Hated Ties That Bind

Chapter Three

Isabella sat behind her desk, her head in her hands as she massaged a headache that was throbbing behind her eyes.

‘You OK baby?’ came Riley’s voice from the doorway.

Sighing, Isabella looked up, ‘yeah, just a headache’ she replied, ‘I’m getting too old for this’ she added as she waved a hand over the desk that was littered with paperwork.

Riley stepped in the room and shut the door, walking over to the small drinks cabinet, and pouring his wife a glass of water before grabbing a box of pain killers and bringing them over to her.

‘You need to let Nate help you more’ he chastised as he handed her the glass.

Taking it, Isabella nodded, ‘I know, but he still hasn’t found his mate Riles, I don’t want to load him down so much that he doesn’t have time to keep searching for her, I want all my babies to find their other halves’ she said sadly.

Riley took a seat across from her, his own face becoming solemn, ‘I know babe, I want that for him too, it must be awful for him to watch not only his sister find her mate . . I wish she hadn’t found him now I know who it is’ he added under his breath, ‘but also his youngest brother? He doesn’t tell us, but I can see it’s eating him.’

Isabella nodded dejectedly, ‘I don’t know what to do babe, he’s been out so many times to search for her, she’s not at any of the surrounding packs, he needs a Luna.’

Riley hesitated for a moment before muttering ‘he could take a chosen mate.’

Isabella growled angrily, ‘my son deserves his fated mate’ she scowled.

‘I know babe, and I want that for him too, but how long can you keep watching him return from his searches alone and heartbroken? How many more times can we see him hole up in his room, so he doesn’t have to watch everyone around him with their mate?’ Riley replied softly.

Isabella met her husband’s gaze, would you have stopped searching for me if we hadn’t have been best friends? If I had been unknown to you, would you have let the thought of me go?’ she asked.

Riley sighed, ‘no, probably not, but I already knew you and I know how I felt about you before I knew we were mates, my biggest fear was you not being my mate’ he replied with a smile.

The Alpha shook her head as she returned his smile, ‘you are so damn cheesy, do you know that?’ she grumbled as she stood and wrapped her arms around the warrior, curling against his chest with a sigh.

A sharp knock drew the pair apart, ‘come in’ Isabella called as she retook her seat.

Opening the door, Nathaniel peeked his head in before pushing it wide and walking in, Landen at his heels.

‘Hey Nate, what’s up mate?’ Riley asked jovially as the older pair gave the two young men their full attention.

Taking a deep breath, Nathaniel took a seat before saying, ‘mum, dad, I’ve decided to go and look for my mate again.’

Isabella’s face lit up as she replied, ‘that’s great Nate, we’ll sort a few warriors, you can go around the packs again, just in case your mate was underage the last time you visited . . ‘

Nathaniel held up his hand to stop his mother’s rambling, ‘mum, I don’t want to take a load of warriors with me, I just want to go Landen and I, keep it a bit low key’ he replied heavily.

Isabella frowned as she prepared to argue, ‘Nate, I know you are all grown up but you still need protection, you are the future Alpha’ she chided.

Nathaniel nodded sadly, ‘I know mum and that is why I don’t want them to come, I hate seeing how excited they are when we leave, the belief that we might just find the next Luna.  Then as we work through the packs, the feeling of hopelessness that washes over them all as we hit dead end after dead end, I can’t keep putting our pack through this.’

The Alpha watched her son carefully, her frown deepening as she growled, ‘what do you mean Nate? They’ll keep hope until you find her.’

Nathaniel shook his head, ‘no mum, I can’t keep doing this, if I don’t find her this time, I’m going to take a chosen mate, one that will benefit our pack and that I enjoy spending time with’ he muttered.

‘Nate, you can’t do that’ the she wolf shouted, her temper rising through her worry, ‘you can’t just throw away your fate like that.’

The future Alpha met his mothers gaze resolutely as he ran a hand through his short brown hair, ‘yes I can mother, and I will.  You want to step down, I want to take over and I need a Luna so if I cannot find my true mate then I will pick someone that I think will be good for our pack’ he replied.

Isabella slammed her fists down on the desk, ‘and what of her fated mate Nate? There will be a werewolf out there denied his true love because of this’ she growled.

