Golden Duty: A Golden Novella

Chapter Five. Mate

River

River Larkin grew up in the Victory pack. His father was a trusted warrior and River had always wanted to follow in his footsteps. He had attended warrior training at an early age, thanks in part to the connections his father had with the instructors. River took to it like a fish does to water. He quickly made my way up the ranks and because of this, Alpha Fabian, Andrew's dad appointed him as one of his son's guards.

When he shifted at thirteen, his dad told him that he was destined for something great. River and Andrew were in the same grade and they grew close enough that Andrew told Alpha Fabian that he was going to choose him to be his Beta. It was a fact, though, that Alpha Fabian had a hand in this decision. River knew that Andrew wanted Calvin, another wolf in their grade, to be his Beta. While they didn't exactly become the best of friends, Andrew and River cultivated a respect for each other. River respected him as his future Alpha, and Andrew, in turn, was content in the fact that River would always be loyal to him. Calvin, meanwhile, was finicky at best. This could be just because of youth but that character trait of his gave River the upper hand when it came down to Andrew's choice to be his right-hand wolf.

When River turned sixteen, he was so disappointed when he didn't meet his mate. He had been waiting for his sixteenth birthday since he was a young pup, when he was told all about the concept of mates. He had seen the way his parents were and he wanted that for himself. River wanted someone to share his day with, to sleep next to, to wake up with. But as his sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth birthdays passed, he was losing hope that he would meet her at all.

Contrary to popular belief, not all wolves found their mates. While every wolf was given a mate by the Moon Goddess, considering the sheer number of wolves in the planet and the fact that they were scattered all around the globe, there was only a small chance that one meets their mate right on their sixteenth birthday or soon after.

Some wolves go on what was called a Mate Quest, a trip to the packs around the world to increase the chances of finding their mate. This worked most of the time, except when both wolves went on the Quest at the same time. It has happened before, rare, but it has happened.

Some wolves, a rare few, mostly those who had lived for a long time, just gave up and took a mate of their choice. A fair few of these wolves actually chose humans to be their mates. While these unions were not as strong as matings gifted by the Goddess, chosen mates had all the benefits of gifted mates. A few wolves, including River, thought that the only reason why there was a belief that these matings were not as strong was only because of the pedestal that gifted mate pairs were put on. These few wolves believed there was really no difference.

But even if River did think that, he still wanted to find his mate, the one destined for him. He just knew he'd find her and there had always been something inside him, he had no idea what, that told him that once he found the mate given to him by the Goddess, something big will happen. He had always felt that. That him finding his mate was bigger than just him finding his mate.

When River and Andrew turned eighteen, Alpha Fabian wanted to send his son to a month-long convention in Germany for future Alphas. This was where the future leaders of packs were introduced to the Council of Elders and to other packs, so that alliances may be forged or strengthened.

However, two days before he was supposed to leave, Andrew found his mate while he and River were at the mall. Ironically, they were there because River went with him as a guard while he met up with a she-wolf from a neighboring pack.

It was magical, witnessing the moment when mates found each other. It was like they sensed each other from across room, and both immediately went towards the other. When they were in front of each other, they spoke no words. They only gazed into each other's eyes for a long moment before they seemingly snapped out of the trance they were in. River saw Andrew grab his mate's hand and drag her from the mall and into his car. When he finally caught up to them, he saw Andrew had sped off, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. River had to run all the way back to the pack lands that day and when he got to the pack house, Alpha Fabian informed him that the newly mated pair was locked in Andrew's room and that they were not to be disturbed.

He was also ordered to go to the convention in Andrew's stead for the first two weeks.

So there he was, in a German hostel along with fifty or so Alphas from other packs all over the world. The first week was mainly lectures and speeches from retired Alphas, sharing their vast wealth of knowledge with the next generation of leaders. Representatives from the five Royal families were also present, sharing messages from their Kings and Queens. River especially took a liking to the representative from the French Royal Family, Geoffroy. He was a close relation of the King, and was so generous with answers to questions thrown at him that River could sense that there was no trace of subterfuge in his person.

He only had a couple days left before he had to go back to the pack. Some of the future Alphas invited him to go two towns over for some drinks. He went with them but as they were passing the first town, he realized that far from a loud night of drinking, he would much rather go around the shops in this town to find presents for his parents. There was also a very enticing scent in the air that seemed to be all around the town. He saw a few artisanal shops carrying items which he was sure his mom and dad would like.

He first went to a paper store whose owner could whip up any book you requested in no time at all. He got a thick blank volume for his mom, whose recipe book was quickly running out of pages. For his father, he selected a knife that tucked nicely into its own handle. It would certainly be much safer than hiding a knife under one's clothes.

On his way to a jeweler's shop, he saw a coffee shop and decided to stop to get a cup and maybe a pastry or two. He could see through the large picture windows that it was a small shop, but it was very well furnished. The tables were gleaming and the lighting was very complementary to the over-all ambience of the room. There weren't a lot of customers he could see, only a woman who was sitting at the table farthest from the door. Curiously, instead of reading the magazine open in front of her, her eyes seemed to be the scanning the streets.

As soon as River pushed the door open, the most amazing scent filled his senses. It was the smell of the morning, a new sunrise and the scent of the earth starting a new day. He couldn't describe it exactly, but it was his favorite scent in the entire world. His gaze was locked on a woman standing by counter. She was facing away from him, her head bowed down, looking at something in her hand perhaps. River saw when she felt his presence behind her. He also heard a low, feminine growl coming from the back of the room but paid it no mind. His entire world became the woman in front of him.

She slowly turned around and he finally saw her uncommon violet eyes.

Mate.