04) Mate

Few hours earlier...

(Before Neffie & Alex vanished)

He was never fond of festivals and parties. But it won't be a lie if someone said that it was his parents' fault that his dislike grew higher and higher over the past five years after his 18th birthday.

His parents strongly believed that he would find his mate as soon as he turned 18, but it didn't happen as they wished. From then on, all the time, they kept reminding him of it and threw big parties, hoping that he would find his mate during those gatherings.

By now he had met the majority of mate-less wolf-girls who lived in the five provinces of the Lunalight territory, and in almost all the other subgroups that belonged to them and the Blood Moon pack, but he had not been able to live up to his parents' expectations yet.

Therefore, his father insisted that he join this ceremony because he knew that a large number of mate-less girls would attend the party, which would be hosted by the High Alpha and the Royal Luna.

Silver Luna was the world's most powerful wolf pack, and the Lunalight wolves and Alaskan Blood Moon wolves, as well as thousands of wolves in all of their subgroups, belonged to Silver Luna pack, but were ruled by separate Alphas and Alpha females.

Although it is customary for the Alpha Couples of Lunalight, Blood Moon and other subgroups to meet the royals and have a bonding time, those considerably small parties didn't held much festivity.

So this young Alpha son had his good fortune to avoid all these bonding parties over the years. But this time it seemed like his luck didn't dare to help him because this particular party was not to be missed.

The special party was organized to celebrate the 18th birthday of the youngest members of the royal family, the Hale Twins, and to introduce them to the Wolf society as their newest members.

All the wolves in all the packs considered it a very special event and they were very keen to attend the event. But in the end, only a handful of high-ranking officials, a small group of mate-less wolves, and some adults were the only ones dared enough to attend the event because the wolves were naturally reluctant and unreasonably afraid to leave their territory.

However, the Royals were aware of this situation and hoped only for the participation of the higher ranked wolves of the packs.

Therefore, the Alpha son was well aware that as a mate-less wolf and the future alpha of Lunalight, by ditching this ceremony will cause him to loose the good gracious of Royal Wolves.

So, despite the reluctance, he joined his parents, the Lunalight Alpha_Eldreth Romanesque and Alpha Female_Arcelia Romanesque, and his sister_Azure, as there was no other option. But he was unable to separate his mind and thoughts from their territory because his wolf was restless with some thoughts of danger.

In the state of Missouri, near the southwestern border of Illinois, rouge wolves had built up a new wolf pack called Eclipse, and the comfort and peace of the Lunalight wolves have vanished since their rise.

Wolves who left the group for whatever reason become rouges and they were a stubborn group of wolves who didn't care about the rules and traditions of wolf packs, and thought they could go anywhere anytime as they pleased, and also had a reluctant to stay within their boundaries.

As a result, lunalight members had frequently confronted with numbers of problems and conflicts due to their unauthorized accesses into their pack lands.

In spite of that, this future Alpha was very upset and annoyed that his father left the whole responsibility of the pack on their Beta, Gamma and Delta and drag him here. But he was wise enough to not argue further with his father because he knew better than anyone about Alpha Romanesque's wrath.

"Are you planning on staying in the car 'till this ends?" Breaking his huge thought bubble, Azure suddenly asked with a huge smirk on her face.

Shocked, he immediately collected his composer and slowly got out of the car with the majesty of a prince.

Although this was his first visit here since he was a little boy, the grandeur of that large mansion_which considered as the pack house of the Silver Luna_had not diminished. Though it wasn't as large or magnificent as a palace, this pack house easily took the first place among other packs' pack houses with size, magnificence, beauty and every other aspect.

The three-storey mansion was built with black stones and many large glass windows in a 120 degrees "L" shaped angle, allowing a clear access to the view of the beautiful pond and fountain in the front yard.

The statue of the wolf couple, which were designed in a back-to-back position with their open mussels pointed towards the sky, was sprinkling water out of their mouths while proudly standing on the pedestal in the middle of the circular pond.

It was a sight worth watching on that moonlit night, but now they hadn't much time to do that.

The backyard of.the mansion, where the party was to be held was already almost overcrowded, and that tumultuous atmosphere further developed the displeasure about parties in his mind. But the voice of Eldreth calling someone snapped his attention back to reality, reminding him that he had to behave politely.

"Azara! Vendel!! Oh, it's been a long time..." Eldreth greeted bowing his head to a beautiful middle-aged woman with long brown hair and sharp blue-ash color eyes, and to a tall man with chestnut brown hair and deep blue eyes.

Azara and Vendel_the Royal Luna and Alpha, smiled at them accepting his greetings and then engaged in a cordial conversation, doubling the resentment of Eldreth's son. But he did not make it public because he knew that his father would be mad at him even though the royals didn't mind it.

