Chapter Seven: his mate

Cyrus's POV

I hurriedly packed some of my clothes into the duffle bag. I wasn't being chased but I love doing things quickly. Mindy Portman was my childhood friend, a year older, and tends to act as if she's old enough to give birth to me. Still, Mindy was a great friend. Unlike me, she found her mate when she was seventeen but he wasn't ready for marriage as he wanted to be a botanist. Immediately after he graduated and secured a good job, he took Mindy away, changed her last name, and I haven't seen her since she left. At first, we communicated on phone, but sooner than I expected, she got a job and we lost contact. Mindy owed me an explanation for abandoning me just like that. I thought we were best friends. I already made up my mind to let her be until she decides to call, but it was the only excuse I could come up with to escape from my mother. She was getting on my last nerve.

"Are you sure you want to leave for a whole month?" Cyra asked worriedly. I rolled my eyes. She knew more than anyone how much I needed to leave. I needed a break from being an Alpha. Since I took over at the age of seventeen, I never took a break away from the pack except on official duty. The pack can function for a few weeks without me and it's not like they can't call me if anything goes wrong.

"I'll be gone for only two to three weeks, Cyra,"

"But I miss you!"

"I haven't left yet," I chuckled.

"I miss you already. Nathan has been too busy lately to attend to me. What do I do now? Who am I supposed to whine and nag to?"

"Assist mom in taking care of the pack for me until I return, and you can survive a few weeks without me,"

"Do you hate me that much? Work with mom?! What are you expecting to find when you return? A peaceful, quiet pack?"

"She's not that bad, Cyra,"

"So says the guy who is running away because of his mother who is not so bad," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. I chuckled. "I can't even go to Taffy's. All she does is talk and talk, no full stop, no break!" She said exasperatedly.

"Taffy is not your only friend, Cyra. I need to get out of here before mom returns and gives me the lessons on how to resist human temptresses," I flung the bag on my shoulder and smiled. "Until we meet again, Sunshine," I kissed her forehead and cheek.

"If it comes to the worst, I will run away to Grandma's. Far away from mom. Did you know that she started blabbing about grandchildren? I just found my mate!" She exclaimed.

"Sorry, love, I've told you to move in with Nathan and save yourself the stress but you still won't leave."

"If I move out, I will miss you," she whined. Cyra was just eight when dad died so I took up the responsibility of a father and a brother, and with how miserable mom was then, I was also her mother and best friend. Even after mom came around, I still maintained the roles because our mother was never a supportive kind of mother or a mother material at all. She has never been apart from me for too long. Literally, she followed me on every business trip outside the pack and couldn't stay a day without me. Her therapist suggested I start giving her space or she would become too dependent on me. That was two years ago and though the progress was slow and painful for her, she made friends and could stay without me for a week. Now she had a mate she could lean on but she was still clinging to me.

"Cyra, I love you as much as you love me but you need to stop clinging to me all the time. Nathan needs you, stop pushing him aside for me and instead lean on him. I'm not going to be around forever especially if I find my mate," I pleaded. "Take your things and go stay with him. If you are living in the same house, he will find time for… shit! Mom is back," I exclaimed as I felt her cross into the boulder. I thought she would stay longer at her friend's place to gossip about how to convince me to choose a mate. "Gotta go!" I ran out of my room with my wolf speed to my car. I needed to finish that conversation but avoiding my mother was a mission I must succeed in.

"Good morning, Alpha," Dandy greeted with a bow.

"Yes, morning. If my mother asks, I left before dawn," I said hastily, opening my car door.

"You will meet her on the way,"

"I will take the secret route. Take care of the pack please, just in case," he nodded. I closed the door, started the car, and drove off quickly. Mission successful.

_____

LA, I never really liked the state much but Mindy did. It was her dream country. I'd been stuck in traffic for hours and it was irritating. After hours, the traffic finally disperse. Out of nowhere, a little girl ran into the road, straight into my car. "Shit!" I opened the door and ran out to help her. I carried the unconscious girl up and looked around for any sign of her parents but none came. I took her to the car and dropped her in the back seat before getting in and driving off. I wanted to come to see a friend and now I'm going to be spending the week in a hospital. Suddenly and surprisingly, she giggled. I looked over my shoulder and saw her sitting up, staring at me with her big silver eyes.

