A Mate for Christmas

Father & Son

It was past 10 p.m., and Treyton and Maeve decided to end their night together. Treyton walked her to her car, and he wanted to kiss her. However, they barely met, and he hoped he would receive a kiss from her after the next couple of dates. "What days are you available?"

"I actually asked for the week off, to heal from my breakup. So I'm available all of this week, but when I go back to work, the weekends are the days that I am available. How about you?"

Treyton couldn't believe his luck; he had a week to hang out with Maeve. Yet, he didn't want to seem too desperate and didn't want to scare her off. "Well, I am here for business and leisure since my main residence is in Big Bear. Tomorrow, I'm going to be busy. How about Wednesday?"

"That sounds nice, actually. Would you like to go to another coffee place?"

The Alpha was thoughtful; he didn't want to go to another coffee place. Christmas was coming up, and he wanted to do something Christmas-related. "No, let's do something different. We're in the holidays are here so we can do something to be in spirit."

Maeve smiled. "That sounds good. You know, I just used an app called Friends & More. I noticed that there are events for the holidays. Maybe I can look up some events that are coming that day and we decide which one to go to." 

"Sounds perfect. I enjoyed my time with you. You can text me what you find and we can make the final decision for Wednesday."

The two bid their goodbyes, and Treyton slowly walked back to his car but watched as Maeve drove off in the busy night. He was thrilled that Maeve accepted his invitation to another date. His excitement was interrupted when he felt his phone vibrate. When he looked at his phone, his son sent him a text.

"Hey, Pops. Waiting for you to get home to tell me about your date."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that," Treyton told himself. He texted his son: "I'm on my way." He knew he would have to tell Aidoneus about her age and was worried his son wouldn't be open to it. Either way, it was Treyton's life and his decision whether or not to try to go through courting Maeve. The Alpha eventually reached his car and returned to his temporary home. The traffic wasn't as bad when he tried to arrive in Long Beach. He decided to open the window to let the cold air hit his face. Treyton needed to think about what to tell his son and hoped the conversation would go well. He drove back to Palos Verdes and to his home, where his son was also staying. He drove a road with almost an endless pass of green bushes, trees, and small cliffs. 

The Alpha lived close to the ocean, where he could get a beautiful view of nature. He was used to the mountains but enjoyed the change of scenery occasionally. He eventually drove away from the city to a road with rows of spaced houses on top of a small green hill. Treyton turned to a left lane, leading him uphill into a small neighborhood of nice houses. He eventually stopped at the last house, which was far more extensive than the rest. The house had a modern look, and its exterior was white, with a rectangular pond on the right side of the front yard and a small fountain in the center. Small rose bushes and nicely trimmed green grass were on both sides of the house. There was a driveway that could fit four cars outside and a garage connected to the house's left side. 

Treyton parked his dark blue 2023 Toyota Hybrid outside the driveway. He exited the car and walked to the front door, where he could see the lights on the other side; his son was inside. "Here we go." The door was unlocked, and the lamps were turned on, creating a dimly lit house. A pair of stairs led to the upper level, with three rooms, but everything was quiet.

Too quiet.

That was when Treyton knew that Aidoneus would try to sneak on him. He always did it as a child, but the older man played along. He walked into the living room, dropped his keys down the coffee table, and slowly walked toward the kitchen, trying hard not to look anywhere. When he got to the kitchen and was about to get a glass of water, he felt a faint aura from his left side, which came from the garage. Treyton chuckled as he shook his head. Then, he turned to his right just before the door that led to the backyard opened, and a light brown wolf ran inside and was about to jump on the older man. However, the Alpha grabbed the wolf with his right arm and used his left arm and hand to grab its head. "Nice try, son. You still couldn't hide your aura fully."

The wolf let out an annoyed groan and decided not to fight. Aidoneus was in his werewolf form; his wolf was five feet tall. He walked toward a room nearby, and a bright light shone briefly. It disappeared, and quiet shuffling was heard. Then, Aidoneus came out in a regular black t-shirt that clung to his muscular body and nicely ironed dark jeans; he was barefoot. The young man was the spitting image of his father from the hair to the body. However, his eyes were light brown and shined, and he was clean-shaven; he would have been mistaken for being a model. "I guess I couldn't get you this time, Pops. I ensured I put some of my scent in the garage."

"Well, there is always next time." Father and son went and hugged one another. "I missed you, son. How was Romania?"

"It was nice and historic. Although I miss the diverse food here." The young man looked at his father and knew the other question he was about to ask. "Mom is also doing good. She also asked about you."

Treyton nodded; his son knew him well. He would have hesitated to ask how his ex-wife was doing, but it didn't bother him now that he had found Maeve. "Well, I'm glad she and her mate are doing well." The Alpha noticed a smile creeping on Aidoneus's lips.

"So, how did your little date go?"

"It went well."

"So when were you going to tell me that you finally found your mate? Trinidad told me."

"I thought she would," Treyton said while rolling his eyes. There's something else you need to know. Sit." He motioned his son to sit on one of the light brown sofas. Father and son sat side by side in front of the unlit fireplace. Son, you remember when your mother and I told you about finding your mate?"

Aidoneus nodded. "Sure do. You guys said a strong scent would hit you, and a strong pull would be felt. It's so strong that you never want to leave." The young man chuckled. "I found it funny that you guys described it even though you two were mates. I remember that you guys had to call Garret and Trinidad to help you guys out."

"Funny." The Alpha chuckled but continued. "Anyway, you are right. I found my mate today and asked her out. It was nice, and it was everything I described." There was hesitation, but he couldn't hide the truth from his son; Treyton took a deep breath. "The thing is, I found out that my mate is...a bit younger than me.'

It was quiet, and Aidoneus's expression changed; he became serious. "How young?"

"She's thirty-two."

The ticking clock that was above the fireplace and Aidoneus broke the silence. "She is young. Does she know about your age?"

"She does and was surprised initially but after our coffee date, we decided to keep seeing each other."

"Does she know about me?"

"Maeve knows. I decided to be upfront."

The young man raised an eyebrow. "Her name is Maeve, eh? What is she, a human or werewolf?"

"Human."

"Well, you might have a bit of a hard time to tell her what you truly are. I also appreciate that you told me about her age. I know we don't usually have a say who our mate is, but the Moon Goddess usually does things for a reason. As long as your...mate...is not near my age then it wouldn't be an issue. I just want to be sure that she's not a....you know...."

A pang of relief hit Treyton; his son was understanding. "She's not a gold digger. Maeve is a special education teacher and I felt that her aura was warm. You know that we werewolves can sense when people lie."

Aidoneus nodded. "Alright, as long as she treats you with respect then I'm okay with it. Are you going to inform mom about this?"

Treyton almost forgot about his ex-wife. When she found her mate, she never kept it a secret or cheated on him. His ex made him understand the pull she felt when she found her mate. It would only be fair; he didn't want to seem bitter. "I will eventually tell her, but once I tell Maeve about my identity, I will inform your mother."

"Good." Aidoneus stood up and stretched. "Well, I'm going to sleep, pops. I've been up just to wait for you. You will tell me all about your little date tomorrow."

"Of course. I know you won't leave me in peace if I don't."