Unplanned Mate

Book 1

Layla

“Ashley, what do you want? I’ll give you five minutes and then I’m walking away,” I said, my voice steady as I stood outside my workplace. I worked at the main hospital here, a place that catered to a variety of nonhuman species.

Primarily, we treated werewolves, given the large population in the area. But we also had other beings—vampires and fae were the other most common human-like creatures we saw.

Our patients had anatomies and physiologies that differed from humans, requiring special treatments. This hospital was designed for that, and I was a healer. A born-gifted healer of energy.

It felt natural for me to be here. My sister, Ashley, on the other hand, didn’t share my gift. Not all wolves did—some were just physically stronger with the ability to transform into a wolf. Being a supernatural creature didn’t always mean you had the same abilities. Some of us lived longer, some of us healed better; things like that.

“I’m here to talk about Nate. I want you to understand that he and I will be mates. He needs a strong female at his side. Not some omega that’s really just a bed warmer, can add no value to a pack. I came to warn you if you think you are going to come sobbing back to him. Think you are going to offer up yourself when you finally hit your cycle, and I will make you regret the day you were born. I will be luna of this pack. He was never going to take you as his mate. You haven’t even hit your cycle yet and you are how old?”

I just stared at my sister. I was done trying to play Happy Families. Just yesterday, I’d found her in bed with the man I thought was going to be my mate. He’d chosen me, I wanted to remind her.

But now, my eyes were open. It was all because I was an omega. Omegas were known for producing powerful offspring. Often, they were mated against their will, especially when a she-wolf’s cycle came.

That was the only time you could mate with another and form the bond. Unless, of course, you found your true mate. But that was a rarity these days; the fairy tale of our kind, to look at one and see your other half.

There just weren’t enough of us, and many wolves were against mating with humans. Being the mate of another species was not common at all. Your true mate could be anyone, but choosing a mate outside your own kind who was not a true mate was highly frowned upon.

If you weren’t true mates, to mate, you had to conceive with your partner. Once you conceived and mated, you would not be able to see another as your mate unless they died—true mate or not. It was the way of my people.

Nowadays, most didn’t wait for their fabled fated mate. You just got mated like humans got married. Except it was forever for us until death. And not because of a piece of paper.

“Have him. I don’t care. If that was what you were here wasting my time with, I don’t care. You deserve each other. You’ve always been jealous of me, Ashley. You drove this wedge and I’m sick of dealing with it. Go be luna. I. Do. Not. Care,” I told her.

We were done. I didn’t want to see her again. I was thinking about exploring if one of the smaller packs might allow me to integrate into their hierarchy. It shouldn’t be too hard; I was an omega, a healer. My type was easily accepted and wanted, so I was sure I could. Especially with my healing ability. I wanted to be nowhere near my sister and Nate.

I’d heard that the pack north of here was kind to those like me, the ones that the rest always looked at as weak. Our physical wolf might be smaller, weaker in a sense, but they all liked to forget that omega had been termed that due to our temperament. Not our status or weakness.

Assholes, how things changed. Wolves sure had become narcissistic lately, or maybe it was just this pack. I felt like I could put money on it though that it wasn’t just this pack.

“Don’t you turn your back on me! I know you tried calling him. Asking him to take you back.”

I stopped and turned to face my sister. She had darker, brown-colored hair; mine was a pale gold that was nearly white. Our eyes were both a silver color. I was also just a little shorter, just a little thinner than her. Otherwise, we looked a lot alike.

“I returned his call this morning to tell him I got my stuff. To not talk to me again. I don’t care if he is now alpha. I will not be treated like this by my mate, or my sister. Go mate him, Ashley, and spread your legs. You’ve always been good at it. I don’t want trash that’s been inside of you.”

Ashley looked stunned that I stood up for myself. I turned and headed inside. I was already around the front station to go back when she came storming in to clearly stop me and have a word.

“Don’t let her back. I don’t want to talk to her anymore,” I told the front desk. The thing was, back home on pack lands, I wasn’t respected like I was at the hospital. They looked down on me in the pack because of my family status. And now, also because of what the male I was going to mate with had done. They wouldn’t have listened to me if I was on pack lands. They would have let Ashley follow me or even attack me.

I hated the pack I was born into. They were archaic and getting worse. I wanted out. If that meant running, then so be it. Here at the hospital that was in a kind of neutral zone, there were more than just wolves. They respected my skill, my ability, and me as a person. It was nice. Wish I could live here. Too bad it was so close to my sister who wanted to harass me.

“You got it, Layla. Say no more. She-devil shall not pass.”

I felt a small smile from the one working the desk as the door closed behind me and I heard my sister stop. Here at the hospital, my skills were very much seen. My value was high, and it felt wonderful to be recognized.

I worked my ass off to get my position here. I schooled extensively, shadowing nurses and doctors to learn about more than just werewolves. I wanted to be someone that helped all others, not just one type. That was quickly seen, and I was starting to make a name for myself here. I was worried now. Nate could make it hard for me if he wanted to. Ruin all that I worked for if he wanted to be a real asshole.

The hospital was a small one. It had been renovated as it used to be for humans a long time ago before the wars. However, it was perfect for the needs we had now. Werewolves had started it. Then others started to come to it, and from what I knew, there was an agreement among races for the use of hospitals like this one.

They were to be considered neutral, no matter who originally started them. Surrounding territories of different species close by would help protect it, though the main governing body was the one that started it. It was a complicated truce agreement. So far, most were respecting it, from what I knew.

However, there were issues here and there. Nate as the alpha had control of this hospital in a sense. He did impose some unfair regulations on it if you would. Guess if he wanted to get vindictive with me, he could cost me my job. Just like he sometimes made it hard for other species to use the hospital.

I hoped he wouldn’t bother me here. I was so glad I caught him and Ashley. For weeks, I had been suspecting Nate of cheating on me. I just didn’t know with whom. It was always strange to me that he would come over or show up and have no scent to him. He was clean, but there was this off-scent like he’d used something. That made me suspicious. Enough that I had started taking a suppressant for my cycle. I had not heat cycled yet to mate; I should have but I didn’t want to. I wanted to make sure it was right.

So glad I followed my intuition for that! Omegas tended to have their cycles later than other females. We were a long-lived species. Me starting my cycles at thirty was not unheard of. Still very young for many werewolf standards. Though I didn’t think thirty was that old for a human either. Whatever, I guess.

Either way though, I could tell that the suppressant might not work well for my next cycle. I was already feeling it. I had taken some of the herbs that worked for us. Still, I had a feeling my body was burning it off faster. My animal wanted to mate, and that was why others looked at werewolves like they did. Promiscuous creatures that just wanted sex.

Shut up, humans, you are all horny as hell too. Now try it with a heat cycle, it isn’t fun. You can’t help yourself sometimes.

I attempted to shove my personal problems aside and concentrate on my job. The majority of my patients didn’t stick around for long. As a supernatural, like me, they usually had a knack for rapid healing. Not everyone, of course, but a good number of them, depending on their unique abilities. It was always a relief to see a high success rate.

But there were always those critical cases. The ones afflicted with unique diseases that targeted our kind.

Today, those were the patients I was set to work with. I was going to use my abilities to aid their healing. That was what I tried to focus on, pushing my personal issues to the back of my mind. Little did I know, my world was on the brink of a massive shift.

The problems I was grappling with were merely the tip of the iceberg.