Alpha James: Book 1 of The Alpha Series

3. Hunter's Moon

James

The last couple of months of school went by quickly, thank the Moon Goddess. The only problem was me getting lonely at the end of each day on the top floor of the packhouse. I was so used to being surrounded by my family that the quiet floor of the packhouse would now get irritating. This was going to take some getting used to.

While at school, all the little she-wolves would throw themselves at me every chance they got. It was always right there for me to take but I didn’t give into any of them. This was torture because my body wanted it but Bruno didn’t. He would be increasingly annoying and hurt my head when I would get close to a she-wolf that wasn’t ours. Especially the ones that you could smell the innocence on.

I was so happy when graduation finally happened. I was able to escape school, the drama surrounding it and all the girls giving me unwanted attention. Being huddled in my office kept the unwanted advances away, but I couldn’t stay in there all the damn time.

I was never interrupted while watching over the warrior's training or when I was training. I found ways to keep myself busy, but there was so much time to get into trouble still and I didn’t want that. At some point, I would need to find things that made me happy that didn’t involve possibly doing things I shouldn’t.

When the summer officially started, I decided to start my search for my Luna in the other packs. I started at Hunter’s Moon with a weekend away while Freddie looked after the pack. I was also in the market for a Beta. I needed to give poor Freddie a break. He was older than my dad, so I’m sure he was ready to be done.

I left on a Friday morning to spend the weekend at Hunter’s Moon with my family as I started my search. I arrived before lunch and met my aunt Jamie on the front porch of the packhouse. I wrapped her in a big hug before saying a word.

“Where is everyone?” I asked.

“Cameron’s in his office, the boys are getting ready to go swimming and the girls are at a friend's house.”

“So I’m guessing I’m stuck with you?” I asked in a teasing manner.

“Yeah, unless you want to be on your own,” she said as she crossed her arms over her chest and popped her hip out to the side.

I smiled and said, “there’s nothing better than hanging out with my favorite person.”

“Oh, now we suck up when I threaten for you to be on your own?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

I shrugged and said, “maybe.”

She laughed at me before motioning for me to follow her into the village. We walked side by side as we traveled down the cobblestone road. This pack village was always one of my favorites. It had that old European feel to it, making it seem like you left the country even though you hadn’t.

Aunt Jamie led me down the street to her flower shop and we stepped inside. The aroma of a flower shop was one that you could never forget. Each one smelled the same and it was delightful.

I stood close to the front door while looking around and asked, “Didn’t aunt Cala work here for you?”

“Yep,” aunt Jamie answered while looking over the flowers in pots in the arrangements.

“Are you hoping that you have hired my mate in here now too?” I asked with a hopeful smile.

She stopped what she was doing and turned to me to shrug while saying, “sure. Maybe.”

I could hear someone fumbling around in the back of the shop suddenly, so I gave the entryway my full attention. I was hoping aunt Jamie had her magical way as usual and had my mate here. That would make my life so great and so much easier.

My eyes went wide as through the entryway to the back of the store came a tall thin man with a giant smile on his face. He winked at me as he went about his work and I stood there a little shocked. I glanced over to find aunt Jamie staring at me with a smile on her face. She knew what she was doing. I swear our entire family is alike when it comes to messing with one another.

"Nope," I said while scratching my head and looking down at my feet.

This guy wasn't my mate and I sure as hell wasn't interested, even if he might have been. Aunt Jamie talked with the guy in the shop and made sure everything was in order before we left. As we walked the streets of their village, I looked around at everyone working and playing with pups.

"Do y’all have any Betas in the pack that are close to my age?" I asked.

Aunt Jamie thought for a second before saying, "No. I'm sorry James."

"It's ok. There are a lot of other packs here in the states to visit still."

"True."

We turned to go back to the packhouse. As we passed even more pack members, I found a few she-wolves that were beautiful and they weren’t throwing themselves at me. It was a nice change and it excited me. I felt relaxed for the first time since becoming Alpha.

When we reached the packhouse, aunt Jamie left me to go talk with uncle Cameron in his office while she checked on their pups. I walked into uncle Cameron's office to see him at his desk. I felt like that's all an Alpha was meant to do, sit at his desk and work until it was time to hand over the pack to the next in line. What a boring ass existence to be the Alpha.

I walked over to the couch and sat down. Uncle Cameron sighed and looked up from his papers.

"No luck finding your mate?" he asked.

"No. We walked around the village and aunt Jamie thought she was funny taking me to her flower shop, making me think that my mate was there like aunt Calla was for uncle Mason."

Uncle Cameron laughed and said, "she likes feeling like the Moon Goddesses matchmaker. She's been pretty successful at bringing mates together."

I sat there thinking about it for a while and wondered if she could possibly know who my mate was. I think I was just going to outright ask her. With her Goddess powers, there’s no telling what she has seen.

Moments later, Aunt Jamie came into the office and sat down next to me.

“Where are the pups?” Cameron asked.

“The boys are upstairs playing video games and the girls are on Rambo and Sage’s floor of the packhouse playing with them and some friends,” Jamie answered.

“Ok,” he said.

“I have a question for you, aunt Jamie,” I said, pulling her attention to me.

“What’s up, James?”

“Do you know who my mate is?”

“I can’t tell you that. All I can tell you is that she will reveal herself but it will take a while.”

I sat there thinking about what she said and realized that she probably did know who it was. Something told me she wasn’t allowed to say or she just didn’t want to. I asked nothing more on the subject. If she wanted me to know the details she would have told me everything. She said it wasn't time yet, but how long would I have to wait?

I watched as she got a mind-link and got up from her seat to walk out the door.

“I’ll be back. I need to go check on something in the greenhouse,” she said, then slipped from the room.

“Things never change with her do they?” I asked.

“No. She’s always busy with something.”

I nodded my head and asked, “Can I ask you something personal?”

“Yeah. What’s up?”

“You’re five years older than Jamie, so you weren’t still a virgin when you found her?”

His eyebrows rose on his forehead before he answered with, “no.”

“Did aunt Jamie ever have issues with the she-wolves you had been with?”

“Ah, I see where this is going. No, she didn’t because I let those she-wolves know that they were nothing more than something to fill a temporary need.”

I nodded my head while thinking about what he said. I knew I would still need to exercise control and keep myself from sticking my shaft in everything. I needed to have standards or at least a plan if I was going to sleep with anyone before I found my mate.

We dropped the subject there as he got a phone call. I listened to his business call while getting my own phone out of my pocket. I checked my messages to find a few from my mom and Alison. I needed friends. I mean I had some in high school, but now they see me differently and I find it annoying.

The only people that treated me the same were my family members and Freddie and his family. I had grown closer with Freddie's family since I became the Alpha and Micah was looking more and more likely to be my Beta when he came of age. I just wish it wasn’t so far in the future.

I enjoyed my time at Hunter’s Moon, visiting my family and meeting all the of-age she-wolves that were unmated. They didn’t have a Beta for me to hang out with, so Freddie was still stuck with me for now. I would find what I needed and find who I was fated to be within time. I just needed patience, which was hard for me.