Not mate, mute. There's a difference

NMMTAD- 3

Troy’s P.O.V.

            The woods were silent as we ran along the borders, the moon shining bright overhead. There were no signs of the Stone pack anywhere. Whether that was a good or bad thing none of us could tell. Who knew what was going on in the minds of the other pack? Lucas ran up beside me muttering something about she-wolves. I spared him a glance as I jumped over a rock landing on limber paws on the ground on the other side while he simply ran it.

            “Show off,” He muttered keeping his sandy colored head high in the air, nose sniffing out any trace of Stone pack.

            “What’s the matter Lucas? Mad that Frank found his mate before you?” I laughed at his expression. Even in wolf form he looked jealous. The poor guy was so hung up on mates he probably wouldn’t smell a trespassing wolf from a foot away anyways. He and I alike were mate less, a trait that didn’t give us any benefit compared to our companions on the patrol. Frank, the omega, laughed as well holding his head a little too high for his rank making Lucas snap his jaws at him warningly. Frank dropped his head immediately, but still chuckled under his breath.

            “Tami is hot! It’s not fair,” He growled dodging a tree he’d nearly ran into while growling at Frank. “Frank didn’t even want a mate, and he got one that looks good and cooks just as well.”

            Lucas yelped and snapped at Frank as he bit his Lucas’s tail lightly. “You know I can hear you talking about my mate.”

            “Well really? I didn’t know that.” Lucas pounced ramming into Frank. The two rolled play fighting.

            “Who’s gonna win?” I asked Daniel. He blended in well with the night but I could still see him as he crept silently among the underbrush to stand beside me.

            “Frank. He’s smaller and weaker but faster.” Daniel was the observant, smart, and silent type, always watching and learning. Those cold eyes of the delta only showed softness when looking upon his own mate, Louise.

            “That all? Faster doesn’t always beat stronger,” I snapped at him jokingly just to prove it, but he saw it coming and stepped out of range. “Or not,” I muttered with a huff.

            Daniel laughed once in a humorless fashion, or got close to laughing as his shoulders shook and a rumbling sound came from his throat. “Not to mention Frank has the advantage of fighting on behalf of his mate.”

            A sigh escaped me thinking about the fact that I still hadn’t found my mate. Frank and Daniel had already found theirs, Daniel two years ago and Frank just recently. I was future alpha, Lucas the future beta, we needed to find our mates and soon if we wanted to be strong and worthy of our positions. Dad wanted to retire whenever I found my mate, but so far I’d had no luck. Eighteen and while most alphas didn’t take over till at least twenty my father still looked down on my with disappointment. I scoffed, my father seemed to blame me for the pack’s weakness half the time. As if I, the future alpha were responsible for the current problems of the pack. No, I didn’t take such things to heart, any weakness in the pack belonged to him and his stubborn ego.

To please him I’d been to packs all over the region, even the Stone pack, though I’d never met all their she-wolves. Dad said that when the time was right I’d meet HER, but so far the time hadn’t been right yet. She wasn’t coming to town and she wasn’t in nearby towns. At the moment it seemed I was destined to be a lone alpha. The bloodline would end with me unless I found my mate in a few years. Once I became alpha it would be hard to go around the world searching for a girl that might not even exist anymore. I whimpered at the thought, a dead mate was a male wolf’s worst fear.