My billionaire Alpha Mate

                It's a warm Friday morning in the city, like most mornings I wake up tossing and turning. Pulling myself out of the dream that is constantly on repeat inside my head. The day I lost my parents and I realized that I would never in my life want a mate. Most little girls day dream of being beautiful princesses, handsome princes and happily ever afters. That's not the childhood I had and not one I ever wanted. I spent my childhood being raised by family members and friends of our pack. I was a young wolf when both my parents were killed by a lone wolf that was making his way through our city. For many centuries werewolves, vampires, witches, we all lived in the shadows hiding from humans. We were a secret to them, a myth kept out of sight so that the humans wouldn’t come looking for us. To them we were monsters and humans tend to destroy what they fear or don't fully understand. And without proper knowledge of who or what we are scares them.                  But times have changed and centuries later hiding is no longer necessary. There are now some cities that we can coexist in and live in peace. Humans have become our friends and allies. Though we have all begun to coexist we are all still potential threats to each other. Our alliance is simple, no one hunts or fights each other inside our cities, dark magic can be used on each other.  We look after each other, work with each other and we protect the humans from any outsiders that may threaten our way of life. By the time our pack tracked down the lone wolf that was hiding in our city he had already killed my father. My father died protecting me and my mother and it was a few weeks later that the mate bond took my mother's life.                   Werewolves only have one mate in life and the bond between wolves is the strongest bond anyone could have. It's common for the other partner to die if the wolves mate dies, they are two halves of a whole. A much stronger bond than the humans love bond. Neither is complete without the other, the wolf can literally die from loneliness and a broken heart. But worst of all finding your mate is not your choice, it just happens and there is no control over it. My entire childhood I hoped and prayed for none of the above, I prayed the only person I would ever need in this lifetime was myself. The pack took care of me but I hated feeling like a charity case. Like everyone pities me.                   I worked hard in school and when I turned eighteen and went to college I studied to be a paralegal. Now at the age of twenty-two I no longer live at the pack house. I worked and saved and my roommate from college is a nice human who is now one of my best friends. She helped me buy a townhouse and get a job at her family's law firm. It's my third month at Wilson's Law firm and I love my job. Its six o'clock when my alarm finally buzzes and breaks me free of my thoughts. After I shower and get dressed i'm out the door. Living on the upper west side in the city is great, I live close to my job and I can walk. I usually grab a cup of coffee and a bagel from the cafe on my way up to the office. “Good morning Ms. Summers” the receptionist greets me as always, every morning. I give her a smile and nod as I sip my coffee on my way to my desk. I'm usually the first one in the office but from the paperwork on my desk it looks like I'm not alone. “Hey good morning Zoey”, my boss Jaimie Wilson greats me.                  “Morning Jaimie, new case?” I gesture toward the stack on my desk as I sit down. “Yeah, we have a big client to prep for” “And he’ll actually be here Monday so anything we can put on hold, do so and make this priority”. “Understood, i’ll get started”. Jaimie gives me a wink and smile and heads to her desk inside the office. The morning flies by and by lunch I'm starving. I just finish my last note when I get a text. It's from Zack, a pack member of mine that I grew up with. He's a really good friend and wants me to have lunch with him and his mate Ella. I texted a quick reply and get ready to head down. “I'm heading around the corner for lunch, need anything?”, I shout to Jaimie as I stand from my desk. “No, i’ll call for something later. But Zoe be back in 45, I want us to cover as much a we can today and not stay too late”. “Yes of course, I won't be long”.                 As I walk into the restaurant Zack and Ella are already seated at a table.``Hey guys, how are you?”. “Zoe Zoe, good to see you” Zack stands to hug me. “You know I hate it when you call me Zoe Zoe'' I say through clenched teeth. “You know he loves doing it just to see that look on your face” Ella says as she also stands to hug me, holding back a giggle. We all take our seats. “Yes I know, but it still drives me crazy”. “How are you guys, what brings you my way?”. “Well you haven't been by the pack house in a while, just making sure you're okay” I stare at Zack, it has been a few months. I hadn't even realized until now how busy I've been. “It hasn't been on purpose, just really busy with the move and work”, “How is everything?”. “Good, the pack is doing well”. “There is talk of a pack moving into the city, their alpha is coming with his beta on Monday''.                  Ella tells me as our food is brought to us. “Another pack?, that's exciting i guess” They both stare at me, Zack clears his throat to speak. “You know another pack could mean…”, “Zack don't” I cut him off I know exactly what they are both thinking. Another pack means more wolves and a potential mate for me. I dread the thought of it. “I don't need nor do i want a mate, you both know this”. “And you know it's not up to you, once your wolf finds its mate she will fight you for him”. “Then i’ll have to reject him” I can tell by the shock on their faces that neither one of them expected me to say that. “But if you do that then both your wolves could die, you'll never find another mate”. Ella says with tears almost in her eyes.                “You know, I envy humans. Being able to pick their own partners, not dying if a relationship or marriage doesn't work out”. “What kind of life is this, not able to pick who I love. To die if they die, feel the pain they feel''. I slowly get to my feet. “Why do you always have to think about the negative, not everything is about pain Zoey , ''Zack says to me, almost raising his voice. “I gotta get back to work, i’ll see you later”. I don't even wait for a response, I start walking to the door. “We care about you Zoey, please come by the pack house soon!” Ella shouts to me as I walk out the door.                 I care about Zack and Ella, I truly do but the thought of my wolf finding her mate scares me more than anything on this earth. Finding her mate means a mates bond and I don't want it. I have a career and I'm happy building my own life, not worrying about anyone but myself. By the time I get back to the office Jaimie is pacing the floor. “Is everything okay Jaimie?” I ask as I attempt to sit at my desk. “Come let me go over a few things with you”. I walk into her office and sit across from her. “Is everything okay?”, “Yes its fine its just this case, it's something about it. I know i'm overlooking something.” For the next few hours we work on the case and uncover some embezzlement scheme and start to wrap up for the night. Each of us will work a little more on it over the weekend and go over more matters with our client on Monday. It's almost 7 by the time we get ready to leave.