MATE BY CHANCE

“I can’t stand her smug face, can she just be gone?” one of the she-wolves sneered, walking past June after picking up her pup from the pup center June managed. "so old and still no mate. I can never show my face in public ." the other wolf added. She was used to such comments, being all mateless and childless, which made the pack respect her less every day. Yet, they still dropped off their pups as they went on with their daily lives. Her friends, if she could call them that, had one by one distanced themselves from her every year after her 18th birthday that she did not have a mate. She did not have any luck with the boys either because they would each “want a momentary fling” as they waited on their mates. She missed her family in those times, her only family was her father, who had raised her but, thanks to hunters, had died just as she was turning 16, the same year her wolf presented. Misfortune was an understatement, She never knew her mother or any other family member at that and her father never got to meet Leenah, she was like a lone wolf in a pack. Her only hope was getting a mate, preferably from another pack so she could move and start afresh but that hope became dimmer and dimmer every year as her mate never showed up. Thinking of going on a quest to find her mate was out of the picture as the Alpha made it crystal clear that it was dangerous forbidden even, for unmated wolves to be alone outside the pack territory. Her full moons were the worst because the hollowness in her chest always morphed into unbearable pain. She would have taken the matter to her or her agemates if only they gave her the time of day. She was practically an outcast in her pack. She was almost lower in rank, lower than the omegas who were already treated as irrelevant in most packs. Her only comfort was her strength she did not feel like an omega, she occasionally sparred with the betas when assigned patrol duties and never found the training as vigorous as the other omegas thought and did not bother questioning herself. Her wolf was even a different color, a mixture of brown and red with light grey streaks here and there. She also loved spending time playing with the innocent ones and occasionally, she would run around with them in her wolf form, rolling around in grass and sand was the highlight of her day, as peachy as her life could get. 'Soon. This will be us. With our own pups...' Her wolf, Leenah would console her whenever she craved her own pups. She almost begged the moon goddess for a miraculous conception, just as one of the human saints she learned about. Closing up the pup center as the last ungrateful mother picked up their child, June headed for the back of the house where her room was and lay on her bed staring up at nothing in particular, calling for her wolf to comfort her once more, June turned into her pretty wolf Leenah. 'Let’s go for a run, Leenah suggested, swiftly turning into her beautiful wolf and jumping out of the bedroom window. Running always did it for her. She ran around the pack borders sniffing the air for any trespassers and when nothing caught her attention, she went further, beyond her pack borders into her favorite hangout spot. A huge tree had fallen across the reef and crossing it would lead her to the springs. It was amazing no one, human or wolf had ever discovered the spring that flowed into the deep forest. She followed it until she reached an opening that lead to the heart of the forest and there, stood a cottage hidden by the dense trees. She never dared approach the house, not in her human form or her wolf form. She lay a few yards away from the house and just stared at the house, thinking about the owner and what drove them to live in such a remote location. She was envious that they were living the life she wanted. Soon, like clockwork, the lone figure, a man she could tell, went to the side of the house and began his woodwork. The sounds that came from his work were like music to her ears. She lay there and let the man’s work lull her to a peaceful slumber. Hours later, she woke up from her sleep and noticed the man was no longer working but was just seated on what looked like a workbench. As if noticing her gaze on him, the man looked in her direction, and June couldn’t help but look away. She knew he couldn’t see her from this point but her wolf made it easy for her to focus on far objects. She was stunned at the man’s eyes, how fierce he must be, to behold such powerful eyes. Leenah let out a hungry whine and that was her cue to head back home, she hated calling it home because it felt like everything but. Speeding through the forest in a blur of fur, she was back in a room within minutes just as the clock hit midnight. “Cinderella, but make her a lonely wolf”, she thought to herself. Going to her fridge, Leenah nudged it open with her paw and dragged out the fine beefsteak she had gotten herself earlier that day. 'Happy 28th birthday June, we are going to be happy.' Leenah said and she couldn’t help but be hopeless knowing it would be the same as any other year. “Happy birthday Leenah. May we be happy.” June said back to her wolf. *************************** “Must we go that far?” Alpha Chris asked his Luna. “Yes, we must. If you still want to be the True Alpha, you weak mutt.” His Luna replied with a sneer. “Forgive my insolence, Luna.” The alpha said as he bent his head.