The Unwanted Bond

Chapter one- An untimely meeting

wordcount: 5747

Parker's Pov:

I groaned and rolled out of bed, slapping the alarm to shut it off. I didn't want to get up at 4 am, but it's the only way to get a quick run in before my brother and I have to go to the Fire Stone Pack for the treaty meeting. I normally do not attend these meetings. For that a little background needs to be told.

I am the son of Stoic and Molly Mathison. They are former Alpha and Luna of the Water Stone pack.  I am the second born son, so I am the Beta to my older brother Derek. I was born deaf, but upon getting my wolf I can use him in human form to hear. I have an Alpha's Mate mark. Which is one reason I usually do not attend treaty meetings with unmated Alpha's. When I was told at 16 that my birthmark was an Alpha's mark, I ran away from home. I got captured by rogues and it was two years of unspeakable things before I was found. Now at almost 24, I have six months to try to find a chosen mate and hope the council lets me keep the bond.

Mates can only find each other through direct eye or skin contact. Once you make that contact the scent of your mate becomes prominent and you can find them in a crowded room just by smelling the air. Rumors have been started that I am avoiding unmated Alpha's, which is true, because if the Alpha is mated I wear normal clothes, any unmated ones around and I have sunglasses, jeans, leather jacket, and gloves. Which is why Derek was shocked that I am literally choosing to walk into the wolves den today.

But I have a plan. I am going to try to convince Alpha Ryan's sister, Carla to be my chosen mate. She lost her mate over a year ago to a rogue attack and has made it known that she is ready to find a new mate. She's a year younger than me. The problem is you have to present yourself,  meaning, I have to take my shirt off and show her I do not have any marks, which will make my mark on my rib appear. Once she sees that it will be a matter of trying to convince her to ignore it or that he died.

I hopped off the treadmill and made my way into my shower. We had to leave within the next thirty minutes or so. Derek knows I have been hiding but he doesn't know why. He assumes it's not being ready after what happened to me. If he knew that the real reason was simply because I didn't want to become an Alpha's mate, he would chain me to a chair and invite all the unmated Alpha's here himself. Which is why he doesn't know.

I exited the shower, towel dried, and dressed in black skinny jeans, a red t shirt, white socks, red sneakers, my leather jacket, and my black baseball cap. I grabbed my sunglasses and hung them from my shirt collar before grabbing my gloves and leaving the room. My eyes were a golden white almost constantly because I always had my wolf out so I could hear. Very rarely do I not have him bleed through. I entered the kitchen and grabbed a banana. As soon as I took a bite, Derek mind linked me.

"Hey you ready to go?"

"Yeah. Meet you at the car." I headed outside to the vehicles we would be traveling in. I climbed into the passenger seat of the one Derek, Violet, and Samantha would be taking. Once seated I quickly finished my banana. Having left the peel in the trash already, I licked my fingers clean before using hand sanitizer to clean them. Derek hopped in and eyed my outfit.

"Still not going to chance it?"

"Not ready." I shrugged.

"You know, you turn 24 in 6 months. You should probably start opening up to the idea of finding your mate. It's only a matter of time before everyone catches on that you are an Alpha's mate."

"I know that, Derek. Thank you for reminding me."

"I'm just saying. You have to start moving forward at some point. You have been stuck in the same spot for 5 years. You can't want to just be my Beta forever, you were meant to be so much more."