My Apocalypse Mate

2- FURTHER SOUTH (Lucas)

        No amount of training could have prepared the packs for what happened three years ago. The rise of a new vampire king, who was brutal and ruthless, brought the world to the apocalypse. He unleashed his vampire subjects like some sick army of his, and conquered the world in exactly 3 days. I have to admit this was some kind of record.

        Normally, the bloodsuckers would live in the shadows, causing minor concern to other creatures, human or not. There would be some weird murder cases and, sometimes, a bigger attack to the packs, but nothing we weren’t used to. But in a world scale strike like that, with the enemy numbers increasing every second, we didn’t stand a chance. I was lucky my pack lived in the east coast of the United States, because we learned quite fast the vampire’s disliking of water and we managed to put the survivors on the pack’s yacht and flee. After a few weeks we arrived at the Caribbean Islands, and we lived there for almost three years. We managed to rebuild our pack’s morale, train harder and even welcome some newcomers in our family.

        However, as everything good must come to an end, a vampire coven found us. The difference of a coven and random vampires is that the first have hierarchy, with the equivalent of an Alpha in charge of their actions. Therefore, they were organized, trained and were looking for groups of survivors. They came on a ship and found us in Haiti, making us leave once again what had become our home. We only escaped because our boat was smaller and could navigate through shallower waters, which gave us a head start that made them lose our track. But I’m sure they are still looking for us.

        As we went further south, our boat begun to malfunction. It was only a matter of time until it sank or there was no fuel anymore. Thomas, my Beta, suggested we make port in the north of Brazil, but at the same time, as we were passing through the Equator Line, my wolf became restless. He didn’t answer my questions, only saying that he felt something important was going to happen if we kept going. As I’m the Alpha, my pack had no choice but to follow my orders to continue.

        A week later, I’m sitting in the upper floor of the yacht, watching the east coast of Brazil, thinking and trying to get something out of my wolf.

        ‘Atlas, it’s about time you tell me what is going on with you. You can’t stay quiet for a minute and it’s giving me headaches’, I tell him.

        ‘Fine’, he says, ‘There is a possibility our mate is nearby. The Moon Goddess is giving me hints for a week, and each time I’m more certain of it.’. His words take their time to sink in my brain, and when they do I almost yell at him:

        ‘And you are telling me this NOW? You know how important this is for us! What kind of hints are you receiving?’.  At the age of 26, I still haven’t found my mate, and I honestly thought that she was dead, due to the circumstances.

        ‘No need to yell, Lucas. I didn’t want to give us false hope, thus I had to be sure. The Goddess has sent me images, mostly of her face and some of her surroundings. So far, I think she is in an island and, on a cliff, there is a lighthouse’. And with that he shared the images with me, and I gasped at her beauty. Her hair is almost golden, her face is tanned and a little bit exotic looking, and her eyes were the blackest eyes I have ever seen, from the eyelashes to the iris. I could almost drown in them. Suddenly, a word comes to my head: Brazilian. She looks very Brazilian.

        My wolf scoffs at me and mentally kick my thoughts away, forcing me to look at the lighthouse image. Carefully, I absorb its details and call the Nerd through the mind link. The Nerd is a member of my pack who doesn’t like training, fighting or anything physical. But he loves books and is an excellent strategist, and in the end, he convinced me to let him be the pack’s theorical advisor, instead of a warrior. I must admit that was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life as Alpha. The werewolf, Adrian, earned his position before the pack’s eyes, and what before was used as an insult, today is a title of great respect: The Nerd. As his mate, Anne, also loves books and studying, I think his heirs will continue the tradition.

        “Did you summon me, Alpha?” I hear Adrian say from behind me.

        “Yes, I did. My wolf received some divine images showing that our mate is nearby. I need you to bring me the nautical charts, or the GPS, and help me discover where are the lighthouses of this region.”. The look of surprise and happiness in his face was priceless. My pack has waited too long for a Luna, the Alpha Female, my love and supporter.

        “I’ll be back in a minute, Alpha” he says, grinning, and almost fall down the stairs while running. I chuckle and stare at the afternoon sun, a huge smile on my face. And, in that exact moment, our boat hits a rock underwater and starts sinking.