Back From Beyond (Sample)

2. Nice To Meet You

Corbin Warner watched as his daughter's so-called mate walked into the Alpha's study. He studied the man while his fingers massaged his chin in a worried way. The man was tall, even for an Alpha, while his daughter was quite petite. If he had to guess, the man was around 6 foot 6 inches. Adeline was a mere 5 foot 4 and the tall, strange man towered over her in an almost protective way.

Overall, if first impressions were correct, he would make a suitable mate for his daughter. Not that he had a lot of say in the matter. The mate bond was too strong. Adeline left the room with a worried backward glance and closed the door.

"Pleased to meet you, Sir. My name is Hunter Douglass of the Lassen Pack," the man told Corbin. He nodded his head in respect to the two men in the room. "We are new to the area so you may not have heard of us as of yet. We are a small but strong pack."

Corbin thought of his response before speaking. He was a man that usually spoke seldom since his wife and mate had passed. When he did speak, it was with purpose.

"I had heard of a new pack in the area, though I had not gotten around to arranging a meeting with your Alpha," Corbin said with a weary tone- as if commenting on the weather.

"My father, Alpha William, would I'm sure be honored to meet with you. Especially now, seeing as how your daughter is my mate," Hunter replied with a careful tone.

Corbin blinked at him and continued. "It would be good for you to arrange a meeting with your father if you would. Good relations between our packs should be paramount."

"I will set up something so that we can all meet, though my father will be stepping down as Alpha within a few months. Whether or not he approves of a pact between us, when I take the position, I will make sure that peace remains between our packs," he told Adeline's father. "I would not have my Luna suffering because she cannot visit her kin freely."

Alpha James smiled as he saw Corbin's body relax a bit. He knew that his Beta's greatest fear was to lose his only child now that her twin sister and mother were gone.

To ease the remaining tension in the air, Alpha James decided to speak.

"And what of your kin, Hunter? Any siblings?" he asked. He knew you could tell a man's character by the way he spoke of his family.

"I have a younger brother named Tristan and a sister, Penelope. Ages 20 and 18 respectively," he responded with a smile. "My mother's name is Patricia and she comes originally from the Bounty Pack in Canada."

"And what is your age, son?" Corbin asked.

"22, though I will turn 23 in a month's time," Hunter stated.

"Have you not been to a Claiming ceremony? It is usually required when you don't find your mate by 21 years of age," the Alpha inquired of him.

"I was away at college until this past year's Claiming. I took a few night courses in the summers between years and could not make it to The Claiming. This year, thankfully, it won't be necessary to attend," he said honestly. "Truth be told, I am quite glad I didn't make it in years past, or I may not have found my mate."

"Destiny works most mysteriously, I should say," Alpha James mused with a slight smile tugging at his lips.

There was a brief silence as they all thought of the ways they had met their mates. James had met his mate, Corinne, while out celebrating one of his best friend's birthdays in a small town near Redding, California. She was a server who happened to spill her entire platter of drinks on him when he reached out and touched her arm. To say she was startled would have been an understatement.