Solar Flare (bxb)

Chapter Four

-Luis's POV-

The last few days have sucked pretty thoroughly.

My eighteenth birthday was supposed to be the start of something wonderful. I was supposed to have my soulmate revealed to me. My mother was ready to assist me in explaining the truths of our world, of me, to my mate if she was a human.

On April 22nd at 2:31 AM, I was struck with a longing that made it hard for me to breathe. I couldn't put a name or a face to it, but I was suddenly pulled from sleep by a piercing pain in my heart.

I immediately sought my mother. She was sleeping, of course.

"Mama," I whispered. I couldn't stop myself from tearing up. It was agonizing.

She had been expecting this and immediately sat up and switched on the lamp beside her bed.

"It hurts," I mumbled.

"Luis?" my dad asked, rolling over.

"It's okay, Jose. Go back to sleep," my mom said immediately. She rose to her feet and hugged me tightly. "I know it hurts, sweetie. What is your heart telling you? Where is she?"

"Not here," I say, flicking my gaze around the ceiling to indicate the pack house. "She's not a wolf."

"That's okay, baby. It happens all the time. Why don't we go make some hot chocolate or something? Help you get back to sleep?" she asked, looking up at me. Her brown eyes were warm and soft. Her curly black hair fell down her shoulders and back. It was then that I began worrying that I wouldn't be as good of an alpha as she is. She is incredible in her leadership and strength. Our entire pack looks up to her as much as I do.

How am I supposed to lead if I couldn't function with this pain?

I nodded numbly. My mom made me some hot chocolate, and I sat quietly at the counter of the enormous kitchen in the pack house as she told me the stories of my father, who was a human when they properly met.

"Luis, I was so scared. I was in pain and terrified. But I went to school the next day and saw him putting his things away in a locker. It was like I was seeing him for the first time. He smelled so good. Like cinnamon. Like a horchata," she told me with a smile. "I stopped in the hallway and he caught me staring. He smiled... he smiled, and it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I asked him to come over with me and my dad sat him down and explained the whole thing. I showed him my wolf. He was freaked out and probably thought we were all insane, but he loved my wolf. He was covered in hair by the time he left that night. The next day, he came back. Humans don't have the same instincts we do, but they know love when they see it. We will handle this, Luis. We will make it."

At that point, Josiah yawned his way into the kitchen. My beta. I feel that sometimes the general members of the pack resent the betas for their treasured status because they don't lead in the way alphas do, but I know better. Josiah strengthens me. Lifts me up. He always defers to me in our trainings, always reminds the others that I am the one to listen to. He handles the disputes of the other young members of the pack while I plan runs and exercises. His father, Chris, is my mother's beta, and she often says that she wouldn't be sane without him. I feel the same way about Josiah.

"Find her?" Josiah asked tiredly, leaning on the counter. My focused, unendingly loyal beta, sacrificing his sleep because he probably heard me wake up in the adjoining room, or perhaps heard my mother's voice and figured out what was up.

I shook my head.

"Well, we have school in a couple of hours. We'll find her," Josiah said firmly. His eyes were somehow simultaneously tired and alert, and his short brown hair was messy.