Slave to the Fierce Alpha

Mate

It is June 20, my birthday. My name is Katerina, I am a servant to the alpha of the New Moon Pack. We are a small, little known pack in southern Florida. Our alpha, Michael, is a fair man who treats us all with dignity. Although we are a small pack, we work well together to ensure the pack runs smoothly. As an omega, I am at the bottom of the food chain, but even then everyone is expected to treat us omegas fairly.

When we come of age, we must wait until the next full moon to transition into our wolves for the first time, but this morning I was awoken to the sound of my wolf's voice. Her name is Daciana. She is silver, short in stature, but seems cocky with her attitude. She says the name Daciana means wolf.

Once I woke and finished speaking with Daciana for the first time, I began the morning routine of showering, brushing my hair and teeth, dressing for the day, and heading down to see my family before my work day begins. Mother was in the kitchen finishing the final preparations for breakfast while father read the paper on the couch. My sister, Megan, was still in her room preparing for her day.

We sat down for breakfast. My mother had made my favorite for my birthday, French toast with sliced strawberries and homemade syrup. As we spoke of our plans for the day, mother handed me a letter of invitation to this year's annual mating ball. The next full moon, the ball will be held, and I may leave my home to be with my mate if I find him. I hope I find him, and he's everything I have ever dreamed. Smart, kind, funny, loyal, and most of all, loving.

I head off to work in the pack house as a servant to the alpha and his luna. Alpha Michael never found his mate and took a chosen mate, Bonnie. Bonnie was a sweet woman, but sad most days. I heard she found her mate after taking alpha as her chosen and, per their agreement, she rejected her goddess given mate. I hear that it is very hard to deal with, and the pain is unbearable.

"Hello alpha, Luna"

"Hello Katerina, beautiful day for a birthday," Luna says.

"Yes ma'am, I am excited about finding my mate. I got my invitation from mother this morning," Said Katerin.

"Oh yes, that will be the perfect time to seek him out. I pray to the goddess you find him," Luna said with a look of despair on her face I hadn't seen before.

"I must get to my duties, so I may arrive home early tonight. My parents have planned a dinner for me," I say as I inch toward the dining hall.

Luna moves on with her duties as I make my way to the dining hall.

It took all of 6 hours to clean the dining hall and I still had to clean the beta's office before I could leave for the day. With two hours to go, I hurried along grabbing the cleaning supplies in the hall closet outside our Beta's office. I did my best to keep my head down and remain unnoticed by pack members along the way. Beta Nate was far from a messy man, thankfully. Letting out a soft breath, I checked the time, realizing it only took an hour and I would be leaving an hour earlier than usual.

I began my walk home from the pack house, moving as quickly as my feet would allow, when Daciana decided to pop in for a chat. It was almost annoying, but with the excitement to come, Katerina wanted to speak with Daciana as much as possible right now.

"I have a feeling our lives are going to change, Katerina," Daciana told me.

"What kind of change are you speaking of?" I asked her.

"I'm not sure, I just have this overwhelming feeling of upcoming change, and I'm not sure if it will be good or bad for us," she said with such worry it scared me.

"I guess we will just have to wait and see what the night brings, won't we?" I asked her.

"I guess you are right, I just hope it is something good," Daciana said. With that, she retired to the back of my mind for the rest of our walk.

Upon arriving home, it was quiet, the lights were off, and it appeared as if nobody was home. I sat down still thinking of what Daciana had told me she was feeling. What could have her so bothered about our evening at home? I heard a sound just outside our front door and moved to the window to check it out. I saw a shadow moving swiftly across the porch but did not get a good enough look to see who it was. I was scared. I locked the door and ran upstairs to my bedroom, locking the door behind me.

After what seemed like an eternity, my parents arrived home just in time to cook my birthday dinner. We had steak and fried potatoes. As we sat to eat, my mother began speaking of a vicious alpha who would be arriving at any time to stay for the mating ball.

"Haven't you heard? Daceon, alpha of the feared Crescent Moon Pack, will be arriving sometime tonight?" My mother asked.

"No, I hadn't heard a peep about it. I kept busy today trying to arrive home early for dinner. Why is he coming? He has never come to the mating ball before?" I asked her with a twitch of fear in my voice.

"I am not 100% sure why, but I did hear that he must find his mate for some reason." she said this hesitantly, like she knew something I didn't.

"I wonder who such an unlucky girl could be?" I asked, still terrified of what was to come.

"Who knows, but I surely feel sorrow for her," mother said.

As we continued our meal, my sister Megan came through the door looking unbearably exhausted.

"I think I will skip dinner tonight, I am not feeling well," Megan said as she ran up the stairs.

It seemed odd to me that nobody questioned why she wasn't feeling well, or why our alpha's sent was so strong on her body, but I brushed it off, still in my own mind about what the night might still bring.

After dinner, I went to my room to relax and read a book. Suddenly, I heard a sound coming from the front porch again. The shadowy figure, I had almost forgotten about it, but there it was again peering up at me through my bedroom window. Whoever it was had the most beautiful, piercing blue eyes I had ever seen. Something made me want to reach out to them, but I wasn't sure why. I decided to take a leap of faith and follow my instinct. I opened my window just slightly to try to speak to the shadow when it hit me like a bullet to the heart. Whoever this shadowy figure was, was my mate. Daciana was prancing around in my head, scratching at the edges of my mind, wanting out so badly but unable to come to the surface just yet. I slammed my window closed and ran to my bed, covering myself with my comforter. That's when I remembered what mother had said at dinner. Daceon, alpha of the crescent moon pack, will arrive sometime tonight seeking his mate. Oh my god, was that who that was? The shadowy figure? I had to find out, and who better than my best friend Jamie to help me? I phoned her immediately.

