3: Real mate

Alpha Caden's POV

The weather was chilly as we all stood there looking at the sand closing my mate's lifeless body. Like humans, we are also dressed in black for the funeral. 

Lucas and Liana are clutching onto one another as they cry their eyes out. She's been dead for two days already but today hits them harder than any other. I am not a crier so I only stared down at the ground. 

Everyone kept passing around their condolences and saying how much of a great woman she was, which is true but right then, I didn't want to listen to their sympathetic words. I really just want to spend some time in my office with a good whiskey. 

I did just that. I turned around and left the graveyard, my feet sure as I stepped inside my car and sped to the Alpha house where I'm sure no one will disturb me. The whole pack members will meet at the packhouse to mourn further. 

As soon as I got home, I showered and yanked on a sweatpant then blindly made my way to the study. I took two bottles of whiskey and made my way to my desk where I settled heavily and started drinking straight from the bottle. 

Deep into my drink, a knock came from the door interrupting my time alone. I wanted to turn whoever that was away but something in my head told me not to. With a reluctant swallow, I call out a small come in. 

The door was pushed open and the scent that hit me had me blinking rapidly to clear the alcohol away from my eyes. When I saw who walked in, everything became sharper and focused. I know I am just drunk but it felt good to be that focused. 

"Ro?" I ask, blink, then place the bottle I was holding on the table so it doesn't fall off my hands. 

She gave a small wave, her eyes were puffy and I know she has been crying because of Flora. She heard about her death and came back. Is she back for good?

Before I knew what I was doing, I stood up and made my way to where she stood then gave her a bone crushing hug. I inhaled her scent like she was my anchor and she held me, patted my back like I did her the day she ran away. 

It was a long time later when I pulled away but held her at an arm's length to look at her. She hasn't changed much only that her curves have filled out in all the right places and she has tattoos? 

The sweet little Aurora I knew wouldn't do something so bold and her outfit, damn. She is wearing a short sleeved crop top with a jumpsuit that isn't clipped around one of her shoulders. She doesn't look like the Aurora that ran away from this pack. 

She gave me a sheepish smile when my eyes met hers again. She has damn pierces all over her! She's got a septum and several more around her ears. What happened to sweet shy Aurora?

"What happened to you?" I ask in a rough voice I barely recognize. 

Surely I am not aroused by this? Yeah, very very absurd. 

"Just a little change." She shrugged her shoulders then blushed when her eyes fell on my naked chest. 

Damn, I forgot to wear a shirt and I don't have any around here. I made my way back to my desk and watched as she looked around the room that hadn't changed since the last four years she's left. She followed, then sat down on one of the chairs facing me. 

I can see her trying her best not to check out my chest which satisfied something inside of me that shouldn't exist. I am not a creep. 

"I'm sorry for your loss, Alpha." She finally said after several beats of silence. 

"Thank you." I answer by taking my whiskey back to gulp down most of it. 

"She was a really great woman." She added, I can see her fiddling with her hands in that nervous way. 

"I know." 

Flora was a nice woman and one I adored for the twenty two years I have known her. She never gave me any reason to complain. She loved me like she would her mate even though I couldn't do that to her. I couldn't love her like I would have loved my mate. 

She knows that too. She often tells me to go out there and find my mate but I cannot do that to her. She chose me as her fated mate when her father forced her to bring forth someone before he died. She brought me to him. An orphan with no origin, a dangerous eighteen year old rogue. Her father refused at first but Flora was very insistent till he gave in and blessed us. That is how I became the Alpha. 

I was only passing by as a rogue when we met in the woods. We had a great connection and chemistry but that was it. She knows it, I know it. We make great leaders too but there was nothing more even though we all needed it. We wouldn't have minded finding our mates but I refuse to be the one to leave her first. 

Besides, I don't think I have any other mates anymore. I'm sure she is also done waiting for me and chose someone for herself which is alright. I had amazing years with Flora too. The age difference really doesn't matter with her. She makes everything seem perfect without trying hard. 

I wouldn't have asked for another if not that my wolf doesn't feel the same. He likes Flora, respects her too but that is about it. He didn't like the fact that I stopped him from finding our mate wherever she was. He has resented me for years because of that before he reluctantly cave. 

I took another swig of my whiskey and my eyes fell on Aurora who was silently staring at me like she was contemplating something. That was when I felt it and I'm sure she did with the way her head snapped so quickly she would've gotten a whiplash if she were a mere human. 

The whiskey burned down my throat as my gaze met Aurora's silent stare. In that moment, a realization struck, an unspoken connection so intense that even her sudden reaction m

irrored the electric charge in the air.

We are mates.