Alone: My Cursed Fate

A Blessing from the Moon Goddess

*Matteo*

It's been a few weeks since the vampire incident. For the first few days afterward, everything was a blur. My father assigned me to lead a group of warriors to track down the vampires. I don't think he is all that confident that we will actually find anything, but he believes that leading a team will be good practice for the future Alpha position. I find that leadership comes quite naturally to me and fall into the role easily. My team is small, but efficient. Henrik recently reported back that two of the warriors came back with a lead- a pack about an hour north of us had an encounter with two vampires, one of which matching the description I gave from my dream. The threat of vampires is not new to that pack. Apparently, they have had quite a few run-ins over the past year and have even lost a few she-wolves as a result. It seems the vampires are specifically targeting she-wolves. Usually they drain them and leave their bodies, but there was one incident where the she-wolf went missing and has yet to be found. I dispatch a team of four of my warriors to that pack to gather further intel. One of which is a young tracker with a lot of promise that may become one of our lead trackers in the future. He is going to serve as team lead and report to me daily on progress.

In addition to leading that endeavor, I have also been searching high and low for a witch to help us with a tethering spell. It has proved quite difficult. While Henrik takes on more responsibility with the vampires, Jensen has been helping me tremendously with the witches. We finally found a witch that is willing to help us. She is from the east coast, but is a friend of a friend of Moira. Her name is Bethany. She is flying in this afternoon and we are going to try to do the spell tonight at midnight. I have been on edge all day from the nerves and the excitement. This could be it, this could be the end of all our problems. I have been having dreams of Vienna or the golden wolf almost nightly now. Assuming these dreams are actually happening like with the vampire incident, I know Vienna has been safe the past few weeks.

It will be perfect timing too; Jensen's birthday is tomorrow. He was born at 1:13am, so at that moment he will get his wolf. It is a pack tradition that on a person's 17th birthday, there is a small celebration with family and close friends to welcome a new wolf to the pack. At 1:00am we will all gather around an outdoor bonfire. Once Jensen shifts, the pack members with wolves will go for a run. I don't have my wolf yet, so I will stay back at the fire with the other younger members. Then the wolves will return and we will celebrate until the early hours of the morning.

I leave early to go pick up Moira, Margot, and Julia from Pike Stone. Moira thought it might be more comfortable for Bethany if she was there when we go to pick her up and I agreed. Margot and Julia are coming to Jensen's birthday celebration tonight and Margot wanted to help set up the tethering spell.

We arrive at the airport and look around for Bethany. Nobody here really jumps out as a witch to me yet, but after meeting Moira and Margot, I have learned that the stereotypes around witches are not true. We are still looking around when I feel a soft tap on my arm. I turn around and look down. A very petite woman stands in front of me. She is maybe five feet tall if even that. She looks more like a fairy than a witch. She is small and thin with soft features. She is in her mid-thirties I would guess. She is wearing leggings, dark brown ankle boots, and a simple knee-length long-sleeved dark green dress. She has hair so blonde that it is nearly white that cascades down her shoulders and falls mid-waist. Her silver eyes are surrounded by eyelashes as white as her hair. She smiles brightly up at us, "You must be Matteo. I am Bethany,"

"Hi Bethany, nice to meet you." I shake her tiny hand. "How did you know that it was us?"

She laughs softly, "It is not hard to pick you out of the crowd. You are gigantic as all werewolves seem to be and the silver eyes gave these two ladies away."

"I guess that's true. The car is this way, let me grab your bag."

During the drive back to the pack, we discuss the plan for tonight. We will start setting up around 11:00pm. Bethany brought special herbs and crystals that she will arrange in some sort of pattern. She will start to recite the spell at 11:59 so that it is completed exactly at midnight when Vienna's next move will be. The hope is that the next time she teleports, she will teleport here and the tethering spell will prevent her from teleporting again. We need to use a place that is special to her, so we decided on the tree house.

"Matteo, I have to warn you. I have never done this spell before. I really hope it works, but I don't want to get your hopes up.", Bethany says as we near the pack grounds.

"I know you will do your best. Thank you so much for coming out here and giving it a try. It really means a lot to me and the pack."

"Of course, I am happy to help. I just didn't want there to be false expectations. Magic isn't perfect. It depends on the person casting the spell, the energy around you, even the time of day and the formation of the stars in the sky."

We arrive at the packhouse and I carry her bag upstairs to a guest bedroom where she will be staying the night.

"My dad is in a meeting right now with his beta and gamma, but he will come introduce himself once they are done."

She nods in response, smiling. "Your pack house smells quite good actually, like dark chocolate and coffee. I was expecting it to smell like dogs.", she laughs softly to herself.

"Hmm, that's weird. I don't smell anything. Jill, our head cook, must be baking something for tonight."

I set her bag on the bed and tell her where everything is in the packhouse.

"I hope this room will be alright for you for tonight. Just let us know if you need anything. I will let you get settled. You can meet me downstairs whenever you are ready and I will show you the treehouse where we will be setting up later tonight."

"This is perfect. Thank you Matteo. I will see you downst-", she freezes midsentence, looking at the door with her eyes wide open. The door suddenly bursts open. "Gamma Dean?", I say, but no one seems to be listening to me. Gamma Dean stands in the doorway. My dad and Beta Patrick running closely behind him and coming to a stop out in the hallway, looking in curiously. Gamma Dean's eyes flash between brown and black. His nose flares as he inhales deeply, closing his eyes as he does so. As he exhales, he opens his eyes and lets out a deep, breathy, "Mate."

My dad and Beta Patrick start whooping and hollering as they cheer behind him. Gamma Dean has waited so long for this moment. He is in his early forties and never gave up searching for his fated mate.

He slowly approaches Bethany. He towers over her at 6'2" compared to her small 5 foot frame. He reaches for her tiny hand and pulls it up to his lips, kissing her knuckles. She closes her eyes, relishing the tingles of the mate bond, and smiles softly. They are polar opposites in appearance. Her fair skin, long white hair, and silver eyes. His deep brown skin, short curly black hair, and brown eyes.

"Hi little angel, my name is Dean. What is your name?", Dean says as he gently caresses her cheek and tucks her hair behind her ear. Bethany's cheeks flush pink as she softly tells him her name.

"I will let you guys talk. Bethany, I will see you later when you two are done, uh, talking." I say as I walk out and close the door behind me. My dad and Beta Patrick are still in the hallway excitedly talking about what just happened. "Well that was something", I say. My dad smiles widely, "I am so happy for Dean. Over twenty years he has been searching, and he finally found her."

"Bethany seems great", I add, "she has been very kind so far."

I head downstairs to get ready for tonight with a smile on my face. This is a good sign. Mates finding eachother is considered a good omen. A blessing from the moon goddess.