Fate’s Design

Harvest Moon

Kelsey POV

It was clear that Seth and what’s-his-face weren’t too sure about me. That was fine. I didn’t particularly care for them, either. They weren’t rude or mean, probably because they saw me as their future Luna. They were cordial… in the same way a Southern Belle is cordial when she says ‘bless your heart.’ Welp, it is what it is.

‘Hey, T. When we cross the border, they’ll probably have a patrol up. What do you say we have a little fun with it?’

‘Girl, you know I’m normally down, but we just found our mate, we don’t want to mess this up.’ My wolf responded.

I sighed. Tanya used to be fun.

Mason looked over at me. “Something on your mind, Kelsey?”

“Just touching base my wolf. Nothing too exciting.” Unfortunately.

“When do I get to meet her?” He asked expectantly.

“You already met her, dummy.”

I could feel the irritation coming from the Betas in the backseat. I just smirked.

“I chased a streak of fur through an unknown forest. That doesn’t count.” He said with a small smile, sounding amused.

I shrugged. “Oh, well. Sucks to be slow.”

He looked slightly shocked. “I’m not slow! I’m a well-trained Alpha!” He said self-consciously.

“Hm… my mistake.” I said, looking down casually at my nails, suddenly very interested in my cuticles.

He looked at me for a moment, analyzing me with those piercing blue eyes. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but decided not to. Fine by me. I looked back out the window. We had to be getting close, right?

Mason POV

I wasn’t sure why, but I got the impression she didn’t want me to actually interact with her wolf. At Harvest Moon, we encouraged harmony and respect between the two sides of a person, but I knew that not every pack did. Maybe Crystal Run was a little more reserved about letting their wolves out. I’d have to ask her about it later.

Either way, we were getting close. I linked our patrols so they’d know we were just a few minutes out, and checked in with the head omega to make sure everything was set. I didn’t want my mate’s first experience with my pack to be anything less than the red carpet.

“Here we are. Welcome to Harvest Moon.” I told her with a smile as we crossed into our territory. Her face was hard to read. If she felt anything at all about being here, she didn’t show it. After a moment, she said in an annoyed tone,

“Your forest is sick.”

“What do you mean, it’s sick?” I asked. I was pretty sure Uncle Adrian was about to burst a blood vessel with that being the first thing she had to say about our home.

“I mean something’s wrong with it. Isn’t it your job to take care of the forest?” She accused. Now it was my turn to be annoyed. Before I could say anything, Adrian interjected,

“We do take care of our forest. There’s nothing wrong with it. You, on the other hand—”

I cut him off with a low growl. I agreed that she was out of line, but that didn’t give him license to talk to my mate that way.

“Apologies, Alpha.” He muttered. I noticed the lack of any apology to Kelsey, not that I really blamed him.

“Look, I think we could all stand to cool down a bit. Things are off to a lousy start. Let’s get home, get some food, go to bed and start fresh in the morning.” I suggested.

“Yes. You’re right.” Adrian agreed. I looked at Seth in the rearview and c****d an eyebrow.

He huffed. “Fine. But the problem is still gonna be there tomorrow. You know that, right?”

“We’ll try again tomorrow. Start over with a clean slate.” I reiterated. My friend had no idea how big of a problem we were dealing with. But that could wait until tomorrow.

As we pulled up to the packhouse, Aunt Addie, our Beta female, and a few other pack members were there to greet us. “Welcome home!” She said with her usual smile. “You must be Kelsey,” she said to my mate.

“That’s me.” She confirmed unenthusiastically. Aunt Addie, gracious as always, didn’t draw any attention to the fact.

“It’s nice to meet you, dear. I’m Addie, Adrian’s mate. I took the liberty of having a room prepared for you. That way you can have your own space if you need it. Come, I’ll show you.” She said. It hadn’t occurred to me to have a separate room prepared for her, but given her reluctance in this arrangement, it was probably for the best.

“Thanks.” Kelsey said, following Addie.

Once the ladies were gone, Seth turned to me. “There has got ro be a mistake, man. This girl’s abrasive, irreverent, disrespectful—”

“She’s my mate, Seth. Watch yourself.” I warned.

“You’re not thinking clearly, Mason. How is she gonna help you lead the pack?”

“He’s right, Mason. Kelsey is not Luna material. She doesn’t even seem to want to be Luna, or your mate for that matter.” Adrian interjected.

“Well what do you expect me to do? Leave my mate behind? That goes against everything we believe!” I asked, exasperated. “I’m trying to do the right thing here. My mate is my greatest gift. Isn’t that what you and Aunt Addie and mom and dad and Uncle Rufus and Aunt Katie taught us? I don’t remember there being any caveats about ‘unless the mate isn’t what we expected’.”

Adrian sighed. “No. You’re right. Your mate is your greatest gift. It’s just… going to take time and effort, from everyone, to figure this out. If we can figure it out.”

“We will. We have to.” I said adamantly.

“Mason, you have to face reality, your mate may have done irreparable damage to your bond and marking her could kill you.” He said, not that I needed a reminder. “This is a special case. I’m not saying you abandon your mate without a second thought. I’m saying she may have already made that choice for you.”

“What? Why would it kill him? Mason, what’s dad talking about?” Seth demanded.

I sighed. “You know that guy that was being a little too personal with Kelsey?”

“The Gamma’s kid? Yeah, I remember.”

“They’ve been pretty personal for a while now.” I filled him in on what Dr. Porter had said. Seth took it about the way I expected. There was some shouting and a few curses and some questions, but then he settled back down.

“So… you either don’t ever mark your mate or you mark her and all of a sudden feel all that weight at once? Dude, when Sandra and I marked each other, that was hands down the best moment of my life. I can’t believe that asshole Alex took that from you.” Seth said.

“It is what it is. When Kelsey’s ready, I’m going to mark her and when the time comes, I’m going to make her my Luna. Whatever happens happens.” I replied solemnly.