Chapter 07
Drake stretched out his legs in the passenger seat of his dad’s truck. The tires ate up the miles on the way to the Blood Moon Pack. That pack was looking for another Delta to train teenage pups. They liked to look outside their borders on occasion. They said fresh blood was good for the pack.
Chip had gone through three rounds of interviews over the phone with them.
This was the last interview. The reports from Chip’s own Alpha had been glowing.
They’d videotaped him training pups. Beta Tim, from the Blood Moon Pack, had come and spent a few days with him.
Today was the final interview with Alpha Steven Bane.
The way his dad made it sound, today was more a formality then anything else. Chip was the last candidate standing.
“Relax. You’re more nervous than I am,” Chip laughed at Drake.
“Am not. Your knee has been bouncing for the last hour,” Drake shot back.
Full blown denial was easier than the truth.
He’d been safe at the Red Hawk Pack because he knew his fated mate wasn’t there.
Going to a different pack brought fears of finding her, especially during the Winter Solstice Festival.
He just wasn’t ready to be rejected yet.
“That’s because you’ve been too tense to relax for the last two hours. We’re almost there. Pack lands in ten. Enjoy seeing what our new home will be like. I’ve heard it’s beautiful. I’ve certainly enjoyed the change of scenery and we’re not even there yet.”
Drake dragged in a breath and nodded. His dad was right.
Getting out of the Red Hawk Pack, which was way too close to the orphanage and memories of Miss Gentry, was the best thing that could happen.
Chip had given him a chance at life. Being able to walk away from memories of old pain was a blessing from the Moon Goddess.
“You worried about tonight?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Drake let out a long sigh.
“You think she might be at the Single’s Ball?”
“I don’t have a clue.”
“Your wolf’s not bouncing?” Chip teased.
“The lazy bastard is sleeping,” Drake grinned.
He’d had his wolf for three months. He was large, dark gray and fierce.
He hadn’t lost a sparring match yet. Getting his wolf had been amazing.
He towered over other wolves. He was faster and more agile.
He’d never imagined turning into such an intimidating wolf.
“Your wolf could never be described as lazy. The massive dope runs circles around us puny mortals,” Chip said with pride. “If she’s there, she won’t reject you.”
“You don’t know that. What woman in her right mind would want my crappy past?”
“First of all, you don’t have a ‘crappy past’.
You are a good man that had some bad things happen to you, not because of you.
Secondly, the Moon Goddess clearly has good things for you.
She stopped the bad because you were willing to speak up by asking for help in finding me.
Then, telling me the truth even though it ripped your heart out temporarily.
” Chip growled in frustration with Drake.
“Don’t you ever put my brilliant, strong, courageous son down again. ”
“Sorry, dad,” Drake tried to ease the tension. His dad was the best.
“Those women, your biological mom and that horrific abuser, were bat shit crazy. Not all women are crazy.”
“I know.”
“No. You don’t know. Not yet. I’ve heard you talking in your sleep. I know you dream about that bitch. She still haunts you. She’d dead. One day she won’t haunt you any more,” Chip said softly. “You’ll see. Promise me you’ll go to the ball.”
“Do I have a choice?” Drake tried to lighten him up.
His dad was still fiercely bitter about missing Drake’s growing up.
The guy was haunted by his own demons. Things could have been so different if his dad had raised him.
It was hard not to sympathize with Chip’s anger at being denied knowing of Drake’s existence.
“Of course you do, but only one decision is correct.” Chip gave a lopsided of a smile. “I’ll be busy all afternoon so I can’t escort you there myself.”
“Phew! That’s a relief. The last thing my potential she-wolf needs to see is my daddy holding my hand to the big scary ball,” Drake chuckled.
The Blood Moon Pack lands were beautiful.
A river ran through a deep craggy gorge.
Three rope suspension bridges crossed it, easy access into deeper territory.
Tall lush pine trees created cover for wolves and their prey.
It was like they were driving into a preserve.
