Photo is Gill
Gill
My butt was getting numb; it was beyond freezing outside, and I had been sitting on the cement steps in front of my house for two hours, waiting for my father to return home. The asshole forgot to put the spare key in the mailbox. I had debated walking the three miles to the grocery store, just to sit where it was warm, but...walking.
My father, Ivan, was an interesting man. He worked as an auto mechanic a few towns over, and did not make a ton of money. He was a stubborn Mexican man with the mouth of a trucker, and a strong hatred toward my mother, who had left him on their fifteenth wedding anniversary to be with her boss. I was twelve. They were both Hispanic, my father from Mexico, and my mother from Cuba. However, I was adopted, so I looked nothing like either of them. My father had struggled to pay bills, but refused to let me get a job to help.
"Mijo, you should focus on school, and girls. You know, teenaged boy things," he had told me. There were two problems with that. One, I was already far ahead in all of my classes, so a job would hardly affect my performance, and two, girls weren't my thing. Not that I'd ever had a "thing" with a boy either, but it at least sounded appealing.
My thoughts were interrupted my the familiar rumbling of my father's truck pulling into the driveway. I stood, brushing off the butt of my jeans, and made my way toward him.
"Did I forget the key again?" He asked guiltily as he climbed out of his truck. I just nodded. "Gee, I'm sorry, mijo. I was in a rush to get to work this morning. Al called an early meeting. Said it was important."Â Al was my father's boss, a charming man in his sixties. I'd met him a couple times.
"About what?" I asked, making my way back toward the house. Dad unlocked the door, finally letting me into the sweet warmth.
"He's retiring. Which means the shop is being passed down to Brian," he groaned, "Brian's his son, and he knows absolutely nothing about cars. He mentioned cutting half the staff too, as if we weren't already short handed." I was suddenly filled with nerves. If my dad lost his job, what would we do? We had already been struggling with the little bit of money we did have. The fearful look in his eyes told me he was thinking the same.
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Tobias
I loved the feeling of the wind blowing through my fur, and the leaves crunching beneath my paws. Being a human was too hard sometimes, which is why I preferred to stay in my wolf form as much as possible. Unfortunately for me, I was also a teenage boy living in America, and I had to go to school. My parents were far too busy being the alpha and luna of our pack to home school me and my younger brother, Drew. So, public school it was. Not that there was anything wrong with public school, it just made it harder for those of us who weren't completely human.
'Tobias, come back to the pack house, I need to speak with you,' my father ordered through the pack link.
'I'm on my way, Alpha.' I shook the leaves and dirt from my coat and trotted back toward the giant cabin.
The pack house was massive, having about 15 apartments, and around 10 separate rooms, each with their own bathroom. The house was meant for unmated pack members to stay until they met their mate, and moved to one of the many family houses on the Crimson Lake Pack territory. It was also where the alpha' s offices were, as well as the meeting quarters, the pack clinic, daycare, and training facilities.
As I made my way to the house, I sniffed around for a pair of shorts, finding them in a nearby bush. I closed my eyes, letting my bones snap back into place, and my claws retract, until I was standing on two feet. Pulling the shorts over my legs, I walked up to the house, nodding at a few other pack members. I found my father sitting at his desk in his office.
"You needed me?"
"Yes, please sit." I plopped down in the leather chair by the door.
"Tobias, we need to talk about the alpha ritual." My brow furrowed.
"What about it?"
"You know you can't be alpha unless you have your mate, and you haven't found yours. I've led this pack for twenty years, and the council is pushing me to retire, and pass down the title. I'm afraid if you don't find your mate by the end of this year, the title will go to Drew. Just in case this does happen, he'll be joining you in your training." My eyes widened.
"But he doesn't have the alpha gene! How is he supposed to lead a pack this big without it? And he's not even old enough to find his mate!" My father shrugged.
"I don't know, but it's our only option. It's in hopes he'll find his mate first. I suggest travelling a bit, or you know, maybe leaving the territory. Maybe you'll have better luck finding her." I groaned and nodded my head.
"Yes, Alpha."
"Any questions?"
"No, Alpha."
"Good, now go to your room and finish your homework. I know you went on a run as soon as you got home." I chuckled and nodded again. "And, Toby?" He stopped me as I was about to leave. "Don't be discouraged. I know you'll find her." I just smiled and continued toward my room.
I knew I'd find her. The real question was, would I find her in time...