JAKE'S POV
I was beyond frustrated with everything happening in my life. It seemed like nothing was going the way I wanted. To top it off, I had been assigned to protect a witch. A \*freaking\* witch. Of all the people in the world, it had to be one of them.
Werewolves and witches never got along. That had been the case for as long as I could remember, and I had no intention of changing that anytime soon. But now, as if fate was playing some twisted joke on me, the witch I was supposed to protect turned out to be my mate. Just great. \*Fate’s cruel sense of humor\*.
I didn’t want a mate. Not now, not ever, really. Especially not a witch. Mates were nothing but a weakness, and in my position, weakness wasn’t something I could afford. I had met her twice already, and each time my wolf had nearly broken free. That was dangerous. I couldn’t afford to lose control, not with the weight of my pack on my shoulders.
As the Alpha of the strongest pack in New Orleans, one of the best packs in the entire USA, I didn’t have time to be vulnerable. I had responsibilities, a pack to lead, and plans—plans to make us even stronger. I would sacrifice anything, even a mate, to ensure my pack's future. Letting her in would make me vulnerable, and that was unacceptable.
My wolf, however, didn’t agree. He was constantly at war with me, trying to break through the mental walls I kept up. He wanted her, craved her, but I couldn’t let that happen. He was already hard enough to control—short-tempered and fierce. Even by werewolf standards, my wolf was massive, stronger than most, and that was because I wasn’t just a werewolf. I was a hybrid. A fact I once hated growing up but now embraced because it gave me an edge, a power no one else had. I couldn’t afford to feel weak, not now that I had a mate.
My thoughts were interrupted when Christopher, my beta and best friend, barged in like he owned the place. I mentally groaned—he always did this, and it drove me insane.
"What is it, Chris?" I asked, sitting up in my black leather chair, trying to hide my irritation.
“Finished the Silverstone documents, boss,” he said casually, tossing a stack of files onto my desk. I rolled my eyes at his sarcastic use of ‘boss.’
He stared at me for a moment, brow furrowed. “What’s up with you, man? You look like crap.”
I snorted. "Well, thanks for that, really helpful," I replied sarcastically.
Chris leaned back against my desk, crossing his arms. “Seriously, what’s going on?”
Sometimes I swore Chris had a sixth sense when it came to me. He always knew when something was off, and unfortunately, he wouldn’t drop it until I spilled the beans. I sighed. “I found my mate,” I admitted flatly. He was going to find out eventually, given how nosy he was, so why delay the inevitable?
His eyes lit up with amusement. “Dude, that’s awesome! Unless… wait, you’re not gay and secretly into me, are you? I mean, I don’t swing that way, but for you, maybe I’d give it a shot,” he teased, flashing a wicked grin.
I glared at him, briefly considering throwing something at his head but decided against wasting a perfectly good office phone. “Piss off, Chris. I’m not gay. My problem is that my mate is a witch.”
Chris’s smile faltered, his brows pulling together in confusion. “Wait, what? A witch? Dude, that’s impossible. Werewolves don’t get witches as mates. That’s unheard of. The Moon Goddess must’ve made a mistake.”
I ignored his comment, grabbing the files and flipping through them to distract myself from the growing frustration. “I don’t need a mate. Mates are for weak men.” I shot him a smirk. “Weak men like you, Chris. And yes, my mate is a witch. The same witch I’m supposed to protect, ironically. It goes against the Lycan law. The pack would never accept a half-witch as Luna.”
Chris shot me a dark look, but I grinned, knowing I had won this argument. As much as he hated it, I always came out on top.
“Maybe you \*want\* to be a weak man,” he said, refusing to let it go. “There has to be a reason your mate is a witch. The Moon Goddess doesn’t just screw up like that. She has a plan for you, for both of you.”
Before Chris could finish his little pep talk, Rebecca, one of my top warriors, sauntered into the office with that irritatingly flirty smile of hers. I mentally groaned but kept my face neutral.
“Alpha,” she greeted, her voice dripping with sweetness as she wrapped her arms around me in a totally unnecessary hug. She completely ignored Chris, which made him roll his eyes in annoyance. “I missed you,” she whispered in my ear, clearly loud enough for Chris to hear.
Rebecca was a girl I had been casually seeing, mostly because she was persistent and wouldn’t stay out of my bed for more than a day. Not that I minded. Rebecca was ambitious, strong, and knew what she wanted. She had no qualms about trying to manipulate her way into becoming Luna. Unlike the other girls in the pack, at least she was honest about it.
I leaned in, whispering back in her ear, “I missed you too,” though I wasn’t sure if that was entirely true. She shivered at my words, her body pressed too close to mine.
Chris cleared his throat loudly, dramatically coughing. “Right, well, I’ll be leaving now. I have, uh… important things to do,” he said, rushing out of the office like it was on fire, a disgusted look on his face.
Rebecca pulled back slightly, pouting at Chris’s sudden departure. “He’s so rude,” she murmured, trying to pull me closer.
I didn’t respond, my thoughts already drifting back to my mate—the witch. There was no way around it. No matter how much I tried to ignore it, I couldn’t get her out of my head. \*Damn it\*, I didn’t need this right now.
Rebecca might have been ambitious, strong, and beautiful, but she wasn’t my mate. My mate was out there, waiting for me—whether I liked it or not.
And that’s exactly what scared me the most.
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