The Alpha's Blessing [On Hold]

2

KAI

I stared blankly ahead of me out of the window, watching nothing and everything all at once as people trained in the yard spread below me. It was the new group of warrior recruits, but from what I could tell so far, only a few of them would actually make it to become full fledged warriors of my pack.

A knock at the door pulled me out of my thoughts, and I replied gruffly, "Come in."

My Beta and closest friend, Asher, stepped into the room, a tux in his arms, "Thought I'd bring this up to you, you know, since we leave for the ball in about twenty minutes."

I raised a brow at him, "Are you heckling me, Asher?"

He folded his arms across his chest, "Kai, you've put off this damn ball for seven years now. I think it's about time you show up for once. I'm tired of talking to that Alpha Bennet all alone. He's nice and all, but I can tell he doesn't really want to be talking to a Beta. Plus, he's old and has boring stories that he tells every year."

"Alright, I'll just shower quickly and we can go," I answered, and he nodded, a smile on his face. That man acted more like a child, I swear. He's my Beta, and there's no one I trust more than him, but sometimes his antics can be a bit immature. Like today, for instance.

Stepping into my shower, I quickly washed myself and put on the uncomfortable tux, pulling at the tie to give me as much comfort as possible, which wasn't much. Taking just a bit of gel, I pushed my hair back and decided to leave the bit of stubble on my jawline in place. Making my way downstairs, I found Asher waiting with his mate, Lyla. She was wearing a floor-length black dress, and Asher was wearing the same penguin suit as I was.

We got into the car, the happy couple sitting in the front as Asher drove, with me sitting in the back. The ball was a pack or two over, so I pulled out of phone to work on, which was much harder than it would've been to do at home on my laptop.

As we neared the ball, my wolf grew more and more restless inside of me, making it harder and harder for me to concentrate.

Calm down, I growled to my wolf, but he just snarled back in response as he continued to pace around inside my head. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I looked up when Asher spoke, "Are you okay?"

"Fine," I responded curtly.

He nodded and looked back at the road in front of him. I looked as he held hands with Lyla, both of them mindlessly happy as we drove in silence, save for the music the radio provided. They were happy and in love, two halves creating the perfect whole. As we drove, I looked bitterly at the moon that was just beginning to rise.

Fuck the Moon Goddess and her damn curse.

Many people talked about it, but few ever had the courage to dare ask me about it. Still, I felt that it was true. It's been eight years since I've been of age to find my mate, and nothing. A younger version of myself would've held out hope to find her one day, because maybe she was far away. Today's version of myself would've laughed at that naïvety. It was clear that the Moon Goddess wasn't happy for me, and so she punished me by taking away the only thing that could make me complete— my mate.

Not only does a mate complete you, but they make you stronger, and are especially important for an Alpha. An Alpha's mate is the Luna, the motherly figure for the rest of the pack. Without her, the pack is more susceptible to some threats than packs with a Luna at their Alpha's side. I'm already the strongest Alpha with the biggest and strongest pack, but with a Luna by my side, I would've been unstoppable. Maybe that's why I wasn't given a mate, I would've been too strong. Though I knew that wasn't the case, I tried believing it, to ease my wolf at least a little bit.

Once we arrived to the ball, my wolf was now going haywire. Pushing him down into a mental corner, I stepped out of the car, and walked up the stairs of the pack house in front of me, my shoulders back as I walked in, tall and proud, my face as expressionless as ever. 

The smiles on the Alphas and Betas of the pack slipped off at the site of me.

I stepped forward to Alpha Anderson, offering my hand. Hesitantly, he took it, and I shook it, sure to grip his hand tightly, "Alpha Anderson."

"Alpha Alistair," he greeted formally in return, "Welcome to our pack, we're glad you could have made it. Enjoy the ball."

I nodded and blatantly walked past the Luna and the Betas, not at all concerned with them at this point. I could still feel my wolf going nuts in my mind, and I stepped through the doors of the ballroom, to find all conversation hushed to whispers. I could feel the fear rolling off of many people in the room as the took in the sight of me, realizing who I was. I wanted to roll my eyes at their hushed words; we were all wolves here, even if they whispered, I could still hear what they were saying. While most of them dealt with the fact that they couldn't believe I was here, one melodic voice stood out from the rest, catching my attention. 

"Beautiful."

Snapping my head in the direction of the whisper, my senses went into overdrive as I searched for the source of that voice. My wolf was going absolutely nuts right now, and a sweet smell of honey and strawberries enticed my nose. Finally, my eyes settled on a young woman with golden brown hair and eyes to match, her skin a delicious bronze. She wore a white dress, standing out of the crowd. As I met her chocolatey eyes, my wolf pushed forward and growled out the word that escaped from my own lips, "Mate."

Her lips parted in shock and the entire ballroom went silent, as even the orchestra stopped playing the waltz they were in the middle of. Strolling up to her, I never once took my eyes off of her, and she stayed put, waiting for me to reach her.

She looked calm, surprisingly, and not at all afraid as many others would in my presence. I wondered if that was the mate bond at work, or if she was just that strong of a woman.

"Hi," she greeted me, a little breathless once I had reached her and I smiled a little at the sound of her voice. So it had been her to call me beautiful earlier. As much as my wolf hated being called beautiful-- we were strong, hard, and tough, not beautiful-- he was okay with her calling us that, because as I looked upon her, all I saw was perfection. 

"Hi," I greeted her back. "Would you like to dance with me?"

She smiled, looking down before looking back up at me, "There's no music."

Looking up at the orchestra, they immediately started to play the waltz again under my sharp stare, and I turned and held out my hand to her. She took it, and I felt the sparks ignite in my body at the contact. As we danced, and I twirled her around, I was able to tell how graceful she was and how much poise she held herself with. She was afraid of nothing, just like me, though she could capture the adoration of anyone's heart, whereas I could only capture the fear of peoples' minds.

The song ended, and we stood still, just staring at each other for a little bit, before a voice spoke up, annoying my wolf to no end as he spoke my mate's name, "Aurelia."