Not everyone has a mate, and this is the reality of Alek Kuznetsov.
On his eighteenth birthday instead of feeling the pull and yearning for a mate, Alek's spirit felt dead. Confusion and depression drove him out of his Siberian wolf clan to seek so...
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AHOTE
"I'm an idiot, aren't I?" I asked looking at Kaya from the side of my eyes as she washed dishes. She paused what she was doing so that she could turn to look at me. She shrugged, chuckling a bit before looking away. I rolled my eyes. Sure, laugh. I thought, looking back at Elan who was sitting on my lap. My situation's funny, isn't it?
"I'm not laughing at you Ahote. I'm just happy for you," Kaya said, speaking as if she had read my mind. She rinsed off the last plate before drying her hands with a towel. It was mid-day, and most of the kids were out playing and many adults were somewhere in the pack's compound. Kaya walked over to the kitchen island before taking a seat beside me. She ruffled Elan's hair, muttering compliments at him in a childish voice before turning her full attention to me.
"But don't you think it's a good thing?" she asked me, folding her hands over her chest as one of her brow's shot up in question. My cheeks grew warm and my eyelids fluttered until my gaze was on the stone surface of the island.
"How is it a good thing?" I asked. I'd confided in Kaya about how I was feeling recently — about how Alek was confusing me. I thought the slight sting of want would go away once my heat was over, but it still lingered weeks after, and it was starting to make me worry. I had a mate out there somewhere. This wasn't normal, was it?
"Well, maybe it'll help you accept that Honon isn't coming back," Kaya said. I knew that. I had accepted that a long time ago, but Kaya saying it out loud still had an effect on me. My chest hurt, and my eyes watered. I didn't cry, I dried my eyes with the back of my palm before the waterworks could start. Every time I had thought that I had forgotten about him, forgive him and maybe even wished him all the best in his relationship someone would bring him up again and a part of my heart I had mended would crack.
"I'm sorry," Kaya muttered. It seemed she noticed the effect that mentioning Honon at all had on me. I smiled at her, trying to assure her that I was alright. "You know, if you're worried about breaking the mate bond, don't worry too much about it." My eyes locked with hers, and I opened my mouth to say something, but I forgot what. I looked away, twisting a braid I had hidden in my hair in between my fingers.
