The Alpha's Long Awaited Mate

Chapter 1

            Kade James sat behind his desk in his office. He was turned towards the large panoramic windows that overlooked the small mountain town of Palouse Falls. Situated a quarter of the way up the mountain he could see it all. His pack compound was even higher up the mountain. They protected the people, furnished jobs, and helped the community and other outlying towns flourish. But James wasn’t concentrating on that. He was transfixed on HER. His mate. At long last after years of waiting, he found her, or at least he’d seen her. Thursday at Bergamot Bistro, he was picking up lunch after an afternoon run to keep his wolf settled. He was restless as of late, wanting to be down the mountain with the people. Kade wasn’t sure what it meant until that day. After his run, his wolf urged him to go to town instead of the compound. He whined incessantly that what they needed was there and Kade knew that listening to his wolf had never steered him wrong, so into town he went. He walked around and his wolf quieted as the urge to eat grew.

As soon as he was within distance of the bistro his wolf went nuts. Kade had to stop and reign him in as the urge to shift came over him. As he pulled it together, he smelled it. As one, him and his wolf stilled and basked in the scent. Mate! His wolf exclaimed. Kade knew she was there. As he looked around, trying to find the source of the scent, he saw her. She was speaking to a companion and while his wolf growled in jealousy over it, he could already smell that their scents were familial. As he breathed her in again, their eyes met. He watched those beautiful doe brown eyes widen and smelled the corresponding heat that coursed through her. Her arousal was instant and he had to close his eyes and rein in his wolf as he was going wild, shouting MINE over and over. When he opened his eyes, her eyes were still on him, and her brown skin had a distinct flush to it. Her companion asked her something again and her eyes shifted to him. Instantly, him and his wolf growled in frustration. He went into the bistro, grabbed a water and a turkey BLT with sweet potato fries. As he made his way back out, they were passing him by. It took everything within him not to grab her and haul her to him and claim her lush lips. He heard her companion say that the furniture delivery would be by during 11 and 12 and gleamed that she was a new transplant to Palouse.

Perfect, his wolf practically purred. Though he couldn’t have her that day, he was guaranteed to find her again in the small town. There wasn’t a thing that he wasn’t aware of when it came to the small town that the Mountain Fall Pack protected. He would soon know who she was, and he would soon do everything to have her. At a knock on his door he turned and called the person to enter. His beta and younger brother entered. “Alpha.” They said in unison. He nodded in acknowledgement. “Uncle Barlow and his wife Danielle will be in the area tomorrow.” His brother, Luke, said. He said his uncle’s wife’s name in distain. While they loved his uncle very much, Danielle, his wife, was not one that was easy to get along with. “That’s fine. Make sure the area is secure after their arrival. That Dani dear hasn’t brought any enemies with her.” Dani was a menace wherever she went. He understood that she was his uncles’ mate, but she refused to believe that her uncle was anything but a beta. She urged him to make moves to make their own pack or urged him to try and take over others. When their uncle refused, Dani made enemies for them exclaiming she would be Luna over packs and challenging alphas on her husband’s behalf. More than once His uncle had to call him for help. He made mention recently of severing their bond, but it was painful for him and he had yet to do it. He also needed a way to keep his 19-year-old son in his custody, despite him being of age. He wanted his son under their wing as he made moves to sever their bond. Even though Dani was their uncle’s mate, they never saw her as their aunt.

 Their aunt Laurie was his Uncle Barlow’s long-time girlfriend and his beta, Micheal’s mother, but they never married. Everyone was for sure that she was his mate, but he never marked her and she never said anything about it. Then his uncle went away on a business trip when they were 8 years old and came back with a marked mate and Laurie and Michael were devastated. They moved out of his cabin within an hour and set up at the edge of the compound on the other side of the valley.  Though Michael, Luke, and himself tried, they couldn’t like Dani, even though they loved Mateo, Michael’s half-brother. Mateo always inserted himself as part of the group despite being so much younger than them and they had nothing but love for the young boy. At 19 he was eager to intern as part of security with his brother. Mateo was also under no illusions when it came to his mother. On more than one occasion he commented on how big of a b***h she was. He was annoyed at how she always pushed him to work and be an alpha. Like his father, Mateo was a born beta. A strong hulking 19-year-old beta that took after his father and brother, but a beta nonetheless. “I believe that your father is coming to begin the process of breaking the bond with Danielle.” Kade said. Michael and Luke’s eyebrows lifted. “How do you know this?” Michael asked. “For a while now, your father has been speaking with me and dad about the possibility of breaking the bond and his placement afterwards. He wants to be in the compound with my father as to not upset Aunt Laurie, and have Mateo here. Apparently, Mateo has been making overtures about joining the Mountain Fall Pack. And you know Mateo thinks of your mom as his own.”

