The Last Alpha King - MIsts of Time

Some steps need to be taken alone.

It's the only way to figure out where you really need to be.

-Mandy Hale

Prologue

There are often times when I wonder how I got to be where I am in my life right now. At 28, I'm the oldest unmated she-wolf in my pack by at least 5 years.

Its not through lack of trying. For over a decade my parents shipped me off to every ball, picnic and diplomatic meeting that, not just the US, no, the world had to offer. All in the hopes that I would find my mate. I think I can safely boast that there is not one pack that I have not either visited or attended some form of function with. Either my mate died young and I never got the chance to meet him, or has not yet come of age. If it is the latter I might as well shoot myself now because I'm pretty sure that would make me the definition if the word cougar.

No, I'm pretty sure my mate is just not out there. Which makes me the main focus of everyone's sympathy in our pack. I hate it. Even widows and orphaned children don't receive the sad looks, and "are you OK dears" that I receive on a daily basis.

There are often times when I wonder how my life would have been different if I had of met my mate. I watch my brother, now an Alpha ruling over the pack, his Luna by his side and he is happy. The love that shines on his face for his wife and children is the most wonderful thing. My heart aches to feel just a fraction of the happiness he possesses.

On the other hand, I am not bound to anyone or anything. I am free to come and go as I please. I feel blessed to have experienced the world and see things that no one else in our pack would dare to dream about seeing. I have met some amazing wolves along the way, wolves that have become lifelong friends.

So yes, I have a lot to feel sad about, but I have so much more to feel joyous about.

No, I will not meet my mate, but maybe I can still have a chance at feeling love?

It was on my 28th Birthday that I decided that I had spent too much time waiting for my mate to appear. I was going to take life into my own hands.

I know my parents are going to be so upset when I tell them, but I have to do this for me, before I'm too old that no one will want me.

Two summers ago, my parents sent me to a pack in the south of England. The Eclipse Pack. The English packs are much smaller that here in the US, but it was during my stay with them that I met my best friend. Steph Black. We clicked straight away. She was bubbly and bright. Like me she was the oldest daughter to the Alpha and we had so much fun together. She had been widowed several years after finding her mate. She had no children. Just a zest for life that was contagious.

Many wolves who loose their mates, young or old, end up giving up on life. Some even die of a broken heart, half of your soul dies along with your mate, and that must be one of the most difficult things any wolf will have to overcome. Steph never let it get the better of her, her mate told her that if anything ever happened to him, that he wanted her to keep on living. That is exactly what she did.

I think that is why I clicked so well with Steph, she was the complete opposite to everyone in my pack. She wasn't happy to dwell on the past or missed opportunities.

The one thing that did not happen whilst I was with the Eclipse pack, I did not get one single sympathetic look or pat on the shoulder. I was just accepted for who and what I was. Treated like any other member of the pack. I didn't want to leave.

Steph's parents offered me a place in their pack if I ever wanted to come back to them. Richard and Joanne Black were the most down to earth Alpha and Luna I had the pleasure to meet. There whole ethos seemed to differ from the rest of the werewolf community.

To start with, they didn't get hung up on titles. Everyone in the pack knew who they were, and they gave them the respect they deserved because of how amazing they were at leading, not because they demanded it of their pack. They had easy going nature, their home was everyone's home. It was the hub of the community, wolves coming and going. Food was always waiting for the next hungry wolf to walk through the door. It was like one big family.

Some may deem this as a weakness, an easy target ready for the taking. Richard knew how to defend his land. His warriors were ready to charge into battle at a moments notice. Every wolf from the age of 12 was trained to defend themselves. Those that showed an altitude for fighting would go up in the ranks and become a warrior.

My favourite part about the Eclipse Pack was their location. They were nestled right in the middle of the New Forest. Not only were there vast area or woodland, but also rugged heathland that is covered in wild gorse and pines.

The pack settlement was built within the confines as a what would have been a massive castle once upon a time. The castle itself is long gone and was now just a pile of stones that had a tendency to slip down ever so often, but outer walls, moat and drawbridge are still very much intact.

I have never felt a connection to one place like I did to the Eclipse pack.

So on my 28th Birthday, as I blew out the candle on the cake my beautiful niece made for me, I made a promise to myself. That I was going to move away from home, and I was going to forge my own path.

