DANIEL

The sun peaked through the window as it started to rise across horizon and I groaned, rolling over reluctantly, Patrick decided to keep me out late for his Bachelor party, celebrating his upcoming mating celebration.

My Beta, Patrick Evens is getting married, the lucky bastard found his mate fishing the Salmon River in the backwoods of Idaho.

I hear "buzz… buzz…" coming from my pants and I groaned again not wanting to move as I leaned over, reaching for my pants and dug out my phone. It's a text from my sister Kate, "met a new friend and going to breakfast, be home late" it read, 'hmmm... a new friend huh?' I thought, my mind running.

Kate is a registered nurse at the local hospital and I am sure she meets all kinds of people that comes through there, but I do not recall her ever taking anyone to eat. I text her back "should I be worried about this new friend?" question mark and frown face.

She responded, "Nope, my friend is special and I'm not letting this one get away." two smiley faces, one with its tongue sticking out, 'Well that is a shock' I thought as I looked at my phone with wide eyes and replied, "is this friend a man?" I asked with an emoji with a line for a mouth and all I got back was

"wouldn't you like to know" which I did, but she did not respond further, I will delve into that a little later.

The wedding is next weekend and we planned to use the estate as the location, Angela Parsons, Patricks' mate and future wife, is the Alpha's eldest daughter of the Rocky Fork Pack, located in Northern Idaho.

Although, I would not say it in front of anyone, I am one lucky wolf myself as I could not have asked for a better pairing to strengthen our pack and who... 'can help with the Luna abilities' I sing song in my head with a smile.

Bonus for me, The Werewolf Council has stopped hounding me to choose a mate.

For the time being, but the supernatural council consists of a bunch of aristocratic assholes that think they own and control everything, so who knows how long that will last. Shifters and every supernatural species forms a council and then one representative from each species is appointed Chancellor.

Who then speaks on their regions behalf in the supernatural council and each country has its own Council, but they all work the same and try to keeps things equal... my ass. The vampires and a liaison for the Fae king each represent their own council, in other words... All the money, while witches, shifters and other supernatural beings are voted in every fifty years, due to shorter life spans, who then, leaches off the other two- it's an endless cycle.

The purpose is supposed to implement policy between realms, but over the last few hundred years, it's turned into a greedy dictatorship that have their hired henchmen to do their bidding and I have done everything I can to go against them.

They are all a bunch of power-hungry pompous asses that still live in the dark ages, for the exception of a few, but in these modern times we should be embracing change and yet they still try to live by their ancient ideals.

I sigh, shaking out my thoughts and happier things ahead, The Pack has been ecstatic and are absolutely in love with their Beta's new mate, which means less pressure on me to choose. I am a 34 year-old alpha with no mate, that is almost unheard of, although, it seems to be happening more and more lately, which could just leads back to werewolves not waiting for their mates, missed opportunities.

I do not wish to shackle myself to someone, only to discover I have found her, 'What then' I thought, No... I will not be choosing a mate anytime soon, but what I do need to do is get up and wash the night off me, there are a lot of papers to sign and cabins to prepare, decorations and activities to organize.

Making sure everything for the wedding is in order is a large task and the food alone is for over two hundred shifters including staff and essential personnel, which is no easy feat. The pack overall is financially secure and most of the pack has a received a degree or has military background, so there are always new ways and opportunities to make money and contribute to the pack.

The whole estate is technically owned by the Pack and our territory is right in-between the border of Washington and Canada. We work with the local and federal government to maintain the forest in the area and in between the borders to we ensure nobody crosses illegally from either side.

Easy enough request from both the US and Canadian government officials, plus funding from that helps a lot with everyone. Having the protections from any high-level human helps ensure the safety of the Pack and the forests around us are National, but the property in between is listed as a Reservation and it is protected. The lands were inherited and gifted to us by their last Indian chieftain before the war in 1855 and it has been passed down for generations.

One thing the council doesn't own is my land, which is rare in itself as that was the first thing that was established in the beginning of America. All land given is distributed through and by the council, in which they give their account of who lives there, So... Pretty much you live in a constant lease option never to own, but lucky for us, the humans feared us enough in those days that they never questioned our ownership or tried to take it away, leaving us free and clear.

I grabbed some clothes out of the drawer and headed for the bathroom, turning on the spray and stepping into the shower, I wash and get out quickly, brushing my teeth and getting dressed, when I hear a knock and Patrick's voice rang out, "rise and shine sleepyhead," he said making me grin as I walked out of the bathroom, "if you hadn't insisted we top off that last bottle of Jack, I would have been up sooner," I replied teasingly as I dry out my hair and Patrick scoffed.

"Are you sure that was me, because I specifically recalled it was you goading me to stay up and finish the bottle" he replied with his own grin and I waved my hand nonchalantly, giving him a devilish grin, "No matter, what do we have today... when will Angela arrive with her family?" I asked curiously.

It is tradition for pack "royalty" as you would say, to meet formally and in honor of tradition and modern living, we adopted the engagement party. There will be a week's worth of activities and then the wedding will be next weekend, in wolf tradition we have a pack run to strengthens the bond within the pack with our Beta's new mate.

"Angela just text me and they are few hours' drive away from the estate" Patrick said impatiently and I looked at my friend's discomfort. Patrick is a survivalist and he has worked for the forestry service since he turned 18. Now a senior ranger, he manages this part of the National Forest and is younger than me at 28, but he has a lot of wisdom and is a lot like his older brother Andrew, ambitious and willing to serve.

When Andrew died overseas serving in Afghanistan, something changed in Patrick and that is when I asked him to be my Beta. I knew he needed to keep himself busy and his mind off the what ifs and he has thrived in his position, but now I get to see this new beginning that he is about to embark on and what being mated is doing to this very tough wolf

"it's been a long month of preparing my friend and I know you have been anxious for this day.

Being away from your mate for any period of time, I'm sure, feels like an impossible feat for any man or beast." I consoled solemnly and clasp his shoulder in a brotherly squeeze, stretching my hand out to his in a shake.

Relief evident in his eyes that his Alpha saw his silent struggle and voiced how he feels easing his stress as I held his gaze.

"You're a strong man and I couldn't ask for a better Beta or friend" I said with a smile on my face and I grabbed him up in a big bear hug.

"Enough of this sappy shit" I joked and let go, both of us laughing "we got guests to prepare for and a wedding to complete," I said as we headed out the door.

*****************************