He Will Be Mine (New Horizon Book 1)

Aly “Dad!” I yell at the man standing in the doorway to my bedroom. “There’s no way I’m agreeing to that. I just shifted for the first time last month. You haven’t even given me a real chance to find my mate yet!” He had just announced that he wants to invite a few of his Alpha friends who have sons around my age to my coming-of-age ceremony which is to be held this weekend. He thinks I should start shopping around for a mate now rather than waiting until later when it is time for me to take over as Alpha of this pack and I still haven’t found my fated mate. I hate that he has so little faith in the process and thinks it’s so much better to pick your mate than to wait for the right person to come along for you. It’s not fair, either. He and my mother are fated mates. If he can have that, why can’t I? “I’m not saying you have to agree to anything now, Aly,” my dad returns in a soft, patronizing tone. “I’m just saying it’s time to start thinking about it and planning for the future. None of us know what is going to happen. You don’t want to be the girl left standing at the ceremonial altar who gets passed over for the position you were born for simply because you don’t have a mate and your cousin does.” “Is that what this is about? You think the Elders will think Riley has a better claim because he has a mate?” “I’m saying you never know, and it doesn’t hurt to prepare for anything. Tradition says that you become Alpha after me, but tradition also insists that you do so before your 25th birthday and are mated before the time of the ceremony. It wouldn’t be the first time that a rightful Alpha gets passed over for lack of a mate.” “But you and Uncle Max are brothers. Riley is just my cousin, and you don’t have any other children. That’s not the tradition at all.” “No, but there are many who say that since Max was meant to be Alpha in the first place, it doesn’t matter.” I groan and grind my fists into my eyes, as if the effort I put into it can help clear this nightmare from in front of me. “Ugh, fine. I suppose meeting people won’t be so bad, but there will be absolutely no talk of arranged mates or anything even remotely close. Got it?” He chuckles and steps into the room, coming to stand next to where I am messing around with my makeup at the new vanity table I got last month for my 16th birthday. “Got it,” he agrees as he leans over to kiss the top of my head. “I’m just looking out for you. You know that, right?” “I know that, but if you really want to look out for me, then you’ll put more effort into helping me get out and find my real mate. I don’t want anybody else, and I don’t care if that means giving up my chance to be Alpha.” “I’m betting you’ll change your mind about that when the time comes, but we can talk more about this later.” He turns to leave as though everything that needed to be said has been said. “I’m betting I won’t,” I stubbornly insist under my breath after he turns his back. “What’s that you said? You can’t wait to help your mother in her herb garden, and I should let her know you’ll be right down to do that? You got it, baby girl.” I groan again, knowing that he’s serious and will actually tell Mom I said that. He hates sassy backtalk and knows I also hate gardening. Maybe it’s not such a terrible idea, though. I would like to get her perspective on his plan, or rather manipulate her into agreeing with me and talking to Dad on my behalf. The best way to put her in a good mood is with a little labor of love. ************************* “No, Ryan. You don’t understand,” I argue with my best friend. “There are six of them. Six ‘eligible Alpha bachelors’ and some single younger brothers my dad intends to parade me around in front of, all dressed up and neatly packaged like I’m a slab of meat at the butchers or something. He’s literally going to put a bow on it, too. There’s a gaudy bow that goes right across the waist of my dress.” I gesture across my middle to demonstrate where the bow goes, then pause and roll my eyes as Ryan laughs at my impending misery. Tonight is the night of my coming-of-age ceremony, which is beginning to feel a whole lot like a debutante ball, except I’m the only debutante being presented. This morning the out-of-town guests started arriving, much to my dismay. It seems that I didn’t fully know what I was agreeing to when Dad finally got me to stop fighting him about his plans for tonight. I slap Ryan’s arm, which only makes him laugh harder, and continue explaining, “My Mom claims she is going to try to alter it and get it off of there because supposedly she agrees with me that the bow is too much, but she also said she agreed with me about him inviting all those guys and yet here we are.” Ryan wipes the tears that are forming in his eyes from how hard he has been laughing at the image of me in that dress with the stupid bow. “To be fair to her, you know how your dad can be,” he counters. “When he wants something badly enough, he makes it happen, and it doesn’t matter how much anybody protests. I guess that’s the advantage of being Alpha.” “Right, I guess so. But speaking of Alphas, do you know how old those guys