2 - A Weird Invitation

Present Day

~Ridge’s Point of View~

“What’s the point of playing catch if you don’t catch the ball,” I yelled at my Beta.

“I didn’t exactly get much sleep last night, you know the pups are due any day now. Mindy is just tossing around all night, uncomfortable so I don’t sleep either,” Pike responded, running to get the ball I threw.

I sighed, jealous as hell. My Beta found his mate last year at a party and now both he and my Gamma had their mates.

I was 26 and still hadn’t found my mate, which was just insane. The only thing that made sense was that she was still maybe a pup, that’s why I couldn’t find her. I did everything possible, travelled, went to parties, all kinds of things. With every year that went by I just grew a bit more bitter, a bit more convinced it maybe wasn’t going to happen.

An Alpha that goes this long without finding their mate can be seen as weak. But I had a few things working to my advantage in that regard.

“Yeah well sleep or not you are still running drills in the morning, I’m going to that Alpha meeting,” I said, sitting down in the grass to take a break.

“Oh yeah, you sure you don’t want me to join you, isn’t it like two hours away,” Pike said, sitting next to me.

“Nah Nate’s going to go with me … it’s going to be boring I’m sure. If anything serious was going on the council would send a Shadow to let us know,” I said.

The council were like the judges of the supernatural community and their cops were called Shadow Warriors. My sister’s fated mates were actually triplets that were all from a long family line of Shadows. They were actually instrumental in helping me become the Alpha of my pack. 

“I hope there’s another big party sometime, like when I met Mindy,” he said, hitting me on the shoulder.

“Yeah but I can only take so many more of these damn parties. I think it’s about time I just settle down, try to find a chosen mate instead of wasting my life away for my fated mate,” I said, staring off into the distance. 

Our pack was on lands that had been conquered by a real piece of shit Alpha a few years back. We made a new pack and everyone took to it very well, we were peaceful, but I made damn sure everyone here knew how to fight. Most Alphas either inherit their position or they fight for it, and since I was essentially handed a pack, some saw that as a weakness. But so far, no one has dared to challenge me.

“You’re a hell of a catch, I don’t know how you haven’t picked someone by now,” Pike said. 

“Come on dude, literally everyone around me has their fated mate. You can’t blame me for holding out,” I said.

“I know, I know. But man I was close to, ready to give up. I told myself if I didn’t find her at that party, I was just going to mark the next girl I could stand, and hope like hell she was a good cook, since I can’t cook for shit,” Pike said, laughing.

Just then we heard the dinner bell and we both jumped to our feet. 

“It’s always the right time to eat,” Pike said, still laughing.

....

The next morning I arrived at Alpha Dean’s pack, Great Moon. They were kind of hippies and it was a neutral place where Alphas often agreed to meet now and then. We didn’t all much like each other but we knew we all had some common interests we had to discuss.

I entered the packhouse where there was a massive conference room, large enough for about thirty. I quickly eyed about a dozen Alphas and several others. Most Alphas don’t travel alone and I was no exception, Nate was just behind me. 

Pike and I had been best friends since diapers, so he was the obvious choice for my Beta. But Nate was a new addition to our little friendship bubble. He fought for the right to be my Gamma and even though he was only 19, he was a hell of a fighter.

“Care for a drink,” I heard from a pretty she-wolf walking around with a tray.

“Sure thing,” I said, smiling and taking a beer.

Nate took one as well and we both went to find a place to sit. I wasn’t the mingling type and if anyone wanted to talk to me that bad, they could come to me. Some of these Alphas were a lot younger than I was, some were three times my age. 

A couple more people shuffled in after us and everyone began looking for a seat.

“Thank you all for coming, we have some business to discuss which is going to be boring, I know. But Alpha Zander has a little something he wants to bring up at the end, so if anyone else has any business, please pass a note to the she-wolf that comes around with drinks and we’ll add you to the list,” Alpha Dean said. 

There was a little notepad and pen at every seat, apparently he thought we were going to take notes.

Three hours and too many beers later, Nate was close to falling asleep as were many. I had cut myself off after three, but thankfully they were bringing out some food. Hopefully that would wake us all up. Sitting and going over border lines, how the weather affected crops, etc. wasn’t exactly my idea of a good time. I mean it was all important but damn this could have been an email.

Once we all had plates, Alpha Zander cleared his throat, demanding everyone’s attention. I had nothing but contempt for this asshole. He’d long ago partnered with Alpha Gunner of Blood Claw and together they conquered lands and enslaved hundreds of unwilling wolves to fight for them. Myself included. My entire family had been spelled by Gunner’s witch mate and made to fight for him. Our memories of who we used to be were wiped out and we spent almost ten years like that, just as zombies. To the best of my knowledge Zander had been behaving himself, but wolves never really change. 

Of course when the shit hit the fan and the council stepped in to do something about Gunner and finally take him out, Zander cut and run, hiding out. So yeah, he was not my favorite wolf.

“I’m going to be throwing the next large party and I want it to be the biggest around. I have many great things to celebrate and I’m going to just roll them all into one. My son, Zachary is taking over the pack and claiming his Luna. However, I have two daughters that have yet to find their mates and if they don’t get their fated ones at this party then I’m going to start looking for matches. One is nearly 22 and the other is now 20. I would very much like to see all my pups settled before I retire. The party will be this next Saturday and my son will actually host it, since we will hold his Alpha ceremony the night before,” Zander said, slapping his son on the back. 

Zachary grinned wide but said nothing. He couldn’t have been more than 18 or 19. I immediately assumed he was probably just as much a piece of crap as his father. He looked strong, and I wondered if he’d already found his fated mate or he was choosing one, either way I felt bad for the she-wolf. 

“So I would love to have all unmated Alphas and their high ranking wolves present, but feel free to bring as many from your pack as you want. Just to keep things on an even keel I have asked the council to provide a few Shadows as security, they will ensure things are kept friendly. We may have our differences but we all want to prosper and we all want to encourage our packs to mate and grow strong, I think we can all agree on that,” Zander finished.

Whoops and cheers erupted as all the wolves present agreed, I said nothing. I was all for any chance to find my mate, but I had zero desire to set foot on his pack lands.

*Let’s get out of here and beat the traffic, we have to drive back through the city and human rush hour is soon,* I said to Nate, over mind-link.

*Read my mind,* he responded back. 

Once in the car we both looked at each other and shook our heads.

“But you’re going to go right? I mean if it’s as big a party as he’s saying this could really be your chance. You know we have at least a dozen warriors alone that would want to go,” Nate said.

“I’d say I would think about it but I get the feeling you’re going to just bug the hell out of me until I say yes anyhow. I guess I’m going but I doubt I’ll stay long. You know his pack is like a six hour drive, I hate to be gone that long and that far out of range,” I said.

We all had cell phones but they rarely worked in most of the places we went. Our pack had a couple of satellite phones for emergencies though.

“Pike and I can stay behind, I mean he’s not going anywhere with the pups coming soon anyhow. Just go on, shake your tail and see what happens,” he said.

“I don’t dance, ever and you know this,” I said, laughing.