M y knot began to swell up inside him as cum oozed out. It was hot and harder than my cock .

I nuzzled into his neck again and whispered to him that everything was going to be alright .

Steven relaxed into me, a faint purring sound would come and go .

“Damn, that’s a big knot you got there, Drake .”

“Haven’t you seen my size ?”

Steven chuckled and brought my arm over him. My knot was in full effect, locking us together .

* * *

T hree days later…

The remnants of our love echoed strongly within me as I walked down the hallway with breakfast for my mate and I. After last night I knew he had to be hungry .

I made scrapple, bacon, and eggs with toast and many selections of fruit .

Everything I had on the silver platter that I held came straight from our own farm and garden. We respected our animals and made sure that we used everything we could to make sure it did not go to waste .

I was elated that Steven had finally let his guard down enough to trust me with marking him. Now he could begin to see the perks and benefits of being my mate .

My love, protection, my pack and a new home. I was pretty sure the Purrs would be pleased to know that one of their own mated up with a Gryther .

Very pleased indeed .

I got to the door and opened it with a free hand. Peeking in, I didn't see Steven on the bed where I last left him .

Knowing him, he was probably in the shower. Cats were very well known for their habit of being extremely clean .

"Steven?" I called out. There was no sound of water running, so he couldn't be in the shower .

My inner wolf rose with alarm as I jumped into the bathroom to see if he was there .

Nothing.

"Steven?" I called out louder, hoping to see him maybe pop up from behind something in his cat form. Using my inner wolf's ability, I sniffed around to see where his scent was .

He had left the room .

"Why the hell do felines have to be so ridiculous sometimes," I wondered aloud to myself. Leaving breakfast behind, I ran out into the hallway. "Steven! Mate, speak to me! Where are you ?"

His scent led me down the hall. On my way down, I saw Aiden sweeping the hallway .

"Aiden, did you see a cat shifter with chestnut hair ?"

He shook his head. "No, Alpha Gryther, I'm sorry ."

"Hey, Drake!" Tom called from behind me .

"Tom, did you see him ?"

I ran up to him. Not surprised he was so close in proximity to Aiden .

"See who ?"

"My mate! The cat shifter; Steven!" I said, reminding him .

"Oh god. Mate? And you can't find him? Did you two bond ?"

Aiden clasped his hands together, happy at the good news that I found my mate. Now if only I could find him .

"How wonderful," Aiden cooed .

"It'd be ever more wonderful if I could find him." I rubbed the back of my head and leaned on the wall .

Tom sighed and sat his hands on his belt. "We'll find him. But first you have a meeting with the elders about the farm and some local stuff around Wrendall Town ."

"What? That is today ?"

Tom rubbed his hand down his face. "You sure did find your mate. Look at you, forgetting stuff already. How sappy ."

I huffed. "Of course. I can't think about anything else but him right now. Why did he even leave ?"

I rested my head back and exhaled. I hadn't felt this much stress in a long time .

Last night was perfect to a tee. Now he had vanished like smoke leaving nothing but traces of his scent behind .

"Come on, let's go," Tom said, fisting my arm .

"Fine. The faster I get this done, the faster I get to my mate ."

Tom and I began down the sunlight laden hall and Tom looked back at Aiden .

"You two are quite the flirtatious duo," I pointed out .

"Flirtatious? I just like looking over him is all. He's one of the softest Omegas I've ever seen ."

"He's got another side to him. Don't forget his past. He's lethal and strong ."

Tom shot me a look. "Is that a warning ?"

"No, it's so that you don't go forgetting things like I do because you worry too much over him. Aiden is a fine Omega. I'm surprised you two are mated by now ."

Tom let out a sigh and stayed quiet. What was going on with those two ?

I sat at our large round table with all the elders in our pack. Ten elders in total, and they were all mated off .

I couldn't wait to crack the news since they wanted me to produce them an heir. However, that news would have to wait. If I were to tell them I had a mate, but he was missing, they'd have a fit and worry themselves into an early grave .