are? He told me he was inviting people around my age, but some of these guys are like 21 and 22. Whose dad does that?” “It makes sense. Most werewolves want to wait to find their fated mates, but most Alpha’s children also want to be Alpha. If they’re getting close to the deadline and still no mate, well, of course they’d be looking elsewhere.” “Stop defending him!" I protest, making a frustrated sound. "Besides, they might be getting close, but I’m only just now 16. I have time, and they don’t. That’s not fair to them to be introducing them to me now when I still fully intend to wait for my mate. He’s wasting their time.” “Maybe he doesn’t fully intend to let you wait.” “Exactly! That’s what I’m saying. Finally, you get it.” “You’ve been saying a lot of things, Aly. Not my fault if I can’t keep up.” I stick my tongue out at him, knowing he is right that I have been all over the place with my complaining. It’s just so upsetting to have my dad ruining my ceremony like this, when this is a moment I have looked forward to my whole life. Turning 16 is a big deal for us werewolves. It is when we get to shift for the first time and start getting in touch with the wolf part of being a werewolf. It is also when we are first able to recognize our mates and maybe even start a family. Even the classes in high school change a bit during the last couple years to start focusing more on preparing us for our adult roles within the pack. Some people don’t even attend anymore after they find their mates, unless they intend to go to college later, and it’s not a big deal for anyone. He lays back on the grass for a moment, looking up at me with his piercing blue eyes. We have been sitting together in one of our favorite haunts, a place we have been coming since we were kids. It’s this cozy little natural alcove formed by where the tree line at the edge of the woods where we live meets some low shrubbery. It is near the highway that passes by one side of our territory, and that highway has always been the major appeal of this special spot of ours. We liked to come here as kids to watch the traffic pass by and daydream about the lives all those people lived. We’d tell each other stories about the passengers in each car, sometimes in such detail that it felt like we actually knew those strangers. He shifts his position so that he can put his head in my cross-legged lap, a position we are also quite familiar with. I start absent-mindedly stroking his fluffy sandy blonde hair as I get lost in my thoughts. He chews contentedly on a weed he pulled from nearby, seeming to be lost in his own thoughts as well. A lot of people in the pack always suspected we would turn out to be mates, but now that we are both 16 it looks like they were wrong about that. We always knew they would be, though. We’re close, but in more of a sibling sort of way. Neither he nor I have any siblings, and we were raised together in the same house, so it would just be weird to have to start thinking about him in a romantic way. That, plus once I become Alpha, he is set to become my Beta, and if we were mates that would mess up that whole plan. Needless to say, it was a relief for us both when no sparks started flying between us once my 16th birthday rolled around. I hear a car approaching in the distance, and for some reason my senses shift to high alert. I am overcome with this sense of dialed in awareness of that car, and before I know it my nostrils are flooded with the overpowering scent of … Christmas. It smells like Christmas. There is no other way to describe it. Considering how much I love Christmas, even if it is a holiday we have borrowed in large part from the humans, this scent seems to wash over me and bring with it a sense of calm for my frayed nerves and restless mind that has been fretting about my party all week. It hits me a moment later what that scent means, at right about the same time my wolf, Mari, starts screaming in my mind. Mate! Hurry, that’s our mate! She insists impatiently. I dump Ryan’s head on the ground and jump up from where I was sitting. “Hey!” I hear him yell in outrage behind me, but I don’t have time to care about that. I’m already running to try to intercept that car as it drives by. I sprint over to the shoulder of the road just a moment too late because that car has already passed me by. I hesitate for a moment debating whether I should try to shift to catch up with it but decide it’s too risky. I keep running, my goal shifting to just trying to get the driver’s attention because I know it is impossible for me to catch them at this point, though it doesn’t stop me from trying. I have always been fast, but not as fast as a car at highway speed in my human form. I wave my arms around trying desperately to get the car to turn around, but as the car gets smaller and smaller and travels further into the distance, I know it’s hopeless. I did manage to catch a glimpse of the license plate as it passed by me, for which I am grateful. Maybe it will be enough to track him down later. Tracker! I realize that’s what I need. Maybe one of Dad’s trained trackers can catch a whiff of his scent and figure out where he went. Ryan