"This is the last pack," Rafael said, "The last pack we'll visit on this wild goose chase."
In front of Rafael's car are the gates to the Obsidian Moon pack, a small pack far northwest of Rafael's pack.
"Rafe... son," his mother says. She is seated beside him in the car. "Looking for your mate is not a wild goose chase. No matter what you say, you need a Luna."
"Our pack already has you as a Luna," Rafael replied. "I don't see the need for another."
"Not another Luna," she replied immediately, "a Luna for you... your Luna!"
The gates opened, saving Rafael from replying. He drove inside immediately.
A familiar prickle of annoyance tugged at him.
It's been 62 years since he was supposed to find a mate. The Moon Goddess' wish was loud and clear.
Rafael would have no mate.
And he had accepted and made peace with that fact, but everyone around continued to nag him about it.
He had already shown he could rule his pack without a mate. He was strong, the complete opposite of his father.
He parked the car and took a breath to compose himself.
No matter what his mother said, this will be the last pack he will waste his time at, looking for something that clearly did not exist.
As these thoughts passed Rafael's mind, he tried to block out the hollow ache in his chest.
He almost succeeded.
---
Rafael stood, face impassive, as the Alpha and Luna couple greeted him. It was always the same thing at every pack.
Their smiles stretched wide, voices too polite, like sugar trying to hide something rotten underneath.
"We are extremely honoured to have you here at our humble pack," the Alpha says. He's an older man, with a lot of wrinkles on his face. "I am Alpha Surien, and this my wife and Luna, Sarah."
There's something about him that Rafael dislikes immediately. He can feel his wolf restless within him too.
Hopefully this 'visit' will pass soon.
Rafael glares at the man, unwilling to have any true interaction with the other Alpha.
His mom takes over the conversation while Rafael zoned out.
The couple leads them to their central packhouse.
It's small and disappointing for a packhouse, but he won't be staying here long, so it doesn't matter.
When they enter the house, the Alpha clears his throat to get Rafael's attention.
"Alpha Rafael," he said, "these are my children, Vanessa and Xavier."
The two of them bow, and Rafael notices the emphasis placed on Vanessa, and a trill of disgust sours his tongue.
But then he gets a scent of something interesting. Suddenly his wolf is at full attention.
It's coming from the Alpha's son.
Not the boy's scent in particular, but on him—like from someone he was close to recently.
He can't really describe the scent, but it calls to him deeply.
Rafael's eyes darken, and he doesn't even know when he took a step forward toward the other Alpha's son.
"You...?" Rafael's voice is low.
The Alpha's son is visibly trembling under the weight of Rafael's gaze.
"Son..." Rafael's mom touched his arm, bringing him back from the almost trance-like state he was in.
"My mate is here." Rafael's voice is low, but everybody hears it, and no one is more shocked than Rafael himself.
His mother gasps beside him. "Rafael," she said, "are you sure?" Her voice was soft and her tone very careful.
Rafael sent a glare at her before looking at Xavier.
"I am. I can smell them on him."
Rafael growls at the boy, who shrinks back a little.
He doesn't like the idea that this boy had been near his mate.
He turns to the boy's father.
"Assemble all your packmates," he said. "I want every single one of them here. Now."
The Alpha nods hastily and tugs his wife with him as they move away from Alpha Rafael's harsh gaze.
As they leave, Rafael watches them.
The anticipation begins to build in him.
He had been wrong after all—he had a mate.
He'd found his mate.
Rafael began to pace, his wolf just as restless within him.
"Thank the Goddess... finally," his mother whispered beside him, and he echoed the sentiment.
The minutes seem extraordinarily long to Rafael as he awaited the pack.
Soon, members of the pack start to trickle in, all standing in front. At each new person to come down, Rafael would flare up with his nose in the air, and yet even as the front hall filled, there was no sign of his mate.
Impatience sparked an annoyance that flared up in him. He walked to the Alpha.
"My mate is not here yet," Rafael said. "Where are they?"
The Alpha looked back in surprise.
"These are all of my pack members," he said. "All... all of them."
Rafael let out a growl that made the Alpha step back.
"I'll ask again," Rafael said, voice low and threatening. "Where. Is. My mate? The one I smell on his body." Rafael pointed at the boy behind his father.
"I'm sorry, I... I... I'll get your mate," the father said, flustered. "Just give me a minute."
"Xavier?" The man turned to his son. "Who were you with just before you came here?"
Rafael watched the boy intently.
The boy looked rapidly from his father to Rafael, suddenly looking terrified.
"It... it's..." His voice was small and shook incessantly.
"Speak, Xavier!" demanded his father before Rafael could snap at the boy.
"It was... the... the runt."
The sentence had Rafael surprised.
What did the boy mean by runt? It couldn't be his mate, right?
The boy's father paled immediately.
"Xavier, be serious," the Alpha's wife spoke suddenly for the first time.
"Yes, Xavier, are you sure? It can't be that..." The man seemed to swallow the rest of his sentence.
"I'm sure, mother," Xavier said. He suddenly looked resigned. "It was him, mother."
Rafael was suddenly annoyed by all this theatrics. All he wanted was his mate.
So he walked forward and grabbed the Alph
a.
"Alpha Surien," Rafael started, his voice low and menacing.
"I am easily angered, and do not test my patience."
"BRING ME MY MATE!"