The Forgotten Kingdom-Sloane's Destiny

And Another One

Adam's POV

Peyton and I have been back for a year. A year of still learning and trying to figure out my path in life. I haven't seen Sloane in so long. It hurts, but no one knows that. I haven't found my mate yet, and I'm really happy about that. It gives me hope that I am waiting for the best thing in my life. The only thing is, I'm not sure and if I am ever able to be in the same room with her now that we are both of the age to find our mates, will we be? It's hard, and my brain hurts from thinking about it sometimes. I have been to so many mating balls since I have been home, it's like we have been on tour as some ridiculous boy band. Peyton got lucky. He only had to suffer through a few before Miley finally came home and my mom actually got her to attend the ball. At first, I wasn't sure how to feel about it since she is my little sister, but in the end, I couldn't have hoped for my sister or my best friend and Beta to find a better mate.

Chad wanted it so badly to be him, he never said anything, but we all kind of felt it. He had a full year of the girls to himself without us there and even though he was waiting for his true fated mate, I could tell that he secretly hoped it would be Miley. He was very mature about it all really and bowed out gracefully and now sees her as a sister and is very protective of her, just not in a romantic way.

So here we are at this mating ball again, not because I want to be here but because so many of Chad's friends have finally found their mates that he feels like he is missing out. I just think the Goddess has her own plans and things happen for a reason. Of course, it is nice for all the new leadership to find their mates and settle down. It makes our unit tighter and when we start having pups, they tend to all happen around the same time. It shows growth and prosperity within a pack when that happens. It is rumored that when it is fated mates that are all leadership for a pack, it is a gift bestowed upon Selene herself. It is believed that there is even a bigger gift bestowed if the leadership of the Royals are all fated mates. Maybe that's why I can't remember a time in our history that any of my bloodlines has taken a chosen mate.

People are just starting to pile in to this ballroom, the bar is open, there is a whole buffet of food set up with anything you can think of and desserts galore. Yeah, werewolves can put some food away. To outsiders, they would probably see this as some over-the-top wedding or something that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, but for us, this is a normal way of life. My father has done a very good job of making sure that packs all over the country are thriving and can sustain their pack in legitimate legal ways. Different packs host these balls throughout the year, and they do it regionally so that more people can attend, and the packs split the costs and labor, and hopefully find their true mates.

I'm standing there with a drink in my hand staring at Chad. He looked so nervous and anxious he looked like he might pass out. "Relax dude, you look like you are going to pass out," I said. He looks at me and gives me a smile and says, "I just might. I don't know why I am so nervous and Atlas is so unsettled. "He isn't sure why and neither am I. What does that even mean?"

"I don't know, I don't feel any of that from me or from Aries." "Do you feel like it is a threat?" No, he stated, I don't feel like it is a threat, but Atlas keeps telling me soon I will see. If he knows what's going on, why won't he just tell me?

"I'm not sure, but if you don't feel danger or malice, maybe tonight's your night." Chad just stared at me with big blown eyes and asked what I meant. "Well," I said, "Peyton told me all about how he felt when he and Miley discovered they were mates." He said that all day long, Thorn had been pacing and restless and was really giving him a headache. Peyton said it gave him so much anxiety and irritation he almost didn't go to the mating ball mom was throwing and as soon as he thought about it, Thorn told him if he didn't go he would not let him shift for a year because he would be messing up the best thing that has ever happened to them. He said once he and Miley were in the same room, he instantly knew and all of it disappeared as soon as they both said the word Mate.

Chad just stared at me. I grabbed his shoulder and said, 'Come on, let's get you a drink to take the edge off and see what tonight brings us." We were standing at the open bar when a soft-spoken elder woman came up beside me. "Prince Adam, it is so good to see you actively participating with the mating balls and searching for your true fated mate." I looked at her and said "Yes, I have not found my forever and I will not ever take a chosen mate, I will search until the goddess deems it the right time to reveal who she has gifted me. She then said: "It is so reassuring that the royals cherish above all the gifts that are bestowed upon them. I myself lost my fated mate many moons ago, and I will wait until the goddess deems me fit to descend home to be with him." She looked at me and pulled out a very nice blue moonstone bracelet and handed it to me. I looked at it and told her I couldn't accept such a timeless gift from an elder such as herself. She said nonsense, my prince. This was my mate's, passed to him by another elder. It is said to be blessed by Selene herself and the person that wears it and accepts their fated mate will have a forever and lasting love that transcends through time.

Chad was cautiously watching this whole interaction, as he should and waiting for my response when I saw it. His eyes blew open, and his body went a little rigid, his nostrils flared out as he inhaled, and then his face turned into the biggest grin I had ever seen. I watched as a short five-foot-five, fiery little redhead with a button nose and fierce green eyes came to a complete stop in front of Chad. They stared at each other for five full seconds and then Mate slipped out of both of their mouths. I was happy for my friend. I knew he wanted this so badly and I reckoned he was going to have a long talk with Atlas later, because it seems to me that Atlas may have known and didn't tell him.

"Of course, Atlas knew you asshat, we are divine creatures, we always know," he snickered. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "So you are telling me if our fated mate was near you would know before me?" "Of course I would know. I am your wolf and can sense things far beyond your reach.