The Beta and his Mate

"The Beta and his Witch" Chapter 1

"The Beta and his Witch" The Story of Ethan and Sybil

Ethan was passed out in a motel when his phone started to ring loudly on the bedside table. He groaned and rolled over, blindly hitting the green answer button and pressing the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" He grumbled.

"Ethan?" The male voice on the other side chuckled at the sound of his Beta's groggy voice.

"August, is that you?" Ethan propped himself up on his elbow and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Yeah, you good?" August asked.

"I was out all night, barely got any sleep." Ethan mumbled, squinting at the alarm clock on the table. It was after 2:00 pm in the afternoon.

"Oh man, sorry about waking you up but I have some news." August sounded excited.

"What's up?" Ethan sat up on the crappy motel bed.

"Josie had our son last night, Kade Johnathan Hayes. The future Alpha of Crescent Moon." August declared and Ethan could practically see his friend's happiness from here.

"That's great, man! Congrats. How's Josie and the kid doing?" Ethan was suddenly awake, grinning as he thought about the future Alpha of his pack.

"They're both great, Josie did amazing. The only thing missing was his Uncle Ethan." August sighed and Ethan started to feel guilty.

"I know man, I'm sorry. I thought I was on a good trail today but she slipped away again. Do you want me to come home?" Ethan asked, frowning.

"No, not until you have her. I understand what you're doing and why you're doing it, Ethan. I would be doing the same thing if it were Josie. Kade will be here when you bring his auntie home." August said, speaking comfortingly to his Beta.

"Thanks, August." Ethan felt a wave of relief knowing that August still had his back and was supporting him.

"Get some sleep, I'll talk to you later." August chuckled before ending the call.

It had been five long months since Ethan discovered his mate, a witch in the army that Victoria marched on Crescent Moon's packgrounds. Most of the evil witch's followers were there against their will and surrendered the second she was killed. Ethan had a feeling that was the case for his mate, who had run from the battlefield the moment Ethan and her recognized each other as mates. After the packgrounds were cleaned and secured, Ethan left with the good witch, Mayze, to try and find his mate.

Since then, he's separated from Mayze and continued his own search. Every so often Mayze calls him up with a new lead after doing some kind of location spell and Ethan went to whatever state and city she gave him. Each lead was a good one, Ethan's Beta instincts and expert tracking skills picked up on every little whiff of his mate's scent and his senses were on overdrive everywhere he went. Frustratingly, Ethan was always a day or two behind his witch mate.

Right now, he was somewhere in Michigan, fighting against the bitter cold to track his mate's scent through the snowy woods. Her scent was old, lingering in the woods a few days after she had already left. Ethan's wolf, Jesse, was only remaining sane because of the briefest trails of scent he managed to pick up on. Jesse's desperation to smell his mate again made his instincts even stronger than usual, allowing him to find any speck of evidence his mate had left behind.

Perhaps the most frustrating part of the whole thing to Ethan was the fact that he didn't know his mate's name, he didn't even know what she looked like. He had smelled her on the field, Jesse leading him towards her location, but she sensed him before he could get too close. He caught the outline of her retreating figure as she field from the packgrounds that day.