Crossing Paths With The White Wolf

Cory POV

**17.5 years later **

"Mom, I told you, I don't want to go. I am not ready to meet my mate. I want to go to college first." I heard my sister, Bellarose arguing with my mom from the open door.

"That's fine, Bel, but that doesn't mean we can't be there for your brother. You know he's been wanting to meet his mate forever." My mother's voice reached me. "But why do I have to go?" I heard my sister counter and I could just see her crossing her arms over her chest and looking up at my mother defiantly. I loved my sister, but she had gotten it into her head that she didn't need a mate. I knew the truth was that she was scared of finding a mate outside of the pack and having to leave. It was my fear too, but I trusted the moon goddess more than her. Probably because I knew no matter what happened, I would remain in my home.

"Because he's your brother and you love him," Mom said.

"I hate when you use that line." I tried to keep my chuckle down as I heard the pout in her voice. Bellarose and I were best friends. I mean it was natural, being twins. No matter how old we were getting, and had our own set of friends, we were still each other's best friend. I heard mom laugh and leave my sister's room while calling out to my other siblings to make sure that they were getting ready as well. She had used her trump card and I could hear my sister muttering and going into her closet to get changed. I finished getting ready and looked out the window into our backyard. Mom had made it so the full moon run we usually had with our two neighboring packs was happening here and she even invited a few other packs. People had already been arriving for well over an hour and it was only noon. I could see a lot of beautiful women already gathered around the party area. Would one of them be my mate? Despite having Bel as my twin, I've felt like something was missing for a few years now. Like my life wasn't complete. I had finally turned 19 a couple of weeks ago and my wolf Tenoch agreed with me that the sooner we found our mate, the happier we would be. I finished getting ready and went out to find my sister. Cory POV

**17.5 years later * *

"Mom, I told you, I don't want to go. I am not ready to meet my mate. I want to go to college first." I heard my sister, Bellarose arguing with my mom from the open door.

I found her in a simple yellow sundress, listening to music on her phone. "Aren't you even a little bit nervous about tonight?" I asked her, "My nerves are fried."

"No. I don't want to go. I'm going to try to sneak off before the moon peaks. There are so many people here already that there's no way they are going to notice." She said stubbornly.

"You don't think they are going to notice when you don't come up to the platform with the rest of us?" I asked, amused.

"Ugh! Why can't I just stay here and be happy?" She pouted as she removed her headphones.

"A mate is supposed to make you happy. Look at mom and dad and Uncle Helios and Aunt Nat, Uncle Theo and Uncle Seb-" I continued to list off our family.

"I don't care. The chances that my mate is here are so low. I want to stay here with you and them. Why can't mom see that? Why can't anyone see that I just want to stay with my family?" She argued.

"You know we won't just let you leave with anyone. You're my smelly Belly" I teased her with the nickname she always hated to try to get her out of her mood. I ducked as the pillow headed for my head, laughing.

"I hate that name." She fumed.

"Well behave or I'll tell your mate it was your favorite pet name." I threatened.

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"Come on," I said as I sat down next to her, "Aren't you even a little bit curious?"

She sighed deeply and rested her head on my shoulder, "Maybe. I'm just...scared."

"You know no matter where you go, you just have to tell me and I'll be there." I comforted her.

"But it won't be the same," she said, her voice trembling.

"I don't think it can stay the same. Things are always meant to change," I pointed out, my heart clenching at her voice. She was always my strong sister. She let no one see her vulnerability except for these moments with me. "Come on. We should help mom. There are a lot more people than usual." I said, pulling her out of bed.

She grunted but followed me down the steps. We looked over the guard rail. "Ugh, all these she-wolves just want to be Luna." She shook her head.

"Hey! I'm a catch!" I argued.

"You mean a catch and release!" She said before running off down the steps and disappearing among the crowd before I could catch her and then I started getting crowded by the guests. She was right about one thing for sure, a lot of these women seemed to just want to be Luna. I was beet red and drained by the time the moon was close to the peak with all the propositions I had received.

"Have you seen your sister?" Dad asked as mom took everyone up on the platform where I had taken refuge for the last half hour.

I shook my head. "I lost her a while back."

"Your mom is going to lose her s**t if she hides." He sighed, his eyes glazing over as he tried to talk to my sister.

"I'm here dad! Don't get so worked up. I wouldn't let you guys look bad." She said.

"I know. I just...you know how much effort she put into this one. Be nice to her, Bel." He said.

"I know. I'm sorry." She said as she gave him a quick hug and went over to help mom.

"Big night. Are you ready?" Dad asked. I took a deep breath and nodded. There were so many people here. One of them has to be my mate.

Dad gave his speech and we waited for the moon to peak. I looked around and I noticed a lot of people started sniffing the air. This was it. I lifted my nose to the air and let Tenoch forward to enhance our smell. I could smell nothing special. My mate was supposed to smell amazing to me and I smelled...nothing.

From my side, I heard Bel's sharp intake of breath and the word I had been hoping to mutter to myself tonight. "Mate."