Lost and Found

^ONE YEAR LATER^

Here we were again, another Haze just on the horizon.

I sat in my office, trying to focus on work, but all I could do was think about how alone I was going to be.

A year ago, I’d felt the Haze coming on like a hurricane, ready to sweep up everyone in its path without mercy, but this year…

~I don’t feel anything at all.~

Nothing building in the pit of my stomach except dread.

My mind was as still and quiet as a mouse; the beast inside me was slumbering.

The urge to fuck like an animal was now just a distant memory.

I hadn’t taken a woman to bed in nearly a year, all because I knew it would never satisfy me.

No one could…no one except my mate.

But I still hadn’t found her, and I was beginning to think I never would.

Her absence in my life created an emptiness that I couldn’t fill, so why even try? It was pointless.

My sudden celibacy hadn’t gone unnoticed by my council either. I’d heard the idle chatter, the salacious gossip.

But I didn’t give a fuck about any of that. I wouldn’t put another woman through what I had put Jocelyn through just to maintain my image.

I was an alpha, so I should’ve been acting like an alpha, right?

In truth, I wasn’t even sure I knew what it meant to be an alpha anymore.

I opened my desk drawer and pulled out a framed photo that I’d placed facedown. I flipped it over and ran my hands across the dusty surface.

My brother Aaron’s eyes stared back at me. They were just like mine, hazel with a hint of gold.

His stern expression and imposing stature had demanded respect. He had been confidence personified.

Aaron should’ve been the alpha. He would’ve been the best, even better than our grandfather. He’d found the perfect balance with his wolf, to the point that they were one and the same, body and soul.

He had been a natural-born leader, knew how to take care of people, how to say the right thing, how to solve any problem.

I was the reckless hothead with terrible judgment. I hadn’t been ~anyone’s~ pick for becoming the alpha.

Yet when he’d turned eighteen and hadn’t felt the call to be alpha, I knew the responsibility would become mine. And when it was my sixteenth birthday, I was proven right.

It was my scent that changed, carrying the promise of an alpha, not Aaron’s.

It was my dominance that seemed to expand overnight. It was me, the walking disaster waiting to happen, who felt the call, and not Aaron.

“Why the hell did you leave me to do this alone?” I said, my words coming out in a rasp. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Aaron wasn’t the only person who’d left me alone. My parents had fucked off to who knew where not long after his death, traveling the world to get away from the pain.

It had broken them, and they couldn’t deal with it. So they didn’t.

I heard from them every now and then, or they popped up unexpectedly, but they were never actually ~there~ for me.

I was pretty sure they still thought I was dating Jocelyn. And I wasn’t looking forward to trying to explain that situation to them.

I jolted as someone rapped on my door.

“Aiden, are you decent?” Josh shouted. “Got any girls in there?”

I growled under my breath. I wasn’t in the mood for this.

“Hold on,” I shouted back.

I put the photo of Aaron back facedown in the desk drawer where it wouldn’t haunt me…or remind me of how much I missed him.

“I’m coming in,” Josh said, barging through the door. He looked disappointed as he surveyed my empty office.

“What do you want, Josh?”

“Oh, I thought you might be…” he made the lewd screwing gesture of a ring with the thumb and index finger of one hand, thrusting his other index finger in and out of it.

“Why would you think that?” I asked, annoyed.

“Because the Haze is starting soon. Don’t you feel it?”

“Oh, yeah, for sure,” I lied.

Josh gave me a concerned look. “You’d better not be thinking of spending another Haze single, dude. I can’t take the brooding.”

“It’s not your place to worry about it,” I said, gritting my teeth.

“Uh, as your beta, it kind of is,” he replied. “I’ve tried to set you up with ~so~ many girls, and you’ve turned them all down. What’s going on with you?”

“Just drop it, Josh,” I growled. “Remember that you’re speaking to your alpha.”

Josh sighed. “I know, Alpha, but you’re also my best friend, and I’m worried about you.”

I couldn’t blame him for worrying. His intentions were good, no matter how misguided.

“I’m just stressed,” I said. “You know how hectic the mating season gets.”

“Why don’t you come out to brunch with me and Jocelyn today,” Josh said, grinning. “She has some pretty gorgeous model friends, and you are single as fuck.”

I tensed up at the mention of Jocelyn. Particularly her name on Josh’s lips.

Josh and Jocelyn had started dating a few months ago, and I still wasn’t sure how I felt about it.

I wanted them both to be happy, of course, but I couldn’t pretend it didn’t bruise my pride a bit. The alpha’s ex dating his beta—that was just bad optics all around.

“So, are you coming?” Josh prodded.

“I’ll join you next time,” I said, forcing a smile. “But you guys go ahead and enjoy yourselves. You can charge it to my tab.”

Josh looked disappointed but nodded anyway. “Sure, man. Next time. Just don’t stay cooped up in here all day. It’s the weekend.”

He left, shutting the door behind him. Maybe he was right—I should get out, stretch my legs, clear my head.

Somewhere calming, maybe the river. I could let all these thoughts of Aaron, and of my mate, just wash away.

***

“Oh my God, it’s ~Aiden Norwood!~”

“Wait, THE Aiden Norwood?”

“Alpha, can I get a selfie?”

Now I remembered why I’d avoided interacting with people over the past year. As I walked along the riverbank, a group of girls followed me, screeching and squealing like vultures.

~Alpha Chasers.~

That was the term that Josh and I had coined for the women who were obsessed with the idea of being mated to the alpha. Stalking my every move on social media, trying to sell fake stories to the tabloids.

I just ignored them these days, but unfortunately, ignoring them didn’t make them go away.

“Alpha, I want to have your babies!”

~God, the Haze is making them extra horny. I need to get the fuck out of here.~

I looked around, trying to form an exit strategy, when I noticed a girl sitting by the river, a sketchbook in her lap.

Her scent wafted across the lazy river and found its way into my nostrils. Something about it was intoxicating. Instantly calming yet exciting at the same time. What was it? Vanilla and rose?

I couldn’t quite place it; I needed to get closer.

Her head was down, lost in her drawing, and the sunlight reflected off her bright-red hair. It created a striking visual against the pale-green riverbank.

This young artist probably had no idea that she looked like a work of art herself.

And she also had no idea that an alpha was approaching. I stopped a few feet away from her and looked down at the sketch.

She was drawing ~me~. I stared, mesmerized, at the sketch. It was so intricate, yet so simple; the lines were precise, the stubble on my face tastefully done, the crooked slope of my nose just right…

“Not bad,” I said, unable to contain my admiration. “But the eyes could use a little work.”

~Maybe she just needs a closer look.~

She glanced up, startled by my presence, and our gazes met. Her bright-blue eyes washed over me like a tidal wave.

My entire body locked up, shackled like a prisoner to those bewitching eyes. Her fiery red hair became a sunrise in my mind, blotting out the dark night that had pervaded it just moments ago.

I reveled in every curve of her body, every freckle on her nose, the natural blush of her cheeks, her pillowy lips.

I was in absolute awe of her; nobody could be this breathtakingly beautiful.

All the broken, jagged pieces of myself were starting to mend. My bruised soul was healing. For a fleeting moment, I felt completely whole.

And then she looked away, shrinking under the intensity of my stare.

My wolf awoke suddenly and howled inside me, returning after a year-long slumber.

And with him, my Haze returned as well.

~Oh fuck.~

I felt an overwhelming carnal desire for this woman, stronger than anything I’d ~ever~ felt. I wanted to take her right there, claim her, mark her as mine.

~You’re real and more perfect than I could have ever imagined.~

I’d finally found her, the one I’d been longing for, my other half—my mate.