Chapter 3

Alpha Erik’s POV

I was sat in my office when Hayley mind linked me, she was one of the nurses at the hospital, not my most favoured person to look after TJ considering we had history before my mate came along and messed things up for her. Hayley was certain she was my destined mate and to be honest I thought she was too, up until I turned eighteen that was.

Hayley and I had spent most of our lives together having grown up next door to each other since we were pups and it just seemed natural when we started dating, everyone including myself thought she was destined to be my mate and the packs future Luna when I took over from my father as the future Alpha.

Alpha’s and their children can detect their mates early from around the age of sixteen, when the lower ranked wolves had to wait until they were eighteen and even then they may not find their mate straight away. There are some stories among the pack that many wolves have had to wait years before finding their destined mate.

The day I turned eighteen, my family held a joint party, a party for my eighteenth and a party for my younger brother Chris to find his mate. It was a tradition for Alpha children who had not been mated within the previous year to have a party and invite every wolf that was unmated. I never had that party as my parents just assumed Hayley was my Luna, although they had failed to recognise that I had not marked her.

My parents had explained to me many times over the years that I would be hit with a blissful scent that only I could recognise, and it would cause an instant attraction to my mate allowing me to find her if she was near. I had never marked Hayley for this reason and as much as I loved her I just did not believe she was my Luna. I knew that Hayley was very aware of this as she was often asking me if I would just reject my true mate for her, but I could never answer her truthfully because honestly I was not sure what the answer was myself, all I did know is that to be a great Alpha you had to have your Luna by your side.

The party was eventful, wolf packs from all over the world were invited to our pack’s territory, our pack The Crimson Moon was one of the biggest in the world and we had many ties with other packs due to alliances and supporting their packs when they had wars with others. This meant that there would be thousands of wolves on The Crimson Moon’s land a perfect place for my brother to find his mate.

Fed up with Hayley whining at me about rejecting my Luna, I decided this party may actually enable me to find my mate. I gradually moved myself around the grounds past multiple groups of she-wolfs to see if I could pick up a luring scent but there was nothing, and after several hours I was beginning to think my parents had lied to me, although Chris had already found his mate and completely disappeared, probably already marking his mate.

Giving up I found my way back to Hayley. “Come on, you promised me a dance” she pulls on my hand, sticking out her bottom lip in a little pout knowing I would be unable to say no. I let her pull me to the dance floor, grabbing a drink off a waiter on my way. If I was going to dance, I needed the liquor to get me through as dancing was something I loathed.

Hayley and I were dancing and drinking when a fresh crisp minty smell smacked me hard in the face, so hard it almost knocked me over. As I turned to see where the scent was coming from I was met with large jade green eyes staring back at me, she was beautiful, gorgeous red curls fell around her shoulders leaving her milky white skin looking pearlescent, she was wearing a plain black dress that accentuated her curves beautifully. The room fell silent as I pushed Hayley away and made my way over to the stunning red head, sweeping her up into my arms whilst she gazed back at me, I walked straight out the door and took her to my room.

Hayley’s voice flitted into my head “Luna is awake”. I did not respond straight away, being lost in the memory of the day we met and possibly because I was shocked as my mate had been showing no signs of improvement. 33 days she had been in a coma, 54 days and 7 hours since she had last stood by my side to be precise.

I quickly contacted Will through our mind link whilst making my way over to the hospital and letting him know I was only available in an extreme emergency and not to contact me until I spoke to him. The hospital was literally a two-minute walk from the pack house but getting there felt like hours had passed since Hayley contacted me, I just had to see her. My wolf howling inside at the thought of laying his eyes on his mate after all this time.

When I arrived, my mate was covered in what looked like sick and a small amount of blood trickled from her nose I held back the desire to step in and wipe it away as the nurses were dealing with it. The smell of my mate’s blood causing my canines to grow, keeping my cool I reminded my wolf that she was okay and that our mate was in a safe place. Being an Alpha is tough sometimes, especially when you just want to let your wolf take over.

Trying to take in what was going on, she had clearly got herself into a state, the wires and tubes were no longer connected to her including the feeding tube that had been inserted up her nose which explained the nosebleed. The bed sheet and pillow had been discarded and laid on the floor. As I looked back to her I was met with her gaze and it was like the day I had first met her, those beautiful green orbs found my own blue eyes. The greens of her eyes were so vivid that I often found myself getting lost in them.

The nurse was having trouble getting TJ to keep her arm still to put a new needle in, I knew how important it was for her to be filled with these fluids and without hesitation I stepped in to hold her arm still, the sparks igniting like fireworks as I touched her skin but she just wriggled more.

TJ’s reaction of my touch left me confused and my wolf feeling rejected when all I could feel was our mate bond drawing me closer to her, she finally stopped moving when I told her to let them do it a sliver of fear crossing over those dazzling eyes. Whilst the nurses finished cleaning her up, I left them to it, not that I wanted to, I just had to find her Doctor, I needed to know everything was going to be okay. Speaking to him was not helpful, he still could not understand why her wounds had not fully healed and told me he had a few more tests to run now that she was awake. I left and went back to find my mate, sitting in the chair by her bed I watched as she eyed me nervously.