Alpha Zac Novel – “Settle down and line up!” the guard yells, snapping me back to reality. I glance around the lobby of my soon-to-be third and former home when I see a gray bus pulling up. The other “graduates,” as they like to call us, and I are heading to the Clear Creek pack to begin our new lives.
Tri-River Transition Center, or TRTC, is where pups with no living or willing relatives are sent until they found a career in one of the Tri-River packs. Pack life is common among us werewolves. Werewolves, or shifters as we call ourselves, aren’t just things of stories and make-believe; we are real.
Living normally, well for the most part, in the safety of our pack towns spaced away from human civilizations. TRTC, our version of a group home, is on a patch of neutral territory at the center of three packs within the Tri-River alliance, Clear Creek, Cedar Falls, and Red Rapids. A puff of warm stale breath wisps past my ear before the voice that makes my skin crawl speaks.
“Gonna miss you around here, Isla. You could always come stay with me,” Kyson says in a breathy whisper. Yuck. “Yeah, that will be a hard pass.” I spit out, not bothering to hide my disgust. Kyson was 27, unmated, and a predator to the girls here. I don’t know who let this fool be a guard. Mates are who the Moon Goddess bonds us to. They are your other half, your soulmate.
The wolf side is drawn to them, and the human side feels the instant attraction when the bond snaps into place. Mate bonds become noticeable once you turn 19. You can either accept your mate or reject them. I don’t know why anyone would reject a built-in best friend that will love you deeply and stand by your side.
I used to dream of meeting my mate…but that was before my mom died. The Moon Goddess hasn’t exactly been fair to me these last few years, so I don’t see any use in holding on to that dream. Fate isn’t on my side, so chances are, I won’t be lucky enough to find my mate. You can choose to mark anyone and forgo the fated mate bond, but those bonds are never as strong.
Your shifter healing slows, and the bond can be undone by another mark or rejected after the fact. I turn 19 next week, and Kyson has spent the entire last month trying to convince me to let him mark me.