Chapter 14
Miles pov
Every day was monotonous. Wake up, intense training, yell at my warriors and then paperwork in the alpha office. Of course, my beta Nolan and gamma Castor were there for me through everything. Whatever I did, they were there for me.
However, I was more like an emotionless robot that was programmed to do the same things every day. It was as if nothing gave any contentment to me anymore. I didn’t understand why I had become bitter and more like a robot than a human. I didn’t care. I saw it as my commitment towards my pack and the betterment of my warrior’s performance.
I didn’t know what others thought about it. Nolan and Castor had mentioned to me a couple of times that I was being too harsh on my army. But honestly, I didn’t understand what they meant. If I am being hard on them, it could only mean that they would do better, and thanks to me. Perhaps, that would make our pack the strongest of all. With all the rogue attacks, I couldn’t take any risks.
I was busy immersed in the paper-work in the office when I heard a set of knocks on the door.
“Come in,” I called, not bothering to look up from the pile of work I was lost in.
I knew without even looking that it was my parents. From the heaviness of their steps and their familiar scent, it was evident.
“Hey, bud,” my father said as they walked over to the desk I was working on.
“Hey,” I replied, still engrossed in my work.
“Isn’t it time to leave the office yet honey?” mom asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.
“Leave? Why? There is so much work,” I responded.
“Honey, it is past midnight already.” She told me softly.
“What? But I have barely got anything done! Look at those piles of papers that need to be checked and signed after approval! Oh, God! I am so far behind all of this!” I exclaimed, not being able to believe that all that effort was barely enough.
“Son, you need to rest. You are overworking. If you continue to do this, I fear I might lose my son.” Father kindly told me.
“But…”
I sighed and leaned against the seat. I truly was exhausted. I wonder how dad did it so well.
“Honey, you are doing great actually,” Mom told me, caressing my tired arm.
“Great? I am losing it!” I g*****d. “How did you manage to do so well dad? You made it look so easy.” I complained.
He chuckled in response and went around the seat and stood behind me. He placed his hands on my worn-out shoulders and started to massage them. It did make me feel better. I felt myself relax a bit. Mom kept caressing my arm, smiling at me the whole time.
“I was lucky to have found your mom before I was announced as the alpha son,” Father told me in a soft, fatherly voice.
“She was there with me the whole time. I was strong because I had my Luna beside me. It was a teamwork buddy.” He told me, making me sigh.
Teamwork. Well, I guess my luck was cursed that I was mated to a weak human. How pathetic.
“Yeah. I guess. It must be great to have a strong Luna beside you,“ I bluntly stated.
“Maybe you should try to look for your mate, son.” Mom hopefully stated, making me let out a humourless laugh.
“She is right, son. I don’t think she is in this pack. If she was, you would have met her already.” He stated.
All I could do was sigh in exasperation.
“Or have you?”
Startled at my mom’s question, I snapped my head at her. She was simply studying my face.
“Huh?” I gasped. I felt my heart race. How did she….. Did she find out what had happened that night? I started to sweat despite the coolness of the room. I tried to gulp down the discomfort in my throat. They should never find out about what had happened that day. That was my ultimate secret.
“You just put him to shock!” Dad snickered as he handed me a tissue. “Come on. If he did find his mate, we would know. How would he deny the incredible pull of the mate bond?” he added, laughing a little.
“I know. I was just fooling around.” Mom giggled. “But seriously though. You had better find her and bring her here. Because it is driving me crazy to see you transform into a bitter, overworked, grumpy alpha. You are not the fun-loving boy I nurtured.” Mom complained.
“I am not grumpy,” I stated.
“Oh yes, you are now. When was the last time you did something fun?” she asked.
“Fun? I can’t waste my time having fun! I have a pack to look after!” I almost growled at her. But it is irritating when others don’t understand how hard this work is.
“See? Grumpy!” she pouted.
I felt speechless. My outburst only proved her point. Dang! You can never prove your mom wrong, can you? I felt my father pat me a little on the back.
“Son, she is right. You need to loosen up a bit. And don’t be too hard on the warriors. Let them love what they do. That is only how they would willingly do what they must. If you keep yelling at them all the time, soon they will start to feel demotivated. That is not what we want in our army, isn’t it?” he advised.
