I am dreading this week.

If there is one date I fear every year since I turned 18, it is my own birthday.

It might sound weird for me to say this, but it's the truth. Every year that I remain unmated is another year lost. Another year that I am yet unmatched. Unpaired. Unhinged.

When I was a child, my birthdays were always special. My parents threw epic parties, catered to my every wish. It was the best of times. That is until I turned 18 and failed to find my mate.

From that birthday on, every single year has been a painful memory that I am simply spending my time watching the days go by. Feeling so small by the lack of pairing. My younger brother is already a proud father of a four year old, he is mated and happy.

Don't get me wrong, he is a great guy who deserves everything that is going well in his life. But I am turning 29 years old in just a few days and still... Where is my mate?

I am forced to face my own failure. My lack of progress. It is a daunting endeavor to face one's shortcomings in life. I have loving parents, a dream job and a trust fund. In theory, I should be insufferable. Not even the fact that I am queer is an issue, not to my family and friends anyway.

I am filled with privileges and yet my life seems empty, devoid of any significance. I love my job and my family, they are what keep me going in life and what gives me purpose. Despite the overwhelming pressure I feel of worrying for the pack's safety, I would never have it any other way.

But I cannot help but feel like I am watching my life go by aimlessly. I have no future, at least in terms of starting a family of my own. I simply cannot do that without a mate. It doesn't work like that for us werewolves.

Unmated puppies are a no go, especially for someone in my position. It is extremely hard for me to adopt any werewolf baby and even so I don't have it in me to do it alone. Nor would I want to relegate childcare to a nanny. Not in the slightest.

Anyway, the point is moot. I do not want a family without my mate. I have no desire to do so. It would only serve to prove my failure to society. It is bad enough I am the unmated Beta of the pack, I don't need to make it worse and attest to the fact that I will never have a normal family.

At this point, my mom and dad would say:

'You'll have a family one day, son. You're turning 29 years old. It's not the end of the world. There are humans who only start a family at 40 or 50.'

Yeah, but I am not a human. I do not wish to start a family at 40, much less 50. Marcus Andersen is already a grandfather at 50. Yeah, he got mated at 17 to his 18 year old mate Brandon, but my point remains the same.

I kind of wish I could spend my birthday away from Regency Falls, but I cannot ask Alpha Phillip for time off in the middle of the week for no good reason. I am an adult with a real job, I cannot behave like a teenager. I can't afford to throw a tantrum.

Like I said before, I do not want to give anybody a reason to doubt my state of mind or question my ability to do my job. Not that anyone is saying unmated people are crazy.

I am not the oldest man to remain unmated, not by a long shot. But I would fly away from here if I could. Though no place is far enough to avoid my parents. They really love me. I know, right? Monsters... *chuckles*

"Good morning, Beta. Is there going to be a party? I am available this Thursday." Iris greeted me as I walked inside the training center. The warriors present also greet me as I pass them by.

"My birthday is on Wednesday." I stared at her, rolling my eyes at her words.

"Yeah, I know. I am just saying I don't have to work on Thursday. I am prepared for a rager." She snickered. I laughed at this, genuinely.

"Rager? At your age? Don't you have to tuck your daughter into bed?" I questioned her with my eyebrows raised, poking fun at her.

"My daughter is 11 years old! It's been a while since I tucked her into bed. These days all she cares about is her cellphone and what videos to watch on TikTok." She shot back in an annoyed tone, breathing out a frustrated sigh.

"I cannot believe you are old enough to have an eleven year old! You look so young! What are you, 40?" I provoked her, who glared at me rabidly.

"I am 35! You know that very well." She glared daggers at me. Naturally, she is mated as well. She has been for the last 17 years. Her mate is an engineer who works for a factory.

"You don't look a day over 30." I complimented her, who does look young. She smiled at me.

"Thank you, Beta. Now that we have dispensed with the pleasantries, Tom wanted a word with you." She warned me with a dreadful look on her face.

"Oh no!" I gasped in shock, already in horror of what he was about to say to me.

Iris remained silent, waiting for me to go upstairs, looking at me with pity in her eyes.

Okay, so this may sound a bit weird to say... again.

