Two Mated Alphas

The Smell of Gardenias and Roses

Sebastian’s POV

Another year, another meeting of the Alpha’s Circle. Each year, Alphas from around the world come together to discuss treaties, pack disputes, borders, rogue attacks, interactions with the vampire species and witches, and other miscellaneous topics. Each pack that is represented gets along with the other. The only pack to worry about is the one that never shows up: The Shadow Moon Pack. If they showed up, then things would be interesting. But they wouldn’t, so things would be boring. The only thing happening at this meeting out of the ordinary is that the Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack is bringing his mysterious son to introduce to the council and perform the ceremonial declaration of his line of succession. Introductions to the Alpha’s Circle always end up being interesting, especially since no one has had a chance to size the kid up. Even though sons of Alphas don’t attend this meeting until they’re ready to take over, they still interact with the Alpha’s Circle when there are official visits, smaller gatherings, etc. Blood Moon was always represented by the current leadership while the Alpha's son was away in Europe getting his education.

When an Alpha begins to prepare his next in line to take over, he brings him to the Alpha’s Circle meeting. The current Alpha, Beta, and Gamma sit to the left, and the soon-to-be Alpha, Beta, and Gamma sit to the right. There’s a bit of ceremony, and the current Alpha declares the official line of succession for his pack. The next in line for Alpha then accepts his position and makes an oath to their pack, the council, and our kind. All of the other Alphas, Betas, Gammas and their mates are present for this special moment. I went through this with my father just two years ago when I turned 25 and was ready to take over the pack per werewolf laws. No unmated Alpha can take over before turning 25, and I had yet to find my mate. To say my mother and father were disappointed I hadn’t found my mate yet was an understatement. They weren’t disappointed in me necessarily, but they knew how important an Alpha finding his Luna is for a pack.

My family worked for generations to raise our pack up, strengthen it, and watch it grow. My father and his father before him were relentless in their efforts to see our pack grow, especially after my aunt was viciously murdered on the eve of her 16th birthday. After his firstborn child was murdered, my grandfather swore to show no mercy when it came to those who stood against our pack. My aunt was my father’s twin and older sister by a few minutes, and he took her loss even harder than my grandfather. He even ran away for a time in search of her killers, but they were never found. My father returned for his 18th birthday after 2 years of searching, discovered the Beta’s daughter, my mother, was his mate, and began his training to take over as Alpha. My father was as fiercely protective of our pack as my grandfather was, and I picked that up from him. He knew just as I did that the strength of my Luna would do nothing but strengthen me and therefore our pack.

The thought of our Luna and mate suddenly gets the attention of my wolf, Alaric. Alaric starts prancing uneasily in my head while whining.

Dude, what’s your deal? I asked him crossly.

I sense her and I smell something really good. It’s our Mate.

I inhale deeply and he’s right: something does smell really good. It’s faint, but I smell a mix of gardenias and roses. The smell is intoxicating.

Mate must be here with one of the Alphas!! Alaric howls.

Calm down, Alaric. We have this meeting to go to. We will find her after.

Alaric huffs in my head while I roll my eyes. Mate or not, we have work to do.

I walk through the lobby of the hotel we are staying at and meet up with my Beta, Jay, and my Gamma, Victor. They nod their heads and flank me while we walk down the hall and enter the large conference room. Alphas are already getting settled with their teams, while their Lunas and the other high-ranking females sit behind them. They are all chatting happily, and everyone seems to be excited to finally meet the next in line for Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack.

Blood Moon is one of the oldest and strongest packs in the world, almost werewolf royalty if there was such a thing. Every pup is told bedtime stories about former Alphas of Blood Moon. My favorites were always about Alpha James Laurent. He was a badass and aside from my own father and grandfather, a hero of mine. He was supposedly the biggest werewolf to ever exist, with pitch black fur. Black wolves are extremely rare and stronger than regular wolves, like pure-blood Alphas. The Laurent family of Blood Moon is notorious for having wolves with black fur. Their current Alpha, Alpha Easton Laurent, has a black and dark grey wolf, which was pretty rare too.

I aspired for my pack, the Opal Moon Pack, to be as renowned and respected as Blood Moon. My grandfather and father worked to build up our pack’s strength, and I’ve continued their work as Alpha now. We were strong, and served as important allies to many packs across the world. Other packs were beginning to see Opal Moon as a force to be reckoned with, and it made my heart swell with pride to see our hard work pay off.

I smiled and offered pleasant greetings to the Alphas around the table, then settled in with my Beta and Gamma to my right and left, and no women behind us. None of us had found our mates.

The smell of gardenias and roses all but disappeared and as I scanned the room, I didn’t feel anything.

Bash: Mate isn’t here. We smelled her earlier. Where is she? Alaric whimpered in my head.

Relax Alaric. The only women in here are mated. She’s probably somewhere else, probably the daughter of one of these men or something.

Alaric whimpered louder, clearly wanting to blow off the meeting and go after the smell. I clenched my teeth because I wanted to do the same, but I knew how important this meeting was. I decided to shut him out and read the agenda laid out in front of me to distract myself. This was going to be the longest meeting of my life, but it was part of my job. But so was finding my Luna. I grit my teeth at that last thought, feeling Alaric whimper and struggling to get my feet moving and out the door to find her.