The Prince's Mate

Chapter 3

The day passed relatively quickly for a while. The store was quiet, seeing as no one was shopping early on a weekday morning, so I set to work re-stocking the shelves that had been ransacked last night. The store was small, so it wouldn't seem like it was a lot of work to deal with, but there were only six employees that worked here, and only three people working at a time. Plus, we were the only grocery store for kilometers and the pack loved to support local for obvious reasons.

So that meant every morning the shelves had to be replenished and by closing time tonight we would be out of half our stock, the floors would be filthy, the bathrooms would need to be cleaned, the windows washed, and the tills scrubbed down.

It wasn't the job I wanted. My father had always told me that I was intelligent and that I shouldn't waste my natural talents. I had a knack for numbers, they just made sense in my brain. I wanted to be an accountant more than anything though it might've seemed like a bland job.

But being an accountant meant going to college and my pack was too small to support their own werewolf college. I would have to pack up my life and move into the city to pursue my dreams. And I wanted to, I wanted to move out of here, leave my home and go to a place where I could walk down the street and buy nice, different things. I wanted to talk to people who didn't know me since birth or know every tragedy that had ever occurred under my roof. I didn't want to have to listen to an alpha, just police officers.

My whole pack would've cringed if they knew that though. Leaving a pack and denying authority deemed you a rogue. A pack-less wolf who would be considered a threat to any other pack. But that wasn't the worst part. Within a couple months of being surrounded by humans and having no exposure to werewolf culture and rituals the wolf within would slowly fade and all that was left behind would be human. The ability to shift into wolf form, the quickened healing process, the advanced senses, the strengthened immune system, it would all vanish and it would never return.

In addition to this, if I were to become rogue I would never be allowed to see my family again and that was the only reason I didn't drop the mop I was holding and walk out of this pack land immediately. I couldn't abandon my father when he needed me most. And I knew if I left he would try his best to raise Cassandra but it wouldn't be enough. She would grow up without a mother figure and it would cause massive instabilities in her life. I couldn't imagine being the girl whose mother died and sister went rogue. She would be shunned by everyone in the pack if I left.

"Brook, our shift is over." Someone said sassily.

My eyes moved to a gorgeous woman who was glaring at me.

"Sorry Willow." I said as I quickly put away the mop.

Willow was something of a goddess. She had stunningly dark hair that flowed down her back, legs that seemed to stretch on forever and glittering green eyes that could capture any man she wanted. On top of her looks she was also the valedictorian of my class when we graduated and she was also incredibly witty. She once told me that she was named after the first werewolf queen and she certainly lived up to her name-sake in my opinion.

"Are you alright, you looked upset about something?" she pressed as we began walking out of the store together.

"I'm fine." I replied, forcing a bright smile, "Just got lost in my own thoughts, you know?"

"Probably dreaming about the prince." She teased with a wink.

I couldn't keep myself from rolling my eyes, "Please, I have far better things to be thinking about."

"Don't lie to me, with the recent news everyone has been swept up with the idea of the prince." Willow argued as we began walking towards our houses.

"What recent news?"

Willow glanced at me as if she were waiting for me to tell her that I was joking. When she realized I was serious she let out a sigh and rubbed her face, "Of course you wouldn't know." She muttered to herself, then to me she said, "The prince just turned twenty two, the royal family is losing hope that he is going to find his mate. They have decided to travel from pack to pack to see if they can find her."

"Oh," I whispered, "I had no idea."

"I'm not entirely surprised, you nearly live under a rock." Willow scoffed.

More like I was too focused on my family's wellbeing to be concerned about the beloved prince and his disastrous life, but I didn't dare say that. I simply pretended to be ashamed then waved goodbye to Willow when I reached my front door.

The rest of the day was uneventful. I made supper as usual, ate with my father and Cassandra, then went to go do her homework and discuss her day at school while my dad stayed down stairs.

I absently wondered how different my life would be if I actually did leave my family. I wondered if my father would take on making meals or if they would eat microwaved diners every night. I thought about Cass doing her homework all alone in her room, not wanting to go downstairs and disturb my dad. My dad's life was already falling to pieces; if I left him alone I wasn't sure if he would be able to handle it.

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