I looked at her through the mirror with concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm always okay," she chirped, taking off the hood of her jacket, and then, she started playing with her white hair. I stopped the car beside the road and sighed. She wasn't acting like someone who got rammed by a car. There was no sign or smell of blood and her heartbeat sounded normal. She reeked with joy and excitement.

"Where do I take you to? Where do you live?"

"It's my secret," she whispered with a giggle.

"Did you run into my car on purpose or what?" I asked with slight annoyance.

"Yes,"

"Why?!"

"Easy, Alpha, I don't bite," she teased. I stared at her with stupefaction. She knew I was an Alpha? Only my kind or other supernatural could tell. "Who I am isn't important but what I have to say does. Your anger is one of the sources of your powers but it will also be the reason for her destruction if you don't learn to control it around her."

"Her? Who's her? Are you talking about Mindy?"

"She is who you wish to find and got. She is special and not like every other. Mother of one of the key balances of this universe, a being almost as important as me. My message to you, Alpha Cyrus Moonstone is to be careful."

"I don't understand a shit you are saying," I cried.

"With time, my darling Alpha, you will. And no, I am not a spirit, just a vessel," she smiled.

"Stop reading my mind," I murmured.

"Goodbye, Cyrus, we'll meet again." With a wink of her eye, she disappeared. Her disappearance caused me to flinch and curse under my breath. What the hell!

After a few minutes, I located Mindy's house in a forest. I packed the car and got out. I aggressively knocked on the door to annoy her. I smiled at her angry footsteps before the door flung open.

"Hello, Stranger," I said seethingly. She stiffened for a few seconds before she squealed and jumped on me. I thought I was mad at her but it didn't feel like it. "No hugs, I'm mad at you," I gently pushed her aside and walked inside the house. The interior of the house was better than the exterior. The cute pink table, couch, little pink vodio plasma… teddy bears, and pink rugs! All made out of wood. The place smelt like snow and milk, a change from what she usually liked.

"Do you have to be so barbilistic?" I groaned. She chuckled.

"He's not complaining so you have no right to complain,"

"The color is hurting my eyes," I complained.

"Too bad," she flung herself on the big teddy bear couch and crossed her legs. "Look, I'm sorry I never came to visit or called. You know Chris is the jealous type, he was misunderstanding everything so I had to do something about it," she said sadly.

"By cutting me off? Mindy, we were friends from childhood. How could you let him break us like that?" I asked a bit upset. I never liked her mate but I had no say in the matter. Apparently, he's her life.

"I'm sorry, Cyrus, I beg for your forgiveness," she said soberly.

"Forgiveness denied. You missed my birthdays, my dad's memorials, my everything. You don't just cut someone off like that as if he never meant anything to you. If you can do this, then you don't deserve the title of my best friend."

"I'm sorry okay! Now, please stop yelling! My friend is sleeping upstairs!" She yelled.

"The last time I checked, you are the one who's yelling," I said nonchalantly.

She pouted. "I'm really sorry, Cyrus, please forgive me," she said softly.

I sighed tiredly. I didn't come here to fight with her, I came for an escape. There was no need to fight. She's forever lost my trust but I wasn't going to tell her that. "I will forgive you only if I can get something nice to eat, I'm starving," I replied instead. Mindy smiled and nodded.

"I will be right back,"

"Can you please get rid of this snow and milk fragrance? It's making my wolf uncomfortable." I huffed.

"Is your nose broken? You know I'm a strawberry kind of person," she said with a frown. "Don't tell me you have forgotten I hate milk," true, but the house smelt like something else.

"But the house smells like snow and milk," I argued insistently.

"Your nose is broken for sure," she nodded.

"But it's n…" then it dawned on me. The friend. "Your friend upstairs, is it a male or a female?" I asked.

"Female, why would y… oh," she gasped. Her eyes widened. "No, no, no! Not her!" She exclaimed shaking her head. It has to be her!

"It's her," I closed my eyes. The sound of gentle footsteps striding down the stairs reached my ears. A lady walked in sniffing the air confusedly. Her hair was white but not more than her skin and her lips and eyes were blue. A strong royal and powerful but cold aura surrounded her, like a cruel powerful queen. Her eyes stopped at me and my wolf jumped around in Joy.

Mate!