A Reluctant Mate

Ranger's POV (38)

'Ranger, wait up' I heard Cash say in my head, he finally joined the mind link, 'run faster, the sooner we get this started, the sooner I can get back to my family' 'we can cancel this tour, you were the one that suggested it, I'm perfectly fine the way I am' 'you may be but I know you, deep down you want what I have with Aria, don't you want to start a family and have some pups of your family own?' I said, Maddox slowed the pace so Cash could catch up, he didn't answer me straight away, I know he loves my pups like there his own, 'I would like that very much' he whispered, 'well, speed up, I can feel that we will find your fated one on this tour'.

The first week flew past, we visited 11 packs with no luck, we are on day two of the second week and we are on our way to the third pack of the day pack number 16, the River Ash pack, this is where we will be staying the night but also, the top alpha Tobias Noreen, will do my tattoo for me, he done my fathers when he had me, our two packs go back a very long way.

We all had dinner before Tobias did my tattoo, "congratulations on the pups, three, I bet they keep Aria busy?" "I'm very hands on, there was no way I would let her do this alone" "that's very honourable of you, not many alphas would do that, I hold my hands up to say that I'm one of them" "Aria has been through a lot, I just want to help and make it easier on her, Cash has helped out to, Aria and I feel like we are keeping Cash from finding his mate because we have had the pups" "I understand, well as far as I know, all the female Lycan's are here" Tobias said as he looked out over the dining hall.

This is another bust for this pack tour, Cash was shovelling his dinner in his mouth, he obviously wasn’t feeling the pull of the bond, on to the next in the morning.

"What other packs are you going to visit?" I gave him the list of what packs we have been to and what packs we will be going to next, "between these two packs, there is a new pack just formed, I think they are called the Cross River pack, there aren’t many members in it but I think a visit from the Blood Moon Night's top alpha will help them out in forming friendships with bigger packs" Tobias said as he was doing the finishing touched to my last strip "I will have to check it out" "I think we are all done here, if you shift, it will heal straight away" "I will a little later, I want to call Aria to see how she and the pups are".

I spoke to Aria for a little while before she had to go and feed Soloman, I talk to her every day, she tells me the same things that the boys have been feed, changed, dressed, but I want to hear it, I miss them so much, I knew I would but not like this.

Cash was talking to a few people, he seemed to be having fun, I put my hand on his shoulder, he looked up at me as he was sat on the floor, "how's the pups?" "Missing there uncle Cash" "good, more then there father, I hope" he said as he stood up, "how about when we get back, you can take them out for a long walk so I can bang there mothers brains out and make pup number 4".

We left early in the morning, we had a long run to get to the next pack, Tobias told me that he has in formed the top alpha Senko from the Cross River pack, we will be going there tomorrow, but today we have four packs to visit.

The end of day three, there was nothing, I'm so frustrated, I just want to go home to my mate and pups, I also feel guilty for dragging Cash to so packs to find a mate.

I found Cash, sitting outside, looking up at the stars, "penny for your thoughts?" I said as I sat next to him, "I want to go home, I don't want to do this anymore, I hate this feeling of not finding anyone, it's stressful, I was happy the way we were" "I'm sorry you feel like that, this is all my fault, I just wanted you to experience what I have, sounds selfish of me, I want you to be happy like I am, we only have a few days left now on this tour, once its over, I wont push you to do anything you don’t want" "honestly, I don't want to finish the tour, I really want to go home" "ok once I've had my meeting with the top alpha from the new pack, we will go home" "thanks Ranger".

I was laying in bed, feeling really bad that I've forced Cash to go through all this because I wanted him to be happy but I didn’t take in that he was already happy with the way he was, I should have talked to him more about these issues and not just assume he wants the same things as I do.

In the morning we left for the formal meeting between top alphas, Tobias wasn't wrong, there pack only had 15 or so members, the top alpha was very young also.

They only had one house where they all lived, they didn't have an office to sit in, luckily the weather was good enough to sit out side, "I'm Senko, I'm the top alpha of the Cross River pack, I'm sorry that I don't have an office, we don't have many things" "that's fine, you are just a young pack, I'm not going to lie and say it's easy starting a pack as I took over from my father and he from his, I will put you in contact with my mates brother, he set up his own pack a few years ago, also with allies like us will help, tell me why you started this pack?".

As Senko was telling me why he started the pack, Cash that was sat next to me was fidgeting, looking around him, it was distracting me, "sorry Senko, Cash sit still" "sorry, Ranger but I think my mate is here".