Atlas POV

After filing the last piece of paperwork for the day, I sat back in my office chair and looked out the window. I loved my home pack and everyone in it, but sometimes the bureaucratic aspect of the job was tedious. 

Our pack lands weren't big, like some of our neighboring packs, but we had plenty of other advantages. We were situated next to the largest national park in the country, but we weren't cut out from civilization, too. There was a prestigious college nearby and because of that, we got a lot of tourist traffic and students. It helped the businesses our pack had, plus we were still connected to the humans, which kept us from isolating ourselves as some other packs had done.

There were also many farmlands in our territory and most of our food came from there. We grew everything from fruits and vegetables to spices. It helped that we didn't use any chemicals and with a bit more work, we could potentially start selling outside of the pack. We hadn't made that decision because the food we grew and our cattle stock kept us fed and we didn't have to buy anything from outside... mostly.

Of course, as wolves we loved the hunt, so we also ensured the local population of herbivores we liked to hunt was protected. That wasn't a big concern nowadays because fewer and fewer pups were interested in hunting or giving in to their primal wolf side. They preferred to scroll on their phones rather than train in wolf form, or go shopping instead of hunting. The human trends haven't eluded our kind, but some still loved hunting for their food sometimes.

The nature here was also quite beautiful and the location was important to werewolf history. It was said that our pack lands were blessed because the goddess of wolves herself came here once to check up on one of her first children. It's a legend that has been passed down through generations. Many other packs coveted our lands because of its location. Nowadays it is quiet mostly because the more we integrate with humanity, the less primal our culture has become. 

For example, in my father's reign as the Alpha of our pack, there were many attacks from rogue wolves or even the occasional pack that wanted to take over. Even my mother died when some rogue wolves decided to form their own pack and attack us to steal our land. She defended her pack members with honor, but we weren't prepared and that cost us my mother's life. My brother and I were just kids then - four and five years old.

Many of the attacks on us were because we were a small pack and didn't have the numbers others did. My father even suspected that some of our neighbors had attacked us under the guise of being rogue wolves. But all that was mostly behind us because attacks between packs were frowned upon since the International Wolf Council was formed. Unless the attack was justified, they punished the attacking pack by taking away some of their lands or prohibiting them from joining the triannual summits that the council held.

The packs had opportunities to intermingle and form business or personal bonds at these summits. It was very beneficial and kept the werewolf community from dealing with human business partners. That way, we were all connected as a race and not split up because of the distance between us, whether we lived in the same country or continent.

Of course, there were always outliers - those who preferred to keep to themselves and live off the grid. There weren't many, but those packs mostly obeyed the old laws. For them, it was kill or be killed, but at least they stayed in one place and didn't bother other packs. The Wolf Council doesn't govern them; they don't bother us if everyone leaves them alone.

Before I left the office for the day, the wooden door swung open to reveal my Beta - Sylas Ridge. "What happened now? I'm just about to get some dinner." He looked annoyed and reluctant, which meant I probably wasn't going home to eat.

"You might want to sit back down. We have a problem with the livestock. Not only one or two farms either, all of them." I looked at him expectantly waiting to hear the problem. "The animals seem to have contracted a fungus of some kind. The vets say that we need to treat all of them even the ones that we aren't sure about, to prevent it from spreading. Which will cost us a pretty penny, but if we don't we can attract the attention of the human health authorities. You know some of the pack members sell to humans. It wouldn't affect any wolf, but a non-supernatural person would be fair game."

I groaned "How the fuck did that happen? Can we track how they got the fungus?" He shook his head grimly. "I don't understand how we always get the short end of the stick. First, some of the livestock just disappears from farms under the noses of werewolves without a trace, now we have there is also a fungi not even a month after that. If that isn't enough last year our crops suffered the same way and we couldn't find out how it happened. On top of those problems, members of the pack have been having issues left and right with humans lately that we can't explain, I am starting to think we are cursed or something."

I thought more about that angle lately. It was one of the few things that made sense somehow. Sylas snickered "Maybe your Dad pissed off a witch or something." Looking at him with raised eyebrows I said nothing, but we knew each other since we were children, so he didn't need words to deduce "You already asked and since I didn't know about this theory it didn't pan out."

"If we aren't cursed, the only other explanation would be if someone is sabotaging us on purpose, but we haven't been able to find any proof. I'm starting to believe Atticus' theory, maybe we should be looking closely at our neighbors." I mused.

My Beta reminded me "We did look remember, we can't find any connection between them and the problems we've been facing. Some of the older members of the pack have been saying that the goddess has punished us because you took on the Alpha title without meeting your mate."

I rolled my eyes at that "They can talk all they want, I'm not the first Alpha to take over without a mate, so their gossip is unfounded."

"Believe me, they have been warned. Your brother overheard them yesterday and scared them shitless. They wouldn't dare spread rumors again." I believed that. Atticus, my little brother, was very loyal. He was our best fighter after me. Although we weren't a feral pack, we trained our members to fight. You never know what can happen. If we were better prepared, maybe my Mom wouldn't have died during that attack, so as a leader, I will do everything in my power to give my pack members tools to defend and protect each other.

