The Prince's Fated Mate: M/M Alpha/Omega Paranormal Werewolf Romance (Norvargen Wolves Book 1) (3 page)

Wait…bond with
Kytes
?
 

Will stared at his father, gobsmacked, and it took all he had to finally muster up a response: "Uh, thanks, Pa, but no."

Pa blinked. "No?"

"I mean... No, I just mean no," Will stammered, still flustered. "I'm not interested in Kytes, and he's not interested in me either."

Pa narrowed his eyes suspiciously, as if thinking he was being hoodwinked. "Are you sure?"
 

Will scratched at the back of his neck as he fumbled through his reply. "I'm sure, Pa. I mean, we’re just close, only friends. I don’t…I’ve never seen him in that way before…we’re just best friends — ”

"You don't have to hide anything from me, son. I know I can be hard to talk to … but you don't have to feel scared of telling me the truth."

"Pa, I'm not hiding anything. Trust me, Kytes and I are just best friends."

His father was having a difficult time processing this, and Will wondered for how long had his father been thinking that something was going on between him and Kytes. He supposed to some, it might look suspicious: an alpha and an omega male always spending time with each other, close as they could be. But surely Pa ought to have known better? Wouldn’t Kytes’s father, Byron, have set him straight? Or did Byron share the same suspicions? Will suddenly felt very self-conscious at this embarrassing line of thought.
 

"Well, I thought that since you and Kytes have been so close since the two of you were young that … well, I guess not. There's no one else that you’re interested in?” asked his father hesitantly.

Will shook his head slowly.

“Really?”

Was his father suspicious or disappointed? Will couldn’t tell. He was embarrassed to be having this conversation with his father, but seeing how earnest the expression on Pa’s face was, he felt compelled to answer honestly. "No one. Why do you look so worried about this?"

"I'm not worried about this," his father denied, but the defensiveness of his tone gave it away. "Or maybe just a little," he admitted softly. "I just want to know you're happy, Will. Kytes is a good man, and he's someone I can trust to take care of you even when I'm long gone."

"I
am
happy, Pa. I don't know why you'd think otherwise."

A pang of guilt hit Will as he heard his father's next few words. "I just see you wander off with one of your mother's book all the time. I know you miss her, and I know that things might have been a lot easier if she were still around while you were growing up. She might've helped you adjust quicker when you presented as an omega than I did. If finding your mate and bonding with him would make you happy, you'll always have my blessing."

Will sighed and he stood up and made his way over to his father, resting a hand on the older man’s shoulder awkwardly. They weren’t the most affectionate pair, but this felt necessary. “Pa, I am happy, and you have to believe me when I say this. I don't want you to be so hard on yourself. Yes, I miss Ma, and I think about her a lot. But that doesn't mean you haven't been a good father to me. I'm in no rush for a mate. I'm perfectly happy the way things are right now, helping you around the inn and organising feasts."

A genuine smile crept across his father's worn face, and Will brushed at his shoulder fondly.

"Trust me, Pa,” Will reiterated, "I'm in no rush to find my bondsmate just yet. I'm busy enough trying to not break my back over all the work you give me."

The smile on Pa’s face magnified, and Will knew his father's fears were put to rest. He stood up, thinking their conversation was over, but a few words from his father made him pause.

"I know you don’t want me to poke my nose into these matters, but I hope you're not ignoring Kytes because you're hoping to meet a fated mate."

"What?"

"Kytes is a good man, Will, someone I could trust to take care of you and help you run the business when I'm no longer around."

"Pa, don't talk like you're on the edge of death. You're plenty healthy, and you’ll be living for a long time. And Kytes will still be around to help no matter what. I just don't plan on bonding with him. You … you're not disappointed about that, are you?"

"Hmm? No, no. I just don't want you to wait around, hoping that you have a fated mate, when you could be happy with another person. Not everyone gets a fated mate, don’t forget that. Most don’t, so I don’t encourage you to wait around for one. It’s not worth it.”

Will furrowed his eyebrows. "But you and Ma were fated mates..."

