Chapter 3

Grayson's POV At the packhouse Oh my fucking god. If he asks me one more freaking time where his mate is- "Gray, have you heard from Cooper? " my Beta Axel mind links me for the twelfth time in the past twenty minutes. I abruptly stand from my chair, not even bothered by the fact that it banged against the opposite wall with a resounding crack that surely the entire packhouse could hear. I storm down the two flights of stairs it takes to reach the front entrance of the house where I find Axel pacing back and forth. "Axel, you need to calm down," I said in an attempt to soothe his worries. I'm not great at offering comfort to others, but for my best friend and second in command, I'll try my best. "He should be back by now. His last class ended at 5 and it's 5:45. He's not answering his phone or the mind link." I placed my hand on Axel's shoulder and lightly squeezed to get him to stop pacing, which only seemed to be stressing him out more. He grabbed his dirty blonde hair between his fingers and pulled at the strands as he closed his eyes. I could tell his wolf was trying to take control because his usual green eyes were darkening into a forest green color- his wolf's eye color. "I'm sure he's fine. Knowing Cooper, he probably just got distracted with something and-" the sound of footsteps crunching on gravel stopped my thoughts, and Cooper's scent washed over me. I could see Axel physically relax and he rushed to open the door. Cooper stood on the other side with his backpack on and a coffee in his right hand. When he saw Axel standing there his brown eyes brightened- well, the one eye that wasn't covered by the brown curly mop on his head. "Hey, Ax. I missed- ugh" Cooper groaned as Axel pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. If he weren't a werewolf, I'm sure some of his bones would have been broken. "Hey, watch the coffee!" he said as he pulled out of the hug and smiled at his mate. "Where were you? I was mind linking you and-" "I'm sorry! After class, I went to this cute little coffee shop called Java and got to talking with an employee about their brands of coffee. I lost track of time, I'm sorry for worrying you" Cooper said to Axel. Axel's response was to place his hands on Cooper's cheeks and abruptly kiss him. I looked away to give the two some privacy, but after ten seconds enough was enough and I had to tell them to stop making out by the front door. "Alright, enough you two. Get a room" I smirked at them. I was happy they found each other. They were mates, as in soul mates. The Moon Goddess pairs each werewolf with another person who is perfect for them in every way. Most werewolves find their mates at around 16, but I still haven't found my mate and I'm almost 23. I lay awake at night dreaming of her- my other half. I wonder what she looks like, what she smells like, what she likes to do. Will she love me as much as I will love her? I fear that something has happened to her. What if she died? Or what if the Moon Goddess doesn't think I deserve a mate and is forcing me to live a loveless life filled with meaningless one-night stands? Axel punches me lightly in the arm, then removes Cooper's bag from his shoulders and proceeds to hold it for him. They walk hand in hand to the kitchen, where I'm headed right now to check how dinner is coming along. A few packmates are walking around the first floor, and they all slightly bow their heads and say "Alpha" to me as a sign of respect. I nod my head at each one of them as a show of mutual respect. After checking on the food- which smells amazing- I head back out to the kitchen table and sit with Axel and Cooper. "How was your first day of college?" I ask Cooper, who turns to me with excitement as he scoots closer to tell me all about his classes. When he moves his chair forward I detect a foreign smell- like roses and honey that immediately wakes up my wolf side. The smell is so sweet and intoxicating. My eyes dilate and I stiffen my posture as I lean into Cooper to see where the smell is coming from. I immediately find the source- a simple ballpoint pen sitting in his shirt pocket. I rip the pen away from him and bring the pen to my nose. The smell is faint, but it's the sweetest thing I have ever smelled in my life and I instantly know that it belongs to my mate. Without thinking clearly, I have Cooper pinned to the closest wall in a matter of seconds, my human side losing control to my inner wolf. My hand tightly gripped his neck as I waited for him to submit and tell me what he knows. "Where did you get this pen?" I instantly growl at Cooper. Cooper is no longer Cooper, but the obstacle in between me and my mate. Axel grabs my shoulder and shoves me off of Cooper, who is now grasping at his neck with his hand as he gains his breath back. "What the fuck are you doing with your hands on my mate?!" Axel screams in my face, standing directly in front of Cooper in a protective stance. Werewolves are extremely protective beings, but me being an Alpha means I am even more protective than others. The only person who rivals me is my Beta. "What I would like to know is why Cooper has my mate's scent on him!" I scream right back at his face, matching his aggression. Just before I lose my temper- yes, that was me restraining myself- Cooper gets in between the two of us and talks us out of a fight. "Calm down, both of you. Grayson, I don't exactly know who your mate is, but if the pen smells like her then I know what she looks like. She's in my Psych class. Her pen ran out of ink so I gave her mine to use for the lecture and then she gave it back to me. That was the extent of our interaction" Cooper calmly informed me. "Take me to her" I ordered him. Cooper gave me a slight shake of his head. "Alpha, she's human," he said. Those words broke me. Not because she had to be a werewolf- she's perfect the way she is- but because she doesn't know anything about mates or werewolves or alphas. Even though I recognize her as my other half, she won't feel the same pull as I feel. I'll have to slowly win her over, which will be time-consuming and a much slower process than I had hoped it would be. I couldn't just walk up to her and kiss her like most wolf mates did once they found each other. There are other wolves in my pack with human mates. It's not common, but it does happen. So, I guess I'll have to play human for a while until I can convince her that I'm hers. Because she's already mine.