‘Not everyone gets their fated mate mother, some find that theirs have died, others get rejected, who’s to say mine didn’t take a chosen mate? I don’t have a Luna mother, and I can’t just pluck her out of thin air for you, at some point we are all going to have to accept that this might never happen for me.’  The warrior swallowed hard, trying to regain control as his wolf started to surface with his emotions, ‘I would love to find my mate mum, seriously I would, that’s why I have been searching for the last four years, but I can’t find her, surely a back up plan is a good idea?’ he begged hopelessly.

The she wolf went to open her mouth before Riley beat her too it, ‘he’s right babe, not everyone finds their mate, we don’t know if she is still alive, are you going to deny him the pack indefinitely?’ he asked softly.

Isabella swallowed as she shook her head, ‘of course not, I just . . I really wanted you to find that one special person’ she continued sadly.

Nathaniel reached across the desk, taking his mother’s hand in his own, ‘I know mum, so do I but I can’t risk the pack on a dream that is becoming less and less likely to become real.’

Straightening up, Isabella nodded, ‘fine, you can go without guards, and whilst you check the packs again, I accept that you may also be looking for someone who could be an excellent choice of chosen mate’ she said stiffly.

Nathaniel gave a weak smile, ‘yeah, about that’ he started hesitantly, ‘we were not planning on going around the main packs again . . ‘

‘Nate’ Isabella warned, her eyes hardening.

‘Mum, we have been already, she is not there, I need to go off grid, find packs that we don’t know, lone wolves . . ‘ he started

‘And Rogues’ Riley added, his gaze darkening.

Rolling his eyes, Nathaniel nodded, ‘and Rogues if we come across them’ he agreed.

‘Absolutely not’ both his parents shouted in unison.

‘Why not? It worked for Gabriella!’ Nathanial shouted back, his temper rising again.

‘Rowan was different’ Isabella argued, ‘he wasn’t really a Rogue per see’ she finished weakly.

Nathaniel snorted, ‘no he just worked with Rogues and was a hired mercenary for the Council’ he replied dryly, ‘and yet he is Gabriella’s mate, which tells us that my mate could be anyone, from any walk of life and if you want my true mate by my side, you have to let me turn over every stone to find her.’

His parents exchanged a look, their eyes clouding as they spoke between their personal mind link.  Looking over at Landen, he saw the Beta give a slight shrug of hopelessness before turning back to his parents who were just coming out of their internal conversation.

‘OK Nate, you can go offgrid’ Isabella started, holding up a hand as the warrior broke into a huge grin.  ‘You can go without warriors, and with Landen, BUT’ she added with a growl of warning, ‘your father is going too.’

Nathaniel’s face fell, ’mum! Come on, seriously? I can’t take my dad with me, I’ll be a laughing stock’ he argued in horror.  ‘How can I expect other Alpha’s to respect me when I’m taking my dad to search for my mate?’

The she wolf fixed her son with a steely glare, holding his gaze until he squirmed and looked away in defeat, ‘those are my terms Nate, take them or leave them’ she said sternly.

‘And if I go without him anyway?’ Nathaniel asked sullenly.

Isabella smiled grimly, ‘I have two more options to hand over my pack too, there is no law saying I have to hand it too my first born, I’m sure Gabriella and Rowan would make an excellent Alpha and Luna’ she replied simply.

Nathaniel let out a growl, ‘no way! I have trained for this my entire life! Gabriella got everything, including her mate handed to her, she cannot have my pack as well!’

Tipping her head sideways, Isabella studied her son for a moment, ‘soooo what is your decision then about your father accompanying you then?’ she asked sweetly.

Huffing, the future Alpha nodded, ‘fine, dad comes too’ he agreed in defeat.

‘Good’ Isabella replied quickly with a grin, ‘because your sister would have screamed the packhouse down in a temper if I had even hinted to her to become Alpha.’

Nathaniel snapped his eyes to his mothers amused look, ‘wait, what?’ he spluttered in confusion.

Riley was openly laughing at this point, ‘son, do you not know your sister at all?’ he teased.  ‘Gabby would rather be handed over to a vampire as a gourmet meal than ever take over the pack . . her words not ours’ he chuckled.

Glaring at his mother, Nathaniel growled, ‘that was low mum, even for you.’

Isabella laughed as she got up and swept around the desk to hug her son who accepted it grudgingly.  ‘Hey don’t take it too hard baby, mummy has had many years of getting people to do what she wants, where do you think your sister gets it from’ she teased before releasing him and ushering him and his Beta from the room.