Tom cleared his throat, a way of subtly reminding me to start the meeting .

"So, today's meeting," I began, shuffling some papers before me, "we want to discuss adding goats to the farm ?"

The elders all shook their heads with pleased smiles .

"Yes, goats indeed, Alpha Gryther. We do want to scale down on the consumption of regular cow meat. Let the young be with their parents more. We hate slaughtering cows when they have families," one elder explained. She was a fan of our cows and hated to see them go .

Goat was also Steven's favorite meat. We had frozen cuts of it stored, but none in our actual farm .

"I approve," I said, signing off on the paper work. "Meeting dismissed — "

"But Alpha, we haven't discussed the budget and profit margins that the hotels are bringing in," another elder spoke up. He cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. "Is there something troubling you, Alpha ?"

"No, thank you for your concern. I'm just tired ."

The elders began to look at each other and Tom wasn't helping. Nevertheless he kept his mouth closed .

The meeting got back on course and the elders talked amongst each other. I nodded my head and threw idle chatter into the middle, but the only thing solidly on my mind was my mate .

What was I doing here when he could be in danger ?

My chest tightened, and I stood up to speak .

"Elders, I regret to disturb your speeches, but I must excuse myself ."

"But of course, Alpha," the elder whom loved cows said .

I marched out of the meeting, Tom on my heels .

"Drake!"

"Not now. I must find him. He needs me !"

Shifting into my wolf form, I ran down the hall to catch Steven's scent again. He couldn't have left without a trace. Impossible .

I picked up on his scent and followed it downstairs .

The winding path he took to get to the exit indicated that he was either lost or taking a tour. Why would he leave by himself after we had knotted and mated like that ?

Once I was out in the garden, I trained my nose to cancel out all the other scents .

This time his scent began to change. It was still his, but different .

It wasn't only his vanilla scent, but a mix of mine as well. Which was odd, because I didn't come down here with him, and it wasn't Tom's scent. Tom was my younger brother, and even though we may've had a similar scent, we were still very different .

No, this was indeed my scent .

Which meant one thing. The elders always talked about when they were pregnant, how they shared the scent of their mates, at least the Omega ones. Out of all our elders, four were Omegas, and one was a Beta .

The rest were Alphas, but they all shared the same humble personas .

Steven was carrying my seed that was going to grow into being my child .

That was even more incentive to find him. Did he know ?

Was he afraid ?

"Steven!" I called out, his scent getting stronger .

Cats and their habits. They always had a need to disappear and reappear whenever they wanted to .

There were some of the pack Betas out tending the garden. I ran over, still in my wolf form and asked them, "Have you seen a feline shifter? Chestnut hair ?"

One said no, but the other ...

"Well, ya know I did notice someone I've never seen before leaving out the gates. I was going to ask him who he was, but noticed he carried your scent, Alpha Gryther ."

"He left the gates ?"

I looked over and ran to the gilded iron gates we had as a personal pack entrance and exit. The Omega and Alpha lodge had their own entryways away from our pack .

If Steven had left out of one he didn't recognize, he could've easily gotten lost .

Running toward the gates, I got closer, until Ethan stomped into my path and I slid to a halt .

“Ethan, out of my way this is an emergency. I have to find Steven!” I growled, getting back on my four feet .

Ethan waved me off and rolled his eyes .

"Calm down, Alpha. Steven isn't lost, he had to go attend an emergency meeting," he said, putting his hands on his hips and narrowing his eyes. Ethan was one of the most fiery Omegas in my pack. The best leader of Omegas thus far .

"Why didn't he tell me about it?" I sat down on my hind legs, slapping my tail onto the dirt with anticipation. I could always expect him to have answers for almost anything .

"I don't know. But I can guess. He's an intelligent, head strong, independent Omega. He's not going to tell you everything," he explained, patting the top of my head .

"But he must! I'm his mate!" And as his mate I had to know everything about him; where he was, what he was doing, the whole damn thing. His safety relied on how much I knew at any given time .