That is what lead me here, to the Alphas office, waiting for my brother to answer the door. I know he would not be happy. I also knew that he would not stop me. His main concern is my happiness.

I truly believe that the Eclipse pack is where I'm meant to be.

Are you sure about this, Rosie?" Jace asked me with a sigh. He had not taken my news well. I had always been there for him. Even when he was made Alpha, I had been acting Luna for several years until he found his mate. We were as close as any brother and sister could be.

Even now, with Madeline at his side, I was an asset to his pack. I had guided our new Luna in her newfound responsibility. When she was heavily in pup, I stood in for her where I could. I knew almost everything about the running of the pack and our defensive strategies. Information that in the wrong hands could be catastrophic.

"Yes Jace. I need this." I take one of his hands in mine and looking into his eyes I pleaded my case. "I am 28 years old. Unmated and I have never found love in this pack. When I visited the Eclipse pack, I felt whole. I don't know how to explain it." Letting go of his hand I walk over to the window and look out over the pack lands.

"Do you remember when you met Madeline, I asked you what it felt like to he mated?" Jace gives a small nod. "You said it felt like you had found the missing piece of yourself that you never knew you needed. That you heart beat solely for her. That you every waking and sleeping moment you thought about her. When you walked away from her, you felt a deep pain in your soul because of missing her so much.

"That is how I felt whilst staying with the Eclipse Pack. Now my heart aches with longing to be there. I know that it where I am meant to be at this moment in time. It is the only place I have felt true happiness since I was 17, with the first flush of hope that one day I should meet my mate. The only place I have truly felt at home."

Jace looks at me sadly. I could see his inner turmoil at letting me go and how my words have affected him. It was never nice being told that your own flesh and blood felt more at home in a foreign pack, than she did in the place she was born and grew up. I knew he would worry for me. He wasn't worried because I would betray him. He knew that would never happen. He was worried because he would not be able to protect me any longer, that his sister would be out there alone. Not ever her mate to stand by her side.

"This isn't about Mum and Dad is it?"

"What, Goddess no Jace. This is just about me. About where my heart is leading me."

"If you feel this strongly Rosie, I will not stop you. Just know that I love you, and you will always have a place here. No matter how far you go, or for how long. This is your home. We will always be your family." A lonely tear slips from his eye before he engulfs me on his signature bear hug. I breath in his familiar notes of pine and honey.

Jace will forever be my big brother. I will always love him. We had always know this day would come. As a daughter our fates are always going to be to leave home when we find our mates, usually moving into our mates new pack. Usually a she wolf is much younger than I when this happens. I have been the exception to the rule for too long. Jace is settled as Alpha now, he has his own family. I have helped him as much as I can. Now I need to find out who I am.

"Thank you for understanding." My voice is muffled against his chest. "I love you big brother."

"I love you too Rosie." Jace kisses me on the head before reluctantly letting me go. "When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow afternoon."

"You should come to dinner tonight then. Say a proper goodbye."

"That sounds good. I'll see you tonight." With that I turn and leave Jace's office and the pack house. Heading for the one place I dreaded the most. My parents house.

**

"I'm sorry, but I do not understand you Rosalie!" My mother's shrill voice rang out through the house. "Why on earth would want to leave your home?" I had now been listening to her rambling for 3 hours straight and I could feel a headache forming in my temples.

"Mother please, we have been over this. I just feel like that is where I need to be."

"You've been there Rosalie, 2 years ago, do you not remember? Did you find your mate, no! So why go back. It is obvious he is not there. That is the only reason that I can think that you would want to throw you whole life away for!" her hands flayed about around her head. I couldn't help but wonder if she might take off in a moment. At least it would save me for the impending migraine heading my way.

"I am not throwing my life away Mother. And I am also not looking for my mate there." I sigh in irritation.

"Eleanor, its obvious our daughter has her reason. Can we not be done with this now. She is old enough to make her own choices in life. It seems to me that she is set on making this one." My Dad seem as irritated as I about Mother's questioning.

"Thank you, Dad." I get up relieved.

"Where do you think you are going Rosalie, this conversation is not over." I turn to look at my Mother. She was the complete opposite to me in every way. She was tall, slim and wore a tight fitting beige dress which hugged her fantastic figure. Her brown hair falling around her face in loose curls. She was beautiful. At the age of 50, she looked more like a supermodel than most 20 year olds. She had long brown hair which was always perfectly styled with not a hair out of place. Her makeup flawless. Unlike me, the wild red headed beast that looked like I had spent most of my life crawling through bushes.

