Awakening Fate

Chapter 13: Another Year

Clark’s POV

        The sound of thunder jolts me awake. I roll over and stare out my window. Lightening fills the night sky as thunder fills the air. I groan sleepily annoyed that my sleep was disturbed. I move through my dark room over to the desk that holds paperwork related to pack funding and training. I sit at my desk and flick on the light. Underneath all the paperwork is a small file of a case that continues to haunt our land.

              It’s been over a year since the attack at the mall and still the culprit and Emmeline are missing. Rumors spread like wildfire as to why Emmeline had disappeared. Some thought that she was part of the attack. That she was tired of how others treated her and tried to take her revenge and escape. Others wondered if she was the mate to someone important and is now being held hostage. For months scouts searched for her but turned up empty handed. I sighed and opened the file and saw the picture of the small timid girl with my sister.

              My heart ached looking at the picture. I could not imagine what she had been put through following the attack. The hardest part of the case was not knowing if she was dead or alive. I had a feeling that no matter what she was unprepared for whatever stood before her. She was so small, and innocent compared to most of our pack. She was not into trying to fit in with everyone else. All that mattered to her was her family, friends, and her little own solitary world. I remember how some of the other pack members treated her so cruelly just because she was different. I shut the file in disgust. As a pack we failed her.

              In one year so much has changed for our pack. First the pack accepted my role in training to be their future Alpha. Once I turned 18 years old, I was able to finally shift into wolf form. The shift allowed me to finally have access to my werewolf abilities. Gaining strength, stronger senses, and an aura that causes many to quiver in front of me I was ready to lead. Now I am the strongest in the pack making me basically in charge of our pack’s safety. With my guidance the pack doubled in size and in wealth, making us an absolute force within the werewolf community. My father has been itching for me to take on the title of Alpha fully, but he has expressed that he would feel a lot better about handing over the pack to me and my mate. My mate, the one thing I haven’t found success in.

              I hear a small knock on my door pulling me from my thoughts. I shamble over to the doorway and open it up to Hayden. She moves into my room looking me up and down. Her hair is tied up into a long ponytail and she is wearing only a small lace tank top and short black cotton shorts.

              After Emmeline went missing Matt and I confronted Kenzie and Hayden who both denied the accusations. Matt broke up with Kenzie and expressed not believing her. This caused a lot of drama and Kenzie, and Hayden did whatever they could to try and win us back. Fortunately, Matt found his mate which allowed him to move on. Kenzie, however, was still not giving up without a fight, and Hayden was more determined than ever to prove that she and Kenzie were worthy of our attention and trust.

              “I thought I heard you awake.” She says going over and leaning up against my desk.

              “Yeah, the storm woke me up and I couldn’t get back to sleep.” I state avoiding her gaze. I hear her shuffling through paperwork and turn to see her holding the file. She gives me a disapproving look.

              I snatch it away from her. “You know that you are not allowed to go through pack matters.” I state placing the file back on my desk. I walk over and sit on my bed glaring at her.

              “You need to let her case go. It’s not the packs fault and it wasn’t like she was that important.” Hayden states crossing her arms over her chest. “Things like this happen all the time. All that matters now is that we don’t let it happen again.” She states pointedly.

              While she and Kenzie denied the claims of bullying Emmeline, both of them did admit to disliking her. In fact they tried to tell us that Emmeline was sleeping around and that one who physically harmed her was a male from another pack. Matt looked like he was going to snap both girls like twigs, but because Emmeline was not here to defend herself, there wasn’t much we could do.

              I shake my head at Hayden and glare at her. I hate how she acts. “You’re telling me that the Beta’s daughter missing is not something of importance?” I ask raising an eyebrow and my voice filled with irritation.

              Hayden looks at me shocked. “That is not what I am saying. I just don’t think you should take it on as a burden. She wasn’t someone to you.” She shrugs making me shake my head in disgust.

              “Every member means something to me.” I mutter as I watch her saunter over to me.

              “You need to try and relax Clark.” She comes and stands between my legs. She slowly bends down and takes me in her hands. I would be lying if I said I didn’t want that kind of release at this moment, but something just didn’t feel right. I grab Hayden’s wrists and push her hands away as gently as possible.

              “What do you want Hayden.” I ask looking away from her.

              “I just want to help you like I’m supposed to. It’s my duty.” She smirks and moves towards me again, but I stand up and move towards the door.

              “No more Hayden.” I state looking at her. Her lips pout for a second before taking on a stoic expression.

              “That’s not what you have said in the past. You know I know how to please you.” She whispered a smirk playing on her face.

              “You are not my mate. What we had was fun, but it was nothing more. Plus, I heard a rumor that yesterday you found your mate Hayden.” I state watching her. She looked shocked to know that I knew about her little secret.

“Who told you?” She spits clearly angry that someone told me.

              “I don’t reveal my sources.” I state with a shrug trying to hold back a chuckle as I recall Matthew filling me in on the how she is mated to one of the pack warriors who also happens to be a player.

              “Well for you I would reject him.” She says giving me a small smile and walking up towards me.

