The Mates of Monsters

Part 1

I'm from a lost place. A place that seems to be nothing more than a small mountain town, nestled in the forest and kept from the world. People don't come around here, and that's how we like it. We are free to be ourselves that way.

I grew up in the trees. We have our houses and stores and parks and other things that humans have grown accustomed to, but we spend most of our time outside, in the breeze and under the stars. That's one thing I'll regret leaving behind-the magic of the mountain night sky. My mother says that in the cities you can't see a thing, only darkness.

But sometimes even the mountain night sky doesn't show enough. I want to see everything. Every star and planet and galaxy-everything that may or may not be-but I had to give up on that dream as I grew up. So I'll settle for the world. I'll hike every mountain range and walk along every beach; I'll get lost in towering cities and lay in flowering fields on rolling hills. I want the freedoms that a human girl my age would have.

My world, well, it has many ways of tying one down.

My mother ignores me when I talk about traveling and adventuring. She says true happiness is in the family-the pack.

She says a lot of things regarding the way I should live my life. My father doesn't say so much. He knows of my ambitions but is far too busy with his position to waste precious family time arguing. As our Alpha's Beta, he's gone early in the morning and doesn't get back till late at night. I thought that maybe it bothered my mother as much as it bothers me, but she's proud to be mated to a Beta.

She only hopes that I get so lucky.

"But if my mate is a Beta, I'll have to leave for-for forever," I counter.

My mother sits down at the table after preparing our dinner. She looks over her plate and picks up her fork. "You're right. I had to leave my pack for months, traveling around just to find my mate with the other girls of age, just as you'll have to now that we know your mate isn't here. Now, maybe if your father wasn't so important we could move to your mate's pack, but, well, things are how they are."

I poke around at my food and say, "You know I'm not doing that."

"Don't, Brigette. Don't start."

I swipe the long, black strands of hair from my face and sit back. My mother tries to ignore me, but she steals glances at my defiance. "I just think it's a waste. Going from pack to pack, possibly across the world just to see if some random guy is my mate. All of these beautiful places, but those girls don't see any of it. I don't even want-"

The sound of her fork hitting her plate cuts me off. She takes a breath. I close my lips, knowing that pushing her buttons won't get me anywhere.

"Where's Dad?" I ask. It's best to change the subject before she goes on a tangent about mates and how much they matter to us.

"You know where he is. I'm sure he'll come home as soon as he can."

It isn't until we've both finished eating that I hear the front door open. I glance to my mother from the table. She's cleaning up in the kitchen, but she stops and calls, "Dale?"

Dad appears from around the corner, his chest sinking as air pours out of him. He's tired-long day-but he always manages to come over and kiss the top of my head.

"I'll heat up your plate," Mom says.

He pulls out the chair beside me and sits down. "What took so long?" I ask.

"We have an Alpha visiting from another pack in a few days," he tells us. "We were finishing up some plans. Actually, the Alpha invited all of us for dinner when the visitors get here."

"Oh," my mother breathes, "how lovely. Please, send the Alpha our thanks."

My Dad glances to me as he says, "Yes, yes, I will." He frowns a little at my face. The last thing I want to do is attend some fancy dinner party for a bunch of high-standing men. "It's just one dinner," he tells me. "All you have to do is say hello, eat, and say thank you."

"How many hours?"

He shrugs. "No more than three."

My lips part. "Three?"

"Brigette, stop it," my mother says as she places my Dad's plate down in front of him. "You can see the Alpha's daughter again. You know how much she likes you."

Our Alpha's daughter is fourteen. All she likes talking about is her first shift nearing and then being able to find her mate. I can't understand why she's waiting for such things already. Her first shift is two years away and her mate at least another four. However, she loves to talk to me about mates because I'm able to find mine. Every time I see her, she asks if I've found him.

I give my Dad another look and he squeezes my shoulder reassuringly.

"I don't know, some Alpha is coming. I guess they get here tomorrow."

