And Then The River Went Dry (Wolf Creed Pack, 1)

Five (5) Months Later

The Sage Fox pack was hosting this year's mating mixer and all eligible wolves of age were to attend. That meant to Carmeta's brothers and father that they had no say in her going, she didn't have any say in going herself, after all, she was now 21. But in all honesty, if it was up to Alpha Chadwick, he would have preferred Carmeta and her merry bandits didn't attend at all. They were a thorn in his side, and he would have loved to ship them off with their mates to another pack, but it would be more embarrassing to have them cause trouble for him at the mixer. It was not only a gathering for his pack but neighboring packs as well, and they had one every two years at different packs. He would especially love to mate off his little sister, she-devil herself Maya, the ultimate rebel child, at 22 years old with a medical degree, one would think that for a book nerd she was a sweetheart but no. She acted like a rebellious teen who was into drugs and alcohol. The entire pack knew they were always punished to the extreme for the trouble they cause but non-enforcer members just found it amusing. He didn't have a mate, but he did have a son who seemed to be looking up to the likes of the five girls and that's the last thing he wanted.

Carmeta was nervous and excited at the same time that she threw up twice in the process of her getting ready. Her dad insisted on her being sick, so she had a legitimate reason not to attend but her mom just ran him out of the room. It was a possibility that she might not meet her mate tonight or ever, just like her aunt. She knew many wolves who had been going to these mixers for years and still have not found their other half, but she was hopeful. The way her mom always described meeting her dad for the first time seemed magical and romantic and she yawned for that. Sue placed the last of the gold butterfly accessories in her hair and smiled.

"I always dreamt of this day for you but now that I'm seeing you, I can happily say my dream was dull in comparison to the beauty you radiate," Sue said as she brushed a tear from her cheek.

"Oh, mom please don't let me cry and ruin my makeup" Carmeta replied as she got up and embraced her mom in a huge bear hug.

"I'm happy and sad at the same time because you aren't my little girl anymore, but you will connect with your mate tonight." She helped Carmeta slip on a beautiful caramel silk-backless dress that hugged her figure in all the right places. The front of the dress showcased the tops of her moderately small bosoms, and the gold butterfly patterns on the dress draw attention to the intricate weaving of her hair. She was stunning.

"I'll always be your little girl mom and no matter how old I get, I will always need you, but you don't know if I will meet my mate tonight."

"Trust me, I know" before Carmeta could ask her mom what she meant her dad barged into the room, impatiently waiting to see his little princess. "John! Couldn't you wait 5 minutes?"

"I knew she was decent!" He said as he draws his mate into his arms and kissed her cheek.

"Right! And here I thought you wanted to see me. You just wanted to see your mate" Carmeta said as she slipped on her jewelry.

"Guilty," he said with a toothy grin before adding, "Stephanie is downstairs waiting."

"Oh right!" She made a quick dash down the stairs and headed to the living room where she found her four brothers and Stephanie waiting.

Carmeta and a couple of her she-wolf unmated coworkers talked about how exciting it would be to find their mate and finally experience the bonding that the moon goddess had blessed them with. That was all they talked about in their free time at work for the last month and oh were they more excited about mated sex and anything?

"I heard it was like the stars in the galaxy collided" one would say.

"I heard it's dull in comparison to in heat sex" another would add.

Unfortunately for many wolves, they never find their mate in this life cycle, but she prayed to the moon goddess that she was not one of those unfortunate souls. She wanted to not only experience the mating bond but to come to love her mate with everything in her. Stephanie being invited was just her being nice and hoping that she might be mated to a werewolf. Even though Stephanie was human, she knew everything about werewolves. At 10 years old she was adopted by two mated queer werewolves and her childhood was filled with love and joy since. But one could not tell that she went through the trauma of having a drug addict mother and a stepfather who molested her from years 3 to 10 and then tried to sell her as a young, virgin sex "toy". Being rescued by her dads and then welcomed into the Sage Fox Pack was a blessing for everyone. She was a gifted genius cyber tech geek that added greatly to the cybersecurity of the shifter world. Especially cases on rogues or humans who happen to video something they shouldn't.

