Every werewolf had a soulmate, chosen for them at birth. The guiding force that assigned soulmates was a mystery – whether it was fate, the gods, nature...no one knew. But the bond itself was definitely real, and to find their mate was a gift that every werewolf longed for. A mate was your perfect match, someone who would love and understand you better than anyone else, someone so wonderful that you would do anything for them.
Levi hadn't found his mate yet, and at twenty-eight years old, he was well past the age that the rest of his friends had met their partners. Erwin, the pack Alpha, had met Hanji at seventeen. Mike, the pack Gamma, had met Nanaba a year later. The lower-ranked members of the pack would also typically find the mating bond clicking into place when they reached maturity, or soon after.
Levi had kept his eyes open – discreetly, of course, because he couldn't damage his reputation by appearing in any way desperate. But despite his efforts, he never found her. Whoever his mate was, she didn't live in this town that was occupied exclusively by werewolves. She wasn't a part of his pack, or any pack that he had visited on Erwin's behalf.
Some wolves never found their mates, and Levi had long ago started to think that he might be one of them.
Despite none of them being his mate, there were numerous female werewolves vying for him to claim them. Levi was strong – the strongest Beta in the pack's history – and because of their animal instincts, werewolves found that strength very attractive. Survival of the fittest, and all that.
Levi could have had his pick, and he had mulled the idea over in his mind. As Beta, it was his responsibility to continue his strong bloodline, to create descendants who could succeed him as Beta and protect the pack after he was gone. But having pups required a partner, so the logical thing would have been to pick the strongest unclaimed female and be done with it. After all, he wasn't getting any younger.
Still, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Not yet. Even though it was stupid of him, he couldn't give up on the fading hope that he might still meet his mate.
------------------------------------------
The sky was a dull shade of grey when he awoke, mirroring Levi's flat mood. He dressed and ate with militaristic efficiency before heading out of the mansion that was his by right of being the Beta. Despite all of its comforts and grandeur, despite all the time and effort he put in to keeping it immaculately clean, he hated being in that house. All the empty space only served as a reminder that he had no one to share it with, no family. His parents had been killed by enemy wolves when he was young, and of course, he had no mate or pups of his own.
He stepped outside and took a deep breath, inhaling the cool air and crisp scent of the forest that surrounded this town for nearly fifty miles in every direction. It was a wolf's paradise, and it all belonged to his pack. Levi often spent his free time patrolling said forest, feeling more at home in nature than in his silent mansion.
Lately, he had another reason for patrolling the forest whenever he got the chance. The Rogues – wolves who had left their packs and set out on their own – were growing bolder. They had started banding together, not to form a new pack, but to destroy any pack in the area. Apparently, it wasn't enough that they themselves were solitary – they wanted to dismantle the entire pack system. Complete anarchy.
The pack system benefitted everyone. The stronger wolves protected the weaker wolves, and in return, the weaker wolves took care of the day-to-day needs like gathering food, educating pups, and running shops for clothing and such. However, the Rogues thought that coexisting with the weak was beneath them. They were bullies who preferred "survival of the fittest" in its truest form, and they were prepared to force their beliefs on the rest of the world.
Levi had picked up their scent on the extreme edges of the pack's territory, but he had never actually seen the Rogues. He knew what they were doing – testing the boundaries, looking for weaknesses. Well, he wasn't going to give them any.
It was an unspoken rule that werewolves remained in human form while in the town proper. Even though the only residents were pack members, the town wasn't completely secluded, and outsiders occasionally passed through. The humans of the world had accepted werewolves as a myth, and the werewolves wanted to keep it that way. Living in secret was much better than being hunted down like wild animals. Thus, Levi walked on two human legs through the paved streets, aching for the moment when he could cross into the forest and shift.
As he walked, something caught his eye. A witch – descending from the sky on a broomstick into their little town. The sight was uncommon, but not unheard of. Levi knew there were some witches in the next town over, hiding amongst the humans. They flew in from time to time to purchase herbs that the wolves had gathered from the forest.
The thought left a bad taste in his mouth, as witches and werewolves didn't typically get along on principle. They each looked down on the other – witches seeing werewolves as dirty and ill-mannered, and werewolves seeing witches as stuck-up cat people. However, the witches in the neighboring town had at least recognized the pack's sovereignty over the forest, and rather than pick the herbs themselves, they agreed to purchase them from the pack at a fair price. But while the pack was able to maintain a working business relationship with the witches, the personal issues still remained.
Levi watched with narrowed eyes as the witch landed in front of the herb shop, completely disregarding their rule for magical secrecy. Once she was on the ground, he noticed that she had brought her cat familiar, which immediately climbed from the broomstick to her shoulders in an apprehensive manner as she dismounted. Other wolves had stopped to glare at her, but she seemed not to notice them – whether she was doing it intentionally, Levi couldn't tell.
She was young – probably in her late teens or early twenties. Her clothing would have looked like something a human would wear, if Levi hadn't known that particular style was preferred by witches. And of course, she had the trademark pointy black hat on top of her head – again, blatantly disregarding any secrecy. By the stars, did she do this in her own town too? It was a wonder she had lived this long without being burned at the stake.
Even though he was dozens of feet away, his sensitive ears picked up on her conversation with the feline on her shoulders.
"Are you seriously going to make me go in there?" the cat was saying.
"Would you rather stay out here by yourself?" the witch quipped with a smile, gliding across the street to the herb shop. "Besides, they're wolves, not dogs. I don't think they'll feel an irrepressible urge to chase you."
"But what if they do?" the feline hissed.
The witch chuckled. "Just stay on my shoulders, you big scaredy-cat. This won't take long."
The witch disappeared inside the shop. Even though Levi didn't particularly care for witches, she did have a legitimate cause to be here, so there was no reason for him to hang around. Besides, he was still eager to get to the forest and shift.
He kept walking, down the street, past the herb shop, his eyes fixated on that welcoming line of green. However, he was once again delayed, this time by the voice of the Alpha's mate.
"Levi! Yoohoo!"
Levi rolled his eyes. Hanji was a genius, but her exuberant personality was rather draining for him. Plus, she often got so wrapped up in her scientific pursuits that she forgot basic hygiene, and Levi couldn't stand the assault on his hyper-sensitive nose. "What is it?" he grumbled, turning to face her.
"Are you going for a run?"
"Maybe."
"Great!" Hanji chimed. "While you're out, could you check the height of the pine trees I planted on the west end? I want to see if my new growth formula is working."
"Tch. Whatever," Levi agreed begrudgingly. He didn't particularly like being Hanji's errand boy, but since she was the Alpha's mate, he was obligated to show her respect.
"Thanks, Levi! This is the one! I can feel it!" she exclaimed before skipping away, probably off to continue one of the five thousand other experiments that she had going at any given time.
No sooner had she left than Levi heard the clink of a shop doorbell behind him, accompanied by the witch's voice. "Sorry, sorry. I'll land in the forest next time – ahh!"
She had rushed right into him, the impact nearly knocking both of them to the ground. Only Levi's inhuman strength kept him upright, and instinct had him using his incredible reflexes to steady the young woman. However, once his mind caught up to his actions, he didn't know why he bothered.
"You idiot," he hissed. "Watch where you're –"
He cut off, suddenly no longer able to speak, or even breathe. This close, her scent hit him like a punch to the gut. Witches normally smelled sickly sweet – a product of the magic they used – but her sweetness was pleasant, a hint of bonfires and lemon verbena mixed with the familiar smell of lavender, of those purple flowers that dotted the forest that was his home. She smelled of home.
As that aroma filled his senses, one word consumed him, barreling through his body and mind like a train.
Mate.