Saving my abused mate

4. A talk with friends

Rage

"Hey, welcome to my Pack.  How are you?" s***h asked.  Meeting with my friends was always one of the best parts of going to the Full Moon ceremonies.  No, if only I could find my mate, it would be perfect, but at least I had my friends with me, and that was a win on itself.  Once we took over our parents, it would be much more difficult to gather together.  

"Here, ready to try again," I said, trying to sound happy and upbeat.  

"We have some fine women here, I sure hope you find your True Mate here," he said proudly.  I liked him, and I really hoped I would be lucky this time.  "And you are?" he asked my companion.

"My name is Xander.  I'm from Rage's Pack, ready to look for my mate."

"As we all are," Ax added, coming from behind us.  Another round of greetings and presentations and we finally made our way inside the Pack House.

"So you are from the same pack?" another traveler asked.  He was also new, it was the first time I had seen him, and he looked young.

"Yes, Xander here is from my Pack, most likely will be my beta when I take over," I explained, and I could feel the pride in Xander at my words.  It was something we never openly discussed, but for most people it was a given.  He was one year younger than me, but he was someone you could trust, and he had proven many times he was loyal.  My parents had trusted my sister with him, that's how much they thought of him.  

"Wow, they make them big in your pack," a teenager, s***h's cousin if I remembered correctly, said, making Xander blush, while my only response was to laugh.  I may have blushed a little bit too, but with my dark skin, it was not something they could easily notice, something I was grateful for.

"Pam!" s***h said.  "Go away," a little family fighting and then the teenager was gone.  "She is so eager to find her mate, but she is only sixteen, still  a couple more years to go before she even has a chance to look for him."

"Do you think it's possible our mates are not of age yet?" the new guy asked.

"I often think about that," I had to admit, "but it's been a long time, I'm not so sure anymore.  I have been looking for her for five years now, and most mates are the same age or only a couple of years apart."

"You have thought about this a lot," Ax pointed out.

"Yes, it's something that comes to mind a lot lately.  This group is not the same I started traveling with, most of them already found their mates.  Even my little sister found her mate and I'm still looking."

"The eternal look for that special someone.  It's part of our DNA, we can't stop looking.  There is someone for you somewhere, and you will find her," Ax said.  I knew he was on the same boat as me, he had been looking for a few years too.

"You are a strong man," a woman said, "you need a strong mate,.  She is out there somewhere, but maybe she is too busy kicking ass to be looking for her own mate."

"God, I hope not.  I want to find her sooner rather than later," I replied, I wanted my mate to be as eager as me to find each other. 

"We have a woman that it's strong and very capable," s***h said, looking at the woman who had just spoken, as if trying to tell her something.

"You mean Caro?" she asked.  "She is a badass, but she is eager to find her mate, she must have been at the Full Moon Ceremony the last time they came."

"Was she?  I'm not sure, she is what?  Nineteen or twenty years old?"

"Something like that.  But if she is Rage's mate, they will find out tomorrow night," I didn't know if I should feel honored she was wishing a bad ass warrior as my mate, or hurt she wasn't thinking of me being her mate. 

"Hey!  Why are we focusing on Rage?  I also need a mate.  Is she beautiful?" Ax asked.

"She is," s***h said, "but it's not a traditional kind of beauty.  Six years ago, she was brutally attacked.  Her parents died trying to save her.  She survived, but she was really hurt and some of the damage was not healed in time.  She still has a few scars that will never heal."

"That only adds to her character," the woman said, and I could tell there was no animosity on her words, she really looked up to that Caro woman.

"And where is she?" another of the newbies asked, looking around as if he expected her to walk in anytime. 

"Probably training," a couple of voices chorused and then laughed.  I was curious, but I didn't want to get my hopes up.  I decided not to go looking for her, if it was our destiny, then in just one more day I would find out if she was my mate or not.

I stayed out of the rest of the chat.  It was just the same as always.  People flirting, trying to find out if they were mates or not.  I guess that technically we didn't have to wait for the ceremony, we could all just shift and go looking for our mates, but there were tradition and symbolism we had to respect.  It was all part of the magic of it. 

I excused myself and went outside to get some time to myself.  Soon Xander followed.

"How are you feeling, boss?" he asked, and I could tell he was trying to cheer me up, he could feel I was feeling kind of down, even if he wasn't sure why.

"I'm fine.  Just can't wait for tomorrow.  It's been a while since you joined me, why did you stop searching?  And why now?  You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."  I had asked because I wanted something to distract me, but then I realized it could be something too personal.  

"No, it's okay, it's really a valid question.  I guess that I felt like I had time.  It's not like I need a mate to be a warrior, and I didn't want the pressure of searching for her.  But everything changed after I went with Melissa and Rachel to the UberPack.  That whole Melissa thing, it was a mess, but even after everything, she did find her place and her happiness.  And Rachel.  We grew together, and we are childhood friends.  For a while I even believed she could be my mate, but then she found Ice, and it was amazing.  I want that for me, you know?  I wanted to have what your sister has."

"Yeah, I miss her, but she is so happy with Ice.  And soon we will have that for ourselves.  What do you think of going for a run?  Burn a little energy while we wait for tomorrow?" I suggested, because I couldn't hold it any longer, I needed some freedom.  

"Hell yes," Xander said, already moving toward the forest.  I moved slower, because I had to let one of the pack's warriors know that we would be running, it was the polite thing to do, but then I went after Xander who was already deep in the forest.  We were both competitive beasts, but I was faster as an alpha.  Xander never made it easy for me, but that was the best part.  That's why I believed that Xander was going to be the perfect beta, he was always pushing me, never bowing to me, and he was not afraid to confront me if he thought it was needed.  We were good friends, and would be good leaders for our Pack once the time came.