Mystic Mountain Fate

Arrival

Sage’s POV

The air was hotter than I was used to. I could hear the power lines hissing at us as we passed beneath them and over a small stream, beads of water being shot upward by the tires of our camper van. The place was rugged, but what did I expect? My mate , Bry, had been coming here at least once a year since he was a pup. He had sworn the fishing was good and there were other activities to do because I didn’t much like to fish. It was a little slow paced for my style.

We arrived at camp yesterday before everyone else so we could pick our spot first. My mates brother had just been initiated as the new alpha of their pack and had a tendency to be competitive with my mate, so getting here early meant we could get settled in the best possible spot.

I grew up camping but never in a place so desolate as this one. The full moon was a week away and was sure to be very powerful, as it was also an eclipse; it would really reign in the alphas initiation and hopefully have him in good spirits. I had never met him as alpha, just as my mates brother, and it was always pretty tense around him. For some reason it seemed like he really didn’t approve of me and my mates decision to remain unmarked from one another, because he was always pretty grouchy toward me, and when my mate would talk about our relationship to him, he usually just ignored him.

So yeah, fun week ahead of us here. I shook my head and let the stress fall from between my ears. I looked to my mate who was testing the wind with a wet finger, calculating the perfect spot for us to set up camp. He was so organized and a perfectionist in that way. I wasn’t, but you know what they say, opposites attract.

When we got our camp mostly set up, he suggested we gosh for our dinner. I don’t love fishing but I was pretty tired. I cast my line and drifted into a flurry of anxiety. Would the alpha be cruel to me in front of this new pack? I wanted to make a good impression, not only to my mates pack but also because I wasn’t shy to the fact people didn’t agree with our decision to not mark each other yet. I know it was supposed to make the bond stronger but hell, it was already strong. I didn’t want to lose myself to a relationship when I was still so eager to start my business back home, and especially before having pups. I wasn’t the typical woman and me mate loved me for me, with whatever that entailed.

“You got one!” My mate yelled to me. I was so deep in thought that I hadn’t noticed my line bobbing in and out of the water, signaling me my dinner was ready to die. I let B take and clean my fish.

“It’s a big one. Good job baby.” Bry told me. He cleaned the fish in the stream and before no time we were making tacos. The sun had just set and the fire flies were dancing across the water. It was so romantic. I sat next to my mate and looked at him while he smiled and pulled my head just under his chin.

“I love you Bry” I told him. And he just rubbed my back. He was a man of few words but I knew he loved me too, he didn’t have to say it.

He must have been talking for some time when he asked me “are you still awake? Are you listening to me Sage?” I blinked myself awake but quickly felt him pick me up and lay me down in bed. I drifted asleep peacefully to the sound of the fire crackling and the water rushing around the bends of the stream.