Chapter FOUR-SECOND CHANCE, MATE
Antonio POV
"Goddess, damn it, Carter, we are late; that's a bad impression for the Blue Eclipse pack if we are late because you wanted to make a damn pit stop to relieve your bladder," I sighed and eyed my Beta Carter.
I swear to the goddess, I love Carter like a brother. Still, sometimes, I wanted to strangle him. But Carter was a loyal Beta and one of my closest friends. Our parents grew up together, and we have been inseparable ever since.
My name is Antonio Silva, and my pack is called Blue Eclipse. We are the largest pack in Northern California, and I'm the Alpha, Carter is the Beta, and Juliano is the Gamma.
"Hey, you love me, man. I drank a lot of water before we left the pack. That's all; chill out; we are five minutes out," I heard Carter's excuses. My wolf, Ares, paced and growled in my head.
"Hey, mutt, what's your deal?" Ares growled at me as I scoffed.
"I don't know, but I feel like something special will happen tonight," Ares said.
"Yeah, okay. Stupid wolf," I mumbled.
"I heard that asshole!" I scoffed and shook my head at my wolf as he closed me off and put up a block.
It made me wonder what he meant; we'll have to see as I was in my thoughts. I heard Carter say we made it to the Crescent Moon pack; we were invited to celebrate Alpha Brady's daughter's 18th birthday.
I've never met her, though. I was away at Alpha training for four years while she was in school. My Dad told me about her Father and brother. I greatly respect this pack and want to update our alliance with them while visiting. Carter stopped at the guard post, and the guard stepped out, asking for our pack name. Carter told him, and he let us pass through the gates.
Carter parked the SUV close to the pack house, and as I was exiting the SUV, I was hit with the most intoxicating scent ever. It made my mouth water. It smelled of my grandmama's special strawberry shortcake with a hint of cream. It was driving Ares nuts; he was howling and pacing in my head.
"Mate! Mate! Mate!" Ares pranced and ran circles inside my head.
"Go find our mate, jackass. She's here somewhere," Ares all but growled at me as I rolled my eyes.
I scoffed at my wolf and used my nose to sniff the air realized the scent was coming from the back area, where I heard music and chatter, so I told Carter to move his ass; as we made our back behind the packhouse, Carter kept bugging me about what was wrong.
I ignored him and followed my nose to the source of the scent. As I got closer, I stopped and saw a beautiful, pure snow-white wolf with the most gorgeous crystal blue eyes I'd ever seen. The scent came from her, and Ares kept purring in my head.
"Mate! Mate! Why the fuck are you just standing there? Go to mate," Ares howled.
I was frozen. After two years of searching, I finally found my mate.
Staci POV
After my Dad said it was time to shift, I was a complete ball of nerves, but Solaris came forward and told me not to worry; she was with me 100%, to which I calmed down a little, but I was still nervous.
I've heard the first shift was always painful. I watched my brother shift, and he looked like he was in a lot of pain, but my family always told me to trust my wolf, so I gathered up my courage and got ready for my first shift; my Mom had them put a screen up to give me and Grayson privacy since this was his first shift too and what made it better my Mom went behind the screen first to strip off her dress as she shifted into her dark brown wolf Glory as her wolf stepped out she nudge my hand.
"Everything will be fine," I heard my Mother link me as I sighed and nodded.
Thank goddess for my Mother; as I stepped behind the screen to strip out my dress and heels, I heard Grayson's slight grunt and scream, and I knew he was shifting into his wolf. Still, I kept my nerves and composure because I wanted to go over there and comfort him, but I had to remember that he rejected me.
As time passed, Solaris asked if I was ready to shift.
"Yes!" I replied with excitement.
"Okay, babe, just relax and don't fight the shift; let me take control," Solaris said.
I calmed my racing heart and gave complete control to Solaris; at first, I felt nothing, but then I started to sweat heavily. My breathing became rigid; that's when I felt the first pop, and I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I felt the next pop as my bones began to shift and rearrange. My Mother's wolf, Glory, nuzzled me as my Mother's voice sent me words of comfort through our mind link.
"OMG!!! It hurts," I screamed again.
"Stay with me, Staci, almost there," I heard Solaris say.
Another bone popped. After a few minutes, I felt fur sprout, and my limbs became my wolf. After a few more minutes passed, I was panting heavily, and I heard my Mother gasp through the mind link.
"Oh, My Goddess, my baby, you are beautiful," my Mother told me as Solaris picked up her wolf head.
I was utterly confused about what she meant, so I tried to stand up, and my legs felt like jelly. Solaris told me to take it too slow. Walking on four legs was weird, but I got the hang of it after a few tries. I was eager to step out and see what my wolf looked like. My Mother mentioned I was beautiful, so I wanted to see for myself.
As I stepped out from behind the screen, I heard gasps from the pack members, and I kept wondering why they were staring at me; even my Father and brother had their mouths hanging open, so I asked Solaris what everyone was staring at.
"They are looking at us, babe," Solaris said.
"Why?" I asked curiously.
"Go look in the mirror," Solaris said with pride, as if she knew something I didn't.
My parents had the pack members bring out a mirror for those who shifted to see themselves, so when Solaris stepped in front of the mirror and looked at her reflection, I gasped.
"OH, MY GODDESS!!!" I said excitedly.
"Solaris, we're a white wolf!" I said with pure excitement as Solaris purred.
"Yes, babe, we are," Solaris howled.
"You are the wolf from my dreams!" I gasped, realizing this was the wolf I had been dreaming about for weeks.
"I am, babe. I wanted to visit you before our shift so you can get a glimpse of this sexiness that I am," I laughed at her sassiness.
"Oh, Solaris, I love you!" I told my wolf.
