“Then how am I meant to find her?”
Claire bit her lip and glanced away. Then she looked back at me with a reluctant smile.
“Fate. You have to trust that you’ll stumble across her when the time is right. But I wouldn’t be avoiding trips to town during the day. If you guys can start going in more often, you’d have a much better chance of meeting the right one.”
I looked over at my Beta and he nodded.
“Any other tips?” Brad, my Omega asked.
Claire looked to Brad. “Well, I will tell you that I knew there was something special about Dexter the moment I saw him. My heart was pounding and I could barely breathe. I’ve never had a response like that to any man before and I’m sure your mates will feel the same way.”
A sense of relief filled me at her words. There was hope. I had to focus on that element. Hope that there was a mate for me, for us.
I just had to ignore the surprisingly massive mountain of doubt and worry.
I leaned forward and got her attention, my mind spinning with the implications of what she was saying. I needed to get a job in town. At the very least, it would bring in more money for my pack, and at the most… I’d find our mate.
“Thank you, Claire.”
Dex pulled her into his arms and I took that as the signal to move off.
“Thanks Mary.” I nodded at Dexter’s mom and grabbed my pack, my Omega and Beta. “Let’s go.”
Fifteen years ago, the elders of our pack passed a new law. Due to the lack of females and over-abundance of male shifters in our pack, we were told to arrange ourselves in triads.
Into our own packs. An Alpha, a Beta and an Omega to each family.
I hadn’t known Aaron or Brad very well when they’d approached me to become a pack, but it had worked out better than we’d expected.
I’d die to save them, every day of the week. They were my family. But I also wanted my mate, and if that meant sharing her with Brad and Aaron, as Dexter had done with his pack, then I would.
Anything to have a true family, children.
To fulfil the ache and need inside my chest that I’d had for more than a decade.
I loved the larger pack, the elders and my blood-related family. But there was a place inside my heart that was gaping wide open. Empty. Ready and waiting for a woman to love.
“So, what do you want to do?” Aaron asked me, sidling up as we walked to our front door and inside our too large home.
“We need to go into town and cover as much ground as possible. I’ll apply for a job and see what happens. Our mate has to be out there.”
“A job? Where? On a building site full of men?” Aaron rolled his eyes.
He was right. We were tradies. How were we going to meet women that way?
“There’s women at employment agencies. You could apply for jobs everywhere and not necessarily take any.” Brad piped up, and I turned to smile at him.
He was quiet, but smart as a whip.
“It’s a start.” I glanced at my watch. It was only 1pm. It was still early in the day.
“I’ll go and ask some of the elders if they need anything from town. Might hunt around a little now.”
“I’ll go with you,” Aaron said, his mouth setting with determination.
Brad shrugged. “I’ve got work to do. Let me know how you go.”
Aaron and I headed to the elders, but it seemed they needed nothing today. Then we jumped in the car and drove to town, a strange vibration of excitement rattling through both of us.