Alistair

Of course I'm jealous.

I don't want Tristan getting involved with Lex. Are you freaking kidding me? I have one boy I like and that bitch is thirsting after him.

Now, on top of the two pack boys, I have to contend with an antagonizing boyfriend and a girl. She seemed nice though, not like that entitled prejudiced brat.

I can't believe he said Christian is not worth going to the waterfalls to visit. Who the fuck does he think he is?

My poor friend was so devastated by his remark. Christian took such a liking to that Lisa, it was heartbreaking to see him being discouraged like that.

I understand it's an improbable romance, but let him dream with whoever he wants. He doesn't need to hear he's not worth it.

He absolutely is. And she'd be lucky to have him, if you ask me. Honest to Goddess.

Maybe she's his so-called mate or whatever that is. I'm not gonna lie, I'm curious about it. How come there's something every werewolf gets and no one told me about it?

Or Tristan and Christian, for that matter.

I wanna know what the heck this is. I'm dying to understand more about it. I'm intrigued.

Our parents were NOT amused by our late arrival at the camp. Momma reprimanded me for a good while for skipping dinner time.

"I'm worried sick here with pappa and you were dining at a fancy restaurant? With townies? What the hell, Ali?" - She's fuming at me.

Elsewhere, the boys are being read the riot act by their parents as well. We just lowered our heads and took it silently, apologizing whenever possible.

"We tried to get out of it, but the boy kept insisting. I think he's infatuated with Tristan." - I explained, getting wide-eyed stares by the Maldonados.

"You think?" - Christian snickered. Tristan glared daggers at him.

"I don't want you hanging around with townies. What if they had lured you into someplace and called the authorities on you? Did you think about that? Did you know you can be killed for trespassing into another pack's territory?" - Momma chastised me, but my friends hear it too, of course.

"Sorry." - I muttered under my breath, embarrassed.

After a while, they dismissed us to brush and go to sleep, though not before I asked her the burning question that's been plaguing my mind the whole walk home.

"Momma, what's a mate?" - I asked and saw her expression change entirely. At this, every adult looked at themselves with wide-eyed expressions.

"Where did you hear this? Did those boys talk to you about mates?" - She questioned, irked.

"You didn't answer my question. Is it true that all of us get one? What is it? Can I be Tristan's mate?" - I insisted, now more intrigued than ever.

Tristan, his parents all stared at each other and me at the mention of his name. But I'm not holding back now. Hell no! Momma sighed.

"Yes, technically we all get one. But not always we find them. No, you're not his mate." - She replied, sounding tired and unwilling.

"I've told you this would come up eventually. If you had let me teach them..." - Sarah interjected, looking at momma with an "I told you so" expression on her face.

Elodie is also looking at her parents curiously, waiting for an explanation. As is Christian. The adults know by now they can't escape this conversation. And it's long overdue.

"How do you know?" - I asked her, shook at her response. Even though I don't know what it means yet.

"Because if you were his mate, he would've discovered it when he turned 18." - She replied in a matter of fact tone.

"Is that true, pappa?" - Tris asked his father, gobsmacked.

"Why would I lie?" - She snapped at him, annoyed at the implication.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. I meant no disrespect." - He apologized, lowering his head.

"Yes, it's true. When you find your mate, your wolf goes haywire. It's impossible to ignore. If Ali were your mate, you would've already known by now." - Joe explained in a serious tone.

Both Tristan and I sigh in disappointment, though we still have no idea what a mate is exactly.

"It's late. Go to sleep and we'll talk about it in the morning. I promise." - Momma proposed, sounding tired. I am too, but I'm more curious than ever.

"Good night, momma, pappa." - I said, waving them off. He was waiting for this conversation to play out silently.

We brushed teeth, changed clothes and retired for the night.

"I'm sorry I'm not your mate, whatever that is." - Tristan spoke in a sorrowed tone inside the tent.

"It's fine, I'm sure it's not a big deal." - I downplayed it, even though I'm clearly disappointed.

He kisses me for a minute before exhaustion takes over. We're all very tired.

In the morning, I wake up eagerly awaiting the explanation. And I'm not alone, even Elodie was expecting it. Not to mention the boys.

"Legend has it the Moon Goddess split the souls of every living werewolf so that they can only be completed when you find your Goddess given soulmate." - Momma started as she served my siblings breakfast.

