My Mate

Proluge

I fell onto the soft couch with a sigh. Another hard day of work word me thin. I heard the sizzling of cooking food from the kitchen; mom was cooking dinner. Dad was probably still at work or on his way home.

I was about to flip on the tv when I heard a knock at the door. I listened for a second to see if mom was going to answer it, but I didn't hear her footsteps. I grumbled as I rolled off the couch, landing on my butt and them standing up, walking toward the door.

I swung it open and saw Alpha Lucas, taking me by surprise. Why was he here? He barely spoke to us. Besides my family's initiation into the pack, he hadn't said a personal word to us. So why would he just show up on our doorstep?

He glanced down at me for a second and then behind me, scanning the room. He took a hesitant breath.

I scanned him over. He was extremely good-looking, but also extremely off-limits.

But, damn, he was like a breath of fresh air to look at. His deep brown eyes and Carmel brown hair topped off his tall figure built of muscle. I was pretty sure he was a couple years older than me.

He had been Alpha for about three years now. As an Alpha's son, instead of attending regular school with the rest of the kids in our werewolf-based city, he started training physically and mentally for the Alpha position since he was ten years old. And it showed. His eyes were hard and unfeeling and so was the rest of him.

I shivered, thinking about his cold hands murdering countless innocents from enemy packs.

I realized that too many seconds of silence had gone by and fumbled for words. Of course, I would embarrass myself, so what's the point in trying. Every moment around him would be spent embarrassing myself, so I decided to embrace it.

I put on a false mask of confidence. "Alpha Lucas, come in."

It was extremely important as a member of any werewolf pack to treat the Alpha with complete respect. It wasn't something I was completely used to, but it was a work in progress. I knew that some bowed to him, but I couldn't see any point in that. So I did the closest thing I could think of; inviting him in without questions.

He clenched his jaw and nodded to me. I saw him glance down at my body. I unconsciously followed suit, suddenly self-conscious infront of him.

My shirt had been rearranged when I fell from the couch and was now lower than needed, showing a sufficient amount of cleavage. I gestured to the living room as I readjusted my shirt.

"Where's your father?" His deep, sexy voice almost had me forgetting the question.

"He's not not here right now. He's at work. My mother is in the kitchen," I explained.

He rolled his eyes in a snotty way, obviously not happy that he didn't get his way. It took s deep breath and a clenching of fists not to lash out at him. I couldn't stand it when someone was that overly spoiled.

I walked to the kitchen.

"Mom, Alpha Lucas is here."

She turned to me with wide eyes. I was taken aback. Almost nothing made that look of hers come out. It flashed for a couple seconds until it was replaced with a look of sorrow and sympathy. She obviously knew something I didn't.

She gestured to he pot on the stove, indicating that I would watch it while she was away. She walked over to me and wrapped her arms around my torso. She rested her chin on my shoulder and held me in the embrace and I returned the gesture in confusion.

"Mom, you're scaring me. What happened?" I whisper softly to ensure that the Alpha can't hear even though his werewolf heading would allow him to eavesdrop anyway.

She pulled back, looking at me at an arm's length away, "I love you, Adria. Just remember that. Whatever happens is because I love you. And so does your father."

I nodded, "I know. I love you too. What's going on?"

She shook her head and walked into the living room. I heard a low conversation occur.

I decided to hold off on the use of my werewolf hearing. I had always thought hat eavesdropping was rude even though I really wanted to hear what it was about. I wondered why he had come alone. An Alpha of such a big pack would have some of his men do his work for him, wouldn't he?

I stirred the pasta calmly and tried to contain my anger and confusion. Mom hadn't seemed too surprised that Alpha Lucas was here. But why? Has mom and dad been corresponding with him previously without telling me?

About ten minutes later of me cooking and mom and Alpha talking quietly in the living room, the back door opened and in walked dad. My brother walked in shortly after him, joining me in the kitchen.

"Jackson, what is Alpha Lucas doing here?" I asked quickly when he got close enough for him to hear me.

His face showed the same reaction as mom's. "You'll see, Adria. You'll see."

This set me off. Neither my mom nor my older brother would share a simple piece of information with me.

I slammed the wooden spoon that I was using to stir the pasta onto the counter, "Dammit, tell. Me. Now."

He raised his eyebrows, "I can't. Mom said not to. I wasn't even supposed to know. Honest."

"You're such a dick, Jackson."

"Adria!" I heard mom growl from the living room. The ever-present conversation in the living room halted. 

I had said that a little louder than expected.

I grabbed the front of Jackson's shirt, pulling him down so that his eyes were level with mine. "Tell me what the fuck is going on. I'm scared, Jackson."

We wrapped his protective arms around me, hugging me to his chest with a sigh. I looked up to register his expression. A river of tears was flowing down his face.

"Jackson?" I said softly.

He took a deep breath and swallowed, "Alpha Lucas has requested that you return to his home with him."

"What? Why?" I'm shocked. Why would he want me? And why was this so overly sad to my family? Didn't Alpha Lucas live in the city?

Jackson didn't answer for a moment. He looked like he was thinking very deeply about something.

"Jack-Jack," it was his nickname I only used once in a while now that we were practically adults. "Why does he want me?"

"You're his mate, Adria. He said that when he turned eighteen he could sense it."

My throat ran dry. As a female werewolf, I fantasized about having the perfect mate; loving; kind; gentle.

Alpha Lucas was the exact opposite of every single one of those things.

He had a reputation that drew the slutty girls to him and drove the good ones away.

He also had an extremely violent reputation.

Why did I have to be paired with the most gruesome man on the planet?