I Am Not Afraid
Alpha Zane’s POV
Strange, but I can feel my body tense and my heart is beating unusually fast. I look around, I’m alone in my office, there’s nothing that could be the reason for that.
For the past few hours, I’ve been working frantically to catch up with the papers on my desk and tackle some urgent matters in the pack. The past week I’ve hardly been around, Mercedes had it going again and wouldn’t let me leave.
Her eighteenth birthday cannot come soon enough. Then I can have her here in the pack with me and be around me all the time. My mate is very affectionate. When she looks up, it’s me she likes to see first, always wants to see me close. At first, I thought it was insecurity, but eventually I found out that I too could hardly breathe if I didn’t see her for only some hours. It’s just a two-way stream.
It started several months after I discovered her as my fated mate. She had spent the school holidays in my pack but refused to leave if I didn’t come along to her parents’ house. So I ended up in Silver Moon with my little Luna, took her to school every day, and explained to her every night that I should go back and make it to her next school vacation if she had good grades.Material © NôvelDrama.Org.
And I did that for a few years, keeping her sweet with presents and later jewelry.
My mate loves the bling-blings, luckily I can afford to give them to her. Her collection is worth a whole pack now. Mercedes and I have grown so close, we are almost one. And now a strange feeling comes over me, for no reason. Could there be something wrong with my mate? I look at the clock and notice it’s time for her to call me. She is never too late, rather too early. I grab my phone, but it rings before I look up her number. Her name appears on screen and the strange feeling disappears for comfortable warmth.
“My love”, I greet her softly. “Are you all right? I just got a bad feeling about you, like you were stressed or something.” She laughs, her delicate voice echoing through the phone. The more I hear it, the more it thrills me.
“No, you crazy. I’m good. Clarita has gone clubbing with the Alpha, Beta and Gamma. After a short sightseeing trip, I asked to be back to the packhouse,” she states. She sounds happy as ever, yet something in her voice awakens my wolf. Jax knows his mate like no other and responds to all the minor inconveniences she faces.
“That’s okay, babe. I’d die of longing if I missed your call tonight,” I reply. “Have you progressed with your mission? Have you met Saphira?” I hear her hesitate.
“No, the Alpha suggested we postpone that to tomorrow. They are probably dead tired from the heavy training. He promised to bring them to us in the morning,” she responds.
And there it is. The Alpha!
At the mention of the man, there was a crack in her voice. Is there another Alpha behind my mate? Mercedes is so beautiful, I can imagine she gets a lot of attention and admiration. But shouldn’t the males know by her scent that she belongs to me? My scent is all over her, there’s not much left of hers.
‘Hurry up, man! We have to measure up,’ I hear Jax angrily in my head. ‘I’m ripping that Alpha into pieces.’ I ignore him, Mercedes is perfectly capable of defending herself. Jax is always this overprotective.
“Okay, that’s good. And now you go to sleep and rest, my love. You’ve been on the road all day,” I say. “Don’t forget to call me tomorrow after talking to Saphira.” She greets me sleepily and we end the conversation.
I turn to my laptop and start searching online about Shadow Moon and the Alpha. And then I see a pic of the man, he has the same blond hair and blue orbs as me, but is less muscular. I know that Mercedes loves my deep blue eyes, she often claims that they attract her grays like a magnet. Is that also the case with Shadow Moon’s Alpha?
The blood is running to my head, the Alpha bears many similarities to me. ‘Stop that nonsense, human!’ Jax growls, annoyed. ‘Mate is ours. No one gets a chance to steal her from us. Focus, man! Get there quickly so we can be with her again, she misses us,’ he adds impatiently.
Looking further, I notice that my pack has signed a Peace Alliance with Shadow Moon. So, no war is possible, all disputes are solved amicably and if we cannot agree, we will submit the conflict to an independent third party. Hmmm, fair enough, but when it comes to mates, the Were-laws and Council rulings overpower the Alliance conditions. I’ve already reported that Mercedes is my mate.
Whatever it may be, I’m in a hurry to leave here. If it’s a false alarm, I can always hold a day of vacation with Mercedes in the pack. Shadow Moon has the most modern Spa and Beauty salons. Mercedes will enjoy getting a full-out treatment again.
“Hey Zane, what’s up? Are you done with your work? I just did the border patrol inspection. The new equipment works great”. Jace takes me out of my musings. Since the incident with his mate, he has trying to keep his spirits up, to find as much distraction in his work as possible.
But the desperation in his eyes is evident. I feel so sorry for my Beta, he’s really a good fellow. I can imagine his pain, in his place, I wouldn’t know what to do if I lost Mercedes or did not know where she was. Probably go crazy. That immediately gave me an idea.
“We are leaving for Shadow Moon in the morning to be there in the evening. Mercedes is in that pack and I want to surprise her,” I announce. Jace looks up, I’m sure Mercedes didn’t tell him about this trip. She is used to telling Jace about every travel she takes outside of her pack. As Beta, he is responsible for her immediate well-being and safety.
“In Shadow Moon? Why am I only hearing that now?” he asks, agitated. “And why don’t we leave right away? I don’t want to take any chances, Zane,” he insists.
“Relax, Beta. I just spoke to her. Everything is fine, she’s in bed now. Let me finish some urgent business here so I can stay with her another day. Shadow Moon has great Wellness Centers and you know how crazy my mate loves those treats”, I point to him with a chuckle.
We both burst out laughing. Yes, we all know my little Luna’s expensive taste….