“No Hayden. That would be a poor choice on your part. I am not going to accept you as my mate Hayden. I have made that clear from the start of this, and now that you found your mate, I think what we had has come to an end.” I turn from her and open the door indicating that it is her time to leave.

Tears stream down her face as she gawks at me. She moves towards the door glaring at me. “I love you Clark. More than anyone else ever will, and I will prove it to you if I must.” She pushes me slightly as she storms out the door.

I sigh and lean up against the door. The storm outside has started to die down and I can see that I have a few hours before level one training for new warriors to begin. I decide to shower and get ready for the day. As I stand in the shower, I can’t help but imagine my future mate. I hope she is beautiful and gentle as that is what our pack needs in their future queen. I imagine my mate with full pink lips and long soft hair. I feel myself getting hard just thinking about what she could possibly look like. I start to stroke myself thinking about how it will feel to have the bond so many others rave about. As I start to reach my climax, I suddenly imagine beautiful gray eyes staring back at me. They are mesmerizing a push me to my end causing me to spill my seed onto the shower floor. I lean against the wall trying to catch my breath. I have never experienced such a vivid imagination before that caused that kind of reaction. After a few minutes I gather myself and finish up. I dress in a black t-shirt and jersey shorts since I will be attending trainings of new initiates.

After getting dressed I make my way down to my family’s private dining quarters held within the Alpha suite. As I enter I see my mother in the kitchen while my father is at the table glancing over paperwork.

“Son,” he states giving me a slight nod as I enter.

“Clark, good morning.” My mother beams running over to give me a hug.

Any indication that she was ever in the attack has disappeared due to her wolf’s healing. While she recovered physically, she struggled for weeks emotionally. She blamed herself for Emmeline’s disappearance. She would lay in bed and sob at the thought of her best friend’s child missing after being in her care. Father had to basically pull her from bed to get her to take care of herself. After a few weeks she finally started to come around. She focused her mind on helping her friend heal from the loss.

Her smile fades as she takes in my appearance. “Morning mom.” I state returning her hug and kissing her on the cheek. “I’m fine, just didn’t get a lot of sleep.” I whisper to her. She nods in understanding and returns to the kitchen as I take a seat beside my father.

“Where are the others?” I ask.

“Oh they are probably just get ready. You know your brother always waiting till last minute and well Lily is trying to look her best in case she stumbles upon her mate.” My mother chuckles as she pours coffee into some mugs for my father and me.

 “She has to do better than what she has been doing than because she looks like a moose’s butt lately.” Lewis’s voice comes from the doorway earning a glance from my father who is trying to stifle a laugh.

“Lewis behave yourself.” My mother says glaring at him. “You know it hasn’t been easy for her lately.”

While my mother had a hard time recovering emotionally, Lily experience could only be described as a disaster. She shut down for months. She sat quietly in a chair not speaking to anyone. Instead, she would just sit there staring at nothing. After about a month she slowly started to use one-word answers when others would ask her questions, but she refused to talk about the attack. Over time she started to open up more and more and return back to her normal bubbly self but talking about the attack is still something she refuses to do. In fact, she acts as if it never happened.

“Hey sorry I’m late.” Lily announces running into the room. Lewis wasn’t kidding when he said she didn’t look great. In fact, it looked like my sister was trying too hard. She was wearing a tight crop top with a black mini skirt. Her black hair was pulled into a high ponytail that was too tight and her face was covered with dark make-up. She ran to each of us kissing our cheeks slightly before taking her seat across from Lewis.

“Seriously can you try and keep that crap off of me.” Lewis says in disgust wiping pink lipstick off of his cheek. Lily just glares at him.

“Your just jealous because you have nothing to offer your future mate.” Lily spits taking a sip of orange juice.

“Enough.” My father says making us all incline our heads in submission. “Let’s talk about something actually worth hearing about. What is everyone’s plans for the day?”

“I’m helping with planning for the upcoming pack picnic.” Lily says as she eats some yogurt.

 “Great, well while you deal with party stuff, I will be training the intermediate group.” Lewis says rolling his eyes. Since he turned 18 years old, he has been preparing to become my future gamma and takes warrior trainings very seriously. I’m not sure what his deal is with Lily, however. The two have always bickered, but not to this extent.

“Matt and I will be welcoming the new trainees.” I state eating a piece of bacon.

“Good I’m glad the three of you are continuing to take on upholding our pack.” Father says sipping some of his coffee.

“My love what are your plans?” He asks.

“I’m heading over to give Victoria some support. She is having a hard time now that it’s summer. It’s officially been a year.” She whispers glancing at my sister. Everyone grows silent as we all wait to see how Lily is going to react. She just stares at her plate for ta few minutes before smiling slightly.

“Emmeline enjoyed baking with her mother. It may be helpful for Victoria.” She says nodding. “Anyways I have to go, I’ll see you all later.” She excuses herself walking out of the room.

My mother watches Lily slip out of the room with a frown. The Brooke’s family has had a hard year. Beta Marcus puts on a brave face, but most know he is hurting due the loss of his daughter. His mate’s condition also doesn’t help. For weeks Victoria couldn’t leave her bed and these days she barely leaves the house. My mother tries to help her friend by visiting, but often reports little improvement in her friend’s condition.

