My night was more than restless. Halfway through, I thought about sneaking into my old room at my parents’ house, but immediately dismissed it as I didn't need any unnecessary questions, and Cora would definitely never shut up about it. She liked to call me baby, even though she was the youngest in the family and knew exactly how to use it to her advantage.

I, on the other hand, clearly only knew how to make decisions that put me at a disadvantage. I don't know what else to call a voluntary meeting with hunters. Yes, plural. I don't know what happened to the decision to only meet Annie. I mean, I do know. It flew out the window the moment I saw him, and he struck up a conversation with me. I could have run home, but no, I had to stay and talk.

Tobias was very easy to talk to, and it was more than easy to find common ground. Especially when it looked like we both wanted more than just talking. I could have blamed it on mate bond but on his side... I didn't know what to think.

For wolves, mates were everything. Every day of ours, every thought of ours, it all led to our chosen ones. With every breath, we were one step closer to meeting them, and every vision of them was a dream come true. I wouldn't say that we have high standards, but rather that we have been preparing all our lives to be the perfect partner. Of course, there were exceptions, but they were fewer than us, who were ready to worship and love our mates, whoever they were. Race, species, or gender did not matter. They were the other half of our souls, and this bond was sacred.

Except I've never heard of a wolf soul-bonding with a hunter. I had no doubt that either I was the first one, or everyone before me had simply broken the bond before it could strengthen.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and focused on the pack mind link. At night, when everything around was quiet, it was easy to distinguish even things that seemed too chaotic to notice during the day. Like, for example, whether everyone was already asleep.

I couldn't connect with everyone like that, but when it came to my family or Mason, Sam, and Milo, I didn't have a problem. The stronger the relationship, the stronger the bond. You could say that I had the strongest bond with Jacob, as he belonged to both groups. Me, Cobe, Mason, Sam, and Milo were the new generation of leaders. Mason and Sam as the new generation alpha and beta, Cobe as the medic, Milo as the general, and I as the strategist. However, until Mason took the title of alpha, and us right by his side, we were called the little pack. If it was necessary to arrange something in another pack, we were automatically sent. We were something of a diplomatic unit.

"Why the hell are you moaning at one in the morning? Keep your imaginations to yourself." Great, looks like I was so deep in thought that I accidentally opened the connection without wanting to.

“Oh, shut up. I'm not doing what you think. That's your cup of tea.” I snapped back, even though I knew Sam already had his own idea in his head.

"Sure. And the trees are red,” he replied sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and thought of how to use the fact that he was awake. I had no doubt I wasn't going to sleep any time soon, and the presence of someone, even Sam, provided the distraction I so desperately needed.

"Did you fall asleep?" I honestly didn't know where he got all the energy to be annoying even at this time.

“No, I didn't fall asleep,” I answered him, though the fact that he heard my voice was a clear answer. Sometimes I wished the stories people told each other about werewolves were true. Not the ones where only silver can kill us and we change with the moonlight, but the ones where our inner wolf has its own voice.

“And here I thought that cleaning your rifle had worn you out,” he chuckled at his own joke.

"I'm starting to think you need to get laid." Sam was a big talker when it came to sex, but his experience was even less than mine. While I had the chance to experiment in college, he was too busy with the pack. He spent most of his time by Mason's side, and since neither of them had a mate yet, they could spend most of their free time training and improving.

Come to think of it, it was quite ironic. In Mason's case, they were waiting for him to find his mate, or rather luna, so he could take over the leadership of the pack, and although he was a year older than me, he hadn't had any luck yet. Sam, as I mentioned, was almost always by his side, and since his mate wasn't in our pack either, he also remained single. Everyone hoped that his other half would be a capable fighter, regardless of gender, who could stand in for him at any time if needed. Milo was Mason's younger brother who recently turned 20. He was quiet and reclusive, and his favourite activity was training. He helped train the non-warriors of the pack to defend themselves in the event of an attack and devoted most of his free time to this. To tell you the truth, I don't think he thought about mates at all.

I was officially the first of our little pack to find a mate. Well, official probably wasn't the right word since nobody knew about it yet. All of us, except Cobe, were a few years older than the standard age for finding a partner, and maybe that's why we didn't bring up the subject often. Now that I knew the name of mine, I didn't know what to do with this information. If it had been anyone else, I wouldn't have hesitated to confide in them, but in this case, I was afraid of their reaction. I didn't want to reject Tobias, but at the same time, I knew it was impossible for us to be together. Although I was friends with the future alpha and beta, they couldn't make an exception for me and prioritize my happiness over the safety of our pack.