"I love you too, and I will always be here to protect and support you," Solaris replied.
I couldn't believe it; I was a fucking white wolf; white wolves are rare. My Dad says a white wolf hasn't been born or seen in centuries.
I peeked over and saw Grayson's wolf. He was handsome, dark gray with a patch of white on his chest. Solaris whimpered at his wolf, and I made her look away from him. He broke our hearts.
As I was consoling my wolf, we caught the scent of something so fucking intoxicating it had Solaris prancing and running in circles; it smelled of sandalwood and citrus, and it had us drooling.
"What is that mouthwatering scent?" I asked Solaris.
"I don't know, babe, but I like it," Solaris purred delightfully.
"Oh, My Fucking Goddess!" I said as Solaris looked straight ahead and howled.
Was I dreaming, or did this Greek-like God of a man drop out of the fucking sky? We shifted back to get a better look at him when my Mom brought me a robe to cover myself with. I just stared at this man; Solaris was purring like a cat in my head.
"Mate! Oh, babe, he's yummy! That's mate! Go to him!" Solaris purred and drooled, her tongue hanging out.
I was a bit confused as I already had a mate who rejected me, but goddess fucking damn, this man in front of me was fucking hot! If I thought Grayson was hot, this man put him to shame.
Standing at 6'6 with light tan skin, greenish blue eyes, a well-trimmed beard that added to his sex appeal, and short black wavy hair that looked soft as fuck. I just wanted to run my fingers through his hair and that well-built body of solid muscle.
"Oh, Goddess!" I thought as I squeezed my legs together.
"Damn him!" I said and stared. His scent was making my knees weak, and my core clench.
I saw ink peeking through his shirt and realized it was a chest tattoo because he had his top three buttons undone on his three-piece Louis Vuitton suit; hot damn, this man.
"Mmm, Mate!" I yelled out.
Before I knew it, he ran up to me, picked me up in his arms, and stuck his nose in the crook of my neck. I felt him inhale deeply, and I did the same.
"Fuck!" he said, and that accent made me leak.
"Who is this man? And was I given a second chance, mate?" I thought as I stared into those alluring orbs.
Grayson POV
I growled as I watched Staci and the unknown wolf hug each other, making Gideon want to shift and rip his throat out.
"Who are you?" I heard Staci ask him.
"My name is Antonio Silva, and I'm the Alpha of the Blue Eclipse pack," he said as my eyes widened.
Part of my Beta training was to know who all our allies were and who the Alphas of the packs were. When I heard him say Blue Eclipse pack, I knew then I was totally screwed.
Gideon pushed forward and let out a fierce growl as everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at us.
"Grayson, what the hell?" Seth asked as his parents and my parents looked at me.
"Get your hands off my mate!" Gideon growled.
"Your what?" the Alpha said as his eyes flashed black, and I felt his immense aura.
"What the fuck is going on?" Alpha Brady asked.
"Tell them, or I will," Gideon growled, giving me back control.
Everyone was looking at me, waiting for an explanation; I sighed and started from this morning when I rejected Staci as my mate.
"YOU DID WHAT TO MY DAUGHTER?!" Alpha Brady growled as his wolf came forward.
I was up the shit creek now. Alpha Brady was pissed at me. I assumed Staci had told her parents we rejected each other, but I guess not. The rejection hurt me, but for the moon goddess's sake, hours after I rejected her, she got a second chance mate and a fucking Alpha, at that.
I was so fucking stupid to let her go; the moon goddess has a sick sense of humor; I looked at Seth and saw he had the same look his Father had; he wanted to fucking castrate me, but I understood why I had rejected his baby sister.
After all, I'm not ready to settle for one woman. I like my freedom to sleep with whomever I want. To top off this whole fucked situation off, Staci is a damn white wolf of all fucking things; Gideon was in my head, growling and calling me a fucking dumb ass because I took away his mate; all I could do was hang my head in shame because even now I come to realize I regret my decision.
"Alpha! I thought I was doing the right thing by saving Staci; the heartache later, I fully regret my decision, and I would like to rescind my rejection and take Staci back as my mate. What I did was stupid and selfish; my wolf, Gideon, even told me how stupid I was," I said to our parents as I eyed Staci, being comforted by the Alpha.
I did want Staci back as a mate; I couldn't stand to see her with that Alpha, whatever his name was. I think he said it was Antonio, which made me jealous and angry. I wanted her to be near me and not him. It was pissing Gideon off.
"Fuck this!" I roared.
"I, FUTURE BETA GRAYSON ALEXANDER SMITH OF THE CRESCENT MOON PACK, CHALLENGE ALPHA ANTONIO OF THE BLUE ECLIPSE PACK TO A FIGHT FOR THE RIGHT TO MATE WITH STACI BLACKWIND OF THE CRESCENT MOON PACK!!!" I growled and felt Gideon's strength.
I heard the gasp from the pack members and looked at Staci again as she stood behind the Alpha.
"Challenge accepted," I heard the Alpha say and watched Staci shake her head as she clung to him.
"Don't do this, please," Staci pleaded as tears stung her eyes.
"Daddy?! Seth?!" Staci cried as her Mother pulled her to the side and consoled her.
"This challenge will occur tomorrow morning after breakfast," Alpha Brady said.
I stared at the Alpha, who glared at me and flinched back. I felt his aura expand, and I scoffed and shifted into Gideon as we ran into the forest.
"This is your fuck up," Gideon growled.
I put a mental block between us because I was tired of his whining and ran as fast as our legs would carry us; we collapsed by the lake as the moon slowly faded into the night sky. Gideon was letting out howls of sadness, and we knew the pack members could hear us, but we didn't care.