Chapter 4 - Mate

It takes twelve hours to drive from the human-populated city back to our pack. 

This is the only land travel I loathe the most. The route was not bad but we had to take a parallel road to the perimeter line of the River Bed Pack. 

Though Silver Mountain and River Bed are not considered enemy packs, we are not allies either. We share a two-hundred-mile boundary line with them, requiring nearly a third of our warriors to take several shifts on border patrol to avoid rogue or non-pack incursion. 

I guess they do the same from their side of the perimeter line. Most of our border patrols engage in glowering and growling contests with theirs at any given time, or so I’ve heard from my father’s Delta and Gamma. 

I was wasted last night and swiftly drifted into a deep sleep the moment Arci stepped foot on the accelerator. 

I don’t know how long I slept but I was startled awake when Six started getting restless. “How far have we reached, Arci?” I ask while rubbing my eyes trying to adjust to the sunlight. 

“We are still halfway, do you want to freshen up? There is a gas station and a diner ten miles down the road” Arci responded through the rearview mirror as he pointed to the road sign on our left with the symbol of cutleries and a pumping station. 

“That’s not necessary, Arci, where exactly are we? Six is getting fidgety, he is howling in my head and it’s giving me a headache” I blurted as I glanced outside the window, rubbing my temple with index and middle fingers in a circular motion. 

“The whole stretch on our right belongs to the Riverbed Pack. Oh, I forgot, we cannot stop anytime soon. This is not a friendly territory. You can freshen up after we pass the pack territory” Arci murmurs as he increases the car speed. 

After about five minutes, my wolf started acting nuts again, but this time, his level of crazy intensified. He wants to take over. He growls loudly, terrifying Arci, who nearly loses control of the vehicle. The car made a hundred-eighty-degree turn burning the tires, screeching as we nearly collided with another vehicle from the opposite direction. Both the cars halted a few inches from smashing the bumpers. 

My left hand grabbed the front passenger’s backseat tightly and my right hand was pressed against the glass window. The seatbelt did a great job of keeping me in place but the sudden circular motion churned my stomach and gave my head a hammering pain. The barf got stuck in my throat but I swallowed it back in. I can’t mess up the car’s expensive leather scent. I know it’s gross but I am just being logical and considerate. 

Arci promptly removed his seatbelt, exited the car, and opened the backdoor next to my seat. “What the hell was that all about, Seb? Talk to me!” He scolded. He is not being disrespectful, Arci is like a family to the Alpha family and the only one aside from the ranked members who can call me and my brother Aleck by first name.

We are now facing the direction where we came from, the human world. I stepped out of the car and steadied myself before emptying my stomach in the middle of the road. Arci handed me a bottle of water to wash my mouth, and I took it immediately. 

He put his hand on my shoulder, instructing me to stay inside the car. He assured me that he would settle with the other vehicle if there were damages. I understand the danger of dealing with strangers in unfamiliar territory, especially from a hostile pack. But I did not listen to my driver slash bodyguard. I want to find out why my wolf is suddenly acting strange. Could it be the passenger of the jeep?

“What the hell, Six? You almost killed us!” I chastised my wolf.

“I sensed our mate” He screamed. “They are near!”

“Are you sure? We are in the middle of nowhere, Six” I sighed. “We can’t just stroll around and sniff everyone to find our mate. The area is almost barren!” I added. 

Although there are establishments to cater to travelers every half mile or so, like repair shops, restaurants, pumping stations, and some shabby hotels owned by humans, we can’t be sure if they are just fronts for some rogues spying on werewolves and other supernatural creatures in the area. 

The other vehicle’s driver waved at us before sliding his head out of the window, “Everything alright in there?” he probed. 

Arci took the water bottle back, stuffed it in the backseat, and started walking to meet the driver of another vehicle when we sighted a group of warriors, werewolves in their human form jogging along the perimeter line of Riverbed Pack from our left. They must be the border patrol.

I stiffened when my eyes locked with the most chiseled man in front of the group. He was bare-chested as with the rest of the guys. 

It’s strange, they are at least a hundred meters away, but I can see him as if he was in front of me. Everything and everyone else was blurry. They all wear cerulean sweatpants, seemingly a pack uniform unless they are awfully close to each other to wear identical clothing. 

Six started chanting in my head. 

“Mate”

“Mate” 

“Mate”

“Mate”