learn that Judith is actually 22 years old and will most likely never have a mate as she is asexual.  We have all of the rainbow in our pack and as she is a lower rank wolf her mating would not affect the harmony of the family overall so the Moon Goddess would not assign her a mate unless She felt strongly that it would benefit Judith specifically and since Judith's sexually does not warrant a partner the chances are very slim that she will be mated.  That is why she was chosen for this "mission" as she would not be distracted by her need to be with her mate.  She was also already done school so it did not matter if she skipped to attend pack business.  Apparently all the classes she didn't have with me she just didn't have classes and left to go do various pack related tasks.  She is lower ranking but training to be a warrior with the sub team.  That means she doesn't train under Beta Austin but under Gamma Gunther, who was promoted to Gamma about 2 years ago when Alpha Elijah and second Alpha Machie had the twins.  Gamma Gunther knew why she was away from training a lot and kept it away from Beta Austin as well.  It seems there was a whole team routing for, or plotting against, Beta Austin.  As Judith told me, they really wanted our "ship to sail", whatever that means.  She encouraged me to maybe invite Beta Austin out on a date so we could get to know each other and go from there.  It did not seem like a bad idea so I asked if she had his contact information.