The Lost Mate

Max

The moment Will stopped the car on the pack territory I jumped out of the vehicle. I ripped my clothing off, shifted, and ran as fast as I could until I picked up the beautiful scent that was so clear in my mind. Following my nose, it didn’t take me long to find myself at a family home, and already I knew who lived in the house, Lillian who was in my grade, and her sister Hannah who was a few years older than us. Both were unmated, so either of them could be the one I was looking for. My heart pounded in my excitement as I approached the front step.

I should have headed back and grabbed my clothing, but my wolf wasn’t cooperating with leaving now that she was right there. Instead of fighting a losing battle with him I walked to the door and thumped it with my paw in my best canine imitation of a knock.

The door opened a moment later and Hannah peered out, curious brown eyes and brown hair pulled up into a high bun. She smelled just like she always did, nice but nothing special. A wide knowing grin split her face. “Hey Max. I’m guessing you’re looking for Lillian?”

“I hope so.” I remembered Lillian well from before I’d recognized the bond. She was already really pretty with light brown hair and soft brown eyes and sweet even without my wolf’s influence, so with the bond amplifying everything...I couldn’t even imagine how ridiculously perfect she was going to be. I just wanted to see my mate now. My mate. Mine.

“Would you like to borrow some clothing, or...?”

I grimaced my maw. I really should have come back in my human form, but... “Yes, please.”

She grinned again, almost manically, and left. I tried not to pace while I waited for way too long, although it was probably only a couple of minutes in reality. I began to worry about why my mate hadn’t come down to see me the moment I had arrived. Did Lillian somehow not know that I was there already? What was she doing? Did she not want to see me for some reason? Was she disappointed now that she knew it was me?

Hannah returned and tossed me sweatpants that looked exactly like their father’s. Not what I wanted my mate’s sort-of-first impression of me to be. I regretted not having the foresight to just carry the minimum amount of my own clothing in my teeth as I ran, but I just hadn’t been thinking straight.

She turned around, and I cringed as I quickly shifted and pulled them on. Once I was done, Hannah turned and dangled a shirt out in front of her. “Maybe I shouldn’t give you this. I’m guessing she’d like the view better this way.”

Embarrassed, I grabbed the t-shirt before she could reconsider and snatch it away. “Where is she?” I asked.

She paused for a moment, clearly linking her sister. Then she said out loud, “Just give me a minute,” and disappeared up the stairs.

I resisted my wolf’s urge to pace back and forth like a caged beast. I could hear the low rumble of feminine voices, but couldn’t make out much thanks to the house’s soundproofing. Finally I heard Hannah growl and snap, “He’s not going to care! Get down there!”

Then footsteps at the top of the stairs, and I watched as her body came into view. She was wearing modest shorts and a t-shirt and looked mouth-wateringly good. I was glad I’d transformed back to human because my wolf would have wagged my tail hard enough to damage their furniture. When I finally met her eyes I knew it was true. Lillian was my mate, and I was about to have the best summer—and life—ever.

“Hey, Max,” she said, her voice hesitant.

I probably should have said something cool, or complimented her, or anything, but instead I stupidly said, “I think we’re mates.”

“Yeah, I think so, too,” she agreed.

We stood there just staring awkwardly for a long second. I took a risk and stepped forward. “Let’s go talk somewhere else.”

Heart pounding, I reached out my hand and took hers. She wrapped her fingers around mine and I gently pulled her along out the door. We walked side by side, my skin practically electric where we were touching. The smell of her was driving me wild. It was so much more potent with her right beside me. I was lost somewhere between unsure and excited and I had no idea how to make sense of the chaos she sparked in me.

Once we were far enough from anyone we wouldn’t be overheard, I stopped beside a picnic table and turned to look at her. Her eyes were so pretty, and I forced myself to look at them instead of letting my gaze wander down to her chest, which I already knew was very nice thanks to a pack trip to the beach the previous year. I had a sudden recollection of Will commenting on her breasts, and I was going to punch him in his stupid face if he ever looked at my mate that way again.

Now I just needed to figure out what to say to her.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked, saving me from that hopeless attempt as she jumped up to sit on the table with her feet on the seat.

“Uh, how pretty you are.” It wasn’t a lie, not really. I sat beside her, trying to look cool and nonchalant.

She blushed, and I liked the reaction. She was so cute.

“More than pretty, really. You’re really hot. I even thought that before, so I’m really glad it’s you.” I probably sounded like an idiot, but she seemed to like it. I couldn’t wait to see, to learn everything about her.

“I had a bit of a crush on you already,” she admitted, and then flushed a bit more before she looked down.

It was probably my wolf’s influence, but I suddenly felt bold as I leaned towards her. Her gentle eyes flickered to my lips and then up to meet my eyes, and that was enough encouragement for me to bring my mouth to hers. Her lips were as soft as they looked. I barely had a clue what I was doing, but she seemed to like what my instincts drove me to do. She opened her mouth enough that my tongue found hers and they moved together, and I leaned closer to her as she leaned closer to me in perfect unison.

We kissed, the world blurring around us, for some undefined time, and then she pulled away from me.

I wanted to protest because my wolf and body were begging for more of her than just her lips and tongue. So much more. I wanted to let my hands wander and explore.

But deep down under my pounding excitement, I knew it was too soon to push for anything like that. I barely knew what I was doing other than in theory. What if I was bad at it? What if I hurt her? I needed to figure everything out first.

