Chapter 3
The feel of the forest floor beneath his paws was just the therapy Alpha Kaden Stone needed. He ran aking the western border of his pack lands, alongside his Beta Aler Green. The two of them engaged in an unproclaimed race, just like they did every single time they were out on a run together. This particular nighat, however, with a nearly full moon shining down on them, the race was less important than the experience. Kaden desperately needed the scrists of the forest in his lungs and the cruisch of the fresh fall leaves beneath his paws.
The friends ran until their hings were burning. Even though both of their wolves luted to admit when they were tired, when a turnoff that would lead them back toward the village came into view on Kaden’s left, he loped that direction. Alec was behind him, but just barely. They both slowed considerably, but the Alpha knew his Beta would put every last ounce of energy he had into beating Kaden back to the spot where they’d first shifted and left their clothing and shoes.
Ahead of them, the red of Kaden’s T–shirt came into view on a velvety green patch of grass, caught in a moonbeam. Kaden kicked it into high gear Just as Alec’s snout appeared in his peripheral vision. He gave a taunting yelp to his best friend, letting him know he might be close, but he wasn’t going to beat him. Not this time. They raced on until Kaden’s front left paw came down onto his shirt just before Alec reached it
The two of them shifted and got dressed quickly, both of them throwing shade on one another, “Man, that was so close,” Alec said, stepping in front of Kaden as he pulled his T–shirt over his head.
Kaden pushed his feet into his shoes. “You’re going to catch me one of these days,” he said, even though he knew the fact that Alec had almost won today had been because Kaden was distracted and not because Alec was actually getting faster. It certainly wasn’t that Kaden was getting any slower.
“You will never let me catch you,” his best friend said with a smirk, straightening the long, dark strands of hair that fell over his eyes as he laughed. “Do you have a few things on your mind?”
Kaden groaned. Alec knew better than anyone just how much he was dreading the next few days. Preparations were already underway for the upcoming Moon Goddess Ball, even though Kaden hadn’t actually agreed to host the event yet. He knew his grandmother, Hannah, had already sent out invitations to neighboring packs, so it would be awfully hard for him to back down now. Besides that, there was the day–to–day grind of running the pack and all of the politics that went along with it.
“Yeah, I guess you could say I have a few things on my mind,” Kaden said, wiping sweat on the back of his hand.
“Well, you know how important it is to your grandma for you to find a Luna” Alec reminded him as they began to walk back toward their homes. – which were arranged right next to each other in the center of the village.
“I know. I’m afraid she’ll be sorely disappointed though, Kaden admitted. “Just because we hold a ball doesn’t mean the magical Moon Goddess will suddenly appear and sprinkle her fairy dust over me, leading me to my one and only love
Alec smirked, trying to choke back a laugh. “I don’t think the Moon Goddess uses fairy dust, bro”
“Whatever the hell it is that is supposed to help me fall in love then.” He had been exaggerating. Of course, he knew that the Moon Goddess didn’t use fairy dust. Most days, he wasn’t sure there even was a Moon Goddess. If there was, wouldn’t his parents still be alive!
Kaden’s thoughts were interrupted by a group of girls walking by, led by one of the girls he’d spent a lot of time with in the past, a tall blonde named Sylvia Waters. She grinned at him as all of the girls bowed their heads in reverence to their leader. “Good evening. Alpha Kaxden, Beta Alec,” she purred “Where are you two up to?”
Kaden was distracted and didn’t really have time for Sylvia or any of the other girls at the moment. “I’m just headed back home to consult with Grandma Hannah about the upcoming festivities.” The hall was eating up a lot of the time he usually used for other pack business.
Sylvia’s bottom lip protruded slightly. “No time to… hang out tonight?”
He knew exactly what she was griting at. Over her shoulder, the other four girls did their best to present themselves as options should Sylvia seem unappetizing to their pack leader. But Kaden had other duties to attend to. “Sorry, Sylvia. Not tonight.”
“Maylar tomorrow!” She batted her long eyelashes, hoping to suck him in enough to change his mind.
