True Mates: The Beginning (mxm)

Chapter 1: "He's Not Invisible"

"Wow, look at that," Miguel said, his eyes fixed out the window, at the grounds, where there was already a commotion. "I mean, wow."

His friend wasn't wrong, Connor thought for a second before he remembered why he was dead set against this matchmaking bullshit. "She's not that good-looking."

"Are your eyes even working, mate," Miguel's brother Daniel said, poking his head out to see better. "Imagine having that in your bed every night."

"And every morning," Miguel added wistfully.

The female really was exquisite. She had a lean graceful body, not too tall, not too short either, with the perfect hourglass proportions. Add in a wavy red hair, a charming smile, and shining green eyes, it was no surprise everyone in the house had to poke their head out or walk out into the gardens to meet the newcomers.

Those people came for Connor, she came for Connor, and still, he couldn't muster a molecule of interest. All he felt inside was dread.

"Seriously, man, can we switch? Just for a minute. Or hell, I'll challenge you right now and die a happy death, if it would mean one minute of her looking my way. Shit."

"You two fight each other, I'll console her once you're both gone," Daniel jokes, still looking at the luscious female.

Connor rolled his eyes and walked away from the window, hoping this whole day would soon be over with. "Okay, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, emphasis on Dumb, aren't you supposed to be on my side?"

Miguel frowned. "Oh come on, even after seeing her you still insist that you can do better with that invisible true mate of yours?"

"He's not invisible," Connor muttered.

"He," Daniel said, "is not here, my friend. And she is very much here, flesh and blood. You can smell her and touch her and everything. This weird fascination of yours with your nonexistent true mate was cute when we were little, but man, come on. You're of mating age and you know your father won't just let you traipse the world, looking for some mirage."

"He's not a mirage. He's as real as anything," Connor insisted, feeling annoyed that he had to defend his mate yet again.

Nobody understood how Connor knew he had a true mate out there or how he knew it was a male, not a female. He didn't exactly know how his mate looked, but he knew with all his heart he was out there. As much as he knew anything.

So to even consider mating some female, which wouldn't technically be the end of the world since Connor was bisexual, still felt like a betrayal on his part.

He had waited for his mate for twenty-five years, he could wait even longer if he must. The only problem was that his father, the Alpha of the Woodrun Pack was sick and wanted his first-born son to be mated, so he could finally claim what was rightfully his – the Alpha title.

"What are you complaining about, man?" Daniel said. "You're soon to be Alpha, about to be mated to America's Top Model, and I have to go to my empty bed every night and then protect your ungrateful ass during the day."

"Yeah, seriously, we should switch so I could show you how it's done. I'm gonna pin her to the bedpost and slide my–"

Someone cleared their throat.

Miguel shut up and stood at attention immediately. His face was as red as his uniform. "Apologies, Alpha, sir."

"Mhm," the Alpha grumbled. He had been intimidating in his prime time, but since the sickness took him, he'd seemed more and more tired, dependent on his son to give orders, meet with the people, and generally run the place. Connor was Alpha already, all but in the actual title.