Chapter 1
Alpha Xaden Kincade of The Northern Nations -Alpha Headquarters
Life has gotten dull, my thoughts more than ever have been of my mate. I was eight years old when she was born and I knew I was no longer alone. She was bonded to me the second she took her first breath. I told my parents, insisting that they bring her to me.
Apparently, being son of the Alpha of the Northern Nations doesn’t get you everything you want. I was told I would have to wait for her eighteenth birthday. That’s the day she’d receive my mark. Only pure blood lycans have these marks to identify their true mates.
My pack members know I’m waiting for my mate to come forward. Who wouldn’t want to find their true mate?...My mate evidently. Its been over two years since her eighteenth birthday. Her twenty first birthday is fast approaching and still she has stayed away. I’m an Alpha without his true mate, which hasn’t occurred in the centuries.
I walk the wide halls towards my office wanting answers from my staff. Throwing open the doors causing the weaker wolves to jump I bellow, “Where is my mate!” My frustration and anger all coming to a head.
“We’ve sent out the appropriate documents. No one knows anything. They haven’t seen your mark and your mate hasn’t gone to any of the Beta’s. There’s nothing more we can do.” Cullen states, defeated. His hand up at a loss at how this could happen.
Taking a deep breath I walk behind my desk and place my hand on top of the polished dark wood. “I want valid suggestions. I’ve narrowed down the search. I told you she’s not within my land holding. We need to address all sectors outside of Alpha Headquarters.”
“Can’t you persuade her to tell you anything? Searching outer sectors will take months. ” Cullen, my cousin and my second in command asks.
“Her name, at the very least?” Nick my head enforcer questions.
“If I could get her to tell me those things, I would have her by now. ” I growl, my patience running thin. At this point I feel like they’re blaming me for my mates actions.
“Why is-” Cullen starts, but I swiftly cut him off.
“I don’t know!” I growl, fed up with the whole ordeal. She has refused me in the dream realm and subsequently in life. Dragging my fingers through my hair in frustration I turn to my secretary who I watch visibly flinch under my gaze. I reign my temper in. Calmly I tell her, ” I want you to schedule a meeting between me and each sector Beta. I want to meet any female’s that were bore on April 5, 1994.”
“Start with the larger sectors. It would be earlier for her to hide and blend in without attracting attention.” Cullen adds, helpfully.
Agreeing I turn to face my secretary, “Do it quickly.”
“Yes, Alpha Kincade.” Is her meek reply, when she doesn’t move fast enough my temper explodes.
“Do it now!” I roar, making her gasp and scramble to get out of the room. “Everyone out. Unless, you have any other ideas to help me find my mate?” I enquire, looking around the room. I watch as the room starts to empty feeling angry and frustrated.
Nick is the only one who doesn’t leave. “What do you have?” I ask, tiredly. Taking a seat in my desk chair welcoming the sense of pride the chair gives me. I remember my father sitting behind this very desk in this very office.
“I’m not sure how well this will go over, but I know a way to find your mate.” He replies, looking at his hands. I can smell his apprehension.
“And what is that?” I ask, interested and yet weary. I can tell by his tone I am not going to like it, but at this point I’m getting desperate.
“We will have them narrowed down by birthdate, right? If we have them “expose” themselves to the Beta who can look for your mark.” He suggests.
I growl in frustration. “Get out.”
“It’d work.” He replies, defensively. “Think about it. She doesn’t want to be with you for whatever reason and no one has seen the mark, than its somewhere on her body that she can cover. This will save months of searching and she could always run. Do you really want to take that chance?”
“She won’t run once shes cornered. Something tells me there’s s a specific reason for her actions. She terrified of me finding her, but not terrified of me. I’ll find my mate, and I’ll do it without making females strip in front of my Beta’s.” We don’t have to go to such lengths. I may be a demanding Alpha, but I wouldn’t stoop that low. I’ll find her eventually and she won’t be able to out run me. Still that nagging voice inside my head keeps telling me she would come forward if she wanted me.
“You can go.” I state, dismissively. I trust everyone that works for me. However, Nick and I have a deeper respect for each other. We’ve been best friends all our lives and he doesn’t take my “missing mate” lightly. Like me, he’ll stop at nothing to find her. Hence, his idea to make the all females born on her birthday strip in attempt to discover her. It is a sound idea that could do the trick, but I won’t use such tactics.
“We’ll find her.” He assures me as he stands up to leave.
I nod. “We better.”
After he leaves the room, I lean back in my chair. I want to talk to her. That would calm my wolf, but she’s avoiding me, shes not sleeping and has refused to speak to me since the day I entered her dreams.
I know we’re likely in the same time zone, but since she turned eighteen it’s always been the same location in her dreams, a dense forest with maple, oak and pine trees, that’s how I know she’s from the mid-west.
Every time she senses me she runs, I chase after her. The moon giving a bluish hue to our dark surroundings. Her voice is panicked and worried as she whimpers, “No. No, please! Just stay away.” Even through her panic I can feel her wanting me.