Like she read my mind, she said, “I should get home. My parents are back. I want to tell them the good news before Hannah accidentally lets it slip. You know she has no filter.”

“Yeah. I should probably get going soon, too,” I agreed, although I had not even the slightest desire to leave her. “My mom’s going to flip when she hears.”

She grinned. I sneakily readjusted myself and suddenly remembered I was wearing her father’s pants. That was less than ideal, hopefully Lillian hadn’t noticed. We walked back to her house, holding hands the whole way like we’d die without contact. She glanced at me. “Come with?”

I nodded, nervous to see her parents. Which was crazy. They were both perfectly okay. I’d known them as long as I could remember. I gritted my teeth as she pushed open the door and pulled me inside.

Conveniently—and also horribly—both her parents were within sight the moment the door closed with an alarming click behind us. Her father was putting away groceries, and her mother was looking through the mail. They both looked up and greeted us with curious expressions when we entered.

Lillian took a deep breath, and announced without any forewarning, “Max is my mate.”

Both her parents stopped what they were doing and I was suddenly under the spotlight of their full attention. “Congratulations, both of you,” her mother said happily. Her father nodded, looking much less thrilled about the news than his mate.

Lillian’s voice went up just a bit, and she squeezed my hand. “Oh, and I might have failed my bio exam. All I could smell was him and I couldn’t focus. Sorry.”

Her mother sighed. “Understandable. If so, maybe we can make an excuse and work something out with your school.”

Her father’s attention was still on me like a guard with an intruder. “It’s unusual to find your mate so young,” he commented. There was a definite note in his voice that put my wolf instantly on edge. I wasn’t imagining it. We weren’t going to let him keep us from my mate no matter what he thought. She was mine, and she was obviously happy to be with me so what was his problem? “I think I should have a talk with you, Max.”

“Dad,” Lillian interrupted him before he could drag me off. He looked at her silently, and it was clear they were having a private conversation via mind link. I waited and tried not to squirm.

“Come on, Max,” he said. I followed and pretended I wasn’t nervous, mostly because I wanted Lillian to think I looked cool and composed.

Once in the backyard, he indicated I should sit in one of their garden chairs. My wolf felt threatened and did not want to be the first to sit in such a vulnerable position, but I forced myself to do as my mate’s father indicated. It was definitely a demonstration of dominance of a father towards a younger wolf. My own wolf had an urge to challenge him and stake our claim on Lillian—which was the worst thing I could do from a human perspective.

He sat across from me, and rested his elbows on his knees and interlaced his fingers as he leaned forward with a serious expression, staring me down.

I resisted the growl that my wolf was tempting me to release.

“I don’t plan to interfere between you and Lillian,” he began slowly, and the coming ‘but’ hung heavy in the air. “But you’re both very young. I love my daughter and quite frankly, I don’t want my baby girl to be an unplanned mother at the age of seventeen.”

Under all my agitation, his words did make sense. “I don’t want that either. And I’m not ready to be a father yet either.”

“And you are aware that there is a risk of pregnancy even outside of heat, especially with your mate?”

If by ‘aware’ he meant had I been forced to sit through multiple lectures on the topic along with the other kids during the yearly pack sex ed lecture, in addition to a couple of spontaneous explanations from my own parents? Then yes, I was aware. I nodded and resisted the urge to shift around in the lawn chair.

“I don’t know what it’s like to find your mate so young and I don’t even want to imagine what you’re thinking about regarding my daughter, but it’s the moon’s will so I won’t question it. However, I do want you to swear to me that you and Lillian will keep your relationship PG until you’ve both graduated. After that, if the two of you decide to, you can move forward with the marking...and the...” He trailed off with a dismayed look on his face. “For now, you can date, but I expect both of you to focus on your schoolwork and your futures until you graduate. I’ll have a talk with your parents later and make sure we’re all on the same page.”

This was such bullshit. Lillian and I were obviously old enough to find each other, but he was treating us like we were still children. It was unfair. Unfortunately, I didn’t think I had much choice but to go along with him, because I was sure my parents and the alpha would make me. If we fought their rules they’d only try harder to keep us apart and I knew I didn’t want that. “I promise I won’t uh, get her pregnant or mark her or whatever,” I said.

He nodded. “Good. I’ll trust you to keep to that then. Go say goodbye to her and then head home to tell your parents. You can see her tomorrow after her last exam is done.”

“Sounds good. Sir.” I’d known Lillian’s father my whole life and had never realized just how intimidating he could be until today. My wolf wanted to both back down and challenge him.

He stood up, and I did the same and headed back towards the house. His eyes burned into my back as I walked.

“And Max, you can keep the pants.”

That first summer I was together with Lillian was unforgettable, filled with stolen kisses and more, long conversations, and playful teasing. Will never did find girls who would go skinny dipping, although he did date Holly on and off throughout the summer and was apparently satisfied with that. I didn’t spend as much time with my friends as I’d thought I would, and I didn’t get to see Lillian as much as I would have liked, but I wouldn’t have given up the time we did have for anything.

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Author’s Note:

This is one of my favourite chapters. There's just something about the horror of stern overprotective dads that I find endlessly hilarious.

UPDATE SCHEDULE:

I'm not doing any special extra editing on this story (so if you have a comma section of your brain please turn it off now haha), but it still takes a bit of time and effort to move it to a new platform. I haven't settled on a schedule yet, but I'm aiming for three posts per week minimum going forward.

Thanks for reading!!! ❤️