The Fall of Autumn

Devante Bane

I was born to become the Alpha of the pack and grew up watching my father build from the ground up. I was taught at a young age that my life was meant to be for the people of my pack. Becoming the Alpha was my only future- mating, becoming Alpha, then producing an heir. My father, Anthony Bane, was an incredible Alpha who emerged from the ruins left behind after the Rouge Wolf War, and he was determined to mold me into the same type of man he was.

I am Devante Bane, son of the extraordinary Alpha Anthony of the Red Crescent Pack. I have been groomed from age 5 to become the Alpha of Red Crescent. It started with sitting in on minor pack meetings and discussions of potential battle strategies. I met my best friends, Connor and Damien, when I was 8. I had been watching the warriors train and attempting to learn some of the techniques taught when I heard them fight over an apple that had fallen from a nearby tree. I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw the two bickering over the silly piece of fruit when we had plenty in the pack house kitchen. I couldn’t help but walk over and end the bickering; after that day, we were inseparable.

When I was 12, I was sent to my first trading camp along with Connor and Damien after I declared that I would like them to be my Gamma and Beta when I became Alpha. We went every two years after the first training camp until I turned 20. I was meant to come home and spend the year looking for my mate, and we would transition the tile of Alpha to me on my 21st birthday. Unfortunately, I had not succeeded in my search for a mate even though I have been to many different packs for alliance planning and parties. I now spend my days and nights training and preparing to transition to Alpha, as my birthday is just a few days away. This will be a very special birthday, given that I will be announced as the Alpha, and my birthday will fall on a full moon. The hope is that I will be able to find my mate under the full moon, allowing our mate bond to be blessed under the eyes of the moon goddess herself.

I am itching to be with my mate daily, as is my wolf, Kain. My mother, Charlotte Bane, taught me that finding your mate was the best experience in a wolf’s life. Finding one’s mate means finding your other half. The half that you never knew you were missing until it was right in front of you. My mother always told me that the Moon Goddess had blessed me with a beautiful mate who was somewhere waiting for me to love her the way she loved my father. I had always admired the bond between my parents; it was filled with love and laughter. They have been married for 22 years and still look at each other as if they had just met. I have longed for that love and sense of completion my parents shared for as long as I can remember. I am about to turn 21 and have not found the girl who was meant to be my other half. I hope that I will see her soon.

I train to keep myself from wallowing because I have no mate to hold at night. Training has become my new favorite time, and the trading grounds have become my second home. And this is where I was 4 days before my birthday. It was not like I needed the training; I was built like a tank. I stood about 6’5 tall and was solid from the continuous and rigorous training I was sentenced to. I had grown to love this kind of torture. I could release the rage I had to keep at bay during the hours when the moon slot and the sun reigned supreme. I had to ensure that I kept my rage for not having a mate and that the pack members did not notice it. It is already bad enough that the gossips of the pack have started nursing the fact that I had not found my mate to all the young she-wolves, causing them to believe I would take a chosen mate. Little do they know I would never defy the Moon Goddess by inadvertently rejecting the bond she blessed me with because it took too long to find the she-wolf I was made for.

I stopped training, let my thoughts take over my mind, and turned my head to the sky to plead with the Moon Goddess to send my mate to me sooner rather than later. As I closed my eyes and whispered the last word of the secret plea, I nearly leaped for joy when I got the slightest whiff of vanilla. I tried to find where it came from, but it was gone as quickly as it came. My wolf was on alert, whimpering and inching to get out.

“Find her. Let me out. I can find her. LET ME OUT!”

“Kain, calm down. We will find her soon enough. At least we know she is within the pack borders, and we will not have to wait much longer. We have to wait.”

My wolf was not happy about this, but he whimpered and gave me back complete control. I looked at the moon one last time before returning to the pack house and thanked the Moon Goddess. I put my head down and smiled at the ground as I walked back to the back entrance of the packhouse. I was more excited for my birthday than ever before. I was finally about to meet my mate; after all this time, I was about to meet my other half.

“We need to find our mate now,” Kain whined in my head as I returned to the packhouse from the training grounds. As much as I wanted to surrender control to Kain and allow him to find our mate, I knew I couldn’t. Approaching a mate was delicate; letting my Alpha wolf out to greet her would not be the best first impression. I would have to wait until my birthday party and Alpha ceremony to meet her.

Just as I opened the door to the pack house, I heard the sweetest laugh followed by the sweet smell of vanilla. I closed my eyes to soak in this moment, and I smiled. It was finally my time to experience the feeling of being whole. I experience life with my other half and can’t wait to see what happens next. I will be whole in just a few days.