"Actually Mum, it is. I am going whether you agree or not."

"And what about your mate? What about finding him?"

"Haven't you realised by now? I don't have a mate. I'm 28, I can't live the rest of my life waiting for someone who may or may not come looking for me. I need to start to live!" I was starting to loose my patience with this conversation. "I'll be at Jace and Maddie's tonight. You're welcome to come. But I won't be rehashing this conversation, so if you can't accept my decision, don't come." With that I turn and storm out of the house. The door slamming behind me.

Mine and my mother's relationship had been strained for as long as I could remember. I was always a bitter disappointment to her because I wasn't into fashion and makeup. She wanted a daughter that she could play dress up with and try out all the latest trends on applying eye shadow. It just wasn't me.

Give me a pair of jeans and t-shirt over a dress any day. I wanted to be outdoors, dirt under my feet and skinny dipping with my friends in the local swimming hole.

Every time I came home I would get a dressing down from her. "Why can't you be more ladylike Rosalie." "What will you mate think when he sees you like this Rosalie." "Your mate will mistake you for a boy if you're not careful Rosalie." "Rosalie, why don't you let your hair down instead of pulling back all the time."

She was ecstatic when Jace found his mate. Jace was a year older than me, and 24 when he found his mate. She is three years younger than him, and was the daughter of a pack warrior from a pack on the south coast. More of a prima ballerina than a cold-blooded killer.

Finally, mother had another girl who she could help get dressed and talk about girly things with. Maddie was perfect in Mother's eyes, exactly what a Luna should be. Despite her lack of breeding, as mother put it. She was sophisticated and had the most kind heart.

It was hard not to love Maddie. Despite the fact she was now the favoured female in the family. I didn't care though, not really. I had started spending more and more time away from home when Maddie took her rightful position as Luna. Jace used me as his emissary. During my younger years when I was flown her there and everywhere, I had made a lot of connections which made me the perfect fit for the role. A role that I loved because it meant that I did not have listen to my mothers disappointed lectures on why I had not yet found my mate.

My Father, Ryan, was a typical Alpha. Growing up he was not at home much. The time he did spend at home, his mind was generally elsewhere. He loved us in his own way, but he wasn't paternal. He looked at us more as carrying on his family line and securing his pack, rather than a loving family to come home too.

He raised us the same way as he treated his pack, with a firm but fair hand. He would listen to our concerns, but his word was final. He also recognised that sometimes we had to make our own mistakes and learn from them. He always made it clear that he wouldn't pick up the pieces if everything went wrong though. It made us stronger. More capable of dealing with a less than perfect life.

When Jace took his position as Alpha, he ruled very much in the same way. The fundamental difference between my father and Jace was that Jace loved his family. He made time for them everyday. He was sure to tell them he loved them, and he picked them up and dusted them off when ever they fell. Family meant everything to Jace. He was the perfect Dad. It was him that I would miss the most.

I wondered down my parents gravel driveway, looking about the front yard. Most of my happiest memories growing up were running around in this yard. Jace was in every single one of them.

There was one time that we built a tree house up against an old sycamore from odd bit of wood we found out in the forest and around the house. It was completely mismatched and had so many holes in it, that as soon as it rained the water streamed straight through. We were bitterly disappointed after pleading with our parents to allow us to have a camp out for 3 days, only to be woken during the middle of the night to a sopping sleeping bag and a horrendous cold the next day.

I mad my way over to Jace's place, after the torture I had just been through I needed to see a friendly face. My mouth broke into a toothy grin as Ellie, my 4 year old niece came running out of the front door towards me. Her brown hair billowing out behind her.

"Auntie Rosie!" She shouts. Running into my arms and giving me the biggest hug around my neck. "Auntie Rosie, is it true that you moving away?" she pulls back her mouth turned down into a frown.

"Yes baby, but I will video call you as often as I can." I push her hair behind her ear and cup her face. "And if you ever need me, I will come straight home and be with you, OK?" Ellie gives me a small nod. The good thing about 4 year olds, is that they don't stay down for long.

"Are you going to find you Prince Charming?" her smiling face once again beamed at me. I laugh loving how she bounces back everything.

