Page 3 of The Wolf’s Bullied Mate (Moondust Hollow Wolves #2)

I removed the last screw from the old radio I was tinkering with, opening up the casing.

The radio belonged to my best friend and alpha Ryder’s grandfather, whom we all affectionately called Grandpa Howell.

He’d told me it had been a gift from his late mate, Mrs. Howell when he had given it to me for repairs.

Tinkering with old electronics was a hobby of mine.

In the garage of my house, I had a workstation with all the necessary tools for repairing radios, amplifiers, boomboxes, speakers, and whatever else people brought to me for fixing.

On the floor next to me stood a large stereo consisting of several parts, which I had bought for nothing at a flea market and hoped to refurbish eventually so it could play music again.

One day, I would make it work again for sure. I glanced at the stereo with an accusing look, admitting that that particular project wasn’t doing well.

“Oliver!” There was a bang against the garage door. The voice belonged to my mother.

I found the remote and pressed the button to open the automatic door.

Mom waited patiently while it slid up slowly.

She wasn’t getting any younger and complained about back pain very often, so bending and rushing inside wasn’t her thing anymore.

Yet, right now, she stepped from foot to foot, clearly excited about something.

I put my tools aside and wiped my hands on a cloth. I turned around to face her and smiled when I saw her happy expression.

When the door was open, Mom walked in with an energetic spring in her step.

I got up and hugged my mother as she fell into my embrace. A head smaller than me, her once-blonde hair, a similar sunny shade to mine, was now completely white. When she beamed up at me, her light blue eyes shone with mischief that made her look years younger.

Uh-oh. What scheme was she up to today?

“Oliver, it’s so good to see you.” She gestured for me to lower my head and then patted the top like she had often done when I was a kid. The gesture was familiar and comforting. “How are your responsibilities as the beta?”

Six years had passed since Ryder Howell, my best friend, had become the alpha of Moondust Hollow pack after his father’s assassination.

He had appointed me as the beta shortly after his rise to the position of the ruler of our wolf-shifter community.

Caden Spencer, my other close friend, had become the delta, the leader of enforcers who protected the pack from any and all threats.

As the beta, my role was to take care of the accounting needs of the pack, as well as to act as the mediator and link between the people and the alpha.

I often stepped in to advise Ryder on how to deal with conflicts within the pack.

I had upheld that responsibility on my own until four months ago when our pack had finally gained a new person to be by Ryder’s side.

I crooked my head and continued my thoughts out loud. “Now that Ryder and Aria are mated and Aria has become the luna of the pack, I have less to do than before.”

Even though Aria was five months pregnant, she still took care of the ceremonies within the pack, organizing weddings, funerals, and parties to celebrate the birth of new pups.

Surprisingly, she had also quickly fallen into the role of advising Ryder.

She was damn good at dealing with people.

Thus I had to resign myself to just keeping the books and only occasionally stepping in to offer my point of view on pack matters.

My opinion was still very much wanted, and I gave it freely, but I had to say I enjoyed not having as many responsibilities now.

“More time to yourself?” Mom gestured to the work table. “Recently, when I come to visit, you’re always in the garage.”

Mom dropped by every week to check up on me.

She sometimes dragged Dad with her, too, though he was usually busy fixing the pack’s vehicles.

He always said I could drop by his garage if I wanted to see him.

I did so whenever I felt stuck on what advice to give Ryder.

I could always rely on my parents’ opinions. We had a great relationship.

“What can I say? Aria is just that good at being luna,” I smiled. “I no longer have to tell her what to do. She found her place within the hierarchy so quickly.”

The mischievous glint was back into my mom’s eyes. Something was going to come out of her mouth soon, something big. I braced myself.

“So what do you think about finding a mate now that you have more time for yourself, Oliver?” She pointed her finger at me and tapped it against my chest.

I blinked once, then twice. I looked down at the offending finger and then at my mother again.

I hadn’t expected this line of questioning.

“Mom…” I started, but she jabbed me with the finger again.

