He had just turned twenty-two when the Alpha had announced that invitations to the Mating Games would be handed out then. It was the first time that he had been eligible to attend but unlike most other wolves, Orion felt nowhere near ready for his life to change in the way it naturally would after he had been gifted with a mate.
Like most other wolves at that age, Orion was very selfish. Other than his mother who he still lived with; he didnât care much for anyone else. Other than training with pack and spending his evenings with his mother in the kitchen, helping out and training to be a chef, he didnât do much else.
Orion very satisfied with the way his life was spanning out, and he was more than comfortable with it just being his mother and him. The thought of having a mate at that age, and the responsibility that came with itâ¦frankly, it terrified him.
At that age, he wished for nothing more than some more time before he finally met his mate and when his mother found out, she had a few things to say to him. He hadnât taken her seriously then but now he wished he had.
To this day, he remembered that conversation with his mother very vividly. Now, not a single day passed that he didnât think back to what she had said to him back then, only realising the true meaning of her words now.
In that moment, Orion had been very grateful but looking back now, he didnât regret anything more. His mother had been correct to say that he didnât understand the value of a mate then but he would in the future.
But he hadnât realised just how right she would be.
Five years later and it was now time for the second Mating Games that he would be eligible for.
Orion wanted to believe her. He really did. But he didnât end up receiving an invitation the time, or even the time after that. His mother had passed shortly after and now, before he knew it, it was time for the Mating Games all over again.
Except this time, he wasnât the least bit hopeful.
After four Mating Games having passed him without so much as the promise of a mate, Orion knew that his chances were equal to nothing.
And all because as a young, selfish adult who wasnât any better than an ignorant child, he had prayed to the Moon Goddess to delay in giving him a mate.
He either wasnât destined to have a mate, or she had already passed.
The last thought put a lump in his throat; one which was immensely difficult to swallow but he refused to focus on it. Destined to life his entire life without a mate, without a companion, a friend, someone to call his own and vice versa was difficult enough. Having to think that there was someone out there for him but they had never been granted the chance to meet made him feel so much worse.
It was a strange notion but Orion didnât think much of the Moon Goddess anymore. How could he when she had taken from him the one thing that every wolf was destined to?
A soulmate.
Either way, this whole experience had alienated him. Everyone he knew, everyone at the pack was destined to have a mate. They all had someone except him and if they didnât already, they were destined to eventually meet their significant other.
That was not the case for Orion, unfortunately.
âOrion?â he briefly heard the Alpha call out to him, but he didnât pay much attention. âAre you still listening to me?â
When Alpha Demetri snapped his fingers in front of his face to grab his attention, Orion finally snapped out of the torturous daze that he was in. Blinking, he glanced at the Alpha wolf briefly before glancing down and returning his attention to the envelope in front of him.
Could it be that the Moon Goddess had finally forgiven him?
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https://www.patreon.com/LaylaKnight Layla Knight 23.05.2021