"Really? Sounds exciting."

I shake my head. "I have to go to a welcome dinner with my family. The only person I have to talk to is Amabell."

Lindsey and I walk through the forest toward the lake where we often hang out as the sun sets. There is a lovely view there of the sun falling behind the mountains. I had to get out of the house. My mother wouldn't stop rummaging through my closet for something for me to wear tomorrow night.

"Amabell isn't so bad," Lindsey says, trying to make me feel better. "Besides, how many people can say they've been in a room full of Alphas and Betas and Lunas? I don't know about you, but important people are so interesting. It's just exciting to be around them."

"It's less exciting when your Dad is one of them," I say.

"Well, I wish I could go to something like that. If anything, you know there's going to be good food."

We come up to the lake. A gentle fog has settled over the water in the distance, and it draws near as the last bits of color drain from the sky. There are a few fallen trees that we have made into seats by the water's edge. I lay on my back as Lindsey sits next to my head. We relax in the soft noise of the wakening forest around us, but it isn't long until Lindsey shifts beside me and asks, "What are you going to do? You know, out there alone?"

I peer up at her dropped face. "I've told you. I'm going to see the world. I going to swim in the Mediterranean Sea and climb through the Amazon jungle. I'm going to do everything."

"And how are you going to get to all those places? What about money and safety and your family?"

I slowly lift up as I say, "I'll figure it out. I have some money saved up, and safety isn't an issue when you're like us. I'll hitchhike, be a stowaway, sneak-"

"And your family?"

"What about them? They'll be here. My Dad will continue as our Beta and my mom will continue to enjoy it."

Lindsey peers to the side. "But you're their only child."

"Maybe I'll come back for a visit or two," I shrug. "They know that this is what I want. I'm sure it won't be a surprise."

"And your mate?"

"I don't have one."

"Not yet," she reminds me. "But you will."

I watch her sweet face. "I'll be gone before that happens. And trust me, I won't be nearing any pack territories while I'm off."

Lindsey sighs and grabs a pebble from the ground. She fiddles with it before tossing the thing into the water, making a plunking sound as it disappears. I too face the water. Only a faint glow from the sun is left above the mountains.

"We've been friends for a long time," she says.

"I know. You're the only person who gets me here. You're the only person that can see past the pack and mates and all of that."

Lindsey turns to me, swinging one of her legs over the tree trunk to the other side. "So what am I supposed to do when you just run away?"

I swallow. "Well, you have Timothy."

"Yeah, I know, but you're my best friend."

My shoulders drop. I think for a moment then say, "What about that time you said you'd come with me?"

"That was before I found Timothy, Brigette."

"Mates," I murmur. "Now do you see why I don't want one?"

"Hey, I love Timothy. I-I wouldn't give him back for anything."

"I know. We just want different things. You like having a mate. You like being a part of a pack, and I don't, so I have to do what's best for me."

Lindsey falls silent for a moment. "So when are you leaving then?"

"I don't know. Soon, I think. It's about time."

"Will-will you at least say goodbye before you do?"

I glance over, hating the sad look on her face. "Of course. You'll be the last person I see before I go, okay? And if-when I come back, you're the first person I'll look for."

Lindsey takes a breath. Her lips part but before she can speak, a presence from behind us steals her attention. She turns to the shadowed trees and softens. A grey wolf steadily emerges from the darkness. Timothy.

"Looks like your mate's come to bring you home," I say lightly, standing up.

She looks back at me. "He doesn't like when I'm out here too late."

"It's fine," I say. "Go on. I'm going to stay here for a little while longer."

"Are you sure? We can walk you back."

"I'm sure."

Lindsey smiles and makes her way to her mate's side. Her hand strokes the wolf's face in adoration. "Okay, I'll see you later then. And don't stay out too late."

"I won't," I assure her and watch as the two vanish between the trees, heading in the direction of the town's center.

