THIRD PERSON

Feline summits. Annual gatherings hosted by a selected pride. The perfect place to make connections, socialize with different felines, and especially to introduce your children to society. This year, the bachelorettes’ attention was on the youngest son of the Bennet family, Erik. The young alpha who had just turned 19 was surrounded by beautiful alpha and omega girls around his age, all single with the mission to find a mate. Erik had been unsure of attending the event, but was convinced by his parents when told that the chances of finding his fated mate at the summit were high. The alpha liked the attention he was getting, but it was suffocating. He needed to get out of there. He had to get fresh air. As if the God/dess heard his prayers, one of the hosts decided to give a speech, and Erik managed to sneak outside into the mansion’s garden. Thankfully, no one noticed him, and when he was alone, he took a deep breath.

When he was a child, he dreamed of finding his fated mate, but he never thought it was going to be a difficult task. While walking around the gardens and admiring the beautiful flowers around, a sudden scent attacked his nose. The scent didn’t come from a flower, it was sweet but also slightly spicy and woody, a comforting and inviting aroma. Cinnamon. Taking a deep sniff of the scent made something inside him flutter and his animal self grew impatient. 

‘Mate.’ Ed, his leopard self, said with a roar. The sound reverberated in his mind. Had his parents not lied to him? Was it possible he had found his mate? Following the scent, a big tree came into view, and on one of its branches rested a beautiful black panther. The owner of the scent, his fated mate. Taking a big breath and fixing his clothes, Erik approached the tree careful not to bother the panther. Unlucky as he was, the alpha’s foot stepped on a branch, startling the panther and making it jump down the tree and hurriedly walk away.

“Wait!” Erik yelled and tried to follow it, but was stopped by voices he recognized so well. His parents had found him. 

“There you are, son. We have been looking for you.” His mother nagged him, and an excited smile formed on her mouth. “There’s someone we want you to meet.”

“Who is it?” Erik asked annoyed.

“It’s the daughter of an old friend. She is single and such a charming omega. She is perfect for you.” His father answered this time, and Erik sighed.

Erik wasn’t interested in the daughter of an old friend or any of the other girls he had seen inside. He was interested in the panther that he had just seen. But fighting his parents was going to make it harder for him later, he went with them but the image of his fated mate never left his mind. Especially that cinnamony scent. 

6 YEARS LATER

Ever since that day, Erik felt as if he were Prince Charming trying to find Cinderella. Why? Because the only things he had to find his fated mate were his sense of smell and the type of feline they were. Soon after that summit, he told his parents of his findings, but they didn’t believe him. He wanted to prove to them he was right, and after his 21st birthday, he had gone on the lookout for her. At first, Erik thought it was going to be easy, but after months and years of visiting every pride that had Panther families with no success, he was starting to lose hope. His parents insisted he find another mate instead of wasting time and money on a useless search, but Erik was not going to give up. And now he was on the way to his last destination, Bramville, home to the Powell family, the last black panther family on his list. 

He had heard that the Powell family was large and many of the daughters had not yet found a mate, which was a good sign for him. Perhaps one of them was his fated mate. Excitement grew inside him. Erik had a good feeling that his search was about to end.

~oOoOo~

Meanwhile, in Bramville at the Powell Manor, chaos and excitement ruled over everyone but one certain omega male, Raven, the youngest and only son of the family. Rumors had spread around the family about a visitor arriving soon, and while his sisters had gone crazy trying to look their best all the time, the young omega had no interest in the visitor. Soren Powell, the alpha head of the family, called his children to the living room. Raven was leaning against the wall, watching her parents as his sisters took all the available seats. When the last of them took a seat, Soren was quick to break the silence.

“As you may have heard, a special guest is arriving soon, and rumors say that he is looking for a mate.” The alpha said with a smile, and the present let out excited screams. Once it went back to being quiet, he continued. “His fated mate, and it could be one of you.”

“It’s obviously going to be me, so don’t get your hopes up, sisters.” Josie—one of the twins— said with a confident smile.

“Nu-uh, it’s going to be me.” Said this time Lesly, one of the triplets.

“You wish. I’m going to be his mate.” Jean, the other twin, said glaring at her sisters.

Fight broke loose in the living room, Raven rolled his eyes at the sight. Growing up, it had always been that way, always fighting for being the best. The young omega wanted to get out of there, but couldn’t do it until his parents dismissed them. Papa Esme, managed to finally calm the girls down, scolding them for their immaturity.

“How do you know it’s going to be one of you? It could be Raven.” Said Roxanne, the oldest and the only one mated. Raven made a displeased face upon hearing her sister's comment.

“Sis’ don’t jinx it, please.” He said in an annoyed tone. 

“Yeah, don’t say that. There’s not a single chance that it will be Raven when we are all more beautiful than him.” Lana, another one of the triplets, said annoyed, giving his brother a disgusted look. 

“Lana! That’s not the way to treat your brother.” Esme scolded his daughter and then turned to look at his son with a gentle smile. “Raven, you are just as beautiful as your sisters, and I know one day you will find your mate.”

Raven nodded at his Papa’s words out of courtesy, but he was unaffected by Lana’s words. It was a behavior he was used to. His parents didn’t choose favorites, but as the only omega male, his Papa Esme cared a lot more for Raven, which made his sisters die of envy and jealousy. But they had nothing to worry about, he was not interested in that alpha either, or in finding love in general.

~oOoOo~