              I clear my throat trying to ease the tension in the air. Lewis pushes away from the table and grabs some of the dishes. “I’ll help you clean mom before heading out.” Mom smiles and follows my brother into the kitchen. My father watches them with amusement before turning his gaze back to me.

“The next few weeks will be busy.” He reminds me. The summer season is the start of new warrior training, the summer festival and the annual Elders gathering.

              “Yes, I believe I am prepared.” I reply holding back my eye roll.

“It would be nice to know that soon I can pass this title and the responsibilities over to my son.” He seriously looks at me, but then lets out a chuckle. “Your old man is getting tired and not much younger.”

              “I’m trying dad. I feel ready and have already taken on almost all the duties you have, but I have yet to find a mate and well I don’t want to choose one.” I admit honestly looking down at my now empty glass.

“I understand, but son I believe this should now be your main priority. She is out there somewhere.” He says before standing and patting me on the shoulder. I watch as he joins my mother in the kitchen and embraces her from behind. I smile at their bond and choose to let myself out and give them their alone time.

              “Clark hold up.” Lewis calls out as I make my way towards the stairs.

              “What’s up man?”

              “Hey, I was wondering, are you going to take anyone to the summer picnic?” He asks averting his gaze away from mine.

No, definitely not. It’s too messy and complicated.” I state. “Every female I give any attention to automatically assumes they are going to be my chosen mate.” I huff out in frustration.

              “Yeah, I get that.” Lewis says looking down. “It’s annoying not to find your mate.”

              “Why did you ask me?” I ask raising an eyebrow. “Some lucky female grab your attention?”

“What no!” He half yells and pushes me away slightly making me chuckle. “It’s just that Travis let some of know that Hayden hasn’t excepted him as a mate yet.” He says causing me to halt my steps and look at him. He sighs and runs his hand through his black unruly hair. “It’s killing him man. I guess she said she and you are working on things first and that she will let him know. She told him that she was going with you to the festival.” A growl escapes me as I hear that Hayden hasn’t let up on being in a relationship with me.

“Goddess, Lewis please tell Travis that I am not interested in Hayden and that I have made this clear multiple times. We are not a thing, nor am I going to the any events with her.” I state frustrated.

Lewis remains quiet for a minute processing this information. “I figured, but I wanted to double check. I really don’t like her, and I don’t see how you two were ever good friends.” He states as we continue to walk down the stairs to the front of the pack house.

“Hey what is your deal with Lily?” I ask taking him by surprise. Making it his turn to stop in his tracks. He appears to look past me with a worried look on his face. I follow his gaze to see my Beta Matt, standing with his mate waiting for me. He seems preoccupied for the moment embracing his mate before having to leave for training.

“It’s just I blame her for what happened to Emmy.” Lewis whispers. He quickly straightens up and places a tight smile on his face. I look to see Matt approaching us. “I’ll see you later.” Lewis says and walks towards the front door nodding slightly at Matt as he leaves.

“What was that about?” Matt asked looking back at my brother.

“I have no idea. Morning Elena.” I state giving her a small smile.

“Morning your Alpha.” She says bowing her head slightly. Elena met Matt about three months after Emmeline disappeared. She is perfect for my best friend. She is kind, patient, but also strong. She was great when she took training courses but now her training has shifted to understanding her role as the Beta’s wife. She is also beautiful in her own way. She has long golden hair, tan sun kissed skin and dark blue eyes. She enjoys cheering Matt on while he spars with other pack members. She keeps out of the drama others bring to our group, but she will defend herself if needed. Once she and Matt found each other she transitioned to our pack, but of course Kenzie did not make it easy.

“Elena how many times do I have to tell you that outside of official matters I would prefer you just to call me Clark.” Matt and I chuckle at her. He pulls her into a hug and kisses her forehead.

“I’m sorry it’s just so weird.” She says looking down at her feet.

“Trust me outside of his role he is nothing like what one reads in fairy tales about princes.” Matt says giving me a wink. “I’ll see you later.” He pulls his mate into a hug and kisses her deeply.

“Let’s go love birds.” I say walking towards the door trying to ignore the show.

New trainees are like lazy children. I watch them struggle just building up endurance. It is going to be a long season. Matt looks frustrated as he tries to encourage some of the young wolfs to pick up the pace around the field. I am about to join him when I see my father walking towards us with a concerned look on his face. I stand and meet him at the edge of the field leaving Matt to continue with the training.

“What is it?” I ask him. He shakes his head and looks uneasy around the field.

“Matt is needed at the pack hospital immediately. You will need to cancel the training for the rest of the day and oversee interviewing some of the guards from the south gate.” Father says gesturing Matt to come over with a wave of his hand.

“Dad what happened? Did something happen to Elena?” I ask forcefully as my chest becomes tight with worry. I look over at my shoulder at my best friend approaching us with his brows furrowed in concern.

“No son Elena is fine. It’s Emmeline!” My dad says pausing as Matt hands clench in fists beside his body preparing for the worst-case scenario. “She is here.” My father says gesturing Matt to follow him.