Speaking of the upcoming beta, Sam apparently made up his own mind about my silence because the moment I refocused on the noise in my mind, I nearly had a heart attack.

“Bleeding the weasel, buffing the banana, choking the chicken, looping the mule…”

Before he could come up with more ridiculous names, I abruptly stopped him. “What the fuck, man?”

“You're the one who ignored me so you could spank your monkey!” I honestly had no idea where he was getting these phrases from.

"Stop with these puns already,” I made sure my annoyance was heard in my voice. In return, I heard Sam's voice chuckling in my head.

"You're ridiculous sometimes." My sigh quickly turned into a yawn. Tiredness was finally getting to me, and my eyelids were getting heavier. Although Sam's words were practically nonsense, they lulled me like the best lullaby.

"A beta by day and a prankster slash seducer by night." My eyes were already closed, but I still didn't miss this absurd statement, and I laughed briefly.

"So you're Joker?" I offered in a weak voice. My subconscious was slowly drifting into semi-sleep, but I tried to keep the conversation going.

"Nah, more like Batman. You can be my Robin if you want." Before I could answer him, sleep overcame me completely.

…

The morning came earlier than I expected, but surprisingly, it did not catch me off guard. Although I spent most of the night thinking and having absurd conversations with my best friend, I felt more than rested. I had no idea how it was possible, but I wasn't going to question the gift of our Goddess and rather got out of bed.

Today I was on patrol, and as usual, I was in charge of the section closest to the city. After we were recently attacked by hunters, the patrols in this area were temporarily doubled, so instead of the usual two wolves who took turns in the middle of the day, four wolves guarded this section, and two more joined them in the evening. 

I was on duty until noon, and today was the special day when I was guarding alongside my dad. Ever since we started patrolling together, we had a rehearsed routine that we automatically followed. We met at the end of the street, where we exchanged a few words, shifted together, and reached our place a little before our service started. If there was one thing I was consistent about, it was being on time.

Fortunately, it looked like a calm day today, so we could talk.

"My lower back hurts like hell," dad said after half an hour when we thoroughly checked the whole area.

"What did you do this time?" I immediately asked. As wolves, we were quite resistant to disease and pain, so bone or muscle problems were not something we commonly encountered. If my dad's back hurt, it only meant one thing. He slept on the couch.

“I just suggested we have another kid,” he said, and I knew right away where the problem was. If it were up to him, I would have at least five more siblings. Sometimes I thought his dream was to have his own football team.

"How did mom react?" I didn't hide my curiosity. My mom’s punishments were something else, and when they weren't directed at me, I thoroughly enjoyed them.

"She told me to try how much it hurts when you're pregnant and gave me duvets to lay on the couch. When I woke up in the morning, I had a bucket of water on my stomach, and your mom was laughing at me if I could get up carefully." If I didn't have to be on my toes, I'd fall on the floor laughing. So I just laughed briefly at the idea and made a mental note to stop by the house and hear my mom's version of this story as soon as possible.

"You have to admit that no one has an imagination like hers,” I chuckled to myself, and dad joined in.

"She's a special one." Affection was clear in his voice, and I was filled with joy from their bond, as always. My parents were a prime example of soul mates, and they reminded me of that every day. Maybe that's why I always looked forward to finding my own. But now that I had met Tobias, I wasn't sure I would ever experience something like that. Yes, we laughed and joked together, but that was only a small part of the bond that the Moon Goddess promised.

"Something has been bothering you lately,” dad carefully pitched. He never insisted if we didn't want to talk about something, but he never had a problem pointing out if something was going on with us.

I considered telling him that it was nothing important, but I knew he would look right through me, so I chose other words. "It's complicated."

"Wanna talk about it?" Even though I wanted to confide in someone, I did not want to put my father in a compromising position. After all, he was a respected warrior of the pack, and he would have to lie for me if he knew the truth, so I politely declined.

"If anything, you know where to find me." His answer brought a strange sense of peace to my troubled mind. It was stupid, but a part of me was sure that if I introduced Tobias at home, everyone in my family would take an instant liking to him.

"Yeah, on the couch." With a laugh, I dodged the paw, which playfully swung at me.

"Come on, we'll take one more look and split up."