“I think our fearless leader is going to be busy for the next several days, maybe indefinitely, ladies,” Alec said, clamping his hand down on Kaden’s shoulder. “Not only is he hosting the major social event of the season, but there’s also a good chance he’ll find his Exted mate,”
Kaden was tempted to slam his elbow into his best friend’s rib cage. Alec seemed to think the idea of both of them finding their fatell mates as the upcoming ball was some sort of a joke. Kaden didn’t put much faith in the chances of his fated mate appearing, so there was no reason for Alec to take him off the market just yri
busting the ball
“So it’s true?” Beatrice, a brunette with sunkissed skin asked. “Are we really hasting
Kaden had done his best to keep the rumors to a minimum since he wasn’t crazy about Inating the event, but it was his pack’s turn. He really had no choice but to hold the event at Light Sky. The other jacks might see it as a bad move if Ise didn’t take his turn. “So it would appear.”
The girls all smiled. A couple of them even clapping their hands. “We love getting dressed up,” Beatrice said, flipping her long black hair over her shoulder. The other girls nodded in agreement.
“I’m sure it’ll be a lot of fun,” Kaden said dismissively. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have sonte pack matters to attend to:
Kaden noticed a light was on in the kitchen as he approached the front porch. While all wolf shifters tended to stay up late into the night. Grandma Hannah liked to go to bed around midnight, which meant she’d be having her tea right now in preparation for her half–hour of prayers to the Moon Goddess before she retired for the evening. He wanted to check in with her on a few things before she went to bed since she was acting Luna
“Good night. Alpha Kaden. Sylvia called, waving from down the street.
Kaden waved politely, but he had too much on his plate right now to give much thought to Sylvia or any girl.
Next door. Alec sprinted inside knowing his mom would be fixing him a second dinner. He was a big kid in a lot of ways. Kaden wished he’d grow up a little bit and take on more responsibility for leading the pack, but Alec was a loyal second, and that meant a lot to him.
Kaden walked into the house, glad to be home. Living with his grandmother had made the most sense once his parents had died. They only had each other, so Kaden couldn’t give Alec too much of a hard time about living with his parents, but he did wonder what would happen if Alec met his fated mate. Would she move into that house with his parents, or would his parents move away!
The question morphed into thoughts of what it would be like to be walking into his house to greet a wife. Kaden shook his head. He doubted that would happen anytime soon. He just wasn’t ready.
Grandma Hannah was sitting at the kitchen island, sipping her tea with her laptop open in front of her. She was a pretty hip lady for someone her age. She looked up and smiled. “How was your run?”
“Great,” he said, coming over to kiss her check. He saw on the screen that she was looking at party planning ideas. Kaden sat down on the barstool next to her. “So this is happening, huh?”
Grandma Hannah patted his leg. “It’s your obligation, sweetie. It’s our turn.”
at to get it, especially since he knew she’d
He nodded. She’d explained all of that enough times already that he’d have to be pretty thick–skulled not to sent out invitations the day before.
“Even if you don’t find her, which I think you will,” Grandma Hannah said with a twinkle in her eye, “it will be good to help reinforce the alliances you have with other packs and build new ones.”
“That’s true,” he said, even though he thought there were better ways to do that than holding a ball. Every day, he spent hours working on his alliances. He’d just negotiated a secure border with a pack to the north and helped out a pack to the west that had a sickness sweep through. The ball seemed trivial compared to those concerns.
“Besides, I’m getting old, dear. I’ll be sixty–three in two months. While I love serving as the pack Luna, I would rather spend my time on other things.”
Kaden was well aware of his grandmother’s hobbies–gardening, yoga, and birdwatching, to name a few. He just hoped she didn’t say the G–word. “Td love to have time to enjoy my grandchildren,” Hannah had a far–off look in her eyes as she lifted her face to the heavens.
There it was–the G word. “I know, Grandma. Just give me some time,” he implored
She lowered her face to look at him and smiled. “Of course, honey. Just trust the Moon Goddess. I know she h
has someone very special for you.”
Kaden rose and kissed her cheek again. “If you say so, Grandma.” He wasn’t going to hold his breath. With his luck, the Moon Goddess would do one worse than having no one picked out for him. She’d curse him to be fated to someone from his worst nightmare–a hideous girl, a spoiled brat, or a dimwit. His grandma could hope and pray, but in the end, Kaden didn’t expect his luck to magically change now. He’d rather have no one than someone who wasn’t worthy of his stature.