“No, don’t tell me I’m being unreasonable,” she guessed my words exactly. “You’ve passed thirty years of age, Oliver. You’re not getting any younger. Do you want to go through your whole life without a mate?”

I thought about her words for a moment. True, I wanted to find love and build a family.

I often imagined my mate and our children running around our home, calling out to each other happily.

The image felt so blurry, though, like it was so far away and beyond my grasp.

The thought that I might not have such a future saddened me.

Still, I didn’t know for sure that I would remain alone.

I could make my dream a reality. I would just have to work towards it.

“I know so many people in the pack. You could say I know everyone in Moondust Hollow. But I’ve never met my mate.” Normally, a wolf found its second half between twenty-two and twenty-five. For me… there’s just never been anybody to call my own.

Mom gave me a thoughtful look. “And so you think you don’t have a mate?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. Maybe I should try the annual mating games and decide on my mate on my own?”

Ryder and Caden had participated in the last mating games.

Ryder had found Aria during the games—sort of.

Aria had joined to get close to him, so she had actually been the one to find him.

Caden, on the other hand, had matched with someone at the games but hadn’t chosen her to be his life partner. He still remained unmarried.

The mating games were a tradition of Moondust Hollow that allowed the Moon Goddess to give second chances to wolves who had not found their mates or who had been rejected by the ones She had chosen.

The whole process of matching with someone was pretty elaborate, with three trials. It was an interesting event.

“You would have to wait another seven months to participate in the next mating games,” Mom pouted. “That’s way too long when there are other opportunities to meet someone.”

“Are there?” I arched my eyebrows. “I mean, I could just choose a woman from the ones I know and ask her if she’d like to go out with me, and later mate, but…” I trailed off.

None of the women I knew were of interest to me, if I had to be honest. I didn’t feel a special pull of attraction toward any of them. I was sure I would have acted on the connection if I had.

“I agree that if your mate was among the people you know, members of our pack, you would have found her by now. You’re pretty sociable, after all. It’s not like you’re shy about approaching women,” she laughed.

I frowned. I didn’t like being teased. Sure, I’d had a few casual relationships in the past. I hadn’t introduced any of those women to my parents, though, even if some of the women had wanted me to do so.

However, being a public figure meant word about whom I was dating eventually got around the pack and back to my parents anyway.

“I have a plan,” Mom leaned in and whispered in a conspiratory way.

My eyebrows shot up. “Uh-huh. And what is your brilliant plan, oh mother of mine?”

I usually called her that elaborate title when she was being overly dramatic.

She smiled widely and put a hand into the bag she always carried around when she went out. Although small, the black leather bag seemed bottomless. It was as if she always held the answer to any problem in that purse of hers.

Mom fished out a hot pink flyer and gave it to me.

I stared down at the shiny piece of paper, full of hearts and a picture of a woman blowing a kiss. “Twin Tails Agency,” I read the header out loud. “An arranged marriage agency. Pairing wolf shifters in Missouri since 2012.”

I looked back at my mother. She was beaming and stepping from foot to foot like an excited child.

I glanced at the paper again. “An arranged marriage? You think this is a good idea for me?”

The thought of getting paired with someone I didn’t necessarily love or feel attracted to just to scratch the itch of my desire to marry felt wrong.

I opened my mouth to shut down this brilliant idea of my mother’s, but she raised a hand to stop me from speaking.

“Before you dismiss this idea, let me tell you more about the agency. I looked them up on the internet. When you register, you put in what kind of partner you want to be paired with. Once paired, you can chat with them via the company’s message app until you feel ready to meet.

The agency brings your mate-to-be to your house, and if you decide you like each other then they help you arrange everything with your alpha and the alpha of her pack.

Because they pair wolf shifters from different packs, they help with the paperwork.

It’s really not as scary as you think,” she carefully explained.

I stared at her, processing the information.

“It really doesn’t sound so bad,” I finally said. “So you don’t get paired with someone completely at random?”