My chest rises and falls as I look back to the lake, out at the water that's growing blacker by the minute. I could leave now if I wanted. I would be keeping my promise to Lindsey; she would have been the last person I've spoken to before escaping. If I left now I would also miss the dinner party that's looming over me like an exam or a doctor's appointment. However, I don't know how to get in and out of the house with both my parents home. I'd have to grab a few things.

The moon appears above me as grey clouds push out of the way. Moonlight shimmers against the water, giving me a peek into the beauty that's out there for me to see. Imagine the moonlight in Paris, over the Eiffel Tower, or the sunrise from a glacier in Greenland.

My eyes close as I picture all these magical places in my head.

I-I should probably go back-just for now. But I'll leave soon.

I promise myself that I'll leave soon.

"Brigette! We have to go!"

I stumble around my bedroom, grabbing my shoes and throwing on a sweater, shrugging it over my exposed shoulders. The simple, yet elegant dress my mother picked out for me squeezes my waist as I bend over to secure each shoe on my bare feet. I hate it-every second in these clothes.

"Brigette!"

"I'm coming!" I call back and hurry down the hall. My hands hold the tough fabric in place as I rush down the steps.

My mother is standing at the bottom, and she turns to me with careful eyes. She scans over every inch of my being to assure I haven't stepped into the wrong shoes or grabbed the grey cardigan instead of the black one. But once she's sure I've followed her instructions, she says, "Alright, let's go. Come on, before we're late."

My mother and father walk ahead of me as we take a short stroll to the Alpha's house. My shoes are stiff and rub against the back of my poor heels, but I try to ignore the discomfort to instead focus on how miserable the conversation at this dinner will be. Whenever I talk to the Alpha or Luna they treat me like a child, like their fourteen-year-old Amabell. No one here sees you as an adult until you find your mate.

As we near the Alpha's house, I feel a strange feeling deep down in my gut. A tickle, but not like I'm going to be sick-it's something else. My parents continue to walk. They talk about the dinner. My mom rambles about seeing the Luna again. My mind starts to wander and I find it hard to focus on anything at all. I stumble over my own feet and they peer back at me.

"Are you alright?" My mom asks.

I quickly straighten up and mutter, "Yeah. Sorry. It's the shoes."

"If you wore them when I asked you to, they would be broken-in by now."

We carry on and my heart beats heavily. I cross my arms and try to shake it off, assuming I'm just nervous to be in a room of intimidating people. It will be fine, though. Amabell and I will go off somewhere and I'll listen to her drone on and on about teenage problems of the feral kind.

When the alien feelings plaguing my body worsen, I consider telling my mother. What if I'm sick? No, she'll just think I'm looking for a way out. But-but this isn't a kind of illness I've encountered before. The feelings aren't necessarily bad. I-I don't know what they are.

I look up and the Alpha's house stands in front of me, daring me to enter with its grand doors and steep roofs. My father climbs the few steps up the porch, but I grab my mother's arm. She turns back to me, and says, "What is it? We're going in, Brigette. It's just for a few hours, you can make it through."

I shake my head quicker than I would like. Seeming vulnerable-it's not something I like to do in front of her.

"Just go find Amabell. I'll come get you girls when it's time to eat."

"Mom," I say, my voice wavering, "I really don't feel well. I-I not making this up, I promise. Just please, don't make me go in there."

Her eyes fixate on me, revealing hints of worry. My Dad stops and turns back to us. She waves him on saying, "We'll be in in a minute."

"Everything alright?" He asks from the door.

"Yes, just go on in."

Dad disappears behind the door, but in the few seconds it opens, something creeps out and wraps around me. My skin pimples and a shiver climbs up my spine. Something is in there, in that house, and it's alluring tactics are rising a panic within me. My mother asks, "You're sick? What's wrong? Are you going to vomit? Speak, Brigie. Talk to me."

Then it hits me.

There's only one thing that this could possibly be.

"Mom," I say carefully, "I can't go in there. I-I have to go home."

"Would you tell me what's bothering you? Is it your head? Stomach? The shoes? What?"