Ethan’s mouth dropped, and he folded his arms. "Oh, so that's why you're all twisted over him? No wonder ."

"Ethan, he might even be pregnant." I began to pace in a small circle, sniffing at his scent that was mixed with mine. I needed to lay eyes on him again .

"Wow, so you sealed the deal quick, huh? I was wondering where you went for the last three days. Tom kept your secret well," Ethan said, pulling out his phone to check it .

"Ethan, tell me, how do I get Steven to open up to me more?" I stopped pacing and scratched my ear .

"Give him more space and he'll definitely do it .”

"That's exactly what I'm afraid to do. If I give him more space, he'll just drift further off ."

"That's where you're wrong, Alpha. Now I have errands to run. Go chill out, he'll be back. Cats love it if they get fucked good, so you have that going for you... I hope. See you around," he said, walking back to our manor .

Today was another day for the Omega and Alpha Lodge. Although a lot of the past few days’ shenanigans had calmed down, we had to make sure it stayed that way .

I didn’t dare want to see one or three star reviews on my hotel .

I returned to my room and changed back into my human form. After a shower and a few bites of breakfast, I made my way down to the Alpha lodge to see what Tom was up to .

As soon as I got to the lobby, I smelled him .

Steven, he was coming back .

“Hey, Drake—whoa—where are you going ?”

I bulleted out to the parking lot where I smelled Steven’s scent in a white luxury truck. That was another Alpha near my mate and I didn’t like it .

Steven got out of the truck and saw me coming. Lifting his arms up, he stopped me from plowing into the truck .

"You! Get away from my mate!" I roared over Steven’s shoulders .

"Hey, what the hell, Drake!" Steven shouted .

"Is that him? The one that hurt you?" My inner wolf was ready for war .

Steven’s face dropped, and he careened his head back, placing his hands on his face. "What? Oh god, no. That's my boss, you big idiot!" He turned around to the stunned looking Alpha in the driver’s seat. He was a bear shifter. "Boss, I'm so sorry about this .”

Boss?

"Don't worry. As an Alpha myself I understand. It seems that you've found a mate, I'm happy for you. See you at the conference, Mr. Purr," he said, nodding his head at Steven and myself. He drove off and I could feel Steven’s irritation prickling at my skin .

Steven gritted. "Drake, your outburst could've got me fired, or my reputation burned. I don't need conflict mixing with my job," he scolded, tapping his fingers on his folded arms .

"Steven, I'm sorry, but — ”

"No buts. That's why I didn't want to have a mate." He walked around me, heading for the Omega Lodge entrance. His beautiful vanilla scent mixed with mine was delectable, and irresistible .

"You're not saying that..." No, I couldn’t lose him now .

"Of course not. There's no going back essentially. You've claimed me and I'm yours. But don't make a fool out of me. Please ."

He made eye contact with me, his eyes pleading for a little room. I embarrassed him in front of another Alpha who was also his boss. What the hell was I thinking? I scared my mate as well. My temper never got the best of me like this before .

"Never, I apologize a thousand fold." I opened my arms to take him into a light embrace. But he held his hands up and placed my arms back to my sides .

"Just leave me alone for a while ."

“I can’t!” I said, pulling him into me by the waist .

“Why? ‘Gonna crush me with affection ?”

I grinned and stroked his cheek. “No, not at all. Don’t you feel something…something different ?”

“Like what?” He shoved his mouth to the side, trying to read what I was saying .

I smiled again. “My mate, you are carrying our baby .”

Steven broke away from me and stumbled backwards, his feet catching in the old cobblestone .

“What!” he said, beginning to laugh. “You’re going to say anything to keep me next to you, aren’t you ?”

“No, I’m serious. I can smell it. You have my scent. There’s a seventy percent chance that a baby will form .”

“So I’m not pregnant,” Steven said, catching his breath .

“Yet. Knowing the history of my bloodline’s sperm, you’re going to be .”