~Alexei~
"Your skin is so soft,"
One of the pack mothers complements as I sit still on a soft silk pillow in the center of the room, surrounded by the Crimson pack mothers as they decorate my upper body in henna with our traditional tribal symbols.
"Thank you," I nod as she pipes small delicate roses on my wrist. It's a tradition that every alpha is currently undergoing and is usually performed with the lead being their mother. But since I don't have a mother, my Elder sits before me, her eyes closed with gentle mutters leaving her lips as she prayed to the gods and goddesses for me.
Artemis goes through the same behind me, I can tell they're almost finished when they start standing back and admiring all of their hard work. The last dab of henna is applied then dried before I'm free to move. Standing up I turn to face my sister with her hair wrapped up in her white hijab with a small crimson broach pinning it to her white ceremony outfit which matched mine.
"Ready?" I asked and she took in a deep breath, the elder leaves so it's just the two of us together for these final moments before our Lunos and Gamma are to join us on this adventure.
"What if I don't have a mate, Alexei? I didn't grow up here, so I feel quite stupid to be honest," She confesses as she pulls at her white garments. I take my top half and slide it on before I take her Crimson lei and place it over her strong shoulders.
"You were still born on the island Ari," I remind her, fixing the lei to sit perfectly as she takes mine in her hands and holds it for a second.
"I know, I guess I just don't know what to expect is all," She explains as I bow my head and she places my lei.
"Do you think you know who yours is?" I ask her and she gives a soft smile that I've never seen in my sister before as she thinks of this one special person.
"I have my hopes and dreams but you might be mad if they come true," She says without any clue as to who it could be.
"What are you talking about?" I try to get more information but she wasn't budging.
"Guess you'll find out after this ceremony," She says with a wink and I look in the mirror one last time. Checking my gelled back raven black hair, my bright hazel eyes, and the white cloth of these robes standing out against my darker complexion. The crimson of the lei matches the pattern on my shoulders and I look back at Artemis.
"Well, to the next chapter of our lives and this time, we'll get to do it together," She says with a bright all-knowing smile that calms my nerves just slightly. But there was only one thing that could possibly soothe my anxious soul.
And that's finding Waylon as my mate.
Coming out of our private dressing room, and onto the massive grass field, I quickly lose Artemis from my side as she takes her pre-assigned position beside the other betas on one side of the long stretch of the white line where my classmates were lining up.
Opposite to them, Chase Juniper, and Sora stood together waiting for me to complete the row. Every student had a lei that matched the house they were assigned to at birth, but only alphas and betas carried the color on their shoulders signifying their dedication to that one pack. While others would be able to choose if their mate belonged to another pack, we were forced to remain with our own.
I scanned both sides of the lines for my sweet Waylon but he was nowhere to be found in my direct field of vision. Since he's no longer the Kailea beta, he must blend in better with everyone else. It will only make it harder to find him once the petals drop.
The other alphas and I don't say a word to each other, each consumed by their own nerves as the elder begins her speech. But my heart was pounding so hard that I could barely hear her words nor could I focus on anything she was saying.
Each word escaping me until she held the petals in her hand. The petal of a red rose for Crimson, and aster petal for Lotus, an anemone petal for Kailea, and a single ti leaf for Forester. Holding them up above us from her podium, she prays on the blessing of the moon goddess and a sudden gust of wind takes them from her hands.
The hunt begins for my class as they quickly scatter until they find their mates and come back to the line. The tears of joy could flood the stadium as they all found their special soulmates while I watched. Confused as to why Waylon's sweet apple scent wasn't faint if anything. But no other scent replaces it so he must be my mate.
Umiko isn't here
Flynn mentions as I search the arena in hopes of finding my sunshine in the crowd, panic rising with every second that goes by without him by my side. When it seems like everyone has found their mate, I scan every person while running down the row in hopes of finding him. Seemingly mateless to everyone in the crowd.
"Artemis!" I quickly find my sister sharing a single kiss with her mate and I feel slightly guilty for breaking it on their mated day.
She quickly turns to me but refuses to let go of her mate as she pulls him even closer.
