Alpha's Secret Mate
"B-b-be careful, okay? Don't risk your life doing something careless?"
"I can't make any promises. Ladies." He bowed low, and then swaggered back into the woods.
"Nicolette?" She was still staring in the direction he'd gone, unlacing and lacing her fingers. "Who was that man?"
"My true mate," she said quietly.
"What? But I thought you—"
"I'm not his, though. Have you heard of Omega Syndrome?"
It was a rare ailment of wolves in the lesser houses. A disease affecting the pack bond instinct, it severed the ties between true mates. One could go into their Calling and find their mate, only for them to be completely uninterested.