I stare at her. I don't know what to say; I can't think. Maybe a different version of me would conjure up a smart lie, but whatever he's doing to me has wiped me of all scheming, devious thoughts.

"If you can't tell me, then we're going inside. Come on, before they start to wonder," she says and takes my hand.

I trip up the steps. My throat swells closed. My heart vibrates in my chest. She pushes the door open and a warm light shines out. My mother takes me in with a bright smile on her face as she sees the many people gathered in the front room. I'm sure they are chatting; snacking on hors d'oeuvres. And he's here. Somewhere in the room. Standing or sitting. Existing.

"There they are," my father's voice cuts through the noise.

I can't breathe. The air has never felt so thick. She leads me in the direction of Dad's voice. I'm too much of a coward to look up. What if I see him? What if he sees me? What if he's looking at me right now?

"You know Cristina and my daughter Brigette," my father says.

My mother nudges me. I obediently look up. Our Alpha smiles and says, "Of course. It's about time you two came for a visit. Amabell is around here somewhere, Brigette. I'm sure you'll be able to find her. She was very excited when I told her you'd be coming tonight."

"Yes," I breathe, "I should go find her. Could she be upstairs? In her room?"

"Last time I saw her she was with the Luna." He turns to face the crowd, scanning for his daughter's blonde head.

I can't help myself. My eyes steal glances at every face they detect. I'll know him when I see him.

"Maybe she's in the kitchen," our Alpha ponders. He turns back to us and says, "But Dale, Cristina, I must introduce you to our guests."

The guests-he must be one of them. "I-I'll go find Amabell," I say and break away from my parents, desperate to escape this room. I need a plan. I need to collect myself.

On my way to the kitchen, a tall, thin figure steps in front of me. I halt and quickly replace my annoyance with sweetness. It's the Luna. "Brigette," she says, "it's good to see you again, darling. I was just looking for your mother, and I'm sure you're looking for Amabell, aren't you?"

"Oh, uh, yes. I am. My mother is meeting the-the guests."

"The guests, of course. Well, Amabell ran off to the restroom. She should be back any second."

This feels like a game of cat and mouse. I'm trying to find a hole in the wall, but there's nowhere to hide when I'm as sneaky as a flashing red light.

Then I feel it. Behind me.

My body goes stiff.

The Luna peers past me and says, "Alpha Amin, I hope you're finding everything alright. Oh, Brigette, I must introduce you to our guest of honor. It's not every day you get to be in a room with two Alphas, now is it?"

As every known curse word bounces around in my head, I hesitantly turn. And I see Alpha Amin. But what strikes me like a bolt of lightning is the lack of anyone else standing with him. In a single second my face falls, my eyes widen, and I realize that it's him. The Alpha. And the only thing that leaves my lips is, "Oh no."

I look over him. There's no doubt he's of Alpha blood.

"Brigette," he says, riling me as his grey eyes are aimed into mine, "it's nice to meet you."

The sound of his voice calls forth my emotions like a tidal wave. I must be dreaming; this can't be real. It can't be him.

"Brigette is our Beta's daughter," the Luna says, oblivious. "Have you been introduced to the Beta and his mate?"

My eyes gloss over. This is bad. This is the worst-case scenario. He can't look away from me, but I'm under the same spell. "I've been looking for you," he says.

I hate the thoughts that are sprouting in my mind like weeds. No matter how hard I try to yank them out, more and more keep coming through like naughty little whispers, taunting me for thinking such things.

What if he's mean? He looks controlling, intimidating. He looks like one of those Alphas who run their packs like a branch of the military. But it doesn't really matter who he is or how he is because nothing will change the fact that he is my mate. He could be the cruelest man in the universe, and there is nothing I can do.

My cheeks flush and my neck grows hot. Please look away. Just take your eyes off of me.

"Well, I'm sure Amabell is on her way back. Why don't you go find her, Brigette?" The Luna suggests. Can she really not tell? Maybe we aren't as obvious as we should be. What are we supposed to do?