"Maybe. Although he doesn't have to be a Prince. Charming is good enough for me." I give her a quick wink, before taking her hand in mine and walking towards the house. Looking forward to soaking up some of Ellie's contagious happiness.

"Wake up, we've landed." A man's voice whispered in my ear.

"Hummm." I grumble back to him, snuggling myself into the pillow. A very hard lumpy pillow. Goddess, did someone put a brink in the damn pillow. My eyes flutter open sleepily, it was only when I see a man's face staring down at me a smug smile on his face that I register where I am. Sitting up with a start I look around myself and all the other passengers collecting their belongings and vacating the plane.

I look back to the smug looking man next to me. My cheeks heating in embarrassment. I look down at his shoulder where I spent most of the flight sleeping against only to find a very wet patch where I had drooled.

I wipe my chin hastily which only seemed to make the stranger smirk harder.

"I'm so sorry, you should have woken me sooner." By now I'm sure my whole face had gone scarlet with embarrassment.

"Its no problem doll." He replies before giving me a wink and standing from his seat. He lifts his arms above his head to retrieve his bag from the overhead bin. Offering me a view of his midsection. He most definitely did it on purpose, he was toned, and he had a sexy snail trail that disappeared into the top of his jeans.

"Like what you see?" He spoke up again, his tone suggesting a deeper meaning.

"Hah, you wish Mr." I sit back into my chair and cross my arms over my chest waiting for him to finish getting his things so I could get off the plane. Looking out of my little window at the grey sky and tarmac of the runway. There was a fine drizzle coming own which just made everything seem dim and depressing. "Welcome to the UK!" I tell myself brightly.

"Shame." The man said with another smirk before disappearing down the aisle. My eyes follow his back in mock disgust. OK I fell asleep on your shoulder, doesn't mean I want to jump into bed with you! Ergh, what an asshole.

I pull myself up from my chair. Grapping my small carry on case from the over head bin and follow the few remaining passengers off of the plane.

The one good thing about being one of the last off of the plane is that my suitcase was waiting for me on the baggage carousel as I entered baggage reclaim.

I quickly managed to get through "nothing to declare" and headed for the taxi rank. I was just about step outside when I was literally barrelled down and knocked off of my feet.

"OH MY GODDESS ROSIE!" someone screamed in my ear whilst pinning me to the floor in a massive bear hug.

"Steph?" I try to get up, but found that I could not move under her weight. "Goddess Steph you're crushing me."

"Oh sorry." She says with a grimace as she climbs off of me and offer her hand to help me up. Pulling me back up my feet I look at the girl in front of me.

"It is so great to see you Steph!" My smile broke into the widest smile as I pull her into another hug.

"I can't believe you are actually here. And to stay! We are going to have so much fun!" she squeals. "Where are your bags? Is this it? Goddess I would have had to pack at least 4 more of these bad boys if I was moving halfway across the world." She grabs my modest suitcase before pulling it and me towards a door that says "EXIT".

"I'm hardly a high maintenance kind of girl Steph, as you know." I roll my eyes at her.

"Yes, all to well. Has your hair ever seen a brush." She asks her eyebrow cocked up and a large spoonful of sarcasm dripping from her mouth.

I push her shoulder in jest. Goddess I have missed this. Of course Jace and I had always had fun together. But not like this, I felt carefree, like nothing could possibly get me down.

"Common the cars this way." She walks forward with me trailing behind. "You picked the best time to be here by the way."

"Really, whys that?"

"Tomorrow is the start of the Eclipse festival!" steps voice rising with excitement. "Its going to be awesome. And don't think for one minute you are getting out if anything. Your apart of this pack now. And that means you have to join in. That includes me doing your hair and makeup! Eeek! Don't worry I have already picked you out a killer dress." She looks back winking at me, her eyes sparkling with anticipation. Me, I was groaning inwardly. I had just travelled 10 hours to get away from being sent to every stupid function to find my mate, what I didn't want right now was to find myself going to another one. But I just smiled as brightly as I could and said nothing. After all this time would be different. I wasn't going in the hopes that "he" might be there. I was going because I was starting a new life, in a new pack.

"What's the Eclipse Festival?" I ask.

