Chapter 7

Seeing the sign with 'Handerville' written on it in bold writing has never made me this happy. Turns out the renewal of the treaty with the neighboring pack took longer than expected. The three or four-day schedule was stretched to five days. Being away from my mate made the one day seem like an extra year of waiting. I understand that treaties are important. Especially since this one protects us from a lot of dangers.

  The royal werewolf family is currently situated on a peninsula. The neighboring pack is extremely close with the royal family, and controls the land on the outside of the peninsula, creating an effective barrier against attack. Even though I know this, I still can't help but feel that another treaty is unnecessary. All we did was go through an exact copy of the old one, and then rewrite my name in places where the old alpha, meaning my dad's was, and then sign it. Nothing really to it. But Dad along with the other alpha made me read through the whole thing, just to make sure I understand it.

  Pulling up to my house, I climb out of the car once we're parked. It's definitely good to be home. I guess since I was raised here pretty much all my life, I've become a lover of small-town America.

  "It's definitely good to be home," says Dad as he steps out of the car and voicing my opinion.

  "Yeah," I reply heartily.

Opening the trunk, I grab my bags and head to the front door. As I open the door, I'm hit with the unmistakable smell of my mate. My eyes go wide, and I drop my bags.

   "What's wrong?" asks Dad from behind me. I realize I'm blocking the way in.

   "I can smell my mate," I say as I step out of the way.

Sniffing around, it seems to be coming from upstairs. I run up the stairs, leaving Dad. I hear him chuckle from behind me. I track the smell down until I'm in front of a door. I realize that it's Grid's room I'm standing in front of.

   "Grid?" I say as I knock on her door.

   "Yeah," I hear her call back. I open the door and step into her room. Grid is sitting on her bed painting her toenails a bright red.

  "Hey, Ben! Nice to see you back!" she says brightly. She tries to get off her bed, but realizing she can't she sticks her hand out to just wave at me.

   "Yeah," I say back scanning the room. Where is his smell coming from? It's here, but very faint. A normal human's smell can be picked up by a werewolf after even a couple days, as long as it doesn't rain. But Cayce's seems to be weak.

  "Are you looking for something?" asks Grid.

She's stopped painting her nails and is looking at me with curiosity.

   "I can smell Cayce," I say in a deep voice. Oliver is starting to take over, and his voice is slightly overlapping with mine.

  "Oh," says Grid. "I hung out with him yesterday. His scent might be around here from that," she says in explanation.

   "Oh," I say, my shoulder sagging in disappointment.

Even having something that has the scent of my mate on it is better than having nothing. I walk out of Grid's room in the opposite feeling I had when I walked in. Going down to the kitchen in my gloomy attitude, where Mom and Dad are sitting at a table talking and drinking coffee is what I do. They see me walk in.

  "Hi honey," says Mom as she sees me.

  "Hey, Mom," I say, giving her a hug. I walk around to the other side of the table and take a seat.

  "So how was your trip?" asks Mon. I shrug and say,

   "It was alright. I think I learned some stuff." Even I can hear the cheerless attitude in my voice.

   "Hmm, well I guess that's good," says Mom. I smile, but it's strained.

  "Was your mate here?" asks Dad.

I know he wants to be sensitive to me, but in the end, his alphas side takes over. He may not be the alpha anymore, but a lot of the duties of it is still done by him. Like protecting everyone. He's just asking to ensure the security of his house. Knowing somebody outside the pack is inside our house would be something he would want to know.

   "No," I say sullenly. Dad looks at me in an understanding way. I think he knows how badly I wanted to meet him.

  "You found your mate?" asks Mom. She smiles at me.

   "No," I say. "I only got to smell him," I explain.

   Mom looks at me for a moment. "Well, in that case, you can check the garage. Teddy did say that he smelled something."

I look at her with wide eyes. She grins back at me. In a second I'm out the door that leads from the kitchen to the garage.

  I smell my mate. His smell is stronger here than inside the house. Using my nose, I'm led to Grid's red chev. It's coming from here. Opening up the driver's door, I crouch in and inhale deeply. The smell is everywhere inside here. Instinctively, my mouth waters. I can't help but want to swallow the intoxicating smell.

  I sniff the passenger seat. Cayce's smell is coming from here, but it's weak. The smell is coming from somewhere else. I look around the car frantically. Then I see it. Scrunched up on the back seat, is a coat. I grab it and immediately begin to sniff it. This is the source. I have to be careful not to drool on it. Stepping out of the car, I hold the coat up. It's navy blue, and it has silver buttons. It seems to be made out of cotton, and it looks to me like a light autumn coat. I can't stop sniffing it. Sticking my nose in the collar, the scent is multiplied by ten, and for a moment I see stars. I crouch to the ground because I feel faint.

  I can't wait to meet my mate tomorrow.

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  I pull up to the school and park my car. I know I'm early and how Cayce might not be here yet, but that didn't stop me from coming here as quickly as I could. Oliver doesn't help at all. He keeps whispering the most erotic thoughts in my head. And my excited soldier wouldn't stop saluting. Needless to say, I'm anxious to meet my mate.

  Stepping out of my car and heading to the main entrance, I look around the parking lot to see whether I can spot my mate. It's rainy today, and most of the kids aren't lingering outside, and most of the parking lot is empty. Moving into the building I catch my mate's scent. It heads off to in the direction of the gym. Walking through partially empty hallways, I tower over everyone else. I'm thankful for my height. Especially when I spot him.

   He's at his locker, getting ready for his day. And the first thing that strikes me is that he's so small. He only barely comes up to my chest height. His black hair is cut short and falls just above his brows.

  And his skin seems to glow white, almost like marble. He's wearing a navy blue collared shirt and white long pants. He seems to dress in a formal way, totally different from my attire, that being a hoodie and some black baggy joggers. Similar to Grid, and I know now why they're on such good terms. His future sister-in-law literally could dress him and there's be no issue. Walking near, I see that his facial features are all...miniature.

   His tiny button nose has a sharp point, and his delicate eyebrows pull out in a line to give a graceful look. His lips are thin and pink and are scrunched in a slight frown. Water from the rain is splattered across his body, which sparkles in the bright fluorescent light in the hallway. All in all, he's cute.

   Walking up behind him, I instinctively begin to sniff, and I can't stop. The drool-worthy smell is so divine I think I might faint. That is before Cayce turns around and looks at me with his huge brown eyes.

  "Hi," he says.