The Black Wolf and her Mate

THREE

Adam's POV

It was just another day at the pack house. Everyone just woke up and they were all getting ready to get to their stations. I was ready to get on top of all the work dad was getting me to do as well. 

Of course he would get me into the pack work because I was already 19, which means that I should have found my mate by now. It's only been a year. I would find her soon enough. He tells me that until my mate comes, and until the pack has another Luna, he will not pass on the title of Alpha to me. It's not like I want it anyways. It's boring. 

Ever since I was small, I dreamt of being Beta. They were the second in command, and hence, did not have as much weight on their shoulders as an Alpha, but were very important as well. Too bad my best friend is Beta. 

You can't choose your role in a pack if you are the Alpha, Beta, Delta or Gamma's kid, but the others' jobs get chosen by the pack elders, according to what they think is right. It's normally what they want to be, which makes me envious of them. I would never admit it to anyone else, though. 

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" My Beta, Matthew asks. He knows me very well because we basically grew up together. Even though I grew up with Emily and David (Emily is Delta and David is Gamma)as well, I was closest to Matt. Really cliché, isn't it? 

I never really spend much time with David, because he's away from the country most of the time along with his parents, learning about their job, and I don't click with Emily as well as I do with Matt. We're friends, but not as close as we used to be a long time ago. Things changed, I guess. 

"Nothing." I sighed, and Matt shrugged it off. He knew I wasn't in the mood to talk. I made my way to the dining room to have breakfast. It was a pretty big table. The pack house is for the important families. The Alpha, Beta, Delta and Gamma. So we were basically one big, happy family. Yay. 

The Alpha sat on one end and the Alpha's son, me, sat on the other end of the table. Matt, Emma (Matt's mate), Emily, David and Sophie (David's mate) were seated near my end and their parents were seated near my father's end of the table. We sat together for breakfast every day, minus David, Sophie and his parents. 

After a while, it gets boring discussing pack work all the time. I mean - sure, you are very important to the pack, but that does not mean that you keep everything between you strictly business! I would change this when I become Alpha.

When, not if, because my dad has made it clear that it will happen. 

Rushing my breakfast, I run outside for no particular reason. Other than that to get the heck out of that workaholic - infested pack house. I shifted into my chocolate brown wolf, my sea blue eyes widening, sharpening my vision. I run into the forest, loving the feel of the wind ruffling my fur, the smell of the wet forest ground, the sound of leaves ruffling and the ground beneath my feet. 

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After a  long run, I returned to the pack house. The long run was necessary if I wanted to skip the boring talk about pack stuff. 

Sure - I care about the pack, but I also think that being the alpha of a pack does not mean that you are ruling them. Yeah, you technically do, but your goal is not only to ensure the wellbeing of the pack, but it is also to ensure that all of our pack is happy. 

I was greeted with a frantic Emily, looking for Matt as she clutched her stomach in pain. "Matt!" She screamed. I wasn't a doctor or an expert, but I think it was safe to say that Emily was in heat. Matt! You idiot! I scolded him through the mind link. 

Wassup, dude! Matt's voice came back. 

What's up is that your mate is in heat and you're doing nothing about it, you idiot! I informed him, angry at him for leaving his mate at such an important time. I try taking deep breaths through my mouth, telling myself not to give in to the sweet smell emitting from Emily. It was driving me insane, but I managed. My wolf kept me tethered to the thought of our mate. 

Not a minute later, Matthew was at the door. He banged it open and rushed to his room carrying Emily. I belched in my mouth thinking of what he aimed to do in order to help her, but I kept my hand over my mouth to prevent creating a scene. 

I decided to take a stroll around to get some things from the nearby store - like books (Yes, I love books. Even Alphas can read books for fun.) and of course looked through some movies and settled on leaving them all there. Nothing seemed too interesting right now. 

As I was heading back, I stopped near the grocery store as I smelled the most mouth-watering smell ever. It smelled like new paper/books and salt. I breathed it in and my wolf came out, Mate! He cried. 

Well, fancy seeing you again. I grumbled. Once I realized what he just said, I added, MATE?! 

Yes, MATE. Get over there right now and mark her you fool! He commanded. 

I stole a look at the source of the smell and I could see her almost ignoring it. I mean - she smelled like a wolf, but one without a pack! Oh no! She'd die at the hands of another pack or worse - my own warriors!

I had an urge to go there, but I stopped myself. I had a feeling she could handle herself well. I also wanted to give her space, hoping she would sense me, too - much to my wolf's protests. I pushed him to the back of my mind and growled at him to stay put. 

I waited for a bit, hoping she would notice me, but she wasn't paying much attention, instead, she was busy buying half the store! I saw her look around. I'm sure she could feel me watching, but when she didn't see anyone, she went back to what she was doing. 

I saw another guy walk up to her and put his arm around her shoulders, as if protecting her from whatever she was afraid of. I almost let out a growl. I couldn't handle seeing her in he arms of another male. She was happy without me. She had someone in her life. The thought that maybe my mate never wanted me back burnt a hole right through my heart.

I left, running back home, longing for the comfort of my bed or a good book. Maybe I could play something to calm down. 

I fell backwards on the bed, hoping to catch some shut eye, but my wolf was far too excited. He was yapping the whole day about how our mate was so beautiful, perfect. Man, he was whipped already. If only I could get him to understand that while we wanted her, she clearly didn't want us.

In the end I couldn't take it anymore and went out, patrolling the borders. This may seem like it has no connection whatsoever with my mate, but it actually helps in my case because I know for a fact that she was a rogue. She will step into a nearby territory sooner or later, so might as well patrol. I hoped she'd come soon. By now, my wolf's pacing in my head was giving me a headache. 

Would you cut it out?! I snapped at my wolf. 

Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to actually talk to me about what was bothering me!

Oh come on! You have been whining about her the whole day! Oh course I know what's bothering you!

Ugh you're so judgmental. 

I'm sorry, what did I do?!

You just assumed that I was anxious to meet our mate! 

Well, since you have been rambling on and on about it nonstop, of course that's what I'm going to assume!

Ugh. Stupid human, you'll never understand.

And with that, he retreated to the back of my mind. What the hell was that?

I tried to ignore it and continued my walk. By now it was around 6:00 in the evening. I should get home for dinner soon. 

I sighed, defeated. I was hoping to see her, but I guess that will have to wait for another day.