"Well duh, its the celebration of the Lunar Eclipse." She looks at me like this should be obvious. And I suppose it was if I thought about it. To be honest I hadn't really been paying too much attention to the moon's cycles recently, its not like it effects me. Most mated she wolves literally revolve around the moon cycle. A full moon being the period where a she-wolf goes into her haze, or heat as some call it. When she is most fertile. She will become a sex mad beast ravaging her partner. Not that the men complain much. Still its not something I have ever been apart of, so I haven't given it much thought.

"Sounds like fun! Can't wait to be surrounded by hundreds of horny wolves." I reply sarcastically as I can"

"Oh hush!" Steph nudges me gently in the shoulder laughing. "Its not all about sex, there will be stories and a massive bonfire. And tomorrow night there will be a massive party in the woods to celebrate the Eclipse. It will be fun." She stops beside a bright red Freelander and pulls a key from her pocket. "Plus this year is extra special because the Eclipse is falling on Mabon."

"Please tell me your pack hasn't turned into pagans since I wasn't last here." I say with a groan.

Steph burst into a fit of giggles as she lifts my suitcase into the boot of the car. "Goddess no, but it is the start of the Autumn Equinox, which is suppose to bring great change. Pretty fitting for you, no?" she lifts her brow and slams the boot shut before walking around to the drivers seat. "Common lets get out of here." Smiling at me, we hop into the car and she pulls out of the car park.

The journey from the airport to The New Forest was about 3 hours. Most of the time we passed catching up with each other. It turns out that Steph's younger sister Riley was mated to a Beta in a northern pack last year, which meant that she and her brother were the last left at home now. Her brother Drake had taken over as Alpha just after I left 2 years ago, having found his mate. I asked how it made her feel, seeing as she lost Marcus, her mate, her family now finding mates of their own. It must have brought up painful memories of his loss. But she was determined to be happy for her family. Never dwelling too long on Marcus. I let the subject go.

She asked about how Jace was getting on with running the pack, about my niece and my parents. It felt good to talk to someone different who understood.

The time soon past, and before long the trees started to thicken as we headed further into the new forest. We passed through several little villages. All the perfect Chocolate box houses that England are so well known for. And then it came into view, my most favourite scene ever.

"Stop the car Steph, I want to get out." Steph pulls to the side of the road and the car draws to a stop. I step out of the car. The air was still thick with drizzle, and I wrapped my arms around myself against the September chill. The promise if Autumn just around the corner.

In front of me sat the sprawling outer wall of the old Bailey, the last surviving part of the Castle Black. In its centre was a few crumbling stone walls where the castle would have once sat proud and strong. A deep moat ran around the perimeter.

The Eclipse pack no longer lived within the wall of Castle Black, but it was still used on occasions such as weddings and other ceremonies. I suspected that the Eclipse Festival tomorrow night will be held here. Most of the ground with the walls had been taken over by shrubs and grass from lack of use. Regardless of the run-down state it was still breath-taking.

Castle Black was one of the main reasons I loved the Eclipse pack so much. When I was last here, I would come and sit in amongst the bushes and just listen to the sounds all around me. A sense of peace filled me as I listened to the breeze rustling through the shrubs about me or around the stone walls. Birds tweeting in the sky above me, or in their nests they had created amongst the cracks in the stones.

My favourite part about the Castle, was a stone I found buried in the earth under a large oak tree by the northern wall. The initials A.W.B + R.S were carved into the old stone. I always daydreamed about who those people were. I was sure that they must have loved each other very much to immortalise themselves in stone. The fact that one of them held my initials only romanticised the daydream even more in my mind. What it would be like to love someone so much. A feeling if wistfulness passed through me. As I look across at the stones in front of me, the wind blowing from behind me I can't help but feel a little sad. Sad that the Castle has been lost, sad for the people that once occupied it. Sad that it I'll never have the chance to know the lovers who carved the stone.

"Rosalie" A skiver ran up my spine.

"Humm?" I turn to look at Steph who is currently stood leaning against the car door, phone in hand texting someone. She looked up in question.

"I didn't say anything?"

"I swear you just said my name." I look about to see of there was someone else in the area that perhaps had called out to me.

"Umm nope, not me." Steph raised a brow looking at me like have gone mad. I felt like I had gone mad. "Common we ought to get back. Mum and Dad are so looking forward to seeing you again."

She pulls her door open and jumps back in her car. I follow after her, still looking around bewildered. I could have sworn someone said my name. I shrugged my shoulders and got into the car with Steph, before she pulled back onto the road and carried on our journey to the Eclipse Pack.