The Beta’s Alpha Mate

Three

Grayson’s POV

Tonight was the night. We would either find our mates or not, and then we would go home. If I went home alone, I was very interested in mindlinking Daniel the moment we crossed into our territory to be ready and waiting in my room.

Fang rolled his eyes. Just calm yourself, for once, human. I have a feeling we’ll meet mate tonight.

Oh yeah? Well hopefully he’s down to complete the bond immediately then because I have a lot of pent up energy, I told my wolf.

Fang said nothing, torn between wanting to tell me to shut up like he always does and agreeing with the idea of marking our potential mate right away. Ah, I finally found a way to make that mongrel be quiet for a minute.

I wasn’t opposed to finding my mate tonight. I knew Kade was secretly hoping for his, even if he acted all tough. And Julien would die to find a Luna, and not just to get his parents off his back like he claimed. To be honest, we were all interested in mates, but it was easier to pretend we weren’t than admit you wanted something that might not happen.

I was excited to see Julien’s wolf tonight. He had left for Alpha training the month before he first shifted, and students weren’t usually permitted to travel during full moons. It was too distracting to their training if they were always running off trying to find their mates every month. Like all Alpha training students, he had been allowed to come home for his very first shift - but I had been in the infirmary healing from a fight with a rogue wolf that weekend, so I hadn’t even gotten to see him. I was looking forward to seeing Alpha Helix’s wolf, too. I’ve heard he killed his father in combat, so he must be strong.

Kade and I headed down to the ballroom, where dinner and dancing would go on until the early morning. We’d agreed to meet Julien, Helix, and Helix’s Gamma, Marcos, for a meal and some drinks, then head out for a run. Alpha Helix’s Beta already had a mate, and had stayed back to watch their pack. Technically, Julien’s parents were still the Alpha and Luna of our pack, so we hadn’t needed to take the same precautions.

We took our seats at their table and saw a small girl with chestnut-brown hair sitting next to Marcos. She looked mildly terrified as we approached, but also elated. Marcos looked up at us with a truly threatening glare, only to relax slightly when he saw us.

“Beta Grayson, Gamma Kade, good to see you again. Please meet Sierra Fowler. Sierra and Marcos were both part of the group that went out right as the moon came out to go for the first run of the night! And now she is our future Gamma female, right, Marcos?” Kade said proudly.

Marcos pulled Sierra close to him, protectively wrapping his arm around her waist. She jumped at the sudden contact, but let herself lean against his embrace.

“Nice to meet you, Sierra. Fowler, eh? Are you Daniel’s sister? Grayson here is good friends with your brother,” Kade said, smirking at me.

Sierra’s eyes lit up. “Really! He’s friends with the Beta of the pack? That’s amazing. I’ve missed him so much. How is he?”

“You’re dead, Kade, you are a walking dead man.” I growled over mind link. This girl looked like she was far too innocent to know what Daniel was up to with me.

“He’s a great kid,” I told her honestly. “Pretty quiet and stays out of trouble, but seems happy and is well liked by everyone.”

“Yes, I’ve heard he’s had a good time at our pack. Lots of new experiences, really on the receiving end of a lot of hospitality from our pack’s leaders. Grayson makes sure Daniel is well taken care of,” Kade continued his torment, barely concealing his smirk, apparently deciding if he was already going to die by my hand later he ought to make it worth his while.

“That’s so great to hear!” Sierra gushed, oblivious to my mortification. “Does he have a mate or a girlfriend?”

I choked on my wine, coughing loudly. “Nope, neither…” and as her face falls, I add, “But he seems to be content.”

Kade was howling in my head while Julien shoveled forkfuls of food into his mouth to keep from cracking up in front of everyone. Helix was just looking between three of us like we’ve lost our minds, while Marcos was exclusively gazing at Sierra like she was the world’s most precious treasure and paying no attention to the rest of us. Goddess.

Juls, how much wolfsbane does one need to kill a Gamma? I’ve want to Google that before dessert, but my phone isn’t getting great reception in here…” I said over link to him and Kade. Both snickered at me.

