ALPHA MARCELLUS STORM

His first thought that morning had been that he needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. His second thought had been how would he be able to be able to find her in the hospital, but then he very quickly reminded that he was a werewolf and would be able to scent his mate out from more than a couple of miles away.

If she worked at the hospital, which he most certainly believed she did, then Marcellus would find her and nothing or no one would be able to stop him.

His third and most prominent thought was that after all this time, pent-up frustration and anticipation – which he could only assume was a two-way thing – would she be disappointed to end up with him as a mate?

Sure, he was the Alpha of one of the strongest and largest packs in the world, but the innate fear of not being good enough which he had harboured all through his childhood and now into his adulthood, remained as a tick at the back of his mind.

To rid himself of the thought, Marcellus forced himself out of bed and then headed into the bathroom. He then spent an unhealthy amount of time in the shower, grooming himself for the possibility of finally meeting his mate today. After all, he was a firm believer that first impressions counted for a lot.

To say that Marcellus and his wolf were excited would be an understatement.

What do you think she's like? His wolf hummed quietly as the water cascaded over his head, the wet strands of his hair falling over his forehead and into his eyes, rendering him momentarily unable to see.

But even then, he continued to imagine what his mate looked like at the back of his eyelids, his lips curling up subconsciously.

Fucking perfect!

No doubt about it. His wolf chuckled in agreeance. Now hurry the fuck up so we can get to the hospital and find our mate.

Marcellus didn't need to be told twice and in record time, he was out of the shower, dried off and dressed in what could only describe as his Sunday best. Not that he attended church as he was more part of a cult than a religion.

"Marcellus? Where are you going?" A voice called out from behind him as he walked out of the pack house.

Marcellus paused and glanced over his shoulder, only to find that he wasn't the first one to be awake at this early house as he previously thought and found his Beta to be watching him curiously.

"To the hospital." He stated simply before jogging down the steps, an added prep in his step.

"What? Why? What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"No." He shook his head as he rounded the side of the pack house where his car was parked in the Alpha's spot, unobstructed by any of the other vehicles.

He didn't usually drive as either Dalton or one of the warriors drove him around the few times that he did leave the pack nowadays, so he also had that to look forward to as well.

"Then why are you going to the hospital?"

"I'll tell you later."

"If you're going to the pack hospital then why are you taking your car?" Dalton asked as he followed him out of the pack house, standing off to the side as Marcellus rounded the car to adjust both the mirrors. "It's just down the street, but you already know that."

"I'm not going to the pack hospital."

"Okay, buddy. I'm really lost here. I thought you just said you were going to the pack hospital."

"No." Marcellus denied with a small chuckle. Riling up Dalton had always been a favourite pastime of his growing up, and the habit hadn't been lost now that they were adults and running the pack together. "I said I was going to the hospital. I never said I was going to the pack hospital."

"Let me get this straight." Dalton hummed aloud and braced his hands on his hips, a thoughtful expression on his face. "You're going to a hospital but it's not the pack hospital?"

"Yes." Marcellus confirmed with a nod of his head, a small, humoured smile on his face.

"So, you're going to the human hospital?"

"I wouldn't say it's a human hospital. Werewolves go there, too."

"Yes, but we've never had to go there before since we have a fully functional hospital right here on pack grounds. So, spill. What's going on?"

Marcellus shook his head slightly. "Like I said, I'll explain everything later but right now, I really need to go."

"Okay, just give me a second and I'll get Zion and Mohammed ready to go with you." Dalton hummed as he turned around, but Marcellus was quick to stop him before he could get too far.

"No, there's no need to call them." Marcellus denied, shaking his head.

"Why not?" Dalton turned around with a questioning look on his face.

"This is something I need to do by myself."

"You're acting really strange, Mars." Dalton hummed but didn't bother asking for an explanation as he knew that he wouldn't be getting one, no matter how much he asked.

"I know, buddy. Don't worry too much about it, okay? Everything will make sense soon but right now, this is just something I need to do by myself, okay?"

Dalton pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but eventually, nodded his head reluctantly.

"I won't be long." He threw the promise over his shoulder before slipping into his car and starting up the engine, throwing his friend and Beta a smile in thanks before he peeled out of the parking spot and away from the pack house.

The drive over to the human hospital which wasn't entirely made up of humans took a little over an hour, which definitely would have been much sooner if he had run in his wolf form but wolves were instructed to keep shifting in front of humans to an absolutely minimum even if wolves and humans lived mostly in harmony.

The moment he pulled up into the parking lot, he slid into closest empty spot to the double doors before rushing in, frantically searching for that heavenly honeysuckle scent which had tantalised him and his wolf since he had first stumbled upon it yesterday.

His lips pulled down into a deep frown as he was unable to sense his mate anywhere even though he was absolutely certain that she worked here as that was the only plausible explanation as to why he could smell the rich scent of his mate on Justas and Raphael yesterday.

Marcellus glanced up and down the hallway but he couldn't sense or scent her anywhere, almost as if she had never been here in the first place.

