UNCLAIMED MATE

Chapter 4-— Finding my Mate

••Derek••

I have taken seven packs this year alone.

Seven.

Some of them strong enough to fight back. Some of them foolish enough to think they could win. Anyway, they all ended the same way—on their knees, bleeding, broken, and forced to submit.

Tonight was no different.

The scent of blood still lingered in the air as I stood at the center of what used to belong to another Alpha. The ground beneath my boots was damp, stained with the remains of a fight that had barely lasted long enough to be called one.

Pathetic.

The former Alpha lay a few feet away, barely conscious, his breathing uneven, his body refusing to accept what his pride already had.

I tilted my head slightly, studying him, not with cruelty but with disinterest.

“You fought well,” I said, though we both knew that wasn’t true.

His lips twitched, like he wanted to say something, but no words came out. Good. There was nothing worth saying anyway.

“From this moment,” I continued, my voice calm but heavy with authority, “Your pack belongs to me.”

Silence followed.

Then slowly, one by one, they bowed. They all always submitted in the end.

By the time night fully settled, the entire village had been gathered.

Torches burned around the clearing, casting flickering shadows across anxious faces. Fear was everywhere, suffocating, and unavoidable. It rolled off them in waves, feeding something dark and familiar inside me.

This is what I was built for.

At twenty-four, I had become something most Alphas spent a lifetime trying to be. I took my position at eighteen, and instead of simply ruling, I expanded. I reshaped everything around me until there was nothing left that did not belong to me.

And still…

It wasn’t enough.

“You’re thinking too much again.”

Riven’s voice came from my left, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I didn’t look at him immediately. I didn’t need to. I could already sense him there, composed, always watching more than he let on.

“You’re talking too much,” I replied.

A quiet chuckle followed. “That’s usually your line.”

I finally turned my head slightly, my gaze landing on him. He stood exactly as I expected, relaxed but alert, his silver eyes scanning the crowd like he was already ten steps ahead of everyone else. Beside him stood his mate, Elias.

Where Riven was sharp and calculating, Elias was quiet, almost unreadable at first glance, but there was a depth to him, something grounded, something that balanced Riven in a way no one else could.

They were different from the rest, but in this pack, strength mattered more than anything else, and they had proven theirs.

“You’ve got their attention,” Elias said calmly, his gaze moving across the gathered wolves. “They’re waiting for what comes next.”

“They’ll get it,” I replied.

My eyes shifted slightly as another presence approached.

Kyra.

She moved with confidence, her steps measured, her posture straight. There was always something deliberate about the way she carried herself, like she knew exactly what people expected from her and chose to give it to them anyway. Her eyes met mine briefly.

There it was again. That look.

The look she always has in her eyes when she looks at me. Elias had once told me how he could sense that she had a thing for me. Even though she's a beauty to behold and all that, my inner wolf isn't attracted to her at the slightest, and we've all grown up through our journey these years as good friends. I'd rather it stayed that way.

Wolves are meant to have only one mate for the rest of their lives, and I've been waiting and searching all these years for mine.

“The outer guards are in place,” she said, her voice steady. “No one gets in or out without us knowing.”

“Good,” I replied.

She didn’t move away.

For a moment, she just stood there, her gaze lingering slightly longer than necessary, like she was waiting for something.

Maybe a reaction, or something to confirm whatever it was she believed, but like every other time. There was nothing.

I turned away first.

The crowd shifted slightly as I stepped forward, their attention snapping back to me instantly. Fear tightened across their expressions, their bodies stiffening under the weight of my presence.

I let the silence stretch, so they can feel it. Then I spoke.

“This pack now belongs to me.”

My voice carried easily, cutting through the night without effort.

“No one moves without my command. No one acts against my rule. You will serve, or you will fall.”

No one questioned it. They know better.

As the crowd began to disperse under Riven’s direction, a few figures lingered.

Women, of course.

It was always the same. They approached carefully at first, then with more confidence as none of them were immediately rejected.

One of them stepped forward, her voice soft, almost careful. “Alpha, if you need anything tonight…”

I didn’t even let her finish.

“I don’t.”

The word was flat.

A flicker of confusion crossed her face. Then disappointment.

She stepped back slowly, her gaze dropping as the others followed.

Riven let out a quiet breath beside me. “You’re going to run out of willing volunteers at this rate.”

“I doubt it,” I replied.

He smirked slightly. “Fair point.”

But even as the moment passed, something felt off.

I stilled completely.

“What is it?” Elias asked immediately, catching the shift before anyone else.

I didn’t answer right away, because I wasn’t sure yet.

Then it hit me. A scent so faint it almost wasn’t there, but it was enough to get my attention.

My entire body went rigid. My wolf surged forward instantly, awake in a way it hadn’t been in years, alert and restless.

Something about that scent—

It wasn’t like anything I had ever felt before.

It wasn’t just noticeable, it was pulling.

My jaw tightened as I inhaled again, deeper this time. Trying to catch it, but it was already fading.

Slipping away like it was never meant to be held.

“What is that…” I muttered under my breath.

Riven stepped closer. “What?”

I didn’t look at him. My focus was already somewhere else.

“Spread out,” I said suddenly.

Both Riven and Elias went still.

Kyra’s gaze sharpened instantly.

“What are we looking for?” she asked.

I exhaled slowly, my eyes darkening as my wolf pressed forward again, restless, impatient.

“Something that doesn’t belong here.”

The wind shifted just slightly, and for a brief moment It came back. Stronger, and clearer.

And this time…

There was no mistaking it. My chest tightened.

“Mate…” I whispered.

The word felt foreign in my tongue. Unfamiliar, but undeniable.

Riven went completely still.

Kyra’s expression changed.

Elias said nothing.

But I was already moving, because somewhere out there. In the darkness beyond this village. She is close.

And for the first time in years…

I could feel her.