“So, are you going back to Moonstone pack tomorrow?” I asked Sierra, hoping to change the subject.

She glanced nervously at Marcos. “Well, we haven’t really talked about anything yet but-“

His eyes went wide. “Of course you’re going back with us!”

Sierra flashed a big smile. “I am?”

The Gamma growled. “I’m never letting you out of my sight, princess.” I held back a laugh as she blushed. “Actually, Alpha, would you mind if we skipped the second run after dinner?” He asked.

Helix raised an eyebrow. “Marcos, to be honest, I’ve been wondering why the two of you are even still down here eating dinner with us.”

With that, Marcos grinned and nodded his head, standing up at once. Sierra squeaked and started giggling at he scooped her up in his arms and carried her out of the room.

“I hope you did all the taking to her you needed to do,” I mindlinked Julien.

“Yes, Helix and I met with her just before the run, luckily. I’ll catch you guys up later,” he replied.

“Well, I doubt we’ll be seeing them again before we leave,” Kade joked.

Helix laughed. “I just hope I find my own mate here, too. I don’t want to ride back by myself with those two.”

I studied Helix appraisingly. Not that I wanted to leave the pack, but he wouldn’t be a terrible option. He had mesmerizing blue eyes, soft pink lips, and gorgeous silver hair about the same shoulder-length style as Daniel’s, just right for tangling my hands in and tugging on.

I was hoping for a mate beneath my rank, though. I preferred being the more dominant one in the relationship, and that would never fly with an Alpha. Still, everyone knew Helix was a very nontraditional Alpha. Hmm.

I absently continued eating my meal, nervous for the next part of the evening. All of us eventually headed outside, mingling in the backyard of the packhouse as the sky turned to dusk.

“Shall we?” Helix said, with his ever-present smile. A very gorgeous, distracting smile, I might add.

We all nodded, and I tossed a quick prayer in the direction of the Moon Goddess as I shifted into Fang’s hulking shape I was proud of my wolf form. Fang stood tall as my human form, and his fur was a blend of white and light grey.

Stretching to adjust to being on four legs instead of two, I waited on Helix, Kade and Julien to shift as well before we took off for the run. Suddenly, I caught a new scent in the air, one that made my heart race.

Fang howled as we whirled to face the wolf moving toward us, their dark blue eyes wide as they stared at me with a shocked expression. The wolf was as big as me, maybe bigger - possibly an Alpha but definitely at least a Beta or Gamma. Their fur was a beautiful glossy black color. Suddenly, they growled and took off, racing toward the forest.

I forgot all about my friends, the word “MATE” resounding through my head.

We will get mate. We will catch mate. Faster! Fang yelled at me as I ran after the mystery wolf.

Shut up, Fang, don’t you think I’m running as fast as I can? I snarled back.

Just get mate! He ordered.

I’ve chased plenty of rogues, but whoever my mate was, they were fast. Panting, I jumped over a small stream and dodged trees as we reached the edge of Clear Lake’s territory. The wolf was just in my line of vision, when I heard a growl that stopped me in my tracks.

Rogues. I sniffed. Maybe… ten? Fifteen?

“Julien, Kade. I’m at the eastern edge of the territory by myself, and I can scent about a dozen or so rogues.”

Silence. I tried them separately. Julien had a block up. “Kade?” I pushed harder.

“Yo where is everyone? I found my mate! She’s hot!”

“Kade, congrats, I can’t wait to meet her. But a dozen rogues are on the eastern border and I’m out here alone, get here now. I don’t know if they want to fight or not but they’re headed my way.”

“f**k man. We’re on our way. Julien?”

“Can’t reach him.”

“Probably already balls-deep in his mate,” Kade snorted. “She’s not gonna be as amazing as mine, though.” I bristled at his words. Probably because I found my damn mate and they ran away from me and now I was about to fight because of it. Stupid mate bond.