"A mate is someone you're supposedly destined to be with. Your partner. Your one true pairing." - She lectured, turning her attention to me.

"However, it's not someone you can choose for yourself. It was chosen for you upon your birth. This happens to every single one of us. But like I said, it's not guaranteed that you'll find yours in your lifetime. But you certainly have one, regardless of where they might be." - She continued.

"Wait. So that means somewhere in the world there's a person I'm destined to be with?" - Tristan asked, utterly gobsmacked.

"Yes, son. But rogues rarely find their mates. That's why we never told you any of this. Because we usually find a partner ourselves within our community, like I found your mother." - Joe replied in a somber tone, looking over at Sophia, who smiled at him.

"And what if I don't like my mate?" - Elodie questioned, surprised at the revelation but revolted at the proposition.

"If you don't like them, you can reject them." - Sophia replied in a dismissive tone. Elodie sighed in relief.

"Except it's very difficult to reject a mate because once you find them, you can't forget about them." - Sarah interjected in a very serious tone.

"Oh." - A collective gasp can be heard by all the teenagers present.

"Did you find yours, Sarah?" - Elodie asked her, getting a glare from her mom. Sarah frowned at the thought, notably sad.

"I'm sorry for asking. You don't need to talk about it if you don't want to." - She hushed to take it back.

"It's fine, Elodie. I did find mine back at my old pack. He was wonderful to me and Bella. Unfortunately, he passed away because of a power dispute. Someone wanted his position and he was challenged to a fight to the death." - She explained, deeply emotional.

We all feel bad for her. We knew she had lost her partner, just not the exact circumstances in which it happened. Elodie feels bad for bringing it up now.

Her daughter gets wide-eyed at this, she sobs next to her mother. It's difficult to watch.

"Oh my Goddess! Why did he have to fight? Couldn't he turn down the challenge?" - I asked her, shocked at the revelation.

"No, Ali. Alphas can't back out of a challenge. See, the Alpha is the leader of the pack and his orders can't be disobeyed. However, he can be challenged by any pack member who so desires and it's a fight to the death. Always. Whoever survives becomes the new Alpha." - She explained in a dead serious tone.

We all gasped at hearing her words, though the adults already knew that.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Sarah." - Elodie said with an empathizing tone. She smiled weakly at her, while tears quietly fell from her face.

"Thank you for the explanation, momma. Was my father your mate?" - I asked her, who gasped at the question. Pappa glared at me.

"No, Ali. Mates don't abandon their partners with pups to raise alone. Once you complete the bond, it's forever." - She explained in a saddened tone. I can see this is a painful memory for her. Understandably so.

"What's to complete the bond? What bond is she talking about?" - Christian beat me to it, curiously.

Tristan, Elodie, him and me all look at momma, expectantly. She gulped at the question, as I can see all adults are uncomfortable with the topic.

"Once you find your mate, you get to know them properly. You know, talk and see each other to get yourself acquainted with them." - She explained, blushing.

All of us are looking at her thinking there's definitely more to this or she wouldn't be this uncomfortable. Usually nothing fazes her.

"Once you know them well enough, you get... you know, intimate. That's when you complete the bond." - She continued, blushing hard.

"What? Really? What if I don't want to complete the bond?" - Elodie looked disgusted at this.

Literally all the adults laughed at her question, including her parents. This really annoyed her, who glared at them.

"Elodie, once you find your mate, the bond is automatically triggered. That means this person will be constantly on your mind, a magnetic attraction is gonna pull you towards them no matter how hard you resist it." - Sophia explained with a knowing glance.

"Exactly. You have to complete the bond. Unless you reject your mate, of course." - Joe informed us, finishing his breakfast.

"I still can't believe I'm gonna know when I find my mate. How will I know?" - Tristan looked puzzled.

"Your eyes are gonna shine brighter than ever before. Your wolf will howl inside your chest. I'm telling you: it's impossible to miss it." - Sarah explained in a lighter mood.

We're all baffled at the discovery. How the hell no one told us about this sooner? Really. Especially to Tristan, who's already an adult.

"Wait, if everyone gets a mate, how come only Tristan can discover his?" - I raised an excellent point that no one has addressed yet.

"Oh, because he's already 18. And you can only discover your mate after you turn that age." - Momma explained.

"But what if I turn 18 and find out he's my mate then?" - I wondered, causing momma to giggle. I frowned at her.