"And we had a one-in-a-million chance of meeting. We were very lucky we did. Most people don't have fated mates, and those that do might not even get the chance to meet them. But that doesn't mean most aren't happy with who they settled down with instead. It would be very foolish to ignore a good man now just to wait around for someone who may never come. There's no guarantee you have a fated mate, Will, and you should not be expecting one."

"I understand, Pa,” said Will, slowly, reluctantly. The logic of his father’s words clicked with him easily, and he had no arguments for it.
 

Fated mates had the slightest chance of occurring, and Will had always thought it would be naïve to think he might be one of the lucky few who had a fated mate out there in the world. He had known a number of young girls and omega boys in the pack who had wasted many years of their lives waiting for someone who likely did not even exist. Probability was stacked against him, of course, and yet … perhaps it was just the childish memory inside of him, but a small, quiet voice hummed in hope.
 

But no, Will silenced that voice, the voice that had been plaguing him for the past few months, the voice telling him that there was a shifter out there coming for him soon, in a meeting predestined by the powers above.
There’s a time to indulge in fairy stories, and there’s a time to face reality
, thought Will. He was already happy with his life, quiet and simple it may be, and should he find a good man, he would be happy to settle for him — even if it meant just an ordinary bondsmate, one completely unprescribed by fate.

*

“Today’s the big day, people!” Pa called out, clapping his hands to gather the attention of all the inn-workers. Everyone was crowded in the reception area. “Alpha Miles and his son James should be arriving by mid-day. That means everything must be in order by then, understood? Good first impressions, that’s what’s important right now. We don’t want them second-guessing their decision to have us host their banquet, do we? I want the field cleared and spotless by ten o’clock, and I want all tables in the pavilion to be set up so I can show them what it will look like. And everyone, I don’t think I need to remind you that we need to
look
presentable. Tidy yourselves up before the Alpha’s party arrives, understood? We don't want them thinking the town of Hemslock is full of sweaty, muddy mongrels, do we?"

"No!" his staff chorused. Even little Jack and Peter were in the crowd, their high-pitched voices loudly joining the refrain. They weren’t actually working, though their parents were somewhere in the large crowd of inn-workers, but school had been called off that day, so they tagged along, excited to be a part of something.
 

“Then let’s get moving,” Will’s father said, clapping his hands once more to end the gathering. He disappeared through the door that led out to the party field, leading a few other workers out with him. The ones left behind had already been assigned to take on other miscellaneous work, like cleaning the front reception, picking up ingredients from the nearby market and preparing the extravagant lunches for the Alpha’s party. Will and Kytes themselves had been given the thankfully easy assignment of ensuring the rooms to be assigned to the Alpha party were all in order, tidy with every luxury ready and accessible. Nearly the entire west wing had been had been reserved for Alpha Miles and his son and their accompanying host, half of which were to arrive today, another half to slowly trickle in over the coming weeks as the banquet neared.

“Towels, check,” Kytes called out, and Will referred to his notepad to scratch it off.

“Hey, Kytes,” Will interrupted.

“Yeah?”

“Yesterday, my pa and I had a kind of weird conversation.”

“Oh?” said Kytes, a little distractedly as he continued to rifle through the drawers of the bathroom, making sure all toiletries were in there.

“Mm.” Will scratched the back of his neck. “It was about me finding a mate.”

That caught Kytes’ attention, and the larger man looked up in curiosity. “Oh?” he repeated again.

Will laughed at the blatantly curious look on his friend’s face. “He seemed to think that you and I had something going on, and was trying to give me his blessings.”

Kytes blanched at that. “You set him straight on that, right?”

“I did, I did.”

“No wonder your father’s been acting so weird around me lately.”

“Has he?”

“Well, nothing extremely weird, but he’d just pat my back every now and then and say things like ‘I’m glad you and Will get along so well’ and all that.”

Will cringed and blushed, embarrassed on his father’s behalf.
 

 
“He means well, at least,” said Kytes, laughing.

“A bit too well,” murmured Will. “He also told me not to wait for a fated mate to pop up.”

“Mm, good advice,” nodded Kytes with an easygoing shrug.