I press my lips together and clasp my hands just to control the shaking. "O-Okay."

Like ripping off a bandaid, I suddenly turn to her then to the hall. Maybe if I pretend none of that happened, I can still make my escape, still be a mate-less girl. For a moment I think that it worked. He must have been pulled away by his men or my Alpha, but footsteps begin to follow from behind me.

I'll need to face this head-on then.

I push through a door left slightly open to my right. I step into the room before realizing it's my Alpha's private office. This is definitely not allowed, but before I can exit, he comes through the door, closing it behind him without hesitation. I would say that my heart is beating relentlessly again, but it never eased up.

His eyes wash over me. Maybe he sees my discomfort. Something about these feelings swirling around in my gut is making me need to vomit. They bump and twist and I clench my jaw just to keep myself from moaning in unease. My eyes fixate on the closed door. Now that we're alone, the terrible hurricane inside of me only worsens.

The Alpha steps toward me, and without a thought, I step back. A breath leaves his lips, his chest sinking with impatience. I stand as stiff as a board.

"I thought maybe it was the audience making you, well, uncomfortable," he says. "You'll have to tell me what it is because I'm out of guesses."

I watch him as a nervous look overcomes my face. My lips part only slightly for the slightest words, but not even those come out.

The Alpha takes a few steps closer, and I feel the desk hit my backside. He pauses. "Don't-don't do that," I breathe, scolding his body for doing what it is wired to do.

"Come near you?" He questions, not taking me seriously.

"Yes."

He breathes in. "That might be a problem, Brigette."

Internally, I'm throwing around every curse word I can think of. How could this happen? Why now? Why him?

"I'm sorry," I say suddenly. "This isn't right. This isn't supposed to happen."

"And what is suppose to happen?"

My arms cross over my chest, restraining myself from doing something stupid. "It's just-you're not my mate."

He takes a seat in one of the carefully placed chairs in front of my Alpha's desk, moving slowly. I stay against the desk, watching cautiously as if he might attack me with his charm or authority or touch-all utterly terrifying. "Everything inside of me believes otherwise. You're my mate, there's no mistaking it."

"But I-I wouldn't be a good one. I would make a terrible mate, trust me. You don't want this."

"Are you trying to convince me to not want you?" He asks.

I look away from his somewhat amused grin. "Frankly, yes. I mean it. I really wouldn't be good at it."

"I always thought this moment would go in a much different direction than it is," the Alpha considers, his haunting voice toying with me. "You know you hear stories about finding your mate, but I can't say I've heard one remotely close to this."

"And what did you expect? For me to run into your arms and have to whisk me off to whatever place you come from?"

I know where he comes from. There are only so many Alphas in the world, so many places secluded enough to house packs of hundreds. He's from east of here-on the coast.

He studies me for a minute. My eyes follow the grown, brown strands of his hair to those few pieces that fall forward. As if he knows where my eyes are, he runs his hand through it, combing the stray hairs back. "You don't want to leave home?" He asks.

"No, I do want to leave home. I just don't want a mate."

The Alpha peers to the floor, sighs, then finds my eyes. "You're fighting it, aren't you? You're defiant, you've made that clear, but there is no point in trying to deny it. So how about you tell me why you don't want a mate."

"I just don't," I say. "I meant what I said. It's just not for me."

"And you know this how?"

I swallow and step away from the desk. "Look, I didn't want a regular mate, but you-an Alpha-you're a prison sentence. I don't want this life. I don't want to be a Luna. Any other girl from any pack would beg the goddess to be your mate, so please, don't-don't try to whisk me away. Don't think that I'll eventually get over myself. Let's just snip this in the bud, alright?"

The Alpha stands up. He looks down at me, unfazed. "I'm sorry, Brigette. But that isn't going to happen."

"Fine," I say softly. "But when I run, just give me a head start, will you?"

His face hardens.

