Finding The Alpha’s Mate

Chapter 4: Gray

Pulling up to the light, I came to a complete stop. My beta and VP sent me a mind link to see if I wanted them to wait, and I tell them no when a delicious scent hits me in my chest. My wolf rumbles in my chest, taking his breath away. “MATE” he growls in my mind. I pull my face mask down and turn in the direction of the scent. There are three people standing in the building on the corner, Sweet Tooth Bakery. I scan them, my eyes meeting each one while my wolf dismisses them until our eyes land on the female tucked into the store. She's not looking at me, she's looking at the man standing in the doorway staring at him and the woman turning to walk out of the store. Just setting my eyes on her has my wolf wanting to jump out and claim his mate. It's been so long since we've seen our mate. "Mate looks delicious", he growls inside my mind. The light turned green, so I sped off promising my wolf I'd come back.

I made it back to the compound a few minutes after the rest of the boys. When I make it through the compound, I park my bike outside the clubhouse before hopping off and heading inside. We moved in about a week ago, but now the place doesn't feel like home anymore since I saw my mate. I walked into the main area, which used to be the check-in area for the motel, but now it is the congregation room for my large and powerful pack. We are the Shadow Wolves. My alpha team of wolves specialize in moving around, cleaning up messes created by feral rogue wolves and absorbing packs into ours. We cover our tracks by creating this biker facade. It works, and I get to ride my chopper, win-win.

Since our homeland has become a bit crowded, we decided to find a new home base in a small town about sixty miles away from where we are originally located. I am their Alpha now. My family was once a part of the kingdom of Lycan shifters until the uprising five hundred years ago. Now I’m one of the last Lycans that walk in this realm of humans, cleansing the rest of the putrid ferals out of this realm.

I grab a beer out of the fridge and fight the urge to hop on my bike and go back to my mate. I feel a hand slide down my chest and my wolf growls. The scent I once found comforting now turns my stomach. I reach for her hand before she reaches the destination, below my waist. I put a little added pressure when I squeeze her hand before she gets the hint and sits up. I look up into the blue eyes I once lost myself in and feel nothing. My wolf rumbles, chuffing loudly in my mind. “This is the power of the mate bond; nothing compares to your true mate. Even if you have only laid eyes on them, they are solely made for us, no one else will do. No one will ever please us anymore.”

Celeste stared at me, a little shocked and hurt at my rejection. I have never rejected her before. She is of gamma blood. She came to our pack about six years ago, after a rouge attack ravaged her pack, leaving only her and her parents and a few pack members without a home. Our pack, the Shadow Wolves Pack, has been known to absorb broken down packs and pack members into our pack, creating one of the largest packs on the East Coast. We have been seeing each other for about five years now, nothing too serious for me. For me, it was only a way for me to satisfy my Alpha needs until my mate came of age. I kept it going until I could claim her the day after her first shift. That night, I had a last hurrah with Celeste, a sort of goodbye hook-up, for her sake, before I planned on claiming my mate, but that night when I was walking up to my room in the packhouse after our not-so-secret hook up, I felt a pack member sever their pack bond and not just any pack member my mate.

Now I’m thirty years old and haven’t found my mate since she left, so I figured, why not? Celeste offered to continue to help me relieve stress and satisfy my alpha needs. And that suited me just fine until about twenty minutes ago. I didn’t even know she was in this town, but it seems that fate has blessed me with a second chance.

“Alpha, is everything...okay?” Celeste asks quietly. Her eyes were uncertain. I nodded and rose to stand up. She grabs my arm and looks at me, waiting for me to give her anything to let her know I mean it, but I can’t. “Just tell her.” My wolf growls at me, “I want mate, not her; I’ve always wanted my mate. She left us because of her, because of you. I smelt mate that night. I told you I did, but you continued to f**k that tramp, and mate left us.” I grabbed her hand and took her with me to my office; I could hear her heart rate pick up. I knew what she thought was about to happen, but it was not. Not when I knew my mate was so close. I won’t make that mistake again.

I closed the door behind us and motioned for her to sit down.

“Celeste, these few years with you were nice. I appreciate you for your dedication to me and the pack, but we can no longer continue the way we have been. I am just your Alpha now, and you are just my pack member. I hope you can understand,” I say to her softly, to not hurt her feelings. She-wolves are a testy bunch. By the determined look in her eyes, I can tell she is not going to take this lightly.

“Alpha? I don’t understand. You were with me last night and this morning before your mission. What has changed? I love you, Gray!” she shouts. My wolf bristles at her confession, a growl escapes before I could control it. “Celeste, you knew what this was when we started. Never anything more than using each other to sate our carnal desires, no love involved". I and my wolf state. Her eyes burned up at me, her love for me scorned. She gets up and storms out of my office, tears threatening to fall.

Exhaling, I moved to sit behind my desk just as my Beta and VP, Asher, walked in. The look on his face is telling enough. She went on a rampage, I’m sure. “So, what did I do to deserve your presence?”

Asher laughs, “I don’t know, maybe just curious about the love confession you received from your bed buddy or why you just rejected her out of the blue when you were just as smitten with her this morning?” He raises his eyebrows at me, but I don’t answer. I turned to look at some files on my desk and asked about the upcoming hunt. “We have a mission in the north; there are rogue sightings in the forests of the pack to the north called the Blue Mountain Pack. Have you assembled a team to head out?”

“Yes, I have about ten guys riding out. Gamma Reynolds is going to lead them out. They head out tomorrow at 7am. Now, since that is settled, answer the question. What just happened?” There go those brows again. Okay, fine. He’s just going to annoy me until he gets an answer.

“I saw my mate,” I say quietly. But I haven’t spoken to her. I just saw her across the street when I was at the light. From what I saw, she's even more beautiful. I just don’t want the pack to know until I can talk to her myself”.

“Okay, but this is amazing! We finally have our Luna! You’re about to have an ol’lady.” He practically shouts! The whole pack will probably know now. “Thanks for shouting about my personal business".