Jake
"Under the oath as the Beta of the Blood moon pack, I will do my best to assist Jake I'm finding his fated mate."
He wants to snort at those words.
He didn't want to find a mate, didn't want to be an alpha. He was still young and didn't want to be saddled with all these responsibilities and duties being an alpha meant.
Most of all, he didn't want help in doing so, especially from her.
He kept quiet as his father relaxed at her declaration, weight leaving his shoulders.
The alpha turned to his mother, "Would you and Jake excuse us? We have pack business to attend to."
She nodded and got off the seat with happiness evident in her eyes. He nodded and turned away, leaving the doorway and entering the hallway with his mother.
"Jake." He felt his mother's hand touch his.
"You've been tense for a while now. What's wrong?" She asked, her eyes reached his own filled with worry.
"I just...I don't see the point."
With his mother's silence he continued
"All this, being the alpha, having a mate, I don't see the point. I've been on my own for a long time now and there's been nothing wrong with that. Dad's awake now. He's still recovering so I don't get why we're talking about this."
"Because Jake, your father as well as I have realized that we cannot do this forever. We are already old and it's soon time for you to lead. You and you mate-"
"We don't even know if I actually have a mate out there mother."
"Don't be silly Jake, your fated mate might be somewhere." His mother chided.
"I don't get why all this is necessary. Besides, you heard why the Beta said. She might be dead for all we know-"
"Jake!" His mother shut him up with a look. Her look softened and her hands touched his cheek leading him to meet her eyes
"You may not understand now, but having a mate, a fated one is the most precious thing you can ever imagine."
He shut his eyes and bit the inside of his cheek, bowing lightly.
"I didn't ask for any of this, being an alpha, a mate, I'm not ready for any of it." He said.
"Oh my dear," she came closer and gave him a comforting smile "no one ever is."
Their conversation was interrupted by the slight sound of movement. He and his mother both turned to see Irene standing at the doorway, her body directed at the entrance. She equally looked surprised.
"We'll continue this conversation later." His mother whispered to him before turning to meet the Beta.
"Did you think that you would escape my sight?" His mother spoke.
He heard her reply to his mother and turned his head to the side with a huff.
He looked at her and turned away. He hates how much reverence his parents gave her. His jaw clenched as he heard his mother invite her for dinner.
She made eye contact with him, her hazel eyes meeting his. For a few seconds he felt himself get sucked into the void of these eyes before he realized what he was doing.
The moment he realized, he channelled all the disdain in him onto his face as he met her eyes, before turning away to storm into the door behind him.
The last thing he heard as he left the hallway was a muffled "please ignore him."
His hands curled into fists. She was just a beta, younger than him, yet he is the one who is treated like a child. Passing the hallway he took the stairwell to his room.
He dropped his shoes on the black carpet then covered all th floors and lay on the dark brown satin sheets with a sigh.
In several days, his life had turned upside down.
He was still trying to process the new developments which he will now have to face. From his father's collapse to him assuming th Alpha position and now he had to find his mate? Even in the several days he stayed it was still too much to process. Several things were clear though.
He was sure that he didn't want a mate. At first once he turned 18, he was ecstatic to find his mate. Years had passed an he hadn't found his fated mate. It has been years since and now he is used to his current lifestyle. He wasn't one for stability or faithfulness any longer, preferring to have flings here and there. This was why he was also unwilling to find his mate.
For the second time in a long time he prayed to the Moon Goddess, hoping that his father gets better so he won't have to go through any of this.
Suddenly, a loud sound rang close to his ear. His sensitive hearing made him rise in haste at the sudden sound, bringing his hand to his ear to nurse it. He looked to the bed and calmed down.
It was just his phone that was ringing on the bed.
Picking it up, he looked at the screen to know who was calling. It was William, one of his human friends and party buddies.
He answered the phone, ensuring to lower the volume before answering.
"Hey Will."
"Jake." The voice was drawled and slurred and there was loud music at the background. He must be drinking in a club.
"Where are you man?" The voice asked.
He hesitated for a moment, not wanting to reveal anything. He cleared his throat before replying "I'm at home Will. What's up?"
"Okay let's forget about that. Look dude,-" the voice cut off as other noises remained, crackles came out of the line. Soon a slamming sound and the noise became muffled "dude you there?" The voice asked
"Yes will I'm here." He replied
"So, I heard some info from a friend i know. Apparently, there's a party going on in a few days from now. I heard it's some super rich guy sponsoring the party so it'll be way better. There's going to be super cool drinks and stuff. Mark and the others are coming too. So you in?"
He was about to answer but hesitated. Of it was any other time he would have accepted with no problems. But now he thought of his father sick on the bed and the tired face of his mother, and couldn't help but bite his tongue.
He inwardly groaned in reluctance before he answered
"Sorry man, no can do. I don't think I could go this time."
There was a pause through the phone before a disbelieving "what?"
"I think I'll sir this one out."
"What do you?.. what do you mean? -Holy shit I'm gonna puke- dude what's wrong with you? You've never missed out on any party like, ever."
My dad is sick and now everyone is looking to me to be the next Alpha despite not wanting to and in order to do so I have to have a mate who I'll be with for the rest of my life.
But he knew he couldn't say any of that so he simply replied
"I just have some business to sort out at the moment."
A slight crackle from the phone before the voice "Business? Never thought you out to be a business man..."
"Will..." It was obvious that the man was going on a drunken ramble
"Then again, you always paid for the drinks a lot..."
"Hello?" He said, hoping that it'll bring Will back to the topic.
It seemed to do the trick as there was a pause before Will spoke again "Uh...yeah. Just...think about it okay? It's about....four days from now. No rush, no biggie hm?"
He sighed "okay. I'll think about it."
"Cool." Will's voice said, soon after there was a bang with a muffled voice saying "who locked the door?"
He turned off the call right after before lightly flinging his phone to the other side of the bed and laying down again.
After a few minutes, tired of staring at the intricate patterns of his mahogany ceiling, he flipped to his side and closed his eyes.
Minutes after, he heard familiar footsteps and stiffened slightly before relaxing, making sure to slow down his breathing and relax his heartbeat.
Three knocks sounded at his door. "Jake? You awake?" It was his mother.
He didn't want to continue the same conversation as before, knowing that it was likely to share the same result.
He maintained his feigned sleeping even as after another set of knocks, the door opened. He felt his mother's gaze, probably gauging if he was asleep or not. After a moment she seemed convinced as he heard her whisper "Sweet Dreams." Before stepping back.
His eyes flicked open as the door shut. He looked to the tiny weave patterns of the brown satin sheets.
What was he going to do now?