"Where's Waylon?" She asks before I can get to it and I can barely say anything. My heart racing with anxiety from my lost little mate.
"I don't know, have you seen him?" I ask them and the two of them quickly look around, with Dante breaking Ari's gentle grip on him to look around.
"Sorry Alex, I was so caught up I didn't notice anyone else. But I also did see him from the start when we were in the dressing room either," Dante mentions and I wish it were under normal circumstances so I could congratulate him on becoming my brother but I'm left hunting instead.
I look around again, finding Waylon's best friend Alpha Sora in the arms of Oro Sensei. I go to them next, hoping Sora might have hung out with Waylon before. If anything Oro Sensei might be able to help me find him.
"Sora, Oro Sensei, we need your help," I quickly enlist the to pair, breaking their first mated hold as well. When they both notices my missing mate their faces instantly shift to concern.
"It's Waylon, he's missing," It hurts my very soul to say it but Oro Sensei understands.
"Can you still smell him?" He asks and I close my eyes, fading out the people shouting in the crowds, the joyful crying, and my own panicked heart rate. Finding my sweet Waylon's apple blossom scent was just barely in the cross breeze but still there.
"Yes," I confirm and Oro breaths a sigh of relief.
"That means he's still alive, we just have to find him. Do you know what could have possibly happened to him?" He asks and I only had one answer.
"Juniper,"
Whipping around, I instantly catch sight of the dimwitted navy blue princess laughing with her mate and lengthen my marching strides as I strut towards her on a mission.
"Alexei!" Sora calls after me but Dante and Artemis know better than to stop me.
With one hand, I rip Juniper's tiny female companion from her grasp and set my hand aflame with the snap of my fingers.
"Where's Waylon?" I demand, Putting the fragile girl in a chokehold as the world goes silent from Dante putting an invisible barrier around us so others couldn't disrupt my anger. The fear in Juniper's eyes is visible as her mate quickly burst into tears.
"Alexei please, I-I-"
"Give me my mate or I'll kill yours," I threaten, bringing the flame close to per precious mate's face who was grasping at my arm while weeping.
"You can't have him!" Juniper screams and I lower the flame to just a fingertip before bringing it to her mate's neck. She screams as I sear the skin of her neck and Juniper finally caves.
"LET HER GO!" She begs but I continue until she drops to her knees in true begging.
"Please Alpha Alexei, let her go! She's innocent, I'll tell you!" Juniper cries with wasteful tears streaming down her cheeks and I grunt.
"She'll never be innocent as long as she's connected to a monster like you. Now tell me where he is," I command once more and she puts her hands up, pointing behind me.
"He's in the orchard behind the castle!" She says and I drop the girl to the soft grass as she gasps for air.
"If you're lying to me princess, I promise it's not you who I'm coming for," I warn, glaring at her Forester mate before turning on my heels only to face the pure anger in the faces of King Mason and his mates standing behind the barrier.
Artemis, Oro Sensei, and Sora stand directly behind me as Dante unleashes the barrier and I gaze upon king Mason ready to face his explosive anger head-on. Willing to put up a fight just to find his son. But I'm in for a surprise when the four walks straight past me to Juniper as Noah picks her up from the ground and pushes her towards me. Mason narrows he gaze on her with sheer disappointment in his eyes.
"Tristan will care for the girl. You will show Alexei where you hid his mate and if you so much as left a single blushed mark upon your brother's skin, I swear to the gods you will never see the crown," Mason vows and Juniper gulps, wiping the tears from her eyes as she pushes past us and starts walking back to the castle.
Our group follows behind her in search of my sweet mate before the clouds suddenly erupt with lightning. A dark-gray shadow falling over the island of Kailea and the ocean begins to rise up fro the island's coast, coming to the sky like a strange watery doomsday tomb and a rare downpour begins to fall.
But this wasn't any normal rainfall or frozen tsunami.
No.
It was caused by Waylon.
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Big oof
Prep the tissues for the next chapter.
Also new Patreon chapter for Ari x Dante is up with a sweet surprise if you need a break from this disaster that's about to unfold.