Mated with the Alpha's Daughter

Chapter 3: Three Things

***UNKNOWN POV***

    "I'm telling you, he's the one, but there's a huge problem!"  I told my best friend Kristy when I finished my rounds and got back to the packhouse.

    "What could possibly be the issue?  You found him, right?  You found your mate?  Just go and claim him!  This little one could use a friend soon," she replied as she patted her now noticeable bump.

    Kristy had found her mate Justin, the pack's Beta-in-waiting, immediately after turning 18, and were mated and marked within four weeks.  They found out they were pregnant with their first pup several months ago and had been pestering me to try and find my mate since the day Justin proposed.

    "That's not the issue, Kristy.  It's bigger than you could imagine," I dramatically responded as I plopped on my bed next to her and made my best angry troll face while crossing my arms.

    "Okay, Mira," Kristy says as she started rubbing my back.  "What is the issue?  It can't possibly be horrible.  You're the Alpha's oldest daughter.  You found our leader!  What's he like?  Is he smart?  Charming?  Charismatic?  Please tell me all about him!"  I can hear her get more and more excited as she talks, so I decide it's just best to get this completely over with.

    "Human," I stated.  I closed my eyes and wait for the other shoe to drop.

    "Seriously?"  Kristy says as she stops the circular motion on my back.

    "Yes," I sigh.  This was the reaction I was dreading.  As the 20 year old oldest daughter of Alpha, I know what is expected of me.  I had absolutely no problem being the next Luna of a pack of wolves eleven hundred members strong.  I have always been strong and sure of everything I have wanted to do in my life, and would do things I wanted to anyway, despite what others might expect of me.  All I had wanted was to play the equal to our next leader, and I always thought that my father expected that of me.  The only thing that I felt would make my father happy would be to get mated with a strong wolf so the pack would be in good hands.  Looking in my full length mirror, I take stock of what I had to offer my new mate physically.

    At 5'8" I tower over most of the other she-wolves.  I had gorgeous platinum blonde hair that I loved to wear braided all the way down my back.  My warm, hazel eyes could make any male wolf lost in them if I turned on the charm and Luna authority.  My chest was nothing to speak of, but due to many years of training with the warriors, and playing volleyball, softball, and basketball in school, my ass was legendary, if I do say so myself.  I found myself looking in my closet, trying to figure out what I would wear the first time I would hang out with my new mate.

    "Well, that's not a problem, really," Kristy said, pulling me out of my haze.  I look over at her with a confused and surprised expression on my face, which makes her smirk at me in response.

    "Care to explain?  Because we can't have a human lead this pack.  You know my dad will have a fit to anger the Moon Goddess if he finds out I got stuck with someone he views as lower than omegas.  I have to reject him,"  I stated dramatically, coming to that inevitable conclusion.  I then started the rejection process.  I stand up and go to the center of my bedroom. "I, Mira Joy Callahan, daughter of Alpha James Robert Callahan of the Crescent Woods Wolf Pack, reject--" but then I stop.

    "I don't know his name," I realized out loud.

    "Uh huh, and there's one other thing you have to remember, you dumb b***h," Kristy says as she came behind me and gave me a firm swat on the ass.

    "What was that for?!" I turned and glared at her.

    "Three things.  The first is that you're rejecting him without even giving him a chance.  Do you have any idea exactly how unfair that is for him?  You're making entire life decisions about someone who you don't even know yet, and he doesn't know you.  You're his mate, his partner, and everything else.  He's been looking for you for his entire life, and you're thrown him away for little more than an outdated belief and fantasy that no one in the 21st century should ever subscribe to.  The second thing is that you don't know for sure that your dad is going to subscribe to that belief.  He may be set in his ways and have a great deal of tradition behind him, but you have to realize that nothing he has ever said has implied that he will say, 'no humans allowed in the territory.'  I get it, you're nervous about that.  You should be.  But everything in that regard will turn out perfectly."

    I sighed when Kristy explained all of that to me, and my stubbornness and insistence on being right on everything would not allow me to admit that her explanations were damned good.  Then I realized that she said three things, and those were only two.

    "What else do you have in mind?" I asked, calling her out on the mystical third thing she didn't talk about.

    "Oh. Right.  Well, the third is that you could always turn him when the time is right," Kristy said nonchalantly.

    "Excuse me?  Why would I want to do that?" I asked.

    "Simple.  He's going to love you, and he will damn near kill himself just to see you smile, and that alone is worth its weight in gold.  You have to remember that you're going to be everything to him, and that he has to be consulted in every decision you make.  Your world can no longer revolve just around you, whether you like it or not."

    I sighed again.  I still refused to admit it, but Kristy was spot on.  I pledged to myself right then and there that I would figure out some way to protect my mate and love him, taking things slow if I have to.

    "What time is it?" I asked Kristy, who glanced at her watch for me.

    "6:45.  Let's go get something to eat.  I'm famished, and your nephew is as well."

    I laughed.  "Good idea," I replied, coming up with an even better idea right then and there.  "In fact, I think I'm going to shift and head to my mate's property on the northwest point of our boundary after dinner.  He's in the red brick and stone house, I just want to see that he's okay."

    Kristy beamed at me, looking quite smug that she talked me off the ledge.  "Look at you, making moves a mate would.  I'm proud of you."

    I rolled my eyes.  "Shut up, I'm hungry," I replied, and off we went to the dining hall, lost in the thoughts of our afternoon together and about our own mates.

***MICHAEL POINT OF VIEW***

    I can feel the excitement in me again, or at least what I think is excitement.  It has been so long since I've felt it, I honestly don't know what it means to be excited for something.  That had been forced out of me a long time ago.

    I had just gotten back from my new school and set up my classroom the way that I wanted.  The entire staff seemed to be really nice, and every single one of them made me feel right at home.  I even stopped at the local restaurant for a bite, and was greeted by everyone there who was either an alumnus of the building or had students there currently.  When I told them my resume, everyone was surprised that I had come this far west.  I even had to laugh when my waitress gave me her phone number.  I don't think I'm going to use it, but it wouldn't hurt to have.

    Once I got home, I realized, though, I was nervous, so I went to my rehearsal studio.  One of the things I pride myself on is how good of a musician I am.  My guitar collection was extensive, and I had my trusty Fender amp handy, so I plugged in and jammed on some old 1950s Rock-A-Billy tunes that just flowed from my heart.  When I got finished, I no longer heard the guttural sound of anguish that had been showing itself every once in a while.  What I did hear, however, was what sounded like a large dog howling.  I had no clue that any of the houses near me had dogs in them, so I made a note to try to seek them out in the future.

    When I shut everything off, I went upstairs to my office area and facetimed my dad.  He seemed proud of me for everything I had done again, which was such a huge relief to see.  When I signed off, I got my first day of the school year necktie ready (no small feat, as I owned a mere 500 neckties), and crashed on my brand new memory foam bed.  I turned off the heavy metal music I normally have playing at all times, and rolled over.

    I couldn't help but noticing that I heard heavy footprints around my house like something was running in circles around it.  Oh well.  I made a mental note of getting some outdoor cameras while flower shopping the next day, and eventually drifted off.