The Older Alpha’s Mate

Chapter 2

Amber POV

I open the door to my aunt Tiffany scowling up at me. She is a petite woman with short blond hair, and I swear she has always been jealous of my height and curves.

“Yes, Miss Tiffany?” I reply with a smile.

“How DARE you forget to prepare my blueberry cheesecake overnight oats?!” She says so only I can hear.

Oh s**t. Last night I was so preoccupied with cleaning up after dinner and mopping the whole 5000 square foot packhouse that I completely forgot she had said that. Or did she even tell me?

I hear my cousins chuckling as they come out of their rooms, all ready for school in their designer clothes.

“Can you ever get anything right, cuz?” Jesse says with his usual smirk.

I ignore them completely and close the door right in her face.

I hear her crying her way down the hall, saying she will force my uncle to remove me from the pack instantly. She has been saying this for years, so I just roll my eyes and grab my backpack for school. Since I have to walk every day the mile to school I just grab a muffin to go and get on my way.

I meet my only friend Sage when I walk through the school doors, her layered silver hair and 5’10” height extremely noticeable in the crowd of students. I tell her every day not to meet me here so early and to sleep in, but she just says she’s up anyway with the cows and horses.

She must’ve noticed my depressed stare when she says, “Planning on running away again?”

“Is it that obvious?” I reply. “I mean, they wouldn’t even notice I was gone until dinner, and maybe by then I could be on a plane back to the Star Lake pack!”

“Girl, you have GOT to start defending yourself to those egotistical fu****s!” Sage answers. She’s not the type of girl to take sh** from anyone, but she doesn’t know what it’s like. She grew up with the most amazing, open minded parents, Riley and Jude. They live on one of the packs farms, with four older brothers to protect her at all costs. Her house is like a sanctuary, it’s so peaceful and it’s my dream home.

We walk into history together, ignoring our peers who constantly glare at us in the hallways. I’ve been called all the names by the popular kids, the latest ones being ugly elf and dirty skinny tree. Sage reminds me that they’re just jealous of our heights and wishes they were as pretty as me. I don’t know what I would do without her.

The day goes by, the plan to run away coming and going from my mind as if there was an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. I have very little money to run away, but I managed to save some from some side work I accomplished tending to the pack priest’s garden for the past couple summers. I could easily catch the local bus to the nearby airport and be on a one way flight within the hour. But a part of me in the back of my mind won’t let me. It’s almost as if this mystical energy is tying me to this pack, and I just can’t bring myself to do it.

Finally, the school day ends and I walk home with Sage, just as we’ve done the past 5 years.

“So Amber…what are we doing for your birthday?” She asks cautiously as if she already knows the answer.

“You know my captures won’t let me off chores for anything, not even my birthday.” Last year on my 17th, they decided to host Alpha Raymond and his Beta Sam with their families at the packhouse and it was brutal. She just kept coming up with request after request all night, and forced me to sleep the second it was done, knowing that I had late night plans with Sage.

“Amber. It’s your 18th birthday! The one and only! Do you really want to be old and wrinkly one day and look back and say damn I really should’ve listened to Sage and lived my f***ing life! Your mate is out there, waiting for you and it’s the night you’ll get to meet your wolf.”

She’s right. She really knows me better than anyone else on this Earth, and I know I would regret it if I didn’t just have fun for once. Plus, it would be seriously amazing if I were to meet my wolf the second I turn 18. For some, it takes a few days, but I have been feeling slightly different as I inch closer to being 18, as if this energy is consuming my insides.

“You know what, f*** it! You’re right. We’re going to a party!” I smile for once.

“Truly, I am shocked.” Sage jokes. “You must have some sense in you girl for choosing me as a best friend! Good thing I already checked with Spencer who informed me that Lindsay Marshall’s graduation party is the same night as your birthday!”

“Ugh not Lindsay” I roll my eyes. Lindsay Marshall is the “it” girl at our high school, and she really was a b*****. But alas, she throws insane parties that all the hot guys in the pack go to, even the hot older ones because she has three older siblings. “Fine, but we’re getting ready at your place. I can’t risk Tiffany seeing me go out, it’s better off if she thinks I went missing or something.”

“Eeeep!” Sage squeals. She’s been dying to get to know this pack warrior, Cyrus who graduated two years ago. He’ll probably be there, and there could even be warriors from surrounding packs, too.

“If Cyrus turns out to be my mate, I will seriously explode,” Sage exclaims. She turned 18 last week, but has yet to find her mate.

We walk to the packhouse after school, which is in the center of the pack along with the training fields, surrounded by homes of pack warriors. Sage’s farm is still a half mile down the road, probably about a 10 minute walk if you’re brisk. She can do it in about 8 minutes.

“Don’t worry girl, I’ll get all the supplies ready and have a dress for you for the big night. All you have to do is get yourself to my house by 6 so we’ll have enough time to transform you into a princess.” Sage tells me.

“I’ll try my best.” I tell her with a forced smile.