Chapter 4

  Stepping out of the car, I realize it was a good thing I brought a jacket with me. I guess years of living in this town have given me an instinct of when it is necessary to start bundling up. Not that it's unbearably cold. Just a light breeze. It must be my lucky day.

My name is Bennet Fitzroy, but everyone calls me Ben. To the normal person out there, I'm just another teen in high school with a tall figure and muscles all over. I suppose I'm good-looking, but I'm sure it's just my ego somewhat. But, I am a little more than just a normal teen. Being a werewolf, and the king of the werewolves, I'm a little more distinct. But that is merely a title. The royal werewolf family isn't exactly the strongest in the world. We're just royalty. That doesn't stop the werewolf world from fawning over us though. By us, I mean me and my sister, Ingrid, along with our two younger brothers. Ingrid is my twin, but because I was born two minutes prior to her, I inherited the title of king, along with my title of alpha of my pack.

Looking around the lot I spot her parked car. She must've come here before me. I recognize some of the faces of the teens walking into their first day of school. I wave and say hi to some of them. I don't know why, but the other voice in my head, aka my wolf, is unusually jumpy since this morning. He wouldn't stop rushing me to get to school this morning, and now that I'm actually here, he's eerily quiet.

Walking into the school building, I see the line for the schedules, along with Greg, my beta, who's helping to hand them out.

I've just stepped in line when unexpectedly I get a whiff of a scent that I can only describe as mouthwatering. It's unbelievably faint, but I catch it. It smells sharp and serene, and a bit wild. There's also a strange bit mixed in with it, but I can't tell what it is.

"Our mate is here!" screams my wolf, Oliver, in my head.

My heart seems to leap into my throat when I hear this. My mate!! I finally get to see my mate! I turned eighteen more than a month ago, and I'd been looking for whoever it was every waking hour. I'd also had time to think about what they would be like.

What did they like to eat? What was their favorite color? Favorite number? Were they supernatural like me? What was their gender? Gender isn't an issue for me. When you grow up with a twin who's lesbian, you learn to accept that it's okay to love whoever. But now that I finally get to meet my mate, these questions run through my mind at breakneck speed.

I desperately look around to see who it is, but I can't seem to spot my mate. I sniff again to see if my nose can help me find them. My nose tells me that whoever's scent I'm picking up, they were here just recently, maybe in the last 10 minutes. But because the scent is so weak, that's all I can pick up. The line has moved forward and it's my turn.

Walking up to Greg, I say, "I found my mate!" in an excited whisper.

Greg's eyes widen, and he smiles saying, "That's great! Do you know who it is?"

"No," I reply a little sadly, "But it's not one of the people from this school. I would know. It's gotta be a new kid."

Because I know the scents of all the kids and teachers in this building, I can say this with confidence.

"How many new kids are there this year, and where can I find them?" I ask Greg.

Greg pulls out a paper and scans it. I expect to be told a couple of names, but in less than a second he's turned back to me with a smile. "Only one," he says and shows me the paper. I read the name written on the paper.

Cayce Vance.

"Cayce Vance!" Exclaims Oliver in my head, and I can almost feel my entire being shake with his loud talking. Though, I share the excitement. Knowing my mate's name seems to fill my chest up with the best warm feeling I've ever had. I swear my heart is shooting sparks. I close my eyes and savor the name in my mind. Cayce Vance. The name sounds so perfect. The only thing that could make it any more perfect is if I see the owner of the name.

Greg seems to read my mind and tells me, "His first class is econ. I think Grid was in the same class. She went off to make friends with him when I told her he was new here."

"Thanks, I'm going to go look for him!" I say and I quickly walk off.

I'm half tempted to run, but because of my enormous height of six feet and another half foot, and my wide shoulders, running in a hallway full of kids would be a hazard to everyone, including me. Not to mention that I weigh above two hundred pounds, anyone I run into would go flying.

I've just turned the corner when I get a mind link from my dad. It's a simple mechanism that werewolves have, a biological mental voice message system.

"Hey, sport, I don't mean to interrupt your first day of school, but I need you to come home," says my dad through the link.