"Hello?" Jamie asked.

"Hey bestie! I need your help like right now!" I yelled at her through the phone.

"What is so urgent? I have to work in the morning and need my rest," she complained.

"I think my mate is here, my wolf, Daciana, is losing her mind, and I am terrified it might be that alpha from crescent moon. Mom told me he was coming today." I told her.

"Oh my god, it can't be. The goddess wouldn't do that to you, would she? That would be so cruel of her. We have all heard the stories about his wicked ways." she exclaimed, sounding almost as horrified as I was.

"I don't think the goddess would do such a thing, but I need you to meet me halfway so we can find out exactly what is going on before my wolf completely loses it and finds a way to force herself forward to find him," I explained with worry.

"I will be there in ten. Let's figure this all out, see you soon," she said before hanging up.

With that, I got myself around and prepared for the few blocks of walking I had to do. Once I met with Jamie, we followed the scent while I told her how my day had gone. I also told her about my sister smelling like the alpha, and she seemed to know something I didn't about that, but I let it go because I felt the sudden urge to run.

I ran with all my might, turning around to make sure Jamie was at my heels. As I went to face forward again, I stopped in my tracks as my face slammed into a very hard chest. I knew who it was by his scent, I did not have to look up, it was the alpha of the crescent moon pack. I was trembling with fear.

"Well, hello little mate, you have had my wolf howling in my mind all evening," he spoke so non-chalantly.

"Uh, um, hi," I said in return.

"Do not fear me little one, I came all this way to find you, I won't hurt you I promise." He said it with such ease as if he knew exactly how she was feeling.

Goddess, he smelled so divine, lemon and elderflower, a perfect combination and just for me. I finally took the chance to look him over. He had those piercing blue eyes and I knew then that he was the shadowy figure I had seen twice this evening. He had tan skin, with a muscular build that made me weak in the knees. There was something holding her back though, even with Daciana dancing with joy in her head, something wasn't sitting well with her.

"Jamie, thank you for walking with me, but I think it is okay for you to go home and back to bed now," I told her while still staring at this beautiful man.

"If you are sure, I will happily get back to bed," she said this with slight annoyance in her voice.

Daceon started the conversation by asking questions about me. How old I was, and when I had turned of age.

"That makes all of this make sense to me now. My wolf started to lose it in the early hours this morning." He said this with a hint of annoyance in his tone. It made me wonder what would annoy him about finding his mate.

As if reading my mind, he said, "I never wanted to find my mate, I have always thought a mate would make me weak to other alphas."

"Why would you think finding your other half, chosen for you by the moon goddess herself, would make you weak?" I asked seriously.

"My father told me my mother was nothing more than an incubator. She was worthless when it came to battle and was only a weakness to be used against him during battle. He killed her after giving him an heir to take his spot." He said with such seriousness.

"Do you feel the same way? Do you believe I am only good for creating an heir for you?" I asked him.

"I'm not sure how I feel right now. I didn't know how strong the pull to my mate would be, but I know as an omega you are not strong enough to take care of yourself in battle. That would make you a weakness if I were to accept you. I have a lot to think about before moving forward with you." He said, as if it were a question. Hoping I would be willing to give him the time he needed.

"I'm also unsure of how I feel about being mated to someone who was raised to think in such a way. I have my strengths and have trained hard, but I also need time." I told him while he stared at me with this look I couldn't understand.

"I think we should go our separate ways and think things through before deciding on what to do next." He said as a question again.

"I agree, I will head home for the night and sleep on it." I told him. And with that we went our separate ways.

When I arrived home, I went straight to bed, knowing I had a lot to get done tomorrow before the ball.

After waking the next morning, I called Jamie before showering to plan our day. I ran into Megan in the hallway while going back to my room from showering when I noticed a red mark on her neck. I asked her if she was okay but was again shrugged off. I watched her walk back into her room as if I hadn't just spoken to her. I knew I needed to get to the bottom of what was going on with her and the alpha, but I also had a limited amount of time to get around.

When Jamie finally arrived she hurriedly showered before coming into my room to get dressed, do hair, and makeup before the ball.

So, how was it with the big bad alpha last night? Jamie asked with such curiosity.

I wasn't sure what to say, he was so different from anyone here in our pack.

"He was interesting," was all I could come up with to describe him.

"Oh come on, there has to be more than that, you've found your mate and all you can say is it was interesting. Most girls would kill to find their mate on their birthday so spill!"

"We talked about his beliefs and mine, then decided to sleep on it and see how we felt about moving forward when we see each other tonight at the ball."

"He was definitely handsome, and those eyes. Oh my goddess, you've been blessed!" She exclaimed.

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing hair and makeup in quiet. I wasn't sure how I was going to change his mind, but I knew eventually I would. My mother entered the room carrying a clothing bag containing my dress. I was unsure why I had chosen a bright blue dress or why I had been so drawn to it in the shop until now. His eyes somehow played a role in choosing a bright blue dress with stones encrusted all over the bralette of it. It was beautiful, but nowhere near as stunning as his eyes.

"Let's go find our mates!" Jamie squealed.

And with that, we made our way to the car to head to the ball. We hadn't noticed the all-black limousine just outside parked on the street until he handed me a note from none other than my mate.