After cornering her against a boulder and tree, I touch her soft skin. Then like a ghost she vanishes. I don’t see any details of her face. All I know is she’s small with long wavy hair.
There’s never any answers about her refusal to talk to me, or to show herself. I’m always left with nothing but more questions. In past dreamscapes I’ve felt her wanting me, yet still she ran and pleaded for me to stop chasing her.
When I concentrate I can feel her current emotions, and it makes my wolf go wild. I know she’s unhappy with things in her life but she is still managing to feel content, which upsets me. I don’t like that she feels content. How can she be so content? I cant even make it though an hour without feeling like I’m crawling out of my skin.
I live on 2.2 million acres of privately owned land, the largest in the The United States and Canada. The 2.2 million acres is what we call, Alpha Headquarters, located in the State of Maine. However, our land holdings span the across North America. I along with my Beta’s and Enforcers control the many dens or packs within it.
Beta’s controlling outlining areas, outlining, meaning not within the borders of Alpha Headquarters are essential to our operation. However, we have had the occasional Beta go rouge, claiming the land as their own and the members along with it. Thats where my job gets interesting, hunting down and killing any werewolf who challenges my authority and rank as Alpha.
Another problem facing us currently, if the report I’m holding is accurate, is threats from other supernaturals. Vamps haven’t seemed to learn their lesson, I’ll have to have another meeting with Victor about his puppets closing in on our territory. I don’t care what the do to humans, but they were warned not to come within 20 miles of one of my packs.
It’s getting late. I look at the clock, 9:30 p.m. if I go to bed now she’ll be asleep. Frustrated, I run my hand through my hair, thinking. Always thinking, about her. I’ve chased her for over two years. I’m not chasing her anymore. If she doesn’t want me to find her, I need to know why.
Standing up and walking out the door of the office I go to the master suite and close the door. Undressing as I walk to the bed. The room is dark as I slide under the sheets.
When sleep claims me I see her exactly as I always do, her back to me. I don’t move, I simply watch her. She’s looking up at the full moon, the wind causing her hair to sway against the small of her back. I feel myself shake, my wolf wanting to take over and claim her before she can get away. I manage to refrain from shifting, for the first time. She tenses up and she glances back at me. She doesn’t hesitate as she prepares to run.
“Don’t.” I demand, the moonlight highlighting half her face as she turns towards me reluctantly. I hold up my hands and back away, showing her I’m not going to chase her. Her reaction turns to shock then to confusion in seconds. I smile and sit down on a fallen log. “Talk to me.” I order.
She bites her lip nervously, my reaction to the innocent look is instantaneous. My blood pressure rises and my pants get tighter. “Why are you running?” I ask, to distract myself.
“I don’t want to be found.” It’s her weak reply, I watch as she starts to back away.
My skin tingles from wanting to shift, the sound of her voice causing an intense reaction I know I wont be able to hold back much longer. “You’re my mate.” I state. “I’ll always run to you, never away. As it should be.” I add, pointedly. I notice the annoyance in my voice gives her pause, but only briefly.
“Why?” She questions, sounding more bold.
Not understating her question but hearing the challenge. I ask, “Why?”
“You’re already powerful enough. Why do you need me? Just, pick someone else.”
The pleading in her voice sets my teeth on edge. I feel my temper being thrown like a switch but refuse to show it to her. However, she backs away, keeping to the shadows away, telling me she felt it. “I’ll never want anyone but you. You don’t feel the same?”
She shakes her head no, but I smirk, knowing she’s lying. I can hear her heart racing and her scent fill the air. “I can’t leave my family for you.”
“You can and you will.” I reply, simply. I roll my shoulders and take a deep breath, pushing down my primitive side.
“No.” She repeats more forcefully.
“Because of your family?” I ask, slightly irritated that she’d choose anyone over me. It just isn’t done. If you find your mate, you need no one else.
“No one knows that I’m your mate and I’ll never tell them.” She states, her voice no louder than a whisper.
I stand up quickly causing her to stumble over a tree branch, then quickly standing up again, ready to run. “That’s where you’re wrong. You see, I will find you.” The threat in my voice is unmistakable, but she leaves me with little choice.
Her breathing hitches slightly. Knowing she’s going to take off soon and I’ll have no choice but to chase her. “What’s your name?” I order, making it a demand. My order has never defied.
She almost answers, I watch as her mouth opens. Then thinking better of it she turns and flees. I don’t bother holding my wolf back anymore. I shift and run after her still human form. Another side effect from having an alpha mate, she won’t be able to shift until I mark her. Gaining on her I leap forward and shift back into human form in mid air. I wrap my arms around her small figure as we fall to the ground. Positioning my body underneath her to protect her from the fall.
She screams and seconds later she leaves my arms.
I bolt up in bed and look down at my empty arms. “Almost.”