We stand in silence, neither of us willing to back down.

"This could be easy," he says. "You're smart enough to know that running won't get you very far."

"You're so sure, aren't you? You're so confident that the bond is too strong for me to refuse. You'd be surprised at what I'm willing to go through to get what I want."

I jolt when he grabs my hand, sucking in a breath and looking to the connection. I try to pull away, but his grasp is firm. "I don't like being touched," I tell him. The Alpha ignores me, but when he leads me to the door, a panic hits me. "Wait," I order, "no, we can't. We can't go out there."

My feet plant into the ground, and I refuse to move a step more. "My parents are out there."

The Alpha brings his free arm around me, across my back to ease me forward. "Shall we go tell them the news then?" He suggests. Between his touch and the thought of confronting my parents, I don't know what to do first-make a run for it or shove him off.

"No no no. That is not happening. No one is going to know about this."

He steps off and leans against the wall. I settle now that he's distanced himself, but I make sure to keep a close eye. I don't know much about the Amin bloodline; I supposed my mind was always off somewhere else when my father spoke about them. All that information was never supposed to be useful to me. I figured none of his systematic and historical lectures would be of any use to me in the real world-once I get to it, that is.

"I was convinced that this would be the easy part. After the searching, the traveling from pack to pack-finding you was supposed to be the end of it."

My brows dip together. I try to swallow down the guilt. He's supposed to be with his Luna, not stuck with some girl who called their bond a prison sentence. I roll my lips together and think for a moment about how I can maneuver my way out of this mess. He's right-I won't get very far if I run, not when I've already made my intentions clear. If I'm going to make it through this, I may just have to play the game for a bit.

"I can't tell them," I say, "not here, in front of everyone. I'd prefer some privacy."

I know how to work my mother; how to win her over. Same with my father. If I'm going to get anywhere, I need to learn what makes him cave-what he reacts to; what makes him tick. It's clear what he wants from me. He wants a happy mate to take home, to make Luna and spend his life with, wrapped up in the bond. Now he knows I'm-as he said-defiant, but he believes I'll give in.

"Alright," he says. "But we can't stay in here."

"You go back to the dinner. I'm not staying."

The Alpha shakes his head. "No. I'm sorry, but you aren't leaving my sight, not when you're threatening to run off."

"What happened to me not getting far?"

"That doesn't mean I want to chase you," he tells me as his eyes lift.

I shrug as I say, "Well, I'll have to go home. It's not like I'm going to be glued to your side."

"You will tell your parents that you have found your mate, and I will inform your Alpha and Luna. You'll be staying with me until we leave."

A breathy laugh springs from my chest-a cough, as if saying, you're kidding, right? But the look on his face isn't very playful. He peers to the ground as if he doesn't like what he's doing, yet he has to do it. "Seriously?" I question, just to make sure.

"Yes. Seriously."

"I'd prefer to spend my last few days here at home and in my own bed."

The Alpha steps off the wall and surveys me for a moment. "You should have considered that before you asked for a head start."

"I'm not really asking. I'm telling you," I counter. "I'm going to stay at home."

He moves past me and toward the door.

"Hey," I call at him. "I'm sure you're used to people doing whatever you say, but that isn't going to work here. I-I-aren't we supposed to be equals? Because the power feels very one-sided."

"You didn't want things to be easy, so they won't be. You'll tell your parents after dinner. Until then, we can be discrete."

He exits the office but leaves the door open for me. I hear his footsteps trail down the hallway until they join the muffled noise of voices and movements from the front room. Not wanting to be caught in here, I leave and gently close the door behind me.

"Should I even ask why you were in there?"

I jump and turn to the voice. Amabell stands at the end of the hall with her arms crossed.

"Were you talking to David?" She questions.

"David?"

"The Alpha? Alpha Amin? He told me to call him David. My mother said that it's rude to call him anything other than Alpha, so I only call him David when she isn't around."

She stares at me until I answer, "I wasn't. Come on, dinner will be starting."