"Son, if Tristan were your mate he would've already known because he's older than you. Whoever is old enough between the mates can discover the other, as long as they're at least 17." - Momma elaborated in a somber tone. I look disappointed at the news.

"Oh so that's why she said I couldn't know if she was my mate..." - Christian realized it, replaying the conversation of last night in his mind.

"If who was your mate?" - Elodie questioned her brother. His parents are also looking at him wondering the exact same thing.

He's taken aback by her question and their wandering eyes towards him.

"Some townie girl. It's not important. Anyway, I can't wait till my birthday." - Christian deflected, sounding really excited at the prospect.

"Son, don't go wishful thinking that some girl you've just met is your mate. It's not that easy! We don't know if your mate is even from this pack. She can be anywhere in the world." - Gabriel stated, dropping the proverbial cold water on his son's dreams.

Christian looked disappointed at this. Join the club, my friend.

"Right, you're all late for study time. Get up, kids." - Momma snapped us all out of our funk, getting up from the table collecting plates.

"Oh... Just one more thing." - Sarah grabbed our attention once again, remembering something.

"If you do complete the bond, you'll bite your mate on the neck to signal it. It'll leave what is called a mate mark, like this one." - She informed us, pulling her shirt down to expose the mark on her neck.

We all look at that a bit horrified.

"Oh my Goddess, why?" - Elodie asked with a disgusted expression on her face.

"To show everybody you've already been claimed. Werewolves are deeply possessive. We like to mark our possessions." - Sarah said in an amused tone.

"Goddess protects me. I don't want any guy doing that to me." - Elodie said, sounding and looking repulsed at the notion.

Sarah laughed at this as the adults got up and went on their way to do their chores.

"You get to bite him too." - Sarah winked at her with a mischievous grin.

Man, that's a lot of information for breakfast. But that turd was right. I did need to know this. Even if I never discover my mate, I should know I'm entitled to one.

After hours of study time, we break for lunch. In case you're wondering why we are learning on a Sunday, there's no rest for rogues.

We're either working, earning, hunting or studying. We depend solely upon ourselves for everything and if we don't get something done, no one will.

It's not like we can take the family out to a restaurant if we're not in the mood to cook...

Not only we can't afford that, no one would risk that kind of exposure for their whole family.

That's why though we always do group activities, it's usually never all members of a single family.

The men leave camp. The women. The teenagers. But rarely a whole family exits camp together unless they must.

It's a protection strategy, in case one member of the family is compromised for some reason. There has to be another person left to take care of the pup or to go after us, in case of trouble.

Hell, even to break camp and run away if the situation calls for it. However, being this close to winter means that abandoning camp now would be terrible for the children.

Ultimately, we can shift into wolves and find cover somewhere, but they can't. And if they get sick for some reason, we need to have a place to care for them.

Somewhere warm, naturally.

Anyway, case in point...

"Boys, it's Sunday so you know what you have to do." - Momma said, looking at us while we're finishing lunch.

The three of us grunt silently, already tired at the upcoming task. But there's no alternative. We have to fetch water. It's bath day and there're lots of people to bathe.

We get up, brush our teeth and pick up the many buckets at our disposal. Even Elodie is going to help out.

We start the first walk to the river - there will be others - all the while this morning’s subject is still fresh on our minds.

"Isn't this mate business crazy? How are we supposed to find our fated mate if we're alone in the woods?" - I commented, still reeling from that surprising revelation.

"We aren't. That's why our parents chose a mate of their own." - Elodie replied as we walked. She didn't sound so excited at the prospect. As for her brother...

"We need to get out more once we reach Tristan's age. That's the only way." - He stated in a hopeful tone.

"Are you saying I need to abandon my family if I wanna find my mate?" - He inquired, peeved at the insinuation.

"Yeah, I am." - He replied, dryly.

"I don't want you to leave." - I interjected, worriedly.

"He's not your mate, Ali!" - Christian exclaimed, giving me a sideways glance.

"I know that, idiot! Is that supposed to make any difference to me?" - I shot back, annoyed.

"I'm just saying soon enough Tristan will want... adult relations." - He spoke as if he wasn't right beside us walking.

"Ew!" - Elodie shrieked in disgust.

"I wonder what it's gonna feel like when I find them..." - Tristan commented, deflecting.

"I'd like to comprehend how I will know it's really my mate. How can I possibly figure out it's him?" - I wondered, intrigued by the phenomenon.