I have just gotten out of the shower after being in the packs training room with my father for the last four hours since I haven't been sleeping well for months. It is currently my only outlet for my irritability. I have been waking up restless at around 2 in the morning for several weeks now. If I can not find something to occupy myself with, I end up pacing. If my father isn't training with me, I will go on patrol or train with the pack warriors. Though, for the past year and a half, he has been training me on the workings of the pack for when I take over as alpha. He has also been showing me how he runs the company that has been in our family since our pack was formed.
Walking into my closet, I rummage through my clothes and pull out a pair of jeans and a tank top. After putting them on, without a bra or underwear like most shifters, I flop onto my bed and begin putting my boots on.
Ezra, my wolf counterpart, has been pacing and practically clawing my insides wanting out. She and I both have been feeling as though we are slowly being torn apart by the agony and heartbreak. At 16 years old, we as wolves are given the ability to find our mates. Ezra and I have not been lucky in finding ours.
For my 16th birthday, my mother organized a big celebration with the entire pack, all 200-250 members. She was so hopeful about my mate being in our pack. Though only about a third of our pack is unmated, and of that third, about half are female. I certainly did not have high hopes that my mate was here. especially since I had already fooled around with most of the unmated females, at least the ones that were interested.
I take a slow, deep breath as I close my eyes. "I know it hurts, Ezra. I'm so sorry." I tell her as I fight back the angry tears that try to surface in my eyes, clenching my jaw.
I take a couple of deep breaths as I hear someone coming down the hallway. As I listen, I recognize the jittery and agitated foot falls. It's my chosen beta, Colt.
"Colt, I swear to everything that is holy on this earth, if you do not stop your moping around like a lost puppy," I sigh, rubbing the bridge of my nose. "I'm going to choose another beta." I glare at him.
Wide-eyed, mouth opening and closing like a fish, he stands in the doorway of my room.
"Jesus, spit it out already." I growl at him while I aggressively lace up my black steel toed combat boots.
"I-I'm sorry, Ky," he hangs his head as he shoves his fists into his front pockets. "I just want to find my mate. I constantly feel confined and almost like I'm suffocating. I know you feel it too, it's just so fucking hard. I've been searching for the last four years, you the last three." He looks up at me with sorrow in his eyes.
Sighing, I nod my head. "I know, I wish we both could find our mates. It's agonizing to know she's out there, but I can't find her." Walking up to him, I pat his shoulder in comfort. "I'll see if we can go for a ride, clear our heads. Are you up for that, future beta?" I smirk at him, already knowing his answer.
Smiling ear to ear, he responds, "You better believe it, future alpha." He says in a mocking tone.
Laughing and lightly shoving each other, we rush down the stairs. We stumble into the kitchen of the pack house and find my mother at the table with a cup of tea.
"Hello, Luna." Colt bows his head slightly, out of respect.
Grinning, my mother says, "You two better get moving before both your fathers find something to dump on you." Then she winks at us.
Knowing my mother, she could hear Colt and I talking upstairs. I swear, she could hear for 50 miles sometimes.
"Thank you, Mama! You are the best!" I say, kissing her cheek before dashing through the house towards the garage with Colt hot on my heels.
Pushing open the door to the garage, I grab the keys to my neon green baby on two wheels. I custom built her when I was 16. Over the last 3 years, I have made adjustments and tinkered with her to add more speed and better handling. I have probably spent way more money on her than necessary, but I needed something to distract me from my agony.
I grab my brown leather bomber jacket and sling it over my white tank top. Taking my phone and wallet out of the front pockets of my dark blue jeans, I zip them up in the inside pocket of my jacket before zipping it up halfway, wanting to feel the cool wind as we ride.
Sliding on my black custom helmet that I air brushed our pack crest onto, I turned the ignition. Our crest is of a white wolf head emerging from a dark forest that has a blue hue with a full moon in the background. Our pack is the knyte howler pack.
As she purrs to life, I grin and look over at Colt as he straps his helmet on. I nod to him, signaling I am ready when he is. He pushes the button to open the garage door before hopping on his custom midnight blue bike.
It is barely after sunrise as we slowly make our way out of the mile long driveway and through the gate, hoping our dads do not hear our bikes. I push the button on the remote I have attached on my handle bars to close the garage door.
Before getting too far, I mink linked my mother. "You sure it's alright for us to leave?"
"Don't worry so much, sweetheart, I can handle your father. I've been doing it for years. Besides, you two have been driving everyone a bit insane." I feel her laughter.
Chuckling to myself, I reply. "As long as you're alright with that, I'll talk to you later. I love you, Mama."
"Please do. I love you too. Go have fun and be safe." She then closes the link.
"How far you think we can get before night falls?" I mind link Colt.
"Not a clue, but I know this baby of mine is no match for that beast you're on." I can feel his laughter through our link.
Closing the link as we cross over the pack territory line, I rev my bike a few times, loving the adrenaline rush it creates, before letting it loose and bolting past Colt.
I decided to head north. I'm not really sure why, but my instincts are urging me to. Dad is always telling us during training to trust our instincts. Hopefully, mine aren't misleading Colt and I. The last thing we need is to end up in a scuffle. Especially if it involves humans. At least with other shifters, it's handled by the high ranked members, regardless of the type of shifter.
Humans don't know about our world. Well, at least the ones that aren't mated to a shifter anyway. Though it's not very often our mates are human. Shifters usually try to avoid humans as much as possible, not just because of the threat of exposure but also due to their scent. It is off-putting to most of us.
I suddenly slow down and gradually pull off to the side of the road. I flick out the kick stand as I put my bike in neutral and sit back slightly in my seat.
Colt slowly pulls up, and links me. "What's up, Ky? something wrong?" I can feel his concern.
I turn my head towards him and pull off my helmet. Seeing this, he does the same. "Do you think our mates are human and that's why we haven't met them yet?" I question as I stare into his dark eyes.