Into the storm

The island (Rico's POV)

I didn't want to do this stupid ceremony again and I didn't want to be on the island again but my brother guilted me into going. It is his first year and he has no idea how devastating it is to feel the bond stretch outward and pull you for the briefest moment just for it to snap right back into place. At the start of the ceremony every first year will get a piece of enchanted golden thread, a little thinner than a bracelet, tied around their wrist. The thread is bound to your mates thread and pulls you to them but if your mate hasn't got their thread yet it pulls outward than snaps back and hangs there like a regular bracelet. The special thing about the thread is it can only be removed by your mate. And I have had mine for years now, a constant reminder of all the things I should have been but I'm not. I was so sure I'd find my mate each year and each year was another let down. Last year was the final straw for me. I knew a few of the first year females and was hopeful that one of them might be my mate but I was let down again and decided to hand over the alphaship to my brother. Above all else the pack needs an alpha and at this point he is the only option because I'm most likely one of the unlucky wolfs who lost their mate before ever meeting them. He came to me yesterday and begged me to go. He had gone on and on about how he knew all the first year females and he said even if I didn't find a mate I could still have fun. So I had agreed but I was doing it on my terms. Without telling my family I had gone to the next town over and picked up a special tea from one of the local witches it was made with wolfsbane and would temporarily block the effects of the bond. That way I wouldn't have to feel the awful feeling of the bond stretching out into nothingness again.

Another wave of nausea hit me as the little blonde she wolf came back towards her seat, a by-product of the wolfsbane. A small price to pay really but it also made me heal slower which made the fractured nose blonde gave me throb like crazy. I'm honestly impressed by the power behind the punch. I've heard my dad and brother talk about her a lot over the years. Her name is Clover. In human form she's tiny a few inches over 5 feet and all of a hundred pounds. Her wolf is big and ashy gray but nearly blind. Which explains her eyes they are a strange swirl of light blue and light purple. And the power she showed at the dinner last night definitely left an impression on me. An average wolf doesn't hold that kind of power and definitely can't hide it the way she does which makes me believe she is most likely a blood alpha like me and my father and his father before him. When it comes to alphas you can be a blood alpha or an appointed alpha. Blood alphas are the first born of another blood alpha and most become the leaders of their packs. Appointed alphas are alphas by title and are typically given the title by their pack when their blood alpha can't fulfill his or hers duties. My brother will technically be an appointed alpha. And the wisp of a wolf next to is most likely the first born of some old school alpha who didn't want to hand his title over to a female. She's honestly an attractive woman short but curves in all the right places long pale blonde hair and a bit of a punky or rocker style. I actually caught myself wondering what it would be like to be her mate. I've never wondered about that before I've always thought it would be great to have a mate but I've never looked at a she wolf and thought damn I want her to be my mate but I keep catching myself thinking it every time I look at her or catch her lavender scent. When I first felt her power at the dinner I thought she might be my brother's mate but now I really hope I was wrong and honestly I'm still pretty sure that her sister Lilly is his mate. Those two have spent the entire flight laughing and giggling with each other. And having worked with Lil before I know she would be a great match for my brother. Lil and her sister are adopted and completely different in terms of appearance. Lil is black with hazel green eyes. Her skin tone reminds me of my grandma's walnut dinner table rich and warm and her eyes are always surprising. In human form they are hazel with green specks but when her wolf comes out they amber yellow that almost glows and her dark brown almost black wolf matches them so well. If she shifts in a dark area she will blend into the shadows and be almost impossible to spot.

Clover had sat back down and buckled up by now and was fidgeting with the talisman she always wore. Most members of the pack assumed it was just an ugly necklace but more powerful wolves can sense magic at work and my father had sensed it years ago when she wore it for the first time. Her dad's had explained that it was just a simple thing to help her wolf be able to see slightly but I personally don't believe that. I have known the local witches my entire life and I can tell that it is something else. She starts messing with it more as we begin our descent and I realize she is nervous about landing. Without thinking I reach over and grab her left hand giving it a squeeze. Once we land and start to roll up to where we will exit the plane she pulls her hand free.

"Thank you." she mumbles "I get nervous with the landing part it's always so bumpy."

"Understandable a lot of wolves aren't comfortable being off the ground."

She smiles slightly at me as she stands up and heads to her sister. I'm so caught up in watching her that I don't even realize Brock is standing beside me.

"See something you like brother?" he asks causing me to flinch.

"Something like that man." I say with a chuckle. "She's different and she has a lot of power she's keeping locked up."

"So you can feel it too? Dad thinks she is some beta's unwanted heir but I'm a beta by blood and she can kick my ass without much effort. I personally think she is the last of a powerful blood line."

"I think you are right." I say to my brother as I think it over. Whenever an alpha wolf is the last of a bloodline they are given more power as a last ditch effort to say them. We had seen it happen a lot when the smaller packs were forced to join the united packs. I'm trying to think of the alphas whose bloodlines died out around the time of her birth and the list is small.

"When we get home I'll pull up the archives and see if I can figure out whose heir she might be." I say to my brother.

"That sounds like a good idea we should look into her sister as well she is definitely a blood beta and id love to be able to go to her and tell her who her parents are."

"Sounds like a good idea." I say to him as we get off the plane and head towards the car waiting for us.