Chapter 2 - Nathan

I’ve been on the road with Kanati and Kamama for the past six months, first trying to find where the Riding Hoods were keeping all of the supernaturals that they were kidnapping and then trying to find where those same supernaturals had scattered to when they escaped.

Let me back up a minute.  Give you the whole backstory.

About 21 years ago, there was this huge civil war between all of the werewolf packs in the U.S.  The trios, where our Moon Goddess and creator, Selene, mated three wolves to each other instead of just two, were coming back after being hunted to near extinction.  And there were quite a few wolves who didn’t like that.  It caused a civil war, which we won, allowing trios to live happily ever after.

But right after that, these witches, called the Riding Hoods, popped up out of nowhere.  They are the descendants of the original Little Red Riding Hood, who was killed by a rogue werewolf.  Yes, the story was true.  Her sister took revenge on the rogue, then decided that it was her job to kill all werewolves in the world.  She gathered followers to her cause and we ended up with these shriveled mummified witches coming after us and attempting to kill us all.  We managed to defeat them on Amercian soil, sending them back to Europe to lick their wounds.

I was five when all of that went down and my mom, Naomi, was mated to one of the leaders of the civil war, an alpha wolf named Julian.  He hated my mother because she was half-human, but had no problem getting her pregnant and using her whenever he wanted.  He was a grade “A” asshole.  During the civil war, Mom was sent on a mission and captured by the trios and their allies.  They agreed to help get me out if my mom agreed to help them and that’s how I got to be a part of this pack.  I was five at the time.

Before the war with the witches was over, my mom found Slade, her second chance mate and my stepfather.  I also found out that I’m part witch and part of prophecy saying that I would destroy the Riding Hoods.  Knowing that, I’ve made it a mission of mine to work to kill as many Riding Hoods as I possibly can, rooting them out all over the world.  I’m a part of the Elite fighting force headed by demi-gods Arya and Devin Vegter.  And I’m also one of the priests in Bella Martin’s coven, in charge of training the younger witches in combat magic.

Since we defeated them, the Riding Hoods have never gotten a foothold back in American soil and we have been going around the world to help other supernaturals stay out of their path.  They still have a strong base in Europe, but we’ve kept them from other countries.

Last November, the legacies, the children of the trios, had their first members become a lune and beta of our nation-wide pack, Chris and Jared Loup.  Ok, I know that it sounds weird that they are the first of the legacies to take over when I should technically be an alpha now.  My stepfather, who I just call Dad, and Mom have been hounding me to take over the pack for a while now.  And it’s not that I don’t want to.  I feel the pull of being an alpha every single day and my wolf is itching to take over the title.  But I can’t.  I’m here for a purpose.  To see to the end of the Riding Hoods.  I can’t do that if I have to worry about running a pack.  So I’ve been putting it off.

Anyway, when Chris and Jared took their positions in the pack, shit kind of went a little crazy.  We got a prophecy from Selene saying that the Riding Hoods were up to some messed up shit where they were taking all different supernaturals in the hopes of creating the strongest witch of all time.  They even took Chris and Jared’s new stepmom and Chris’s mate.

We called in the whole supernatural community to help us, bringing in two gods to help track in Mexico and in the U.S.  I’ve been with Kanati, the first Apachee hunter turned god, and his translator, Kamama, along with several other wolves and supernaturals since then.  Two of the other Elite are with us as well, Micah Laoch, the son of Carl, Richard, and Lauren Laoch in the Artemis Area, and Jai Vlk, the son of Liam, Bhakti, and Sandra Vlk in the Blood Moon Area.

Our first mission was to find where the kidnapped supernaturals were being kept.  But that job was taken from us when one of the Riding Hoods turned traitor and helped with killing nearly all of the Riding Hoods and setting the supernaturals they had kidnapped free.  

Sound too good to be true?  Yeah, we're on the same page.  Especially since the Red One, the head of the Riding Hoods, conveniently got away just before the mission was supposed to start.

