The Good Son's Karma

[GABE]

'Remember our deal, Gabriel Grealor,' Tamiko's voice rang in Gabe's head, a reminder that Tamiko was able to talk to him because he had accepted the mate bond, but Tamiko hadn't. And that made it hard for Gabe to say anything to Tamiko.

He could hear the man in his head, and couldn't respond.

Instead, Gabe stared in the direction of Tamiko for a split second, like he was pleading with his mate to stop fucking with him. The alpha's son had gone from being the great man everyone knew to a shell.

This was someone that Grealor didn't know and that was heartbreaking. They looked at him pitifully, even though he could only think of one man in their midst. He wanted to reach out to Tamiko and apologize, and a part of him was stopping him.

Perhaps it was because Gabe knew that no amount of apology would be able to fix what Grealor had done to Tamiko or even what Gabriel himself had done to Tamiko. He had screwed up over the years and fate had given him a horrible nightmare to deal with.

Oh, but wasn't he a lucky alpha's son, no?

"My apologies father, I overslept. But I am here now. Pardon my look. I was in a hurry, seeing as I had delayed. Once again, my sincere apologies," Gabe said and the werewolves were finally convinced that there was something wrong with the alpha's son.

Even Alpha Ashton could tell that.

However, just like everyone they easily assumed that it was because he didn't have a mate. The scent of newly-mated wolves filled the air, and it took everything in Gabe not to go to Tamiko and plead with him even though it wouldn't be that easy.

"All is forgiven. We understand what you are going through," Alpha Ashton said and the pack nodded in unison, while Tamiko just stood there with a smirk on his face. He knew that his opinion wasn't important here, so he didn't even bother himself with it.

"As you already know by now I—" Gabe began as he looked at the crowd, and at his mate once again.

'You keep looking at me like that and everyone will suspect me. I promise I will make your life worse than it is about to be, so look away,' Tamiko warned again and Gabe let out a frustrated sigh. How long was he supposed to go through this?

Then again, it was just the first day since he had realized Tamiko was his mate. Would he even survive a week without his mate? Oh, but his heart was shattering to pieces just like Tamiko's.

However, the pain was something that Tamiko had grown familiar with from birth, so this didn't mean shit to him and especially if it meant that he was going to hurt a little, for Gabe to experience the pain tenfold.

Tamiko was more than willing to endure it.

"As I was saying, I would like to congratulate all the wolves that got their mates last night. It is a beautiful time of the year and we all know that. Please do not let my lack of a mate dampen your moods.

"Let the pack celebrations go as usual. I will get my mate in the next mating ceremony, which is next year. Until then, let's treat each other with love and care and once again, happy birthday and congratulations," Gabe said as he walked to the seats behind his parents.

He wasn't in the mood for anything, really. He felt like this was by far the worst birthday ever for him. Karma was a bitch even if he deserved what had come for him. The universe was cruel to both him and Tamiko, but what else could they both do, right?

'Let's treat each other with love? What a performance, Gabriel,' Tamiko scoffed in the mind link, once Gabe was seated. He was here to taunt the poor man and he was having fun while at it. The fact that Gabe couldn't even respond, made it even better.

Tamiko could sense his mate's frustration, and he loved it, because this was just the beginning of it all. He would pay them all back, bit by bit and when he was done, he would go back home to Kawai, and find out who his parents were.

Until then, Grealor was his new playground.

"You heard the boy. However, I didn't call the assembly just because he was mateless, but because we have found a mate for Gabriel," Alpha Ashton said and Gabe lifted his head as he looked at his friends, and then his father before he looked at Tamiko.

He was scared shitless of the lycan. Oh how the tables had turned in just a night.

"What?" Gabriel asked as he looked at his father, like he was demanding more from the man. It was clear that Zakhar hadn't just said that earlier to get his best friend out of bed and out here. But he had done it because of the alpha and his suggestions.

Would Gabe agree to it?

"Do not worry, Gabe. The mate I found is one that you will be with up until the next mating ceremony. She will be a temporary one. If by the time the mating period comes and she is not your mate, then you shall part ways," Alpha Ashton said, making Gabe cringe.

"She?" Gabe asked again, and this time, he could have sworn he would die from cringe and embarrassment.

He couldn't imagine being with anyone other than Tamiko. That is how the mate bond was always wired. The mate wouldn't be able to be with someone else who wasn't their mate. And the worst part of all this, was that the mate his father had gotten him, was a female.

Could this day get any worse?

"Yes, the pack needs a luna. I know you don't have any preferences, but the only person I could find in the short time was a woman. You will have to work together to make Grealor great, at least until you meet your true mate," Alpha Ashton said proudly to his son.

Of course, the pack was unimportant and would always be, but Gabriel hadn't ever imagined that he would be forced to bond with someone else, in the name of temporary shit. What about his feelings? What about his Tamiko? Goddess, he was frustrated.

Sighing defeatedly, Gabe just nodded at his father, knowing so well that alpha Ashton had already decided and nothing could change for them.

It was already done, and he could only hope that whoever the woman was, she wasn't a clingy woman, because then it would be a long battle with his sanity, especially with Tamiko in the pack and the dare withstanding.

Perhaps by then, he would be able to fix the issues between him and Tamiko, so that in a year's time, he would be in his mate's arms. Oh, how he wanted to go to Tamiko and be close to him, but the universe was busy with something else.

Gabe had never thought that he would ever be this vulnerable, but the mate bond was doing just that to him. Without Tamiko, he could already feel like his world was slowly turning into a dark hole, and he wouldn't be able to come out from it.

And he hated it.

"May I ask, Father, who is the mate you found for me?" Gabe asked, like the sentence itself was poison on his lips.

He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do at the moment, because he was already twenty-five.

And that meant that he was at the age to start stepping in for his father as the alpha, until his mate came, and then they would both lead the pack while Alpha Ashton and his luna would take a break from the ruling.

It was customary, but then what was Gabe to do when his mate despised all of Grealor and seemed to want to burn the pack to the ground? Even if this was his karma, couldn't they have been a little kinder?

Then again, wasn't he the one who had forced Tamiko to cut his wrists yesterday and even cut the poor man's hair like it meant nothing?

"Galya, the beta's daughter, and Danny's sister," Alpha Ashton said proudly, and Gabe felt his heart sink into his stomach this time.