***Moon's P. O. V.***.
I walk up to the orphanage building and ring the doorbell. A worker with brown, mousy hair pulled back into a tight bun answers the door.
"Hello, Alpha," she says, dipping her head. "How may I help you?"
"Hello, can I speak with Crescent?" I ask.
"Of course. They're just now starting to eat dinner, so is it alright if he eats while you two talk?"
"That's fine."
"Then follow me, please."
I follow her into the room I first met Crescent in, and then to the dining room. It's a narrow space with one long wood table. Countless kids sit at the rows of chairs on either side of the table, eating what looks like potato soup. It only takes me a few seconds to find Crescent. He's drinking the soup from a cup, but it still looks like it's difficult for him to hold between his wrists. Nonetheless, he's still smiling and acting like its nothing.
"Crescent?" the woman with me calls out.
"Yes, Miss?" he replies.
"Alpha Moon has come to speak with you. Why don't you take him to your room? You can bring your dinner."
"Okay!" he grins.
~~~~~~~~~~
"What do you want to talk about, Mister Moon?" Crescent asks after we both sit down on his bed.
"You can just call me Moon. And well, I know you felt the mating pull too, and you're probably confused why I ran out yesterday. . ."
"Mating pull? What does that mean?"
"You don't know what finding your mate means?" I ask in shock.
"No. . ."
"Okay, then never mind. I'll just be on my way," I stand to leave.
"No, wait! You have to tell me what it means now!" he pouts.
"Uh, no, I'll pass."
"Please?" he pleads, getting teary eyed.
"Whoa, are you crying??"
He bites his lip as a lone tear travels down his cheek.
"Hey! Don't cry! It's weird! Man up!"
He sniffs, "O-okay. Will you please tell me what a mate means?"
I groan in annoyance, "Sure. Whatever. I'll tell you the short version."
"Okay, great!" he says, immediately drying up the tears.
"Your mate is the person you're meant to spend your life with. It's who you're supposed to fall in love with. When you find them they smell nice, and they have a circle of gold around them."
"But Mi- I mean Moon, you smell good and you have gold around you. Does that mean we're mates??" he bounces excitedly.
"Not exactly. It was just a mistake. We can't be together," I sigh.
"Why not?" he asks, sipping his soup.
"Because we're so different, and you're not exactly what I expected. I also don't want to put you through the mating process. I know you don't know anything about that, but trust me, it's not fun."
I've been looking at the ground the whole time I've been talking. I finally look up to see Crescent crying quietly. Great. . .
"Why are you crying?" I ask, annoyed.
"You don't wanna be in love with me?" he voice cracks and his breathing is shaky.
"It's not that-"
"Is it my hands?"
"No. Don't be so dramatic. Can't you see that we're not compatible?"
"B-but I-I like y-you. I-I wanna b-be mates!" he sobs.
"Look, it just won't work," I say, devoid of emotion.
I feel like an awful person right now. His blotchy, tear-stained face is making me sad, but he needs to get that us becoming mates isn't possible. . . Or maybe. . . No. I can't doubt myself when it comes to this!
I exit the room without saying goodbye. He'll come to grips with this and be fine. . . I hope. It's not like I want him to be depressed.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Did you seriously tell that little boy that you don't want to be his mate??" Uncle Greg asks angrily, throwing down his stuff as he steps in the door.
"Yeah," I reply, taking another bite of my banana.
"That is cruel, Moon. Dakota, who's one of the workers at the orphanage, told me that Crescent was so upset about it that he threw up. He's fragile! He's been in bed crying with a fever ever since it happened. How could you do that to him?"
"He's the one that worked himself up. I was as nice as possible about it!"
"I doubt that. I can't believe you. What you did was wrong."
"I'm the alpha! I can do whatever I want!"
He shakes his head and makes a sound of disgust.
"You don't realize that you've ruined Crescent's life. He'll eventually die of a broken heart," he says before turning away and going upstairs.
~~~~~~~~~~
It's been a few more days since I talked to Crescent. My guilt is killing me, making me physically sick. I spend a lot of time in bed, looking at his little matchbox car on my nightstand.
My inner wolf is crying over not being with my mate. It makes me want to hold him and then fuck the living daylights out of him, but I try to mute my desires. They're getting harder to ignore, though. As the days go by, my want for him grows. I can't stand it.
Bags form under my eyes from lack of sleep, and I lose my appetite. All I want to do is drink and forget about everything.
~~~~~~~~~~
I fell asleep at my desk again. Being away from my mate after feeling the pull is taking its toll. I do not want Crescent for a mate. No, no, no.
My inner wolf's voice takes suddenly takes over, "Miss Sinclair?!?!"
Her footsteps come toward my door swiftly.
"Yes?" she says, her hair askew from running here.
"Have all of my things moved from my uncles' house to the Alpha suite. And send a car to get Crescent and bring him there after I get off of work," I clap my hand over my mouth, but it's too late. My wolf has spoken.
"Yes, Alpha," she scurries out.
~~~~~~~~~~
I open the door to the Alpha suite. I've been waiting my entire life to be able to move in here with the love of my life, and now I'm finally doing it. Minus the love of my life part. Hopefully, I can just deal with him and suck it up.
All of my stuff is here like I requested. This place is much nicer than the standard living quarters. It has a much bigger kitchen, a pool, three bedrooms, two full bathrooms and a half one, and a large living room with a 72 inch TV.
I don't even have time to sit down before the doorbell rings. Time to face my mate.