Chapter 3

Evander’s POV

*Monday... Earlier that same week*

Sitting in my room, I take it all in. 

The last week of Alpha training is here. Thank the Goddess it’s over. 

Damn, man.

It’s like the instructors had it out for me. They challenged me harder than the other alphas. 

This shit has been trying. Mentally and physically. 

Hell, maybe even spiritual. I’m not woo-woo or into that shit, but during this training, something has shifted in me and I don’t know what it is. Physically I’m stronger, my reflexes are a lot quicker and it’s like I’ve become some stealth ninja.

Like I’m the damn Karate Kid, Miles Morales, and T’Challa all in one.

Ace, my wolf, keeps telling me it’s because we’re about to step into our power. I don’t know what the hell my wolf is talking about. Yeah, I’m an Alpha, and that comes with certain powers. However, I’m not taking over my pack as the Alpha though until I’m at least 21 and if I have a choice, I’ll do it at 23.

My cousin Tyson is the only soon-to-be Alpha that I know will have actual power. He’s the next Alpha King. He’ll take over for my Uncle Winston.

‘Not sure why you won’t listen to me, dummy. I’m telling you, being here at training has caused us to tap into something. I can feel the shift within us. Just pack this damn apartment up and get us home. I need to see her fool”.

‘Okay wolf, calm the hell down. Jaden and Zach will be here. We’ll attend the end of training ceremony shit and then we’re out. I wanna get home and see her to’.

I’m over this place and am ready to get back to my pack. There’s only one reason for wanting to get back to my pack. The reason smells like jasmine, rose, and violet. 

If you’re wondering what that combination smells like, she smells like lightly scented baby powder.

Hmm, just something about that scent and the way my little warrior smells just makes my mouth water every time I smell her. I want to sink my canines into her marking spot, strip her of her clothes, bend her over, and just pound the shit out of her.

In due time.

Who is “her,” you ask?

She IS my mate.

I know who my mate is. I’ve known since I was 16.

I think Ace knew who my mate was at 14 when I shifted, but he didn’t want to tell me until I was 16. My mate isn’t 18 yet. Werewolves shift and get their wolves at 16, but they can’t scent their mates until they are 18. If you’re an Alpha or Alpha’s child, you’ll shift at 15.

My father and my grandfather, the former Alpha King, shifted at 14. Uncle Winston and Cousin Tyson both shifted after he turned 15, which is late for the next Alpha King to do since they’re supposed to shift around 14. My father, Eli, scented my mom at 17 when he met her in a different pack while visiting.

As I pick up my Moon Valley High varsity basketball sweatshirt, my mind drifts off thinking about my mate. 

What could my baby be doing? There has been much time during training to talk and I didn’t have time to talk with her. Every chance I get; I text or email her. I haven’t received a response since the early days of Alpha training. It’s not like her to not text me back.

I pick up my phone from the charger to send her a text when the apartment front door slams open and in walks in my beta Zach, my Gamma Jalen, our head warrior Alonso and Aaron our tech security specialist all laughing and carrying making a bunch of noise. Along with them are Liam and Asher, who are pack warriors.

“Damn! Why you knuckleheads gotta be so loud when you walk in here?” I yell towards the front of the apartment as I come out of my room.

“Alpha, you should’ve come with us to the basketball courts after dinner,” Aaron says to me while grabbing a sports drink out of the fridge. 

“You should’ve seen the faces of the New Dawn pack members when Jalen did a no-look behind-the-back pass to Zach so he could go up for a dunk,” he says while he reenacts the play. “Those New Dawn fools stood there looking lost like they didn’t know what just happened.” 

“Yeah, Zach broke ol’ boy’s ankles crossing him over too,” Jalen laughs and daps up Zach. “Bruh, you should’ve been there. All they could do was shake their heads. We won the pick-up game”.

My men laugh and keep chatting about the basketball court shenanigans.

“Sounds like y’all had a good time,” I say with a smirk. The five of us were on our school basketball team. Liam and Asher are on the school’s hockey team. We missed our junior year playing since we had to be here at Alpha training. Each ranked member has their own classes they attend and so do the warriors. I didn’t want to come here after we graduated because I knew my mate would be 18 by then.

Knowing her, she wouldn’t want to come with me to this shit and I damn sure know I could not stay away from here once we’ve mated.

Shit, I’ve struggled this whole time, being away from her.

‘That’s why you need to cut the chitchat and tell these clowns to pack up this apartment so we can get the hell back home,’ Ace protests. His pacing is working on my nerves.

“As much as I’ve enjoyed spending time with you all, it’s time for us to pack up this apartment and get out of here soon. We’ve gotta be out of here early on Wednesday if we want to make it back to SoCal by Friday evening. Remember, we aren’t telling anyone,” I remind them.

During Alpha training, each pack gets its own apartment suite on campus.

We’re driving back to our pack from the Mid West. Idabel, Oklahoma, to be exact. 

This place is perfect to hold Alpha training. Barely any cell reception, in the middle of fucking nowhere, and there’s barely anything to do. The humans here go to the local Walmart to hang out on Friday and Saturday nights after the games.

They picked the perfect location with minimal distractions.

“Not a peep to anyone. Not even our parents, since we want this to be a surprise and we don’t need other packs knowing our movements. So Jalen, that means keep ya mouth shut, bro. We all know you can’t keep a secret from ya moms and ya sis,” I say, giving him a look.