"Why?" I ask, "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong. I just need you to come with me to our neighbor pack to renew some treaties. I know this is your first week of school, but I think you might have to be absent for most of it," links my Dad.

"What do you mean?" I ask as I feel my heart rate increase.

"It looks like we have to renew our treaty, and it'll probably take about three to four days."

I stand in shock in the middle of the hallway. I've just got the scent of my mate, and I'm minutes, maybe feet away from meeting him, but my duty as the new alpha pulls me away from him.

"Ben? You still there?" asks Dad gently. He must have sensed my hesitation to leave. Dad is very understanding when it comes to the feelings of his kids.

"Yeah," I reply, "Yeah, I'm still here. I'm on way to the house."

  I walk toward the nearest exit and in a minute I've exited the school. Oliver whines and begs us to go back to look for our mate.

    "Think of what we can do once we find him! We can wrap him up in our arms and keep him safe. And mark him and take him in all the ways we wanna! Ben! Ben!!" screams Oliver. I'm tempted to go back and do that, but I know I have a duty to my pack.

I mind link Greg and Grid while walking towards my car, a black chev truck.

  "Guys?"

  "Yeah?"

  "Wassup Bro?"

  "I need you to keep an eye on Cayce for me. I have to go renew a treaty with our neighboring pack, and I can't return for a couple of days."

"Okay. You got it, Ben."

"Do you mean my Cayce?" asks Grid, "He's so cute. He's like a little black button."

"Oliver doesn't like it when you say that," I reply.

  I walk up to my car and hear Oliver growl in my head, and he says in my mind, "Cayce is mine! Mine! Nobody can take him from us!"

  "Cayce is Ben's mate," explains Greg.

  "Oh then don't worry bro! I'll make sure he's okay until you get back," links Grid.

"Thanks," I say.

  Grid has alpha blood, so she's very capable of fighting and protecting, sometimes even more than me. I can rest assured that she'll keep Cayce safe. Not to mention that she's very smart. I have a hard time keeping my grades on par with hers.

I cut the mind link and rest my hands on the steering wheel. I sigh and pull out my keys and am soon driving home.

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I ride with Dad in his car out of Handerville. We're heading off right now to the other pack. I can't say that I'm thrilled to be here. Oliver is constantly nagging me about how we could have been with our mate, Cayce, right now. Introducing ourselves, getting to know each other. I hope he accepts me. I know that the human world has moved forward into allowing same-sex relationships, but not everyone is in for it. I guess that's something I'll have to talk about with my mate when I see him.

"You're awfully quiet there champ," says Dad. "I know that you wanted to enjoy your first week of school, but I hope this didn't get you that down."

He smiles at me and his crow's feet grow more prominent. My dad has blond hair and ocean blue eyes. I used to have the same blond hair, but I grew out of it. Now I have brown hair.

"No, I don't mean to be down. I know I have to do these duties because I'm the alpha, as well as the next king." Dad looks at me while I speak. I turn away and sigh. "It's just, I found my mate today."

Dad gasps. "You did? That's great Ben!" He smiles and congratulates me, "Who's the lucky mate?" he asks.

"His name is Cayce Vance," I start.

  I'm for a second scared that he'll cringe from the fact that my mate is male, but irrelevant it seems as his happiness only grows and no difference happens.

  "I don't know anything besides that though," I say a little disappointedly, "I had to leave school before I got to see him in person."

Dad frowns.

  "I'm sorry that had to happen, Ben. If I knew that you had found your mate, I would have taken Grid with me. I'm pretty sure she'd have been happy to take your place."

  He looks apologetically at me.

"It's okay Dad," I reply with a strained smile, "I know the importance of my role in the pack. I'll just be patient and wait until we get back to hold him in my arms."

  Dad looks at me and gives me a reassuring smile. I look back at the window at the passing trees. I can't wait to hold him in my arms.

I too I hear Oliver whisper in my mind.

I smile as I remember I'm not the only desperate one to see Cayce.

"Sorry, we can't see him now," I say to Oliver, "I know how much you wanna see him."

"I'll just have to be patient," says Oliver, "he'll be ours soon."

I grin as I think: He'll be ours soon.