A pair of rogues materialized in front of me, snarling, interrupting my thoughts. They were smaller than me, but I wasn’t going to underestimate them. That’s how I’d ended up nearly dying in one of my first rogue fights, when I was cockily toying with a rogue I had neutralized towards the end of the battle. His mate snuck up behind me, snapping my leg and dislocating my shoulder, in addition to clawing me half-to-death. Julien’s dad had saved me, snapping the neck of my attacker just before he could sink his claws into my throat. I was in the pack hospital for nearly four days while recovering.

Another growl brought me back to the present again. Three more wolves had joined the first pair. Great.

These assholes made us lose mate, Fang snarled, sounding furious. Kill them before I do it myself!

Heeding the advice of my wolf for the first time in a while, I launched myself at the first rogue, biting his front left leg and snapping it. He yelped, whirling to bite me, but I was already on the back of another rogue as I bit into his neck, tearing away a chunk of flesh. I felt claws scrape my side, but ignored the pain and bit hard on the rear leg of the wolf as they lept past me.

Two more rogues approached, even as I was fighting with this group. Fang, buddy, I think we might be f****d, I told him.

No, we have to see mate, he insisted.

Mate is clearly as asshole because there’s no way they didn’t smell these rogues and they still left us here alone, I reminded him.

Suddenly, I heard a howl behind me that I recognized as Kade’s wolf, Ivan. Ivan was big and brown, and he had a slightly smaller blue-gray wolf with him. They immediately jumped on two rogues and start tearing into them. Another pair of wolves, one silver and one red, jumped into fray, biting and growling.

Within a couple of minutes, all of the rogues were dead except two, who were badly injured. The Clear Lake Alpha has joined us, along with his Beta and a few warriors, and they took the injured rogues in for questioning.

The four wolves who helped me had shifted back and dressed in clothes brought by the warriors while I talked to the Alpha. It had been Kade, Helix, and two women I didn’t know. Kade wrapped his arm around the waist of one of them, a tall, beautiful woman with mocha-colored skin and tons of curly brown hair. Helix was standing behind a petite blonde woman with big blue eyes. She had scars crisscrossing her arms, making me wonder what had happened to her.

“Thank you all,” I started.

“Bro, of course,” Kade replied. “Why the f**k were you all the way out here? Everyone split up as soon as we shifted but I thought you all ran off to get your mates, too. This is Brea, by the way.”

I couldn’t tell them, could I? It was too embarrassing.

“Yeah, I lost track of everyone as soon as I realized Olivia was next to me,” Helix agreed. “Kade just happened to see us and said you needed help.”

“Sorry to interrupt your first hour as mates!” I tried to smile brightly but the way they were looking at me, I had a feeling it wasn’t working.

“Dude, what happened after you shifted? Was your mate here? Was… was your mate a woman?” Kade looked at me, his expression so uncertain that it almost made me feel better. He had never really understood the mate bond would work for me since I was gay. The Moon Goddess always paired you with the one your heart truly desired and needed, though, so I had never doubted it.

I decided just to tell them. “You can’t tell anyone, okay?” They nodded solemnly. “I was chasing my mate. He ran from me, and kept running, and then we got out here and I scented the rogues so I tried to link you guys for help. But my mate just kept going.”

“What a piece of s**t,” Olivia said. We all stared at her. “What? This mystery guy is terrible if he’d rather risk his mate dying than meet him.” She shrugged.

I felt my heart ping a little at that thought. Was I so terrible? Fang was… a good wolf. Beautiful, I’ve always thought. I don’t know why someone wouldn’t even want to introduce themselves to me.

My shoulders slumped as I thought about it. “You’re absolutely right. Anyway, I’m gonna go back and have a drink, guys. You all should get back to your rooms,” I wiggled my eyebrows at them suggestively, trying to smile. “It was nice to meet you ladies, and thanks for not letting me die.” I shifted back into Fang and took off toward the packhouse, letting out a loud, sad howl as I felt my heart break.

Our mate didn’t want us, and now I don’t want him, I told Fang angrily.

My wolf whimpered and blocked me from speaking to him. Stupid mate bond.