The Lost Mate

Max

Will was bouncing around like he’d had energy drinks hooked straight into his veins, probably thanks to all the excess energy he had been saving up during the long and boring convocation ceremony. “Congratulations to us! We are free!” he said, throwing his cap up into the air for emphasis.

“Hey!” shouted one of the teachers. “We’re trying to get a group photo! Put your caps back on your heads this minute.”

Our whole graduating class was standing on the steps in front of the school in our caps and gowns being baked under the sweltering June sun. As bad as it was for my human classmates, it was worse for us werewolves since we were naturally warmer. While Will straightened his cap I jabbed him in his exposed ribs with my elbow. “Yeah, Will. I want to get out of here, stop messing around.”

“Settle down, boy. Why so excited? Is tonight the big night?”

“Hell no. I’m not subjecting my mate to sex and marking in some shitty hotel room after prom.” Normally I didn’t talk to Will much about this stuff because what I did with my mate was none of his damn nosey business, but since it seemed to sidetrack him enough to settle down right now, maybe it was worth it.

Lillian had gotten herded into the photo on the other side of the group. I just wanted to get back to her and the most expedient way to do that was to go along with what the people in charge demanded.

“Then get a good hotel room instead.”

The people in the first row were being directed to shuffle to the right. Why were they being so fussy about a stupid picture? Some of the parents had their phones or cameras out behind the photographer as well, ready to also immortalize the staged moment.

“Whether it’s good or bad is not the point. You’ll understand when you find your mate.”

“If I’d been waiting a year to have sex with my mate—forget mate, any girl—I wouldn’t be as hesitant as you.”

Obviously I was dying to seal the deal with Lillian and deeply regretted promising her father I wouldn’t have sex or mark her, although we’d certainly pushed that promise to its breaking point over the past year. “I’m not hesitant, and it’s not about me, asshat, it’s about her.”

“Whatever you say, choirboy.”

“You’re an idiot. I don’t know how you managed to get into Sterling.”

“Maybe because I’m not an idiot and—”

The rest of Will’s retort was cut off by the yell let out by our principal. “Smile everyone!” As impatient as I was feeling, it wasn’t hard to smile on command today, because I could practically feel all the stupid rules our parents had enforced on my mate and I sliding away from us. I had somehow passed everything and of course so had Lillian. That was what they had demanded, so now they could butt the hell out of our relationship.

The teachers had us throw our hats up into the air, and snapped pictures of that, and then we were finally free to go. It took me a minute to get through the crowd and reach my mate, but my wolf’s edge was softened when I finally grabbed her hand.

Lillian turned around and smiled when she saw me, walking straight into my arms. The heat of the day forgotten, her scent wrapped around me like a ward against all the myriad scents of the students surrounding us. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and her supple body pressed up against mine as close as it could get with our layers of clothing and gowns between us. I wanted her as badly as ever right then, but I only had to wait a bit longer and she would be completely mine. My wolf was dying to mark her, and to be marked in return.

I had plans to make the moment perfect for her. It wasn’t going to be like our hasty fooling around while dodging parents and other interruptions. It was going to be just the two of us, and we were going to complete the mate bond, and I could hardly wait.

Thinking of interruptions, “Congratulations!” Lillian stepped back at her mother’s words as she came up to us, along with other members of her family. My family joined the fray and I was jostled around, but I kept a firm grip on her hand, at least until her father came up to me and held out his to shake. I reluctantly released Lillian to my wolf’s great displeasure and took his hand.

“Congratulations,” he said to me, clapping me on the back.

“Thank you,” I said to him.

“Are you and Lillian going to be alone on your trip?” His voice in my mind was a bit sour at the idea he still clearly found unpalatable.

“Yes.”

He exhaled deeply. “Take good care of her.”

“She’s my mate. Of course I will.”

He nodded and backed off. I was mostly relieved he hadn’t tried to institute some other stalling tactic in our relationship. It would have caused unnecessary friction, and neither Lillian or I were willing to go along with it. We’d jumped through the graduation hoop and were both legally adults even among the humans. We’d talked at length about what we would do if he tried to roadblock us.

We’d talked about everything, until I was pretty sure I knew her better than my own family.

Once we were back on territory, we split up to start getting ready. I couldn’t wait until we had our own place so we’d be able to spend even more time together, not to mention the privacy of living together without outside interruptions filled me with excitement.

Once ready, we met up at the supper celebration for the pack grads, and it was sort of fun to hang out with everyone. Then we headed off to the prom along with Will and Holly who had agreed to be his date, and the girls giggled together while Will gushed how hot Holly looked in my head.

She did look nice, I guessed, but Lillian was truly breathtaking with her soft brown hair swept up, exposing her neck teasingly, and wearing a sparkling light blue dress with just a peek of cleavage. I almost regretted that we were waiting to seal our bond until our trip, because I instantly wanted to peel it off her and be done with all the waiting. All the little tastes I’d gotten, while helping me hold on, had also whetted my appetite.

I walked with her on my arm into the hall that was decorated with some theme I didn’t care enough to remember, and there were more pictures taken of us and of Will and Holly. The night was filled with excitement and dancing, and when I dropped her off at her home and kissed her goodnight my wolf cried at the separation. It wasn’t going to be much longer. In a few months I’d be working officially as a fighter and we’d get our own place together in the pack house. And in only a few days, we’d finally start the biggest step of our future together.