Chapter 1 I Found Her

ALPHA ERIC'S POV

I couldn't breathe so I struggled.

I tried to grasp onto something just so I could have control over the panic rising inside me but there was nothing and no one to offer me help as I kept on sinking beneath the invincible pressure that suffocated me.

Suddenly, my alarm rang and I woke up with a long gasp as the pressure disappeared and I could finally drag in air through my nostrils.

I turned off my alarm before palming my face in despair while wishing these horrible nights would come to end someday but I knew that was impossible.

My life had been this way since I clocked eighteen and was crowned Alpha of my pack after my father's death but I never stopped being wishful because I believed that someday, my predicament would end.

It was a generational family curse. All the men in my family died on the day they clocked forty and they all died the same way... they suffocated in their sleep.

I was thirty five already and I didn't have a mate nor did I have an heir to continue my lineage and knowing I had just five years left was very unsettling but I tried my best not to let it weigh me down.

I had a business to run, a pack to be responsible for as the Alpha and a mate to find before the rest of my five years would be over so wallowing in this misery wasn't an option for me.

With that, I pulled myself out of my despair, switched my mood to a better one and got out of bed to prepare for the day.

I checked my calendar and realized I had quite a lot to do for the day so I quickly got ready for work and when I walked to the living room, my gamma, Victoria, was waiting for me with a large grin on her face.

"Good morning, Alpha Eric. I trust you had a good night?" She asked me and I gave her a blank stare in response, only to see her smile vanish as she understood immediately.

"OH! You didn't? I thought the remedy my mum sent this time would work. I'm sorry, Alpha" she apologized with a pout but I waved her off so she wouldn't feel too bad.

"It's not you or your mum's fault that I'm built this way so she should stop making these remedies for me. It's been ten years since she started giving them to me and I still can't breathe whenever I fall asleep" I told Victoria and she sighed.

"Your dark circles are looking more visible day by day and as the Alpha, it doesn't make you look healthy. So don't blame me if I always feel the urge to help" she replied but I shook my head in amusement as response while we made our way to the dining room to have breakfast.

"I have five years left to live, Victoria. So I don't think looking healthy should be my priority now. Leaving a thriving pack behind after my death is more important to me, okay?" I said to her and she gave me a long pitiful stare before she broke eye contact and sat down with a huff.

"I hate to think about how you won't be here with us five years from now. It's such a scary thing to know the day you die" she shared her frustration with me and I understood her plight but I just chuckled in response just as the maids began to serve us breakfast.

"You'd better get used to the thought now, so it'll prepare you for my absence after I die" I replied and she glared at me.

"Don't say that Alpha. You never know what could happen" she reprimanded me as I began to eat but all I did was smile as I chewed.

It was my fate, my destiny, and it was depressing as hell to know that I was dying soon but I couldn't do anything about it and I also couldn't show it was weighing me down because I was the Alpha.

My people looked up to me so being vulnerable and weak wasn't even in the cards for me.

Even if I was dying the next day, I would still perform my duties as the Alpha because all I wanted was to make my people happy.

As I ate, I suddenly realized I hadn't seen my beta since I got out of my room so I turned to Victoria who was busy stuffing her face with food.

"I haven't seen Matt. Have you heard from him today?" I asked her and she paused, her fork suspended just a few inches from her mouth as her eyes widened.

"Shit! I forgot to tell you. His wife passed out last night so he took her to the hospital and they found she's pregnant. They want to carry out a scan before they leave so they're still at the hospital"

She explained the reason for my beta's absence to me and my fork dropped to the table on hearing that my beta was going to be a father soon. We had to pay them a visit.

"Come on, get up, Victoria. We're paying them a visit in the hospital" I urged my gamma to forget about her breakfast and follow me and she looked puzzled.

"What? Why?" she asked but I didn't give her a reply.

I just grabbed her hand, pulled her out of her chair and together, we both walked to our cars before I finally let go of her hand.

"Matt is going to be a dad soon so it's common sense to take a gift to them while they are still in the hospital. Get into your car while I call my personal assistant to prepare something suitable for a mother to be because we're going together to check on them and share our joy about his news"

I said to Victoria and she nodded in understanding before getting into her car while I called my personal assistant, Mirabel, to get me a gift basket.

Then I got into my car too and together with Victoria, we both drove out of the premises of my house, leaving for the hospital together.

Soon, we arrived at the hospital and even though I wasn't too fond of hospitals, I knew I was there on a good note... to congratulate my beta on becoming a father, so I really didn't mind being there.

Holding onto the gift basket Mirabel had gotten for me, I and Victoria made our way to the ward where Matt and his wife were and it was a cheerful morning for everyone as we all rejoiced over the good news.

Then my phone began to ring and when I checked, it was a call from Mirabel which meant it was about work and it was urgent.

So I excused myself to leave the ward before taking the call and it was quite a lengthy phone call with one of the executives who wanted to know when I'd show up for the company's morning briefing with the executives.

Once I was done, I tucked my phone into my pocket and made my way back to the ward but then a patient in a critical condition was brought in through the emergency doors and soon, a lot of nurses and doctors ran past me toward the room the patient was taken to.

I didn't pay any mind to them as they panicked to and fro but then one of the doctors bumped into me while she was trying to put on her gloves and she lost her balance, falling straight to the floor with her back but I caught her just in time and pulled her up to her feet.

With her wrapped tightly in my arms, our eyes met and stayed locked and I didn't know why, I couldn't even explain it but I was immediately mesmerized by her and I wanted to drown in her baby blue eyes as her brown bangs got in her eyes.

I could tell that she was human because she didn't recognize me as an Alpha.

All she did was give me a wide eyed stare from the shock she just went through and I knew it was time to let her go but then my nose caught a scent coming from her and my wolf was immediately alert in my head as my eyes widened and my mouth parted in surprise.

It suddenly felt like time had slowed down between the two of us once I realized the woman I was staring at was the mate I had been searching for all my life and subconsciously, I held onto her even tighter, causing her to gasp in response.

So she quickly pulled herself out of my hold before fixing her gloves with a nervous chuckle while all I could do was stare at her dumbfoundedly as I tried to accept the fact that I'd just found my mate... in a human!

"Doc, you're needed immediately in the ward" a nurse interrupted our moment and she blinked before looking away from me to turn to the nurse.

"I'll be there right now" she said to the nurse, her soft voice washing me and the nurse walked away while I focused my gaze on her name tag.

"Thank you for saving me earlier but I really have to go now to save a patient. I'll always be grateful" she said and with that she was gone.

But I got her name. Her name was Iris Gallagher and she was my mate.