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

He had other things to do with his time than to be wasting it coming to a mixer, like the fact that there were murder cases that needed to be solved, protecting his pack half breeds and humans, and finding a way to mend the broken path between their people and the moon goddess. Those didn’t cover the mountain of paper works he had haunting him on his office desk. He had neither the time nor the interest in partaking in these events, not since he has been coming to these for years and had no luck. Besides, these things were filled with half-drunk she-wolves that were looking to hook up with powerful Wolf Creed men after they realized that they did not have a mate present. The more he thought about it the more annoyed he looked, he really had better things to do. And then there was the matter of the Purist cult leader to figure out but today was unavoidable. Alpha Chadwick had personally invited him to the event under the hopes that one of his people could possibly be his mate. That would bring unity to the two packs, stronger than a merely spoken alias but Max was not that hopeful. The last thing he needed was to start dreaming that he would finally meet his mate here. He truly hated the political side of being an alpha but it was necessary when dealing with a bunch of self-absorbing pricks, including himself.

He stood in the center of the room with his three “bodyguards” for the night, doing a quick scan of the room. Memories of that beautiful voice still haunt him, even after five months but each time he found a compelling excuse of why the owner of that voice could not be his mate and dismissed any efforts of looking into who it could be. There was no point in getting his hopes up just for it to be a big disappointment. Right? The beautiful golden goddess with gorgeous curly hair that was weaved into an intricate bun and laced with golden butterfly accessories caught the corners of his eyes. And she was staring at him. He looked directly at her but she neither looked away nor down, many would, considering he was an alpha and it was a sign of respect. Even humans and other shifters tend to avert their eyes when looking at him but she didn’t. What was even stranger was that he didn’t mind that she didn’t avert her eyes, he welcomed it. After all, if she did, he would not have been able to see her big, beautiful, brown eyes. The color of polished bronzite. Her eyes were tantalizing. She was tantalizing. Before he knew it, his feet were moving on it’s own accord, straight towards her. His men moved in sync with him, walking in unions to his long strides. As soon as all four men were standing in front of all five girls two things happen. One, Alpha Max was shocked to find out that this golden goddess he was staring at across the room was his mate. Two Miles, Wolf Creed pack’s gamma, stared pointedly at the beautiful blonde who is human and his mate. Both men stood in shocked silence before Stephanie cleared her throat and politely introduced herself and everyone in the group. The minute his golden goddess placed her small, delicate hands in his, a shot of lightning laced up his arm and she inhaled sharply. This rare and precious find was his! He had finally found her! He drew her small frame against his now excitable body before he remembered his manners and asked her to dance. She too was too stunned to speak about this new development and nodded her head with a cute little blush. He didn’t let go of her as he swept her off to the dance floor. Miles took Stephanie to the dance floor as well and the remaining two men stood monitoring from the sidelines, ensuring that no harm came to the Alpha, Gamma and their mates.

After the dance was over and the two couples moved back to where the rest of their group was standing, most still in shocked aww, Carmeta’s brothers came barreling forward. Max’s men stood like a solid wall between Remo and his brothers and the men stood in a silent standoff, the two groups trying to show the other who was the dominant one. Remo and his brothers won, of course, they came from a long bloodline of alpha-blooded wolves and all of them had the potential to be alphas, even Carmeta.

“Remove yourselves from our path or you will lose a limb” Remo whispered, his voice laced with menace.

“Is this how the Sage Fox pack treats their honored guest?” Max addressed Remo as he placed Carmeta behind him, having every intention of removing the immediate threat from his mate as quickly as possible.

“The guest is only honorable if they act as such and one does not hold another she-wolf from their pack, hostage.”

Jealousy and anger flashed through Max as both he and his wolf stood at attention.

How dare he tries to take our mate! How dare he tries to claim her as his own!

“Remo! Stop being a pea brain and giving everyone the wrong impression” Carmeta finally spoke in the presence of Alpha Max. To say he was shocked to hear that same luring voice that haunted him for the last five months actually belonged to his mate was an understatement.