catches up to me a few moments later and greets me with a quizzical expression. “What was that about?” he wonders, and rightly so. That had to be quite an odd experience from his perspective. “My mate was in that car,” I explain, brushing by him and starting to jog back to the packhouse. “Now I regret sneaking away without a vehicle.” “Wow, what are the odds,” he comments, obviously finding it somewhat amusing but also trying to hold back and not come off like a jerk during my moment of tragedy. I ignore his comment entirely because my mind is elsewhere. “We need to get back to the packhouse so I can convince my dad to lend me one of his trackers.” “Slim chance,” he reminds me unhelpfully. Story of my life. - - Matt It feels like we have been in this tiny car for days now, even though it has only been several hours. I remember making this drive when I was a kid and it felt so much more exciting, although maybe part of my issue is how hot it is. I think this might be the hottest week we have had all summer, and of course now is when the air conditioning in the car decides to quit on us. Amazingly, my parents do not seem at all affected by the hot, muggy climate in this car. Not even my Mom, who has long, thick auburn hair that is now whipping around in the wind from the open windows. She and my dad seem to be having a great time, singing together to the radio (completely off-key) and reminiscing about when they were younger. I’ve been trying to just keep my misery to myself back here so they can enjoy each other. They have been married twenty whole years, after all, and that is an achievement to celebrate. Even I know that, which is why I agreed to come along on this camping trip in the first place. I also thought it would be more fun to go on a road trip with my parents than it has turned out to be. We haven’t done much traveling since I was a kid, when we used to come to camp around here every summer with Dad’s whole family. They would rent three spaces next to each other at the campground so that my grandparents could park their RV there and all their kids and grandkids could pitch tents and camp with them. As it turns out, things like singing along to the radio at the top of your lungs and telling ghost stories to pass the time aren’t as appealing to my 16-year-old self. But like I said, it could be just the heat getting to me. That, and there’s not a lot of space to stretch out my legs in the back seat. I’ve been fighting a killer cramp for about the past three hours. Even so, I’m happy for my parents. I know a lot of my friends have had to deal with their parents splitting up and that has completely wrecked them, but I’m lucky enough to have these two for parents. They’re best friends and completely in love, and though I complain about it when they start groping and making out in front of me, secretly I am glad for it. It means they won’t be divorcing anytime soon, and it gives me something to look forward to for when I find somebody who loves me like that. Just as I lean back in a way that gives me a little extra space to stretch out my cramped leg, I catch sight of long raven-black hair whipping around in the wind. I sit straight up to get a better look and realize that the girl attached to the hair, who also has the nicest legs I’ve ever seen, is running across the clearing between the woods and the road. Those strong, toned legs are pumping incredibly fast to get her wherever she is going. I can’t help but stare and fantasize that she is going the same place we are, knowing that we have to be almost there by now. I’m starting to recognize the landmarks around here. My heart sinks a little as we zoom past her in the car. Seeing her was the best part of the trip so far. I turn around in the seat enough that I can catch a glimpse of her through the back window, which is when I notice that she is waving her arms around as though she is trying to get our attention. “Dad, stop the car! We have to turn around,” I demand without even thinking about it. I want her. I can’t explain it, but I just do. And now, even more than that, I’m worried about her. “What’s wrong, Matt? Are you okay?” he asks, concern washing over his face as he makes eye contact with me in the rearview mirror. “I’m fine, but I saw a girl back there. She was trying to wave us down like she needs something.” “I saw her too,” Mom says. “She didn’t seem to be in distress or anything, though.” “Well, then, what was she running from like that?” I argue, my heart still insisting that we need to go back. “She’s probably just a hitchhiker, and we’re the first car that has come along in a while,” Dad tries to explain it away. I’m still not satisfied. “It wouldn’t hurt just to go check on her," I try to persuade him. "Maybe it’s nothing, or maybe she is in trouble. We can’t know unless we ask her.” “Matt, I’m tired. It’s only a little bit until we get to the campground, and we still need to set up camp before I can rest,” Dad argues, a hint of irritation creeping into his voice. I sigh in defeat and sit back in the seat. I know I have lost for now, but that doesn’t mean I am going to be able to get that girl out of my head anytime soon.