The Alpha's Rose

Chapter One

HERC

The music pounded in my ears as girls snaked their hands around my biceps, attempting to latch onto me for the night. The swirling lasers coloured their eyes an ever-changing combination of reds, greens and blues. To me they looked possessed, like demons searching for their next meal – of which I had no intention of being. The stench of alcohol mixed with sweat swept through my nostrils and I had to hold myself back from gagging.

“Right,” I thought, “she’s definitely not here.”

I made a sharp right and stomped back to the door where my Beta, Connor, was waiting impatiently.

“Nothing, Alpha?” He hushed, careful of my unfurling frustration.

“Hmph,” I growled, “I’d rather walk through hell than go into another nightclub.”

Connor pulled out his phone and texted our driver to pick us up from the corner.

I prayed to the Moon Goddess that I would meet my mate soon. I felt myself growing weaker everyday, my emotions more unpredictable and my rage more furious than ever. The safety of the Evenfall Pack, my family, relied on me finding my mate…and fast.

“There must be someway I could find her,” I sighed, exhausted from the continual nights out.

“Tinder?” Connor muttered under his breath.

“Don’t start with me Connor.” My commanding tone causing him to pay an increased amount of attention to his phone.

He knew I had spent years searching for my mate. I had visited every wolf pack in North America, nearly every nightclub along the West Coast and still I felt more alone than ever. I was only twenty-four, relatively young in wolf years, yet my parents had found each other when my Father was only eighteen. And, although they try to conceal it, I can’t help but notice their concern each time I return home without my mate.

The black SUV screeched up outside the club and we quickly jumped into the back. We rounded the streets of San Diego, the hot night breeze tousling my overgrown hair. This search was turning me into a version of myself I didn’t know. My usually clean-cut face was spotted with stubble and my well-ironed business shirts were creased and worn.

“Herc?” Connor turned to face me, his furrowed brow marking his concern at my recent behaviour. “I know she’s out there Alpha. Of course she is. You are the leader of the strongest pack in North America, you will find her and she will be the most incredible Luna you could ask for.”

“Easy for you to say Connor.” I frowned, “You know you’re mate. You didn’t even have to look. Jessie was right in front of you.”

Connor and Jessie were childhood friends and on their eighteenth birthday, the mating bond clicked in place. “Lucky bastards.” I thought, allowing myself to wallow in my misery of not having my own mate to share my life with.

As I wandered through the front doors of the Pack House and trudged upstairs to my bedroom, my longing for my mate seemed to consume me more than it already had. My hands started to clench and my wolf snarled. I immediately turned downstairs and sprinted out into the neighbouring forest, wanting only to run. I shifted, my dark grey fur illuminated by the silver of the moon. I howled at the Moon Goddess, a plea for help, and then, I disappeared into the night.