I continued stuffing boxes full of my meager belongings. Six months in the city and I still had never felt at home enough to really nest. I was thankful for that now. It made packing easier. The fact that my sister Rachel was actively trying to prevent me doing so by sitting on the pack of flattened boxes I’d bought at the office store that morning did absolutely nothing to slow me down.

"I don't think you've really given things a try here, Gerard."

"Rach, I've tried. I've gone to bars. I've gone to clubs. I've gone to singles hiking groups, I even tried golfing. You would think that it would be easier to find a mate in a city where you're not related to every other resident, but all anyone here wants is just a one night stand. And that's not me." The guy last night had been the last straw. He actually was a barista at my favorite cafe, and we’d been flirting for the last month. I thought we might have had some kind of connection, even if it wasn’t the whole fated mate, true love at first sight kind of deal. And when TJ had accepted my invitation to dinner, that had only been further confirmation. But the moment we’d left dinner, TJ had been pushing all up on me, saying things like he knew I just needed an alpha to fill me, to show me what it was like to submit. And he wasn't even the first jackass to talk to me like that. Not even the tenth.

"I didn't say it had to be. Or that it should. But there are so many other places shifters hang out that you haven't tried."

I was tired of sighing. Tired of explaining myself. But I gave it one last go. "Rach, I just don't think I'll ever match with a city shifter. All the concrete and metal makes me feel like I'm living in a cage. But they love it. Surely fate wouldn't be so cruel as to make such an ill match. If I didn't have evidence to the contrary, I'd think this whole fated mate stuff was complete BS." But I had too much evidence. My parents. Rachel. Two of my other sisters and three of my brothers. One of which was younger than I was! Not to mention the numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. We were a family blessed by fate. All except me.

Rachel shrugged. "I don't think it's that bad."

That was easier for her to say. She and her mate Keenan had met during college when she'd gone home with one of her friends only to find out the friend's brother was her mate. Her home was wherever he was. Maybe if I found my mate here, I’d feel differently. But that hadn't happened, and didn't look like it ever would.

I sat on my bed with a huff and looked at the floor. "I'm beginning to think I won't ever find my mate, Rachel. And if I'm going to spend the rest of my life waiting for him, I'd rather do it at home in the country than here where I'm not miserable just walking out my door."

Rachel came to sit next to me. "I get how you feel."

"Do you really? Can you?"

Rachel looked chagrined. "Okay, maybe not, but I try to imagine what it would be like to live without Robert and I imagine that is at least along the same lines. I just hate the idea of you going back home where we both know your prospects are basically nil."

She was right there. I hadn't been joking when I said we were related to basically every other shifter. Our family was large, prolific, and major homebodies for the most part.

"Would you mind trying one more thing? For me?" She batted her large eyes at me even though she knew her words carried more weight than her theatrics.

"What is it?" I asked wearily.

"If you'll just try this last thing, I promise I'll help you finish packing and I won't say another word about you going back home."

Now I was suspicious. "What is this thing?"

Rachel looked at me from the corner of her eye. "Well, there's this matchmaker."

I flew off the bed. "What? Nope. Not doing it. I’ve tried the internet dating thing before. You remember how well that went." Those guys made TJ look like a gentleman. I’d never even let it get so far as meeting up they were so awful.

"She's different. The real deal, Ger. One of my coworkers said her sister went to her and met her mate the next day. They say she's got powers."

"Really, Rachel? You don't actually believe all that mumbo jumbo. No one can predict someone else's true mate. It's impossible."

"Just try, Ger? I swear, just this, and then I'll be quiet. I'll even do my part to keep the family off your back."

I took a deep breath. That would make life easier, if she was telling the truth. Not about the matchmaker, I didn’t believe that. But about helping me deal with our family. They were a freaking handful.

"Just this one thing?"

Rachel nodded.

"If she says I'm unmatchable or I say the whole thing was an utter dud, that's it? I pack up and we move on?"

She crossed her heart. "Wolf's honor."

It was tempting. But did I really want to put myself through another excruciating date just to get my sister off my back? But she wasn't just my sister, she was my best friend. Rachel was eight years older than me and there were four kids between us, but we’d always been close. She wasn't above tricking me for my own good, or what she thought was my own good, but when she said she'd defend me to the rest of the family... that was definitely worth it. 

"Okay, You have a deal."

Rachel smiled. "Good, because I already submitted your application and paid the fee. Your appointment is at 10:30am tomorrow."

I shook my head. "You're absolutely incorrigible." I doubted this matchmaker was anything more than a charlatan. At best, a well-connected shifter with a hyped up marketing team. But as always, my traitorous heart whispered in hopefulness. At the very least, I’d have Rachel on my side against the family's meddling. And that wasn't nothing.