“I just want to make sure you and the girls are okay,” Remo said, finally slipping his eyes away from Alpha Max to look over his sister.

“Why wouldn’t she be okay? Do you think so low of me Beta Remo that you think I’m capable of harming a she-wolf without probable cause?”

“Could you both just stop with the pissing contest already? Remo and his merry mariachi band are my brothers and they are quite protective of me. Boys this is my mate... I didn’t get your name” Carmeta said quickly, trying her best to defuse the situation. Her brothers were not pleased by the blatant disrespect she displayed, especially in front of their honored guest but Max looked amused.

“Ah, my apologies my lady, the name is Maximillian Adalwolf of the Wolf Creed Pack and you are?” He turned to address her and give his courtly bow.

“Carmeta Agwang” she blushed a shade redder than the ripest tomato in the summertime. She would be forever grateful to the moon goddess for blessing her with a mate and to find him so early in her life.

Wait! Alpha McHottie was my mate all along! To think that I could have met my mate five months ago if only I wasn’t being so stubborn.

Maya finally got out of her shock of seeing her best friend not only dancing with the notorious Alpha Maximillian but declaring that he was her mate.

“If I ever thought you were amazing before, it dulls in comparison to now!” Maya said pulling Carmeta into a bear hug. “You beautiful fucking mess” she continued kissing each of her cheeks. Carmeta blushed as each girl said they were happy for her and Max.

“I want to wish you all the best with this one.” Bear, the youngest brother of Remo said with a huge smile on his face as he shook Max’s hand. “You not only just did this pack a huge deed but us as well.” All the brothers gave a soft chuckle.

“I don’t know what you mean”

“Ahh don’t worry too much about it,” Maya said, waving away his concerns.

“Since we are all announcing things, I would like to add that Stephanie is my mate,” Miles said a mist the conversation, and everyone including Stephanie looked shocked. Congratulations went around for the couple and Stephanie looked like her head was spinning. Carmeta’s brother, Shea did not look too pleased.

Carmeta looked up and saw that everybody was looking in their direction and whispering, no doubt that it would spread around the entire wolf nation that the Wolf Creed Alpha had found his mate and it was her. She and Stephanie spent the next two hours meeting and greeting the other honored guest at the mixer. Max refused to let her move an inch from his side. Even when she had to use the lady’s room, he had his men check the room first to ensure it was empty before she could enter, then when she was done he was standing right outside the door. It was sweet but slightly irritating, it was like she was trading one set of overbearing males for another.

“I see you have found your mate among one of our prestigious families” Alpha Chadwick greeted. He stood slender in his brown suit and an adorable accessory attached to his leg. It was rare to see alpha Chadwick without his shadow, his three year-old son, with him. “Web say hi”. Web stuck his tongue out at Alpha Max and gave Carmeta a toothy grin. Carmeta encouraged his behavior with a thumbs up and a smile which made Max laugh and Chadwick scolded.

“I can see why her brothers thanked me for taking her off their hands,” Max replied, shaking Chadwick’s outstretched hand.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean” Carmeta scolded which just made Max laugh more.

“I have four more to go, that includes my sister. You don’t mind if I drop them off one weekend to see if they are mated to anyone in your pack?”

“I’ll have you both know that neither of us girls has ever done a thing wrong intentionally,” Carmeta informed them. That got a good laugh right out of Chadwick, who rubbed his tummy to soothe himself.

“One of these days Alpha Max I will share the stories on this one. I don’t have premature greying because I’m an alpha afterall but because of her and her friends.”

The night ended with all of them going to Carmeta’s house, where Stephanie’s dad met their new son-in-law, Miles. Sue was busy baking up a storm to give to the Wolf Creed men to bring home. Carmeta thought her dad wouldn’t be happy with her finding a mate because that would mean that she had to move to another pack, five hours away but after having a great conversation with Max, he seemed to be more interested in him than her. Even her brothers were bewitched by his charm. When she said that she was going off to bed they all seem to dismiss her with a wave and were in deep conversation with Miles. Max got up from the couch and embraced Carmeta before giving her one feverish kiss that took everything but her soul from her body.

So, this was the mating bond!