So he wandered away from his sister, who was already enjoying the party, and the adults who were chatting, with the intention of getting something to drink wondering when did the Alpha of.Blood Moon pack joined the conversation.

He vaguely heard them saying that they had come there with his father, but he had no memory of it. But it was not surprising as he didn't pay any attention to anything that happened.

However, he made sure not to think of anything else as he began to sip the champagne he had snatched from a small tray served by a waiter while he sat on a bench at the far end of the yard.

It had been a long since he had finished his champagne, but he didn't bother himself by getting up or focusing on the party.

But from the moment he sat there he didn't miss the flirtatious glances of mate-less she-wolves, who were desperate to get his attention. There was a little sympathy in his heart for their futile efforts, but he didn't showed it out.

Although he had a reputation as a strict and emotionless person as the future Alpha of Lunalight_which owned the largest number of subgroups, this alone wasn't enough for the she wolves to give up.

Naturally she wolves attract to power and strength causing them to flirt with powerful wolves even though they knew it was futile.

Therefore, they didn't mind the handsome alpha son's lack of interest knowing that he will eventually become the Alpha of the second most powerful pack in the world and it will be worth the shot.

He was well aware of that fact too but he couldn't help but feel sorry for their childish and shameful behavior. But by then his sympathy was turning to annoyance and and anger and he was just a breath away from scolding them very rudely.

But the scent the wind carried through instantly caught his sole attention perking up his wolf.

The scent was as fresh and delicate as the pure winds of spring, but as cold as winter. But the exotic floral vanilla scent which carried by within it was so divine that it quickly calmed his mind and soul.

He had never smelled anything like that before in his life and the effect it had on him was something he had never expected. It was intoxicating his whole body like a drug, making him desperate to find the source.

As a wolf he should have been able to track the owner of the scent easily, but he had a trouble with that because he was deeply intoxicated by that scent.

After a few minutes of searching through the yard, his eyes finally landed on the owner of the scent. She was hiding among the shadows of the trees, in a deep part of the forest and even though he had his enhanced eye sight, he had to satisfy with the glimpse of her back and her long fiery red hair.

It caused him great displeasure, and the very next moment when he saw a male picking her up and disappearing into the woods, it only multiplied drawing a loud and angry growl from his throat.

The next moment he was ready to run after them without any hesitation, but it was prevented by a strong hand that fell on his shoulder.

"Someone tried to sneak into the cells here. There was a little commotion. Royal Luna is- " Eldreth tried to explain to his son, who didn't pay any attention to him.

"Mate!" Interrupting Eldreth's speech, he growled, casting restless gazes towards the forest, hinting that he needed to leave.

"Mate?! Did you said 'mate', brother?!!" His sister_Azure rushed in, asking with great interest as their mother's eyes widen in amazement.

"Where is she?" She asked eagerly but failed to gain an answer other than another growl from her son's mouth.

"Jade... Your mate... is a wolf... right...?" Eldreth asked in a thoughtful voice.

"I mean... I didn't smell any she-wolf in that forest... So I- " Eldreth tried to explain his question as he caught his son's questioning gaze, but before he could finish, Jade snarled furiously lunging at Eldreth's body and the next moment he turned and ran into the woods.

While running he shifted into his wolf form but this time he didn't even feel the pain of bone cracking and reforming of shifting.

Although it wasn't difficult to find her scent in the mideast of the forest, the smell of fear and pain that had been mixed with it at that time was able to evoke those feelings in his heart as well.

He was frightened that something had happened to her and that he would lose her before he could even meet her.

"Jade!" As he ran further into the forest, he heard his mother's high pitched calling for him, but he didn't stop to listen.

Such a careless shifting and a run in an another territory could almost always cause an injuries, which could be fetal or an instant death, by the habitual wolves of that area, because they were naturally territorial creatures.

They were very keen to eliminate any possible threat, such as trespassers very quickly and in a time like this they tend to be fiercer than normal.

But Jade didn't even think of worrying about such things at the time. His sole aim was to reach out to mate in time.

Fortunately, his alpha aura and his gigantic black wolf shift kept the Silver Luna warriors from attacking him. It helped him save his time to reach his mate and after a while like forever, he finally reached her.

Unfortunately, her condition made his worry to turn into a full rage, causing him to lash out on the wolves who stayed around her.

With a small glace he could tell that she was a beauty, but at the moment she was dying on the arms of another man.

Her arm and one leg were unusually bent and blood was flowing out from her head. But the most abnormal thing was the thick black smoke that was spreading around the two of them like a shadow.

Jade, who was stunned with unbearable shock and loss, saw her mesmerizing golden eyes for the first time the moment she whispered his name with a great effort.

They were filled with pain and her strained voice was almost inaudible. But the moment he tried to reach for her, she and the man who held her completely disappeared in that thick smokey shadows without even leaving a trace!!!

• • •

A / N

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With so much love,

Luranshiya