That response made Will a little hesitant to ask his next question, but he pushed on anyway. “Do you ever wonder if you have a fated mate, Kytes?”

“You mean when I was a kid? Yeah, all the time. We all did, didn’t we? Kind of a normal thing for pups to wish for. I bet Jack and Peter are dreaming of their fated mates,” Kytes chuckled.

Will spared a quick smile, but continued, “No, I mean more recently.”

Kytes frowned. “Not really, Will. I mean, if it happens, it happens, but I’ll be pretty shocked if it does. Can’t say I know anybody besides your father who had a fated mate.”

“Oh,” said Will, deflated.
 

His friend furrowed his dark eyebrows at him. “Why?” asked Kytes, suspiciously. “What’s this about?”

Will pursed his lips together. “Promise me you won’t laugh at me?”

“No can do, but I’ll try not to laugh too hard.”

Will could allow that. “Well, I don’t know why, but for the past few months, I’ve had this weird feeling that something’s going to happen. That I’m going to meet my mate soon.”

Kytes looked at him skeptically. “A feeling?”

“Like a voice inside my head. It’ll just suddenly intrude on my train of my thoughts and I’ll have this eerie feeling that there’s someone out there and I should be getting ready. I’ve even dreamed a bit about it, sort of.” He wasn’t making a very respectable case, he knew, but it was hard to put into concrete words the muddled feelings inside of him.

“You mean…you see your fated mate in your dreams?” Kytes asked slowly.

Will shook his head. “No, nothing like that. I don’t know what he looks like. It’s nothing more than just a strange feeling, like a hunch about the future.”
 

His cheeks burned red as he felt Kytes scan him with skepticism. “Forget what I just said,” Will said, feeling stupid for admitting what he just had.

Kytes had no intention of dropping it then though. “It’s not like you to think this,” he said. “I’ve never seen you pining after anybody before, much less the possibility of a fated mate.”

“That’s why I said it’s weird. It’s not like I really want a mate now or anything,” Will mumbled, running the toe of his boot along the edges of the floorboards underneath him. “I don’t really care about those things, and I’m happy with the way things are now, you know? I like how simple things are, and there’s nothing I’m lacking. I just can’t shake off the feeling that…that someone’s out there and I’m going to meet him soon.”

Kytes regarded him for a moment. “Well, hunches rarely amount to anything, anyway. You could talk to your father about this, you know. He’d probably know what you’re going through.”

“I don’t think so,” said Will skeptically. “And anyway, Pa’s probably the last person I want to talk to about this.”
 

“Oh, well. But you know, if it turns out you’re right about having a fated mate …” He cracked a smile. “Never thought you’d find your mate before I did.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Will glared at him.

Kytes laughed. “You’re too busy with your nose stuck to some book to care about any mates, Will. But anyway, just take it easy. More likely than not, it’s nothing in the first place. And even if you’re right, there’s not going to be anything you can do but wait for your mate to come, isn’t it?” He smiled. “I always thought people with fated mates had it way too easy. Meet your mate, bam, you know immediately it’s the right one and everything’s smooth sailing from there. Wish all of us could be so lucky, heh. I’ll be real jealous of you if you ever find your fated mate, Will.”

*

Will took extra care to puff the pillows before leaving each room — it was a small gesture, but often the minor details were what guests appreciated, and he felt quite certain that the Alpha’s son and his party would not be happy with flat, lifeless pillows — and before long, he and Kytes were done. Noontime had come, and they scuttled down to the kitchens to steal a quick meal. Byron was at the back, working out some details with a harried-looking head chef, who spared a second of his attention to smack away Will’s hand as he tried to sneak an extra drumstick onto his plate.

“No more for you,” said the chef crossly. “We’re saving them for the guests.”

Will sighed and shared a knowing look with Kytes as they made out to the back with their full plates. They squatted by the brick wall, shovelling food into their mouths, only sparing seconds here and there to nod in greeting as other workers passed in and out of the kitchen.

Off to his right, Will could see the wide green party field stretching out to the woods, and his father standing under the lavish white pavilion in the centre. To his left was a glimpse of the street that led to the inn, with a few people walking along the cobblestone pavements.