Mated To The Billionaire's Wife

Chapter 2: The Mateless Beta

Aaron’s POV

The pack grounds looked a lot busier than usual as I did my usual morning run toward the forest. It wasn’t surprising since yet another mate ceremony was taking place that afternoon at the Goddess Altar, but the very sight of another wedding-like ceremony stirred up countless emotions within me.

“Yo! Aaron! Snap out of it, mate! I need to run and if you don’t move your butt, I’ll shift right here, right now, destroying your clothes. Have fun walking back to the packhouse naked later,” my wolf, Shadow, mind-linked me.

Staring into the distance at the pack members who were constructing a flower arch at the altar, a long exhale escaped my mouth. “It’s another mate ceremony. This is the third one this month! Is the Moon Goddess seriously enjoying watching me remain mateless?”

“I know, mate. I feel empty too, but our mate is out there somewhere, waiting for us. We’ll find her soon enough. Just be patient,” he replied in a soft, comforting tone.

A scoff escaped my lips as I continued walking slowly toward the desolate forest. “Hold on! Are you seriously telling me to be patient? You? The most impatient wolf in the whole Moon Valley pack?”

“You’re right, to hell with being patient. I want to meet her now! But, I’ll say anything to get your butt moving because I want to run! So, shut up and get moving!” Shadow blurted out before bursting out in maniacal laughter.

Finally giving in to my impatient, annoying, and persistent wolf, I ran towards the forest and undressed behind a tree before hiding my clothes near a rock. Then, I shifted into Shadow’s form and allowed him to be free. As his name suggests, Shadow was a big black wolf who had a spot of gray fur around his left eye. He thought it was weird, but I found it rather unique. Once he had control, Shadow began running through the forest at full speed until he had made it up the mountain where we could see the valley below.

“Happy?” I mind-linked him as I watched him play in the grass.

Shadow howled happily in response before running down the mountain again. After what felt like a couple of hours, Shadow reluctantly shifted back into my human form and I got dressed before heading back to the pack house.

The Moon Valley pack is one of the oldest and most prominent packs along the borders of Central and North America. Generations after generations of wolves had continued to maintain the pack well and before I knew it, my turn had come to serve as Beta of the pack.

Besides my pack duties, I was also the CEO of a security company in the city that my father had founded, but I rarely visited it. It was staffed with the best highly trained werewolves and apart from a few occasional visits, I barely did much about it since there was no need to. So, I spent most of my time in the pack grounds that were hidden in the forest away from humans that didn’t know we existed.

“You’re such a killjoy, Aaron. I want to see the big city!” Shadow interrupted my silent contemplation as I walked toward my room.

Shrugging my shoulders, I stopped in front of my room door. “Why?”

“Because I’m bored! I’m a fun wolf and I can’t sit around while following a strict routine every day,” he complained.

He was right in a way. Besides my duty to the pack and the Alpha, I didn’t do much else. I spent some time walking around the pack borders to ensure security, trained some warriors, learned how to cook from the Omegas, and occasionally visited my office in the city. Other than that, without a mate, my life sadly didn’t quite have meaning.

Shadow shook his head and let out a sigh as he turned his back towards me with disappointment. “You have a very boring life, Aaron.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” I replied, but he had already disappeared from my mind, leaving me alone, as usual.

~.~

Later that evening, I stood at the back of the garden, watching as the mated couple completed the rituals in front of the Moon Goddess Altar. The beautiful flower arch hung over them with white flowers while candles floated in the fountain behind them. With huge smiles on their faces, they vowed their lives to each other as the whole pack witnessed their union.

“I can’t believe Harry and Janet have officially become mates, they both just turned 18! They are babies!” Shadow complained in my head and I couldn’t help but agree with him.

They were both younger than me and I used to watch them run around as pups. Then, a few years later, they were mated and were officially somewhat married, while I, a 25-year-old Beta, was still single and miserable, accompanied only by my nosy old wolf.

“Hey! Who are you calling old, huh?!” Shadow barked before growling at me, much like an old man scolding young children who trampled on his lawn, proving my point.

