What The Fuck

The car ride back to the mansion was nothing short of excruciating. The scent of his mate continued to tease Raphael's senses. It was like she was there in the car with them, but that was impossible.

The other thing that was starting to bother him was that all of the other men in the vehicle were having the same reactions that he was. Even Damien, as infatuated as he was with the waitress, was shifting in the driver's seat.

"What do you think the chances are that you have come into contact with four different women today, all of them our mates?" asked Dominik from the front seat. He didn't turn around to look at Raphael, choosing instead to stare out at the traffic in front of them.

"What are you suggesting?" Raphael asked, raising an eyebrow, refusing to give in to his own worries.

"What if we end up sharing a mate… all of us?" interjected Damien, his hands squeezing the wheel tighter until the metal let out a sound of protest.

"It's not like it hasn't been happening lately," admitted Raphael. "It seems like all of the younger generation are in smaller family packs."

"That might have something to do with their mates being fucking fluff balls," grunted Lucien. The last thing he wanted was to share his mate. Ever since he was born, he had to share everything with these guys. They went everywhere attached at the hip, what was his was Raphael's, and that was just the way of it.

He always wanted something… or someone… that was made just for him. Someone who wouldn't look at his best friend and choose him instead.

The air conditioning in the car chose that moment to go on, circulating the scent of his mate all over again.

Would he be able to share the one thing in this world that the gods had determined was his? And even if he could… how long would it take for the jealousy and anger to take over, souring his relationship with his mate?

"Yeah, I am still not understanding why the fates have decided to fuck with that. The she-wolves are getting more and more pissed off that their potential mates are being taken away by nothing more than an entrée," sighed Damien as he took off from the red light that they had been idling in front of.

"Maybe that is why they had multiple males; it was the only way to make sure that they were constantly protected," suggested Raphael.

"Then our mate is a prey species?" asked Dominik, meeting Raphael's eyes in the rearview mirror.

"That puts a different spin on it all," grunted the alpha, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with his beta. If he was worried about having a human as his mate, that was nothing compared to the fear he was feeling about having a prey species as a mate.

"If that's how you feel," shrugged Lucien, his eyes staring at the back of Dominik's headrest.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" growled Raphael, clearly not happy with that suggestion.

"You talked about denying your mate before. If you can't handle having a prey species as a mate, then maybe you should deny her. We would be more than happy to be enough for her."

"You would subject her to that type of pain? The books say that rejecting a bond is excruciating, like your body was being ripped apart, only to be put back together with something missing," growled Dominik while Raphael remained quiet.

"It doesn't matter," interjected Damien as he pulled up to a set of silver security gates. "Until we meet her in person, none of this matters."

A pack member stepped out of the guard house and approached Damien's window. "Welcome home, Sir," grunted the guard, coming to attention and tilting his head slightly to show his neck in submission to the stronger male.

"Thank you. Anything we should know about?" asked Damien.

"Nothing, Sir. Everything is the same as when you left. There have been no visitors, and no packages have been dropped off."

"Excellent, good job," praised Damien as the guard bowed his head and returned to the guard house and the gates opened.

-----

Raphael stood in front of the large bay window in his bedroom, looking out at the scenery before him. The sun had set, and the forest around his mansion was almost black. The only source of light was the lights down the driveway and the crescent moon over his head.

'Mate,' growled his wolf, pacing back and forth in his head. 'Mate is near.'

'We've been through this before. Our mate can't be near, and there is no one but the pack in the house,' sighed Raphael as he rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. His wolf was acting like he didn't want to find her, but that wasn't the truth.

However, he had no idea where to even start the search. He didn't have a description other than her scent; he didn't have a first name or last name; he didn't even have an approximate age.

He only knew for sure that she was not one of the shifters he had met before.

He couldn't even pinpoint her animal.

In short, he had nothing to go on.

He placed his hands in his jacket pockets and let out a deep sigh.

Suddenly, he froze.

There was something soft in his left pocket… and furry?

Raphael blinked rapidly and slowly removed his hand. Bringing it to his nose, he took in a deep breath.

What the fuck?

'MATE!" howled his wolf so loud that Raphael was concerned that everyone would be able to hear him.

Shuddering, trying to suppress his initial panic that he might have hurt her when he first touched her, he placed his hand back in his pocket. Pushing his hand against the cloth against his body, he gently moved his hand until he could feel something rolling into it.

Holding his breath, he slowly closed his fingers around the impossibly small creature and pulled his hand out.

The creature hadn't moved a muscle since he took hold of her, reinforcing his fear that maybe he had hurt her the first time.

But fates wouldn't be that cruel, right? There was no way he would have accidentally killed his mate before ever meeting her… right?