My Mate?

Prologue

Timothy, "Tim" Carter watched as his wife Amanda and their daughter Aribella helped bring out dishes from the pack house. His wife and daughter were helping the Luna, Elizabeth, set up for a bonfire. Amanda and Elizabeth had been best friends since they were pups themselves. It was no wonder that Tim and Elizabeth's mate, Alpha Evan, had become fast friends as well.

There were several wolves outside the Alpha and Beta family that considered themselves best friends. Many of the men and women were high ranking warriors as well. It made sense that they all got along and spent so much time together. Hell, many of them even had children right around the same age.

Tim's own daughter was only about seven months younger than the Alpha's son, Xander and five months younger than the Beta's son, Taylor. A few of the other children in their group were right about the same age too. It worked out quite well that when the warrior parents were in training, their children were all playing together. Although Tim's tomboy daughter tended to enjoy showing off her father's training, sometimes even going toe to toe with Xander and Taylor.

Then there were the times like today, where she was in a pretty sundress, helping the women with food. They days of wrestling with boys had passed as they all entered their teenage years. Although they had no issues with giving each other a constant amount of guff.

At thirteen years old, his Ari had started to really look like her mother. Deep green eyes and jet-black hair made him worry as any father would. But considering that the circle of children counted themselves as best friends too, and she was well trained in her own right, he didn't worry that much.

It was in brief moments like this where Tim was able to simply watch his family, that he really felt blessed. The Dawnshadow pack wasn't the largest of them, but they had enough members to be considered fairly big. The pack size was really perfect, allowing them all to feel safe due to their numbers, but not so large as to attract unwanted attention.

Phased out, thinking about all the things he was thankful for, Tim didn't even notice his mate wandering up to him. "What are you thinking so hard about dear?"

"Just how lucky I am to have you of course." It was true, the love between mates was really unmatched. Well, maybe only with the love he felt for his daughter. That was a different type of love though. He couldn't imagine not being with the woman in front of him, that was certain.

"I'd call you a liar and accuse you of sucking up to me, but I know that's not the case. What else has you drifting off so?" She knew how to read them. So many years together as mates, on top of growing up together, had taught her well.

"Really, I'm just thinking how lucky I am. Beautiful family, loving friends, peaceful pack." As much as a sap as Tim seemed, he really was cut pretty rough around the edges. At least to anyone besides his family.

He had been one of Dawnshadow's top enforcers since before Aribella was born. The fact that he was still at the top was a feat. Younger wolves joined the ranks every day. Because he always wanted to be the top of his game, he had embedded training into everything he did. Even family time.

Amanda was a warrior in her own right, so strength, agility, and other training exercises being worked into everyday activities was fairly easy. When Ari was born, they just worked her into them. When she was old enough that he could work training into her daily routines, he did.

That's likely why his thirteen-year-old daughter could take down the Alpha and Beta's sons. Although with them hitting puberty, he doubted she would be able to keep doing so. They were already working themselves into young men versus boys. That just meant he'd have to teach his daughter to be sly to compensate against those with more strength.