How can this be possible? His wolf questioned, his eyes wide in confusion, absolutely stumped as not once had they considered that they wouldn't be able to find her at the hospital, her presumed place of work.

I have no idea.

It smells like she was never here.

Marcellus hummed quietly in agreeance as he continued trying to scent her out but once again, came up with nothing.

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

He didn't need to turn around to sense that the receptionist was human.

She's definitely not our mate. His wolf snapped at him in a sharp tone, more disappointed than his human counterpart about not sensing his mate anywhere on the premises. But she might know where she is so lay it on thick. Don't hold anything back.

"I'm here to see someone." Marcellus stated simply as he turned around to face her, a large, charming smile on his face.

"Okay, do you have a room number?" The woman replied quietly, her eyes bulging slightly as she took in his rugged appearance, most definitely sensing that he wasn't human.

It appeared that she wasn't quite used to dealing with wolves, especially ones with auras as strong as an Alpha's.

"Not exactly."

"Not exactly?" The human echoed his words in a question. "What do you mean by that?"

Marcellus sighed and reached a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"I know you're human and I know you know I'm a werewolf." He began to explain, cutting straight to the point as he didn't have the patience of beating around the bush, not when his mate was in question. However, he made sure to leave out the part where he was an Alpha as that probably would have stumped her further, not that she couldn't feel the power rolling off him in waves. "But my mate was here yesterday."

The receptionist frowned lightly as she blinked up at him from her seat behind the counter, trying to process his words.

"Okay?" She responded in a question. "Is she still here?"

"That's what I'm here to find out." He smiled politely, though it was strained and far from pleasant. More of a grimace, he could assume. "It's complicated but I haven't met her yet. Two of my fellow pack members were here yesterday and when they got back to the pack house, I could smell my mate on them." He trailed off purposely, giving her a moment to allow all of the information that he had just dropped on her to settle in.

"So, you're here to meet your mate?"

"Yes." He nodded, relieved that he didn't need to go through the painful act of having to explain everything again.

As an Alpha, Marcellus was used to getting his own way so he wasn't used to explaining everything so black and white.

"Well, I'm not sure what I could do help you with that." She frowned lightly, glancing between him and the computer screen in front of her, unsure of what to do.

Marcellus resisted the urge to growl loudly in frustration – more so at the situation rather than the receptionist herself as she had been nothing short of pleasant this entire conversation – and instead, closed his eyes and took a deep breath before pushing himself to continue.

"I could smell her strongly yesterday on my pack members after they returned from here, but now, I can't smell her anywhere. Why is that?"

"Are you sure they were here?" She paused in question before clarifying. "The two pack members you mentioned."

"Yes." He replied snappily through gritted teeth, something which he would probably come to feel bad about later but right now, couldn't care less about. He was reaching the end of his tether and knowing that he was so close to finding his mate after all this time only to run into a dead end was excruciatingly painful.

The human gulped and looked away from, her eyes downcast.

Marcellus groaned aloud and a deep sigh passed his lips.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you." He forced himself to apologise, reminding himself of the fact that it wasn't her fault and there was no point taking his frustrations out on her. "But is there anything you can do to help me?"

"I'm sorry." The receptionist apologised and shook her head frantically, refusing to meet her eyes. "The hospital is cleaned with some pretty strong chemicals every day, so that may be why you can't smell her today."

"Right, thank you." The words left a bitter taste in his mouth as he turned around and marched himself out of the building

Go back in there and demand that human to tell us where our mate is!

There's no point! Marcellus was quick to snap at his wolf, not at all appreciative of the tone that his wolf had chosen to use on him. She clearly doesn't know anything. We're just wasting our time speaking to her.

Go make her tell you.

She doesn't know anything! Marcellus roared at his wolf, going as far as to slam his hand down on the hood of his car.

While the pain that shot through his hand was only momentary and was barely anything more than a sting, he cursed loudly as he took in the sight of the clear dent on the hood of his car, already groaning at the prospect of having to get that fixed at a later date.

Now look what you've made me do! He accused his wolf, and rolled his eyes when the rabid dog growled loudly back at him.

You can't blame me for losing your temper!

We're the same fucking person! I can't lose my temper without you losing your temper.

Shut up and go fucking find our mate!

She's not here.

His wolf growled at him one more time before he closed the link between them, effectively shutting him off.

Marcellus growled loudly and slammed his hand down on the hood of his car one more time before he yanked open the door and slid in behind the wheel, frustrated to no means with not being able to find his mate and the short temper of his wolf.

It wasn't very often that Marcellus and his wolf didn't see eye to eye on things, but he was confident the silent treatment wouldn't last long as ultimately, they both shared the same end goal of finding their mate but for now, it appeared that he would be on his own for a little time.

Marcellus groaned again and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, squeezing his eyes shut tightly as he leaned his head back against the head rest.

If his mate didn't work at the hospital, then how did her scent get on Justas and Raphael? But more importantly, where was she now?

-

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Layla Knight

06.10.2020