Carmeta got up from her desk when she saw that Stephanie walked into her office and followed after her. She had always liked Stephanie. After all, she was genuine, fair, and overall, a sweet soul who wouldn't hurt a fly or rather cockroach because she was terrified of them. So, it was natural for her to invite Stephanie to come to the mixer with her as her plus one. Stephanie asked if it was okay, and she said sure for many humans do attend these events and end up finding a mate. What she didn't add was that those humans had to get a special request from their alpha beforehand, but Carmeta wasn't too worried about Alpha Chadwick. Stephanie agreed to go but under no condition was interested or looking for a mate but to experience a wolf mixer party. Carmeta laughed and informed her that she would be highly disappointed then since the majority of the wolves there were more interested in sniffing out a mate than the actual party and once, they were disappointed, most just left.

"Stephanie, you look delicious! Are you sure you are only there to party?" She greeted and one of her brothers that had a major crush on Stephanie since she first came to the pack blushed. It was a shame that he wasn't her mate.

"You always manage to make me feel beautiful, but this is all my dads' idea. The moment I told them I was going, they pulled out all the stops. I didn't have the heart to tell them no." She blushed then tucked her hair behind her ear.

She wore a beautiful ruby red, full skirt, strapless corset dress with a deep leg split. Her natural blonde shoulder-length hair was slick back and her make-up was light with a bold red lip. The look drew attention to her hazel green eyes.

Carmeta was escorted to the party by her brothers along with Stephanie. Her other four friends met her at the entrance and all six ladies chatted away about how gorgeous each looked. As soon as the girls entered their grand hall, impatient wolves came sniffing around, they made no attempts to start a conversation. Carmeta's brothers immediately created a loose barrier around the girls, discouraging any males from sniffing around.

"Don't you guys want to get laid tonight?" Maya asked Carmeta's brothers. "You can't do that if you are breathing down our necks, besides I want to get laid and you guys are cramping my style" with that the girls laughed, and the guys scolded them, but they were unmoved in their overprotective resolve.

"At this rate, they would never find a mate" Carmeta mumbled to herself after seeing they weren't going to change her brothers' minds on the matter. "Hear what, we promise to be on our best behaviors while you guys go mingle with the ladies or gents or we will do six months of Omega duties."

"Six months!" All five girls cry in outrage. Displeased with the thought of doing manual labor for so long. There was a reason why all of them chose career paths that did not involve manual labor.

"Deal!" Remo, her eldest brother said, knowing they would all be on their best behavior. Anything to get out of that deal. All four of her brothers reluctantly went off to circle the room to see if anyone here was possibly their mate.

"Why did you do that?" Maya said while she punched Carmeta on her shoulder.

The mixer was going smoothly as each girl, but Stephanie circled the room and end up coming back together again being disappointed with not being able to find their mate but not too much as they enjoyed the booze, music, and the good company of each other. Amid Carmeta's laughter, a tantalizing aroma teased her nose as a light breeze blew in her direction when the entrance hall door burst open. Her eyes slipped in the direction, and she gasp as her eyes landed on the four massive walls that entered the party. All of the men were stern looking and were dressed to impress in their tailored suits. But the one that caught her eyes was the one who wore the pale blue button-up shirt with the pinstripe black and gray suit, his hair was slicked back, and he had a 5:00 shadow sprinkling his cheeks. The air of power that wafted off all four men stun the room into silence and the more brazen females try to approach them, but they did not even give them the time of day but dismissed them with one look. As they entered the room a group of people came pouring out from behind them, the women were closely protected by the men from that group, but it was not as obvious if you did not have a good eye to see it. It was clear that if any one of their females felt uncomfortable, they would be escorted home quickly. But Carmeta was too mesmerized to look away from the man as he entered the center of the room. He did a slow scan with his eyes before it landed on her. His piercing eyes stared back at her and she stared back at him. He was an alpha she could tell but for the life of her, she could not look away or even looked down to pay him any respect. She was too caught up in the fact that his eyes sparkled under the chandelier lights.

Mine!