Michael smiled at that. His mother was a generous woman and loved Mateo the first time he snuck home after his brother. Seeing the 5-year-old boy who looked so much like her son and the man she loved for many years, she didn’t turn him away. Instead she called Kade’s father who already was forming a search party for the missing boy with his frantic father and mildly concerned mother. She made him tomato soup with grilled cheese and waited for her Alpha to arrive to take the boy to his parents. Her only request was to make sure his father and mother not set foot on her part of the compound. A fed and sleepy Mateo was rocked by his brother’s mother until he slept and handed to his alpha, blissfully unaware of the trouble he caused. Since that day there was never a time he wasn’t welcomed to Laurie’s home, often preferring to stay with her and Michael on his visits to the compound. By the time he was 10, he was spending summers in her home and calling her mom. Though everyone could see Laurie was sad that the boy wasn’t hers, she never withheld her love and affection from him. Everyone could see that It affected Barlow to see the son of him and his mate cleave to the woman he once loved. The strangeness of it all was that Dani was unaffected about it all. Often not caring about Mateo at all until he reached an age where she thought his size and power could be of use to her. By that point Mateo replaced his mother in his heart.

“He is leaving Mateo here and traveling to the high council to have them sever the bond, as they are the only ones who can. He’s told Dani that they are traveling to high council to petition to make his own pack. Barlow said she Is giddy and was more than happy to have Mateo find his way on his own and they make their way to high council. Your father has been in contact and has asked us to keep it under wraps but to let the packs on the way know that he is passing through and to ignore the ramblings of his mate. Everyone has agreed though none are happy. They have made it known that they are unhappy with having her come through their territory at all. She has made to many enemies. I’m not sure that the high council will let her leave once she has been placed in their grasp. They’ve only held off on carting her in for high crimes because your father has reigned her in somewhat, but now that he has already sent word to them with a petition to break the bond, I don’t believe things will go well for her.” “It is of no consequence to me. She deserves it. And he- he will have learned his lesson, I guess. It makes no difference to me except for how it affects Mateo. Has he been made aware?” “No. but once your father has given us word that they made it to council we will let him know. Then even if he wishes to stop it, it will be too late.” Michael nodded grimly at that. While he had no love for the woman, he didn’t want his brother hurt, and he wasn’t entirely sure he would not be.

“Well that was a surprise.” Luke said with a hint of laughter. “Onto other news, we have 3 new hires. One Hilda Nelson for executive assistant, Manuel Baker for security, and a Alani Mitchell for executive assistant. She comes with a recommendation from the Seattle branch.” “Ok, did you have a preference for your assistant?” Kade asked, already penciling in the tasks that his new assistant would need to do. “I was leaning towards Ms. Mitchell, but Ms. Nelson doesn’t have as much experience in secretarial work as Ms. Mitchell and I know you need someone who needs to hit the ground running.” Kade nodded in acknowledgement. He didn’t need someone who wasn’t capable and he had no desire to teach anyone. Especially since he’d be devoting his time to looking for his mate, whoever she was. Suddenly, he wondered if one of these women were his mate. His body tingled in anticipation. “Ms. Mitchell is younger, but she has been working at Catamount Lodge since she was 16, graduated from University of Washington, while still working at said lodge and was the lodge coordinator since she was 18. It is her family’s lodge. But I did stay there for 2 weeks a year ago and it’s a tight ship there. So I don’t believe nepotism was at work there. I was very pleased with accommodations and operations there. I think she may be better for you. Ms. Nelson has only been a secretary to a small law firm out of Tacoma. She may be able to handle the work load, but she also has a child and wouldn’t be able to fulfill your travel requirements.” “Then It’s settled, Ms. Mitchell will take over as my assistant and you will have Ms. Nelson.” Kade watch something flare in his brother’s eyes and wondered about it. “Now that it’s settled, I have something to tell you both.” Luke and Michael’s riveted to his. “I found my mate.”