Jalen is as loyal as they come, but my best friend doesn’t know when to shut the fuck up and tells your business to his parents even if he doesn’t mean to, and it’s usually when he’s telling one of his damn jokes.

“Okay, okay. I won’t tell them. I want them to be surprised like everyone else,” he says, raising his hands in surrender.

“We should probably start loading the truck now so we don’t have to do it the day we leave”, Zach suggests. “This way, we just keep a few things on us and we can just wake up and go on Wednesday morning”.

“Where’s Tyson?” I ask my beta. 

“He’s probably getting the house they stayed in cleaned out. You know since he’s the future king, they have to coordinate more than we do. He said he’ll try to catch before we head out of here”.

” Also, Aaliyah and her pack members are leaving on Wednesday as well.” Zach informs me.

“Evander, did you talk to Mercedes?” Alonso asks. “Apparently she thinks she’s bringing her ass with us back to Moon Valley when we leave here. She requested a 3-month pass with Aaron so she could get clearance to our pack.”

Mercedes is an alpha female that I befriended when we got here. She reminded me of my mate. Let’s be clear when I say I befriended her. We only talked. That’s it. NEVER would I betray my ladybug.

“What did you tell her when she asks?”

“I told her I would check with you because that was the first that I heard of her supposedly coming with us”.

“She mentioned wanting to come for a visit, but that’s it. If she wants to visit, that’s fine, but not for 3 damn months. She’s got her own damn pack and I’m sure her family wants to see her”.

“She’s already left”, Aaron informs me. “She left today after her last class. Since she won’t be an alpha of her pack, she decided the closing ceremonies weren’t worth staying for”.

Jalen raises his eyebrows and looks in my direction. “If you ask me, that girl is a problem, and she wants to be your problem, Ev. Besides, do you really think it’s a good idea to bring some female back with us from training, especially if she’s not your mate? That’s gonna give the girls the wrong impression. Especially your mate.”

He has a point, but he also doesn’t know who my mate is. My men know that I’ve found her, but I won’t say who she is. If one of them knew, he would freak out.

“First off, Mercedes is only a friend. Nothing more. I let her ass know that’s all she was to me. So if she’s got some wild idea that she and I are together, she’s gonna get her feelings hurt. I don’t need anyone thinking she and I are together”.

“Well, you might need to tell her again,” Zach says. “I don’t think she got the memo”.

“Speaking of girls”, Alonso says with a smile. “Have you seen the girls lately? They seem to have forgotten about us. Some of them, I won’t see which ones because I don’t need you fools biting off my head, have grown up this past year. Looking real nice”. 

“What are you talking about?” asks Zach suspiciously.

He pulls out his phone to go to his text messages and pulls up his Wolfgram account. During training, outside communication is limited and social media is prohibited. Since it’s the last week of training, they lifted the ban today. I don’t care for social media since I hate people in my business more than they already are since I’m an Alpha, so I didn’t bother to check. 

“Show him,” says Aaron with a big ass grin on his face. I know whatever they’re about to show me is about to be some mess.

“Here are some pictures that Nilah sent me of the girls”. Nilah is Alonso’s girlfriend and I’m guessing is his mate too. She doesn’t know yet since she isn’t 18.

Alonso shows us the pictures and a chorus of “What the fuck”, “Whoa” and “OMG I’m gonna kill her” rings throughout the room. A few growls fill the space as well.

I’m stunned. My eyes damn near pop out of their eye sockets. In the pictures, you see our friends and sisters in different outfits. 

One picture is of them wearing these tight-ass bodycon dresses at some wolf party. Where they went to, I don’t know, but I bet their asses won’t be going there again. Another picture is of them at the pack house pool. I don’t know what my sister Imani was wearing, but she’s about the get an ear full from me over it. 

However, I’m not sure how I want to react to seeing my mate. 

Goddess have mercy! 

Baby is looking good with her full hips and that ass has grown a bit since I last saw her. I don’t know if I should be upset over the fact that she’s at the pack house with other wolves in that bikini or to be turned on.

Oh, I’m definitely turned on. That little vixen is gonna drive me insane.

‘Send me those pictures’ I link to Alonso.

“I’m gonna kill Jayda for wearing that dress to that party,” Jalen growls.

“I’m right there with you, bro. Zuri’s bikini barely covers anything,” Zach growls. I don’t miss the quick grin that comes across Jalen’s face when Zach mentions his sister. 

“Wait a minute though, who are those guys that Jayda and Zuri are hugged up on,” Jalen says through clenched teeth.

I was so wrapped up in staring at my mate and trying to control myself so I didn’t have a hard-on in front of the boys that I didn’t see that she was hugged up with Nathan, some wolf from the Sweetwater pack.

“Oh yeah, we definitely need to pack this fucking apartment so we can get back”, Jaylen urges while pacing back and forth like he’s about to burn a hole through the damn carpet. I suspect the reason he wants to leave has nothing to do with his sister, Jayda.

I’m fuming, and my grip on the phone tightens with every second. Alonso has to take the phone away from me before I crush it. What is my mate doing hugging up with another wolf?!

“Okay, men, let’s wrap this shit up. Start packing and moving shit into the trucks. We’ll attend tomorrow’s ceremonies, last run, and lunch, then we’ll leave tomorrow night. We’ve been gone long enough”.

I don’t know what my mate is thinking, but this shit ain’t gonna fly with me. 

It’s time to get home and let her know what’s up and show her I’m the only man she needs to be in the arms of.