Evolution Of Dawn

Nine: Alpha's Mate

Beta Anchor P.O.V

The goddess should have been more merciful to us because all I can think about this whole cluster f**k situation is pure cruelty. After searching for months with no sign of the Alpha's mate.

To think that the pack has wasted time and resources searching the region near and beyond for her, while unknowingly having her locked up in the dungeon since the beginning makes me look like a complete fool and the whole pack a joke.

The past months have been hellish for everyone in the pack, from the moment the news spread that the alpha's mate ran away the moment they met, to the time Archer's wolf went almost feral.

It is common knowledge among shapeshifters, that a male wolf can go insane if he lost his mate without proper rejection, and an Alpha wolf's insanity is much worst than any other male shapeshifter.

Thoughts like why she left, where is she, how is she, and whether she is safe, is enough to make any male wolf insane. And those are always the first phase of insanity.

The worst case serene happens when the runaway or dead mate is already marked, either partially or fully, because the male's wolf will crave the intimate touch of his mate which can endanger all pack members if the intimate part of the mating process is not complete. After all, werewolves are s****l beings.

There are three stages of claiming for a female shapeshifter, the first is the partial marking, this is when a shape-shifter marks one side of his mate, this can be done either by marking the wolf side or the human side.

The second stage of claiming is full marking this is when a shifter marks both sides of his mate, the wolf, and the human sides are usually marked to complete this stage.

And lastly, the mating dance; happens after the female has been marked as both human and wolf, she goes into heat which is mostly triggered by her mate's scent in other to procreate.

But a male shapeshifter only has two stages, after full or partial marking there is an insane urge, a feral s****l hunger to mate and procreate, and the Alpha wolf is no exception, rather their urge is usually thrice that of a random male shapeshifter, which can be dangerous for their wolf and the pack.

Though It can be manageable with a partial marking like the Alpha's own because by the time the wolf starts craving such intimacy any female can be used as a substitution to fill in until the mate is found. But a full marking is the worst which is not the case with the Alpha, thus what leads to yesterday's claiming ceremony.

The first month of the search for the Alpha's mate was problematic because by that time Archer's wolf was already losing it, I can remember him almost murdering a pack warrior after landing a hit on him during training, and he broke a pack scout's arm when he came to report nothing about his mate whereabout.

The disaster happened well into the second month while all pack members walk on eggshells around him until the elders have to interfere and told him to claim a female for the time being as the pack law demanded.

But since the pack traditions don't allow any unmated female to be claimed by any male who is not their mate to avoid future problems in case such female find their mate, the only claim option is the pack's widows.

And with the claim everyone understood the unspoken truth, 'the Alpha mate might never return if she isn't already dead. Not after we have searched all shapeshifter's packs and even go into the human town.

The pack has about thirty widows, and the youngest of them all is Maye, and the Alpha has taken a special liking to her long before he met his mate.

And since the elders had demanded he claim a female as a substitution for his runaway mate in other to function well for pack activities, he had no choice but to choose Maye, especially when Maye's uncle was one of the pack's elder and their claiming ceremony was held yesterday, which means Maye can only attend to the Alpha's s****l needs, and no other pack male is to summon her to the room or demand a s****l favor.

Only for me to find out now that it's his mate that was held captive in the dungeon all this time. How foolish of me.

I'm in a tight spot now, treading on thin ice and I don't know how to undo the damage have caused. How do I break the news to Alpha, the Elders, or Maye herself?; this is a disaster.

I sprinted out of the dungeon and headed straight for the healer's cabin, she had decades of wisdom, she'd know what can be done about this dilemma.

As I get closer to the healer's cabin, I smell the familiar scent of herbs and spice, I inhale the scent to calm my heretic heart. She wasn't in the cabin when I get there, but since there is a pot of herb on the fire boiling; I believed she won't have gone far so I decided to wait.

"You finally decided to come and visit this ancient female, what a great pup leaving his great aunty in this lonely cabin to leave all by herself," I heard the familiar voice of the healer as she approached.

I turned around smiling as I saw her hitting a stone with her walking staff, the healer doesn't take kindly to us moving objects out of her way simply because she can't see, she considers it a form of disrespect and unnecessary fusing on our part which is why she leaves away from the pack's main ground.

I dip my head in a submissive pose as I walked closer to her to kiss her cheeks, "I'm sorry, it must be lonely living with herbs and spice alone." I laugh at my humorless joke

"Not as hard as living with you pups with overbearing energy, I can feel your wolf telling me how weak and fragile I am, what is getting you all worked up?."

I sigh, before walking back with her the few steps to her favorite bench, she always knows when any of us are in trouble one of the many reasons I love her.

"I made a mistake, and I don't know how to fix it, it's a terrible one this time," I said looking at her as she take a sit beside me on the bench.

She chuckles and turns her head to look at me, "everyone makes a mistake once in their lifetime Anchor, is everything alright with your mate; I don't know why else you will be panicking this much"

"I found Archer's mate," I blurted out. I look at the healer, seeking any kind of reaction but as usual, her face was blank.

"where is she?" She finally asked

"In the dungeon," I then explain everything that happened from when she was caught in the trap, how Archer told me to take care of the damned matter until she shifted and unknowingly told me she's Archer's mate

"Did she know she's in her mate pack?", the healer asked

"No Aunty I did not tell her anything, she doesn't know much about shifter's pack or mate, she lives in the wild all her life".

"Bring her to me, but until I said otherwise keep this between us." She said

I understood her meaning and even what she is not saying out loud, I know Archer won't think twice before throwing Maye away for his mate, but this will cause a crisis between him and the elders, will all know elder Wolfe is Maye's Uncle and won't take kindly to be ridiculed if the Alpha have to leave Maye after claiming her,

The pack law forbids a widow to be claimed twice and it will be unfair to Maye to throw her away so soon after claiming her when will all know she can't be claimed again, though I expect this to happen I never know it will be this soon.

It's a known fact that Archer will eventually find a breeder to bear his pups if he never finds his mate and since only one's true mate or a breeder can conceive, it still means the Alpha will leave Maye seeing as she isn't a breeder. But never in a hundred moons will I believe it to be so soon.

"Until we figure out what to do, we just have to wait and let nature take its cause, go bring me the female," She said with a finality

I nodded before walking swiftly back to the dungeon.

_____________________________________

Healer's P.O.V

I watch the retrieving shadow of Anchor as he leaves, though I'm blind I can outline shapes and shadows if the sun is bright enough, and my other shifter senses are still functioning.

I listened to his retrieving footsteps until they faded away, this isn't good at all, I don't want the females to be the motive for a war within the pack. though crisis within a shifters pack isn't a rare occurrence it happens, and if not probably taken care of it can lead to a bigger problem.

Elder Wolfe is a power-hungry male and rumored has it he sent his niece mate on the journey where he gets killed, he might use this as a way to get his conspiracy act in order.

Whoever this female is, if she wants her male back, she will have to fight, tooth, and nails for him because Elder Wolfe surely won't stay silent about it.

I rake my brain on what to do about the situation, and I'm sure calling Archer isn't one of them; so I just have to wait and let nature take its course

I stood up and slowly walked back to my cabin, and went over the pot of boiling herbs while patiently waiting for Anchor to return with the Alpha female.