So then our mission became finding the scattered supernaturals.  Many had been hurt or were scared or lost.  Some had ways to get home, but others didn’t.  For instance, there was a dragon shifter who was here on vacation when she was taken from her family.  She had no idea where she was or how to get back to her people.  As arrogant and dickish as the dragon shifters are, we had to help them.  

We are down to the last supernatural, and they are taking forever to find.  But we’ve also been at this for several months, and it’s time for some more of the legacies to take over.  These two are Elite hunters and the twin sons of the demi-gods who head the Elites, Alexander and Rowen Vegter. 

“I can’t believe that you seriously aren’t coming to Alex and Ro’s ascension ceremony.  They’re like brothers to us man,” Jai hounds me again.

“Well, my nephews, but same thing,” Micah laughs.  He really thinks that it’s funny that he is younger than Alex and Ro, but still their uncle.  It’s a bit complicated, but Richard, Carl, and Lauren were a trio that rejected each other because it was seen as bad to be gay back then in our history.  Richard and Lauren stayed together and had Devin, who is Alex and Ro’s dad.  Carl found a chosen mate and had Brandon, who is the dad of Chris and Jared.  Then, after the trios started coming back in their pack, Richard, Carl, and Lauren accepted each other, and they had Micah and his twin sister Aubrey.  So, while Chris, Jared, Alex, and Ro are the niece and nephews of Micah and Aubrey, they are also older than them.

Told you it was complicated.

“And you could find your mate while you’re at it.  I’ve heard that the sex is fucking amazing and I know that you haven’t been getting any since Micah and I have been with the only two chicks here,” Jai say, chucking my shoulder.  “Unless you’ve been going after Kamama.  Get a little demi-goddess tail.”

“Fuck off, dude,” I say, smacking his hand away, though it’s all in good fun.  “Not everyone has to walk around with his dick wet all the time.  Some of us have something called self-control.”

“Yeah, but how is that fucking natural for a wolf?” Micah asks, with all seriousness.  “And an alpha wolf at that?  Are your balls permanently blue?  Or have the fossilized by now?”

“Just because some of us have more important things to do, doesn’t mean that I don’t get enough pussy, ok?” I say, pushing Micah, though a little harder than would be considered friendly. 

He just laughs it off, but his barbs have hit home.  It has been a while since I’ve gotten any and I’ve noticed that I've been restless and short-tempered because of it.  But the few times that I’ve gone into some of the closer towns to find a one-night stand, my wolf has put up such a shit fit that he won’t let anything happen.

I’ve mindlinked Dad to ask him about it.  He thinks that it is because I’m going to find my mate soon. 

That might be comforting to most, but it’s honestly one of the last things that I want.  From what I’ve seen with mates, things become all-consuming pretty quickly and that’s the last thing that I want when I still have a prophecy to fulfill.  When I’m done killing all of the Riding Hoods, I’ll be happy to find my mate and make her mine.  But for now, it’s the last thing that I want.

Maybe I need to invest in some sex toys.  That’ll help let off some steam.

I must have been thinking really hard, because I haven’t heard a thing that either Jai or Micah have said to me until one of them nudges my shoulder.

“You in there, Nate?” Jai asks, waving his hand in front of my face.  “ET phone home?”

“What?” I say, pushing his hand away.

“We just want to know if you’re really sure about not coming to the ceremony,” Micah says, looking sincere.  

They’re right.  This is a big deal and I should be there for my brothers.  But I also know that the fucking Riding Hood that Kayla has adopted will fucking be there and I just can’t.  I can’t be in the same room as her without freaking the fuck out, which will not be good for an ascension ceremony.

“Naw, I think I need to help Kanati find this last fairy.  See this through to the end and try to collect any more information from them about the Riding Hoods,” I say.

They both look at me with a mixture of disappointment and understanding in their eyes.  I hate to see it, but I’m doing what I think is best for me and for the pack.

“Well, Primrose will still be here,” Jai says, talking about the fae that has been warming his sleeping bag while we’ve been on the road.  “She could definitely help keep you company before you get to the meeting in a week.”

I laugh as he launches into a story about Primrose’s admittedly intriguing abilities to change the size of parts of her body at will during sex.  But in the back of my mind, I keep thinking about what that could mean for my mate.