The Last Alpha King - Mists of Time

Some steps need to be taken alone.

It’s the only way to figure out where you really need to be.

-Mandy Hale

Prologue

There are often times when I wonder how I got to be where I am in my life right now. At the age of twenty-eight, I’m the oldest unmated she-wolf in my pack by at least 5 years.

It’s not through lack of trying. For over a decade my parents shipped me off to every ball, picnic and diplomatic meeting that, not just the US, no, the world had to offer. All in the hopes that I would find my mate. I think I can safely boast that there is not one pack that I have not either visited or attended some form of function with. Either my mate died young, and I never got the chance to meet him, or he has not yet come of age. If it is the latter, I might as well shoot myself now because I’m pretty sure that would make me the definition if the word cougar.

No, I’m pretty sure my mate is just not out there. Which makes me the main focus of everyone’s sympathy in our pack. I hate it. Even widows and orphaned children don’t receive the sad looks, and “are you OK dears" that I receive on a daily basis.

There are times when I wonder how my life would have been different if I had of met my mate. I watch my brother, now an Alpha ruling over the pack, his Luna by his side and he is happy. The love that shines on his face for his wife and children is the most wonderful thing. My heart aches to feel just a fraction of the happiness he possesses.

On the other hand, I am not bound to anyone or anything. I am free to come and go as I please. I feel blessed to have experienced the world and see things that no one else in our pack would dare to dream about seeing. I have met some amazing wolves along the way, wolves that have become lifelong friends.

So yes, I have a lot to feel sad about, but I have so much more to feel joyous about.

No, I will not meet my mate, but maybe I can still have a chance at feeling love?

It was on my twenty-eighth Birthday that I decided that I had spent too much time waiting for my mate to appear. I was going to take life into my own hands.

I know my parents are going to be so upset when I tell them, but I have to do this for me, before I’m too old that no one will want me.

Two summers ago, my parents sent me to a pack in the south of England. The Eclipse Pack. The English packs are much smaller that here in the US, but it was during my stay with them that I met my best friend. Steph Black. We clicked straight away. She was bubbly and bright. Like me she was the oldest daughter to the Alpha and we had so much fun together. She had been widowed several years after finding her mate. She had no children. Just a zest for life that was contagious.

Many wolves who lose their mates, young or old, end up giving up on life. Some even die of a broken heart, half of your soul dies along with your mate, and that must be one of the most difficult things any wolf will have to overcome. Steph never let it get the better of her, her mate told her that if anything ever happened to him, that he wanted her to keep on living. That is exactly what she did.

I think that is why I clicked so well with Steph, she was the complete opposite to everyone in my pack. She wasn’t happy to dwell on the past or missed opportunities.

The one thing that did not happen whilst I was with the Eclipse pack, I did not get one single sympathetic look or pat on the shoulder. I was just accepted for who and what I was. Treated like any other member of the pack. I didn’t want to leave.

Steph’s parents offered me a place in their pack if I ever wanted to come back to them. Richard and Joanne Black were the most down to earth Alpha and Luna I had the pleasure to meet. There whole ethos seemed to differ from the rest of the werewolf community.

To start with, they didn’t get hung up on titles. Everyone in the pack knew who they were, and they gave them the respect they deserved because of how amazing they were at leading, not because they demanded it of their pack. They had easy going nature, their home was everyone’s home. It was the hub of the community, wolves coming and going. Food was always waiting for the next hungry wolf to walk through the door. It was like one big family.

Some may deem this as a weakness, an easy target ready for the taking. Richard knew how to defend his land. His warriors were ready to charge into battle at a moment’s notice. Every wolf from the age of twelve was trained to defend themselves. Those that showed an altitude for fighting would go up in the ranks and become a warrior.

My favourite part about the Eclipse Pack was their location. They were nestled right in the middle of the New Forest. Not only were there vast area or woodland, but also rugged heathland that is covered in wild gorse and pines.

The pack settlement was built within the confines as a what would have been a massive castle once upon a time. The castle itself is long gone and was now just a pile of stones that had a tendency to slip down every so often, but outer walls, moat and drawbridge are still very much intact.

I have never felt a connection to one place like I did to the Eclipse pack.

So, as I blew out my Birthday candles on the cake my beautiful niece made for me, I made a promise to myself. That I was going to move away from home, and I was going to forge my own path.

That is what lead me here, to the Alphas office, waiting for my brother to answer the door. I know he would not be happy. I also knew that he would not stop me. His main concern is my happiness.

I truly believe that the Eclipse pack is where I’m meant to be.