“Now, go to your room, get some sleep and first thing tomorrow morning, you and your friends are going to the neighbouring pack. I hope at least one of you finds your mate there.” He stated sternly, just like he used to when he was alpha.
“But the pack…..”
“No buts. You don’t have a choice. You, Nolan, and Castor, all three of you need to get your butts out of here. Your mom and I will handle the pack until you come back. I have already confirmed this with Nolan and Castor,” he added.
“What?” I couldn’t believe it. “Why didn’t you tell me first?” I exclaimed, widening my eyes.
“Because we knew that you had transformed into a grumpy old man all of sudden and most probably wouldn’t agree.” Mom giggled.
“Now you must leave. I have made all the arrangements and informed the alpha of the Silver Shadow pack. Tomorrow, first thing after breakfast, the three of you will leave and look for your mates. Fine?” father ordered.
“Damn!” I cursed under my breath.
“No excuses, young man! At least I think your mate would be able to bring back my sweet child who loved to have fun.” Mom sighed as she bent over and kissed my hair.
“Have some fun son, it won’t hurt. I even went on little escapades with my beta and gamma now and then. It relieves stress.” Father told me.
“You still have us. Just relax.” Mom added before both of them walked away.
I ended up staring at the door they walked out of. What would they say if they knew that I indeed had found my mate and had rejected her? Oh well, it was for the betterment of my pack. Who needs a weak human Luna anyway? Maybe it’s time to find a second chance mate if that is a possibility. At least I know of a warrior who found his second chance mate after his mate died. Maybe I will also find someone and then no one will find anything.
The next morning, Nolan and Castor had arrived at the packhouse, already prepared to leave to go to Silver Shadow pack. It was I who found it hard to part with my duties, but I had no choice. We arrived at the neighbouring pack after riding for an hour in our car.
We were greeted by the alpha’s family and given a warm welcome. Since we were there to look for our mates, we were told that we could walk in the streets after the lunch buffet they had planned to have in our honour.
As soon as we stepped inside their packhouse, I felt Castor go stiff beside me. I looked at him. His eyes were widened and his pupils dilated. He looked as though he might lose control of his wolf at any moment.
When I looked in the direction where his eyes were focused, I noticed that his eyes were burning into a petite brunette who was staring back at him with her mouth wide open.
“Mate!” he growled.
“Mate!” she whispered and took a deep breath.
Wow! Great! Castor found his mate!
“Oookay…looks like your beta’s daughter is mated to our gamma,” I commented and glanced to the alpha’s right, where his beta had his eyes narrowed at Castor.
Beta’s daughter, huh? That was awesome. If only my mate was someone cool like that. Like I had said earlier, my fate was cursed. My mate, the mate that I didn’t want, was nothing but a mere human.
“Uhh…. actually. I think we need to talk.” Their alpha stated. “Why don’t we go to our meeting room?” he suggested.
“Sure,” I replied. I knew Castor was barely able to control his wolf. I know how hard the wolf tries to surface once they find their mate. It took a whole lot of courage and a drink mixed with mild amounts of wolfsbane for me to suppress my alpha wolf so that I could reject Cassandra like I truly wanted to.
Call me cruel and stupid for poisoning my wolf just so that I could be stronger than my wolf temporarily, but I believed that it had to be done. It was for my pack. They needed a strong Luna. Not a human with absolutely no powers and only weaknesses.
We followed the alpha and the beta of the Silver Shadow pack for a short discussion. The discussion was very short. The beta had dismissed his daughter from the scene already before facing Castor. His eyes burnt with anger and he glared at Castor. However, my gamma did not look like he was intimidated even a little bit. I smirked when I saw how he glared back into the eyes of the raging beta.
“You better take good care of her lad! If you don’t, I’ll make sure you see the worst of me.” He warned, raising his forefinger at Castor’s eyes.
“She is my mate. What made you think that I would let anything bad happen to her?” he asked confidently, smirking at the older beta.
His answer made the raging beta relax to some extent. He gulped and sighed.
“She is my princess. She is the most precious thing I have,” he expressed in a softer tone.
“Same here. I assure you, she will be loved and taken care of,” Castor replied, making him smile.
“I like the confidence you have,” he said, patting Castor’s shoulder.
Well, it looks like things worked out for my gamma. If only I could also find a proper mate…