Thomas Petersen is the office manager of the pack. Given the fact that we employ 120 warriors plus Iris and Clarkson, just to name a 'few', there is a group of people that deals with the bureaucratic part. They handle Human Resources, payroll, the enormity of paper work that we have to file.

They are the ones who keep the pack afloat, our bills and our staff paid. They work directly with the accountant and are responsible for sending reports to the Wolf Council of our expenses. The pack is a non profit business organization, but our funds are monitored by the trustees.

Given the fact that the majority of the pack employees work here at the training center, it makes sense that their offices should be located here as well. On the second floor, they work to manage the pack and its affairs.

Oh we still haven't gotten to the weird part just yet. No, that is just real life.

There is another date that I dread every year, one that I wish to avoid at all costs.

"Good morning, Tom. I heard you wanted to see me." I greeted him once I walked into his office. It is a furnished room equipped with a computer and a printer. As soon as he saw me, he grimaced.

"Morning, Steph. You know I would not tell you this unless I had to." He spoke in a dreadful tone, getting up from his chair to hug me. He spent a good minute comforting me before he delivered the news.

"I know, Tom. It's not your fault." I assured him, not wanting to blame him for simply relaying pack policy.

"You haven't taken any vacation for almost three years now. The pack doesn't allow for so many vacation days to pile up. You have to take at least ten days before the end of the month." He cautioned me, warily.

Yeah, I told you it was going to be weird. I am sure you are probably rolling your eyes right about now. Forced paid vacations, what a drag... *sigh*

Why would I want time off from work?

With whom would I travel anyway?

Every single person I know works for a living, except for my dad who is a retired Beta. Even so, he volunteers with charity organizations and sits at the board of the Wolf Council. Just like his father before him.

My mom works at the same high school I went to. All my friends have families of their own. So do my relatives. You see where I am going with this? Why would I want a vacation?

It is just another reminder that I am alone. Another reason for me to despair over my lack of mate. This day is really kicking my ass and it is not even my birthday yet. I hate to throw a pity party, but I am not a fan of being by myself.

I mean, I am okay with being alone and having a day off. But vacations are meant for traveling with your family. That is what excited me when I was young and my dad took us on road trips. By road trips, I meant planes. Did I mention my family comes from money?

I lost myself in thought for a minute when Thomas broke me from my spell.

"I would love to take some time off too, but I have to coordinate my vacation with Danny. I'm so sorry." He apologized to me, as if he needed to. None of this is his fault. Daniel MacAlister is his warrior mate.

"Of course, I know that. Don't worry, Tom. I will plan something tropical for me. Maybe visit San Francisco. With so many gays there, I might end up getting mated." I said in a humorous tone. I always wanted to visit California, so there is that.

"That's the spirit, my friend." He encouraged me with a forced smile. Tom and I went to high school together. We have been friends forever, so when he returned home from college I got him this job.

After I left Tom's office, I walked straight out of the center, got into my car and drove to the pack house. If there is one advantage of being the boss, is that I can work as I see fit. I don't have to be at one place all the time, I just follow parameters such as the hours that I have to put in. But I don't clock in or out like a normal employee.

On the other hand, I am also available twenty four seven. One raised threat level and I am back at work.

I spend the rest of my morning locked inside my office, going over reports from the team leaders. As Beta, I need to be on top of the issues regarding safety of our pack.

Which is why Delta is such an important position. Because she is in charge of the warriors and to bring any concerns to my attention, especially those which are not in the report.

It's mostly boring stuff, because when you actually catch something major, there is only a small window of time to act before it's too late.

And in my business, too late is not an alternative. Not at all. That would mean casualties. Goddess forbids it! I do not want any death on my conscience. I know my job could be dangerous since I am in the line of battle. I am okay with risking my own life, but I would never want anyone to die on my account.

Though I am fully aware of that possibility. You cannot do this job if you are not equipped to make a house call to inform the family members of a warrior passing. A death notification. Fortunately, I never had to do this yet in my years as Beta of the pack, but I am aware of the odds.

I work towards never facing this eventuality, but you never know what - or who - you might find in a patrol around the town border. That is why they travel in groups. There is always backup not too far away.