Gulping down my second glass of Whiskey, I wallowed in my self-pity and jealousy as my eyes scanned the crowd of mated couples. As if the very sight of happy and accompanied werewolves weren’t enough, I was soon joined by my loving but overbearing parents.

“Aaron, look at the happy couple. Don’t you want that?” Mother asked me as she pointed at the newly mated couple standing at the altar.

Turning my head to look at her, my forehead furrowed in confusion. “Of course I do!”

“Then, just agree to be mated with a chosen mate and you’ll be up there next month!” Mother continued as she held onto my arm with hope.

An annoyed grunt escaped my mouth and I shook my head in disappointment. “Not this again. I told you, I don’t want a chosen mate. I want my mate, MINE! She is out there somewhere, handpicked by the Moon Goddess, especially for me. How can I just ignore her and go with a chosen mate just because I refused to wait for her?”

“There’s nothing wrong with waiting, Aaron. But, it has been 7 years since you shifted into your wolf and were supposed to find your mate, but where is she? I found your mother less than a month after we were supposed to meet, your brother found his mate in a week and your sister found her mate on the day she shifted, surprisingly,” Father explained, his words drilling into my skull and into Shadow’s skull too probably.

“Make him stop, please! I’m getting a headache!” Shadow howled before hiding his head in his paws in my mind’s eye.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I exhaled sharply. “I know that, Father. I’ve heard all this so many times that I know what you’re going to say. But my answer is still the same.”

“You’re a successful man, Aaron. You own a security company in the big city and you’re the Beta of this majestic pack. Shadow is one of the top warrior wolves in the realm and together, you both are unstoppable. Your life is perfect but at the same time, it’s not. That hole in your life can only be filled by a mate, fated or chosen. But, if you wait for your fated mate, you might have to wait for her forever,” Mother insisted, cupping my face in her soft hands.

Father looked over my shoulder before his lips curled into a big smile. “Ah, Alpha Ryan, it’s a good thing that you’re here. Please advise your Beta and tell him how important it is to have a mate.”

“Seriously? Your father is playing the Alpha card?” Shadow growled before he silenced himself in front of his Alpha.

Alpha Ryan approached in front of me and I bowed my head in respect. Thankfully, he was also my friend and knew me well. So, he turned his left and right towards my parents and they understood instantly what he meant. In a snap of a finger, they both scrambled away, leaving us alone.

“Aaron, we’ve known each other since we were pups and we grew up together. I respect your decision to wait, but as a Beta of a pack, make sure you think about the pack too in your decision. 7 years is a long time and if you do have a fated mate, don’t you think the Moon Goddess would have made you two meet?” Alpha Ryan advised before he patted my back and left me alone with my thoughts.

Gulping back the lump that had formed in my throat, I watched Alpha Ryan join his mate, Luna Isabelle as they headed up to the newly mated couple to congratulate them. Shifting my gaze to the other end of the garden, I observed Gamma Tristan caressing his mate’s pregnant bump. Everyone in the main command of the pack had their own mate and family, everyone except me. Honestly, I was so close to cursing the Moon Goddess for giving me such a life, but I was brought up better than that.

After mingling with the pack and receiving countless pieces of advice about my mateless life, I finally retreated back to my room in the main packhouse building. My lonely, lifeless, loveless room.

Stepping out to the balcony, I looked up at the full moon and sighed. “Shadow, I have thought about something deeply and I think it’s the right thing to do.”

“What? Please don’t tell me you’re going to give in and select a chosen mate?” Shadow retorted,

Gripping the balcony railing of my bedroom, I looked at the dark, endless forest before me as the moon shone above it. “Perhaps. You heard Alpha Ryan. We have to think about the pack as the Beta of the pack. Not having a mate is an instability.”

“What? Are you insane? What about our fated mate?!” Shadow shouted out with a growl, clearly unhappy with my decision.

Even though it saddened me that my dreams of meeting my fated mate that was created for me and that was fated by the Moon Goodness for me were coming to an end, I knew that it was probably for the best. It wouldn’t be easy to live with, but together with my wolf, we would move forward and live with it, no matter how long it took.

“She’s not coming, Shadow.”