Speaking of my brother, he barged in and sat on the office couch. I could smell his sweat from here. "Anyone want to hit the gym for one last training session before I hit the showers? Atlas? Sylas? Why the grim faces?" My Beta updated Atticus on the current problem we were facing. His only thoughts on the matter were "If you would listen to me and investigate our neighbors more thoroughly, we won't be having such problems."

Sylas stated "Nothing short of having a spy in their packs or infiltrating their packs for information, would help us with that, since we have nothing indicating it was anything more than bad luck!" I was irritated and hungry, which wasn't good. Now I had to ease the tension among the farmers before I could eat something. I snapped at Atticus "Get the fuck off the couch, you smell worse than the livestock!"

My little brother just shrugged unphased by my outburst. "See you later, doubting Thomases." After I talked to the vets and ordered the necessary medicine for all livestock in the territory, I finally left the office.

...

It was late and I was starving at this point, so I went fast food and checked up on one of the pack businesses - two birds with one stone. Devon's burger place still hadn't recovered from the meat incident a few months back. After receiving meat that wasn't edible, they let a human employee serve customers and make the burgers. No wolf was there that day or they would have smelled it was rotten. All clients reported food poisoning in the next few days. The company that supplies the meat swears to this day that they didn't send rotten meat. It was just another one of the many problems that plagued our pack members.

My wolf was becoming even more restless with each step I took forward. I haven't shifted since yesterday morning because of work. Needing to lay off some steam after I ate, I hurried through the door to the burger place. Suddenly, I forgot about all the hunger I felt because the most intoxicating scent in the world enveloped my senses. It was some kind of flower that was familiar, but the name escaped me. Since Devon didn't smell like a flower, I locked my eyes on the only other possible source. 

A female shorter than me with obsidian-colored hair that fell below her shoulders was standing at the register. I couldn't help myself and stood directly behind her. The close vicinity was doing something to my control. The beast inside me wanted out and I was having a tough time controlling my wolf. That has never happened before in my life. As an Alpha, I was taught from a young age to control my animal side. It was bad form for a pack leader to not be able to control his wolf.

Clenching my hands at my side it took everything in me not to use them and pull her to me. Only one touch would prove that she is mine. When a wolf meets their mate, the animal side becomes uncontrollable and you smell them strongly. When two mates touch for the first time their wolves howl even without needing to shift. I will hear my beast howling and so will my pack because we are all bonded via a mind link. That way we can communicate without needing to talk.

The goddess before me swiftly turned around and our eyes locked. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life. Her eyes were blue, but I could barely see the color because her pupils were dilated. Our moment was cut short by Devon's voice coming from behind the counter. Suddenly, I wasn't as sorry for my pack member's troubles. Did I hear him right? Satisfy MY mate?

The exquisite beauty was startled, took her order, and fled out of the room. My wolf's anger was hard to control. It was just a phrase and he didn't mean anything by it. I've heard him use it on customers all the time. But right now I was on the brink of shifting inside the place. I didn't even realize I was growling lowly until I saw Devon in a submissive position next to the wall, exposing his neck to me and whining.

I took a deep breath and exhaled. "Shit. Devon I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's alright Alpha. Will it be the usual tonight?" Nodding, I stared down at the counter trying to reign in my desire to go outside and give chase. The woman didn't smell like a wolf nor did she experience any of the usual signs. Was she human? If that's the case, I definitely shouldn't try and follow her or chase her down. We had enough problems with humans and the Wolf Council was watching us closely. 

Werewolves with human mates had to be careful because it could lead to unwanted exposure. I needed to figure out a way to touch her without looking like a stalker. That was the only way to be sure she was my soulmate. A glint of something caught my eye on the counter next to the register. Focusing, I realized it was a bank card with a fancy logo I had never seen. Stepping closer I took the card to see who it belonged to. Devon saw what I was reaching for and spoke "That girl must have forgotten her card, she used it to pay."

My mate left it because she was in a hurry. She was probably startled because of her feelings once she laid eyes on me. Most humans are and don't know why they feel this way, so they fear the feelings because they think it's unnatural. Finally, I looked at the name on the card. Madelyn Sullivan. A beautiful name that suited her.

"I'll report we found the card to the bank institution or look for the woman and give it back, you go home Devon. It's late as it is."

"I updated the schedule Alpha. With the start of the semester college students tend to show up later than usual, so I'm staying open until midnight." I frowned. He wouldn't need to stay open this late if business hadn't slowed since the meat incident. There was only so much I could do though, even as the Alpha. It was Devon's business and he decided what was best. "Here you go Alpha!"

"Thank you. Be careful and goodnight." Outside traces of Madelyn's scent still remained. I wanted to follow it and see where it would lead me, but I refrained. I will find my mate soon enough and the first time I touch her to confirm it, wouldn't be because I stalked her home and gave into my primal side.