"Double the patrols this week. Put an extra patrol on the night shift. I have a weird feeling, don't ask me why." I told Iris in the afternoon at the training center.

"Done, Beta. As long as you approve the extra expense. I don't need the Council on my back." She said, knowing we are on a budget.

"First of all, you don't answer to the Wolf Council, you answer to me. They are never going to call you to explain expense reports. It's above your paygrade, no offense. But I am here for them, whenever they want." I declared, mildly annoyed at the topic.

"Yes. Beta." She sideways glared at me, before walking away to talk to Clarkson.

Some time later, at the end of the shift, a probational warrior approached me as I moved towards the exit.

"Hi, Beta. Did I hear that your birthday is on Wednesday? Do you need a date for the party?" He greeted me with a charming smile. Immediately, this caught everybody's attention. From the far side of the center to the men [and women] leaving the locker room, ready to go home.

I gasped in shock at his boldness and smiled awkwardly.

"I am ten years older than you." I declared the obvious, rather impressed by his nerve.

"I know. You don't look a day over 25." He flirted, smiling at me with his perfect teeth and natural charm.

"You're sweet, but I don't date warriors. I am scared it would send the wrong message." I shot it down, blushing.

"Oh, I see. And the message is: an extremely gorgeous man shouldn't date me because you're my boss?" He countered, raising his eyebrow. His tone was humorous.

"I am not your boss." I rebuked him, blushing before this 18 year old boy like I wasn't the adult in the situation.

"Great. Then there's no reason for us not to date." He celebrated, cheerfully.

I gasped at how cocky he actually was. That was not the point I was trying to make.

"Again, thank you for the invitation. But I don't date warriors. Have a nice night." I declined, before walking out of the training center.

"If you change your mind by Wednesday, I'm available." He winked at me, flirtatiously.

I left in a hurry, as if somehow I was escaping a cute boy asking me out, which I was. All the while some of the warriors laughed at the unusual situation. I do not get asked out very often at work.

Ninety nine percent of all the men and women who I work with are mated. It's actually 99.9%, not to say that I am any kind of statistician, but with every new class of warriors there is always a chance that one of them - or more - is not mated yet.

Of those, it is even more unlikely for any of them to bat for my team, if you get my meaning. Naturally, we do not discriminate against any candidate on the basis of gender or sexual orientation. There are also Omega warriors in our force, though that is a rare occurrence.

I guess I was just surprised by being asked out like this. Usually, probies are too nervous to even talk to me, let alone ask me out. But here we are. Now I am blushing like a school boy for some reason I am not entirely sure of just yet.

It's not like I haven't been asked out before. I mean... Come on! But never before by one of the warriors. This really was a weird day after all. With my birthday coming soon and me being forced to use my vacation days, this strange event was the cherry on the cake.

On the other hand, it is not shocking for unmated people to date. What other choice do we have while we wait for our mates to discover us? There is no timeline for that to take place. Just look at me, I am turning 29 in two days and still nothing.

Still, I shouldn't. He is one of my subordinates. I am sure he is going to be mated any day now and I will be left to pick up the pieces... of my broken heart when he leaves me.

Oh what a day!

I get inside my house, close the door and walk straight into the bathroom to take a shower. Lupe, my housekeeper, left me dinner in the fridge which I will eat as soon as I get dressed.

In the meantime, I received an alert on my phone. When I picked it up, there was a text message.

'Hi. It's Owen. If you don't want a date for your birthday party, I'm also available for intimate gatherings.'

What the hell? How did he get my number? And who says gatherings anyway?

Is he a spy sent by another pack just to destabilize me? *gasp*

Of course I am joking. He is a legacy kid, meaning his father is also a warrior.

I hate to admit it but I could use an intimate gathering right about now... *sigh*

Not that I am going to text him that. I mean, I probably won't even respond. I should block his number all together. This has been such a weird day. Is it the fact that I am getting older messing with me?

100%.

I poured myself a glass of a very expensive wine that I had to order online. I put my plate inside the microwave and while I wait for it to reheat, I stare at my phone. The nerve of that boy to text me asking me out like that...

I think I need to re-read the employee manual tonight. Just in case.