The place begged wolves to shift and enjoy the wild.
Drake had heard quite a lot about their sustainable mining practices.
They apparently knew where every vein of precious metal and gems were on the land.
They took what they needed, when they needed it.
Every scar on the land was repaired, replanted and cared for.
Other packs regularly came to them to learn how to steward their own resources better.
On the southwest corner of the territory were oak stands.
His dad had purchased lumber from the Blood Moon Pack for his cabinetry business.
He’d sold the business a few months ago for a good chunk of money.
After Drake had stumbled into his life, Chip's desire to train boys to fight had erupted. He’d gone from training boys in his free time to training full time.
He’d taken in whoever wanted to learn, often for free.
Chip had said repeatedly that a boy who could fight was a boy that could speak up and protect the weak and the innocent.
Drake couldn’t count the number of wounded boys that had come under his dad’s wing and grew to be fierce men.
He’d only been with his dad for two years, but those two years had shaped Drake in ways he was only beginning to see.
He’d never be able to thank his dad enough.
They parked out in a sea of trucks with trailer hitched to the back.
Chip made the assumption he got the job and had packed them up, not that they had a lot of stuff.
Chip has spent most of his money reinvesting in his cabinetry business until he’d taken Drake home.
Drake had never been worried about stuff.
He still complained when Chip made him shop for clothes.
They jogged up to the pack house. The last thing Chip wanted was to be late, even though he was an hour early.
Drake hung back at the edge of the parking lot as he watched his dad get greeted by Beta Tim who introduced him to Alpha Steven.
He didn’t want to interfere with that introduction.
This was about his dad. Any pack would be lucky to have his dad training their pups and guarding their back with his Delta abilities.
The scent of cinnamon rolls drifted lightly on the breeze.
They smelled amazing. Except, it was more than cinnamon and sweet yeasty bread.
His wolf was panting and pacing in the back of his mind, sniffing.
His mate was here. Somewhere, he had a mate that smelled like his most favorite desert in the world, good enough to eat.
Drake folded in on himself, not expecting to feel so panicked already.
He hadn’t even laid eyes on her. What the hell was he supposed to do now?
He wasn't ready for this. He could take the pain but he still wasn't sure he could take the rejection.
That smell tempted him to relax and just revel in it for the rest of his life. Like that would actually happen.
“Hey, dad?” A tall, black haired guy called from the pack house door. “Mom needs you for a moment.”
“Tell my lady I’ll be there in three,” Alpha Steven called back.
Drake almost fell over at the sight of the way too handsome son of Alpha Steven.
Jaxom Bane, the heir to the Blood Moon Pack was his mate?
His fated mate? He was mated to a man? That had never crossed his mind as a possibility.
He'd never been interested in guys, until now.
Hell, he was barely interested in women either.
Now, he was interested in one guy. That one guy who was tall, built, and had black hair that framed his handsome face. That guy was going to break his heart.
He must have been down wind of Jaxom because he didn't respond to Drake's scent. Drake’s wolf snarled and snapped at him to get moving to mate. Mate hadn’t scented them yet.
Mate needed to know they were here. It took every ounce of strength to ignore his wolf.
The need to mate was driving his wolf crazy, angry that Drake was holding him back.
It physically hurt to refrain from running to Jaxom.
Drake stumbled backwards, deeper into the enormous parking lot to get some distance.
He almost shouted at Jaxom Bane to get his attention before the guy closed the door to get back to his mother.
His wolf was constantly trying to take control.
Denying mate was stupid. There was no reason to deny mate from knowing he was here.
A she-wolf of lower rank wasn’t going to reject him for being a whore.
Drake felt the panic rising. Jaxom Bane, an Alpha, born of Alpha blood and training, was going to reject him.
He was going to trample on Drake’s heart and make him feel the pain of a broken mate-bond.
An Alpha’s rejection hurt so much worse than an ordinary wolf’s.
The power in that bond was deeper than any other.