Chapter 1
Enzo’s POV
“You have two weeks to find your mate.” The loud voice of the elder was clear.
I sighed and nodded my head, I knew this day would come. At 27, to not have found your mate was strange. Since wolves were able to find mates as soon as they hit 18, no one could understand why I hadn’t found mine.
What they didn’t know was I had found her. I found her when I was 22 years old and I lost her the same day. The one moment every wolf dreamed of was cruelly ripped away from me as my mate rejected me without a moment’s hesitation.
I was lucky that I wasn’t an Alpha then, or I was sure that I would have been stripped of my position.
But now, I’m in a tough spot. If I don’t find my mate, then I’ll no longer be alpha. I was reaching the dangerous age where my wolf was slowly retreating. Without my wolf, I could not be alpha and that was something I wasn’t going to let happen.
After my disastrous meeting with the elders, I left. I knew they were right but how could I tell them that my own mate rejected me? It was a rare thing and for an alpha to be rejected, well that was just unheard of.
“So, how did it go?” My beta and best friend Noah asked.
Noah, the only person who knew I was rejected. I could only trust him after all. He’s been by my side all these years.
I turned to look at my friend. His brown eyes showed his concern, while his curly brown hair looked messed up. He probably ran over to see me.
“2 weeks man. I’ve got 2 weeks to find my mate.” I sighed, running my hands through my hair.
“Okay, we’ve got this. We can find a solution.” Noah replied.
“How? How can I find my mate when she already fucking rejected me?” I scoffed.
“We need to find a female who is like you.” Noah said.
“What? Find a woman who has been rejected?” I asked, confused.
“Yes, someone who has been rejected. They’ll understand your plight better than anyone else.” Noah smiled.
“Fuck, this sounds like an arranged marriage thing. Something I never thought I’d have to experience.” I shook my head in disbelief.
“Sometimes we’ve gotta take a page out of the human’s book. It’s a popular thing for them, and it works.” Noah grinned. Glad he found this entertaining.
“How do we get around the marking situation though?” I raised my eyebrows in question.
Marking for werewolves was a sacred thing. Only true mates could mark one another. The mark would fade otherwise. If my wolves saw my mate’s mark fading then it would raise some serious questions.
“Easy, you can say you’ve marked her no one else can see. Somewhere private for the two of you. If worst comes to worst, you can mark her for a day. No one has to know.” Noah suggested.
I thought this over as we walked back to the pack house. Noah was right, this was the only solution. I never thought my life would come to this. I was really taking a page out of the humans book here. If other wolves heard about this, they’d laugh hysterically.
My mom always said to me, wolves were lucky. Our moon goddess hand picked each and every person’s soul mate, so we never had to do the tedious task of dating like humans. But in situations like this, I wish we could. Wolves were not as open to dating as we were all taught from a young age to wait for your mates. Of course, that didn’t happen that often. I couldn’t imagine a bunch of horny teenagers practising abstinence. I should know, I didn’t either.
Walking past all my pack members made me realise why this was so important. They deserved to have a luna, to see the pack prosper and it was my duty to do that.
The pack house was located in the middle of my pack. This is where I stayed, along with my Beta. The whole top floor belonged to me, Noah had one side of the other floor and the other side was used for when we had guests. Unlike other packs, I decided to not let the packhouse be open all the time. It was only when needed. I had a hall where everyone could go and it worked out better for my pack. My house was surrounded by a huge fountain, intended to give us that little bit of privacy. Behind my house was the training grounds.
I took pride in my pack and the training we had in place. Both women and men were expected to attend training sessions, which were either led by me, Noah or our female instructors.
Walking into my house, I took a deep breath in. I’d have to share this space with someone else. Someone who was not my mate.
Noah looked at me concerned, “I know this is hard for you man, but we’ve gotta do this. If other packs get a whiff of you being mateless, we could suffer.”
Again, Noah was right. Every day I was putting my pack at risk. Fuck, this sucked.
I col;apsed on my sofa, with Noah and looked at the ceiling.
“Why did she have to reject me?” I sighed.
“Because, she had no fucking brain.” Noah replied.
I first met my mate at another pack’s celebration. I was young and had only just started taking up duties that my dad used to go to. It was my first step to becoming an alpha and I remember being so nervous.
When I saw her across the hall, my heart stopped. She was gorgeous, with her long blonde hair and striking blue eyes.
She was laughing at something someone else had said, and I wanted to kill that person. That feeling of jealousy was new to me. I remember when she first looked at me, her laughter stopped and she looked shocked.
I expected to go over to her and introduce myself but instead I watched as she turned away and grabbed another man to the dance floor.
I watched as his arms held her securely in place and his lips brushed against hers. I watched in agony as she happily danced with a man who was not her mate.
At the end of the dance, she came up only to say a few words. “You’ll never be able to provide me with what I need.”
And just as quickly as I saw her, she left. I’d never seen her since.
I’d broken down to Noah the next day and he took me on a run to clear my head. The next few weeks were hard as my wolf cried out for his mate. I took a lot of runs deep in the forest to let my wolf howl out his pain. Noah stuck by my side throughout.
“She was a class A bitch Enzo. She clearly thought you were some regular wolf and wanted someone with status. She never deserved you.” Noah said sternly.
I came to that conclusion myself. I never got my mate’s name because she never stuck around long enough for me to ask. She wanted a wolf who had power and I probably didn’t look like an Alpha’s son. It still fucking stung.
Now I am here. Trying to figure out a way to find a mate in the next 2 weeks. Trying to figure out how to keep my wolf alive, I needed him to stay an alpha.
I looked at my best friend who gave me a reassuring smile and sighed.
Finding a female who had been rejected was going to be hard, if not impossible.
I needed a fucking miracle.
