Two Warriors, Two Battles: Meet Fated Mate

By Beth Jackson

Gabriel and Manuel are pack warriors and meet their fated mates Esme and Lola unexpectedly on a night out with their friends, yet true to form things don't go quite to plan... Esme and Lola are both from an unconventional pack that has unusual views on mates and restricts the rights of women. Esme already had to fight to be given permission to go to university, will she be willing to give that all up for her mate? While Lola has some adjusting to a new way of life to get used to... In fighting for their mates, they end up fighting for the freedom of a whole pack. Can the two warriors battle for their happy ever afters they are so desperately seeking?

• Language: English
• Publisher: supernovel
• Release date: Aug 28, 2023

Book preview

CHAPTER 1 - Gabriel

Another family BBQ, another few hours of chaos. I love this crazy lot but jeez I get a headache when they are all together! The fact now many of my cousins have found their fated mates means there are more of us, as there are more pups running around too. So, even more chaos to enjoy. And for some reason I seem to get roped into playing with the kids. Perhaps it’s because I never fully grew up…

Though does any man? Still have the mind of a child, and the sense of humour too. Makes life more fun that way.

Gabriel! Chico, are you even listening to me?! My Grandmothers says to me sternly.

I see Manuel, my cousin grin at me.

To be fair, I switched off about ten minutes ago, she has been wittering on at me and him about our friends, the Alpha and Luna, Knox and Lilah and their new little boy Kai. My Grandmother has a habit of talking a lot, plus I am sure she is just being nosey to find out if there is any gossip she can share with her friends. I often switch off when she is talking, it is easier, or else she gives me a headache! She has a lot of opinions, and it is easier to just agree with her. Though sometimes I have to say I disagree just to see her reaction because it amuses me, and I know it amuses my cousins too.

They are all complete wusses and dare not disagree, me however, I know she can’t catch me, so if needs be and I get her real mad, I know I can always run away from her.

Yes Abuela, I am listening to you. Always I smile at her.

I look to Manuel and roll my eyes.

Gabriel Matias Garcia tell me you did not just roll your eyes at your Abuela! You might be a man, or like to think you are, but you are never too old for your grandmother to kick your ass Chico she snarls at me.

I can’t help but chuckle at her. This is a she-wolf well into her 70s now, and well past her ass-kicking days, but can’t say she isn’t still feisty.

Manuel is still sat grinning, Oh Abuela, please kick his ass, that would be amazing! He is definitely due it he says.

See why can’t you be a sweet boy like my Manny my grandmother smiles affectionately at my cousin.

She is the mother of my Mum and Manuel’s Mum, and has been a massive part of our lives and while I love to wind her up, and clearly I am far from her favourite grandson, I love this woman to bits, even if she is a little crazy! Since her husband, our Grandad, passed away, she has been lonely, so the talking a lot we know is probably because of that too, though ours Dads says she has always had a habit of never shutting up. And this sort of conversation is a regular occurrence between me and her.

Because good little Manny is a suck up that’s why I grin.

He will make his mate very happy when he finds her. Talking of that, any luck with that either of you? she looks at us, a look of desperation almost on her face.

I get almost sick of her, my mom and my many aunts asking me this almost each time they see me. I swear I could walk to the bathroom, come back and they would ask me if I met my mate along the way, despite seeing me just five minutes before! It has got that bad recently! Yeah sure, I am getting older, and it is expected for us to have met our fated mate by now, but it is not like it is something I control. If so, do they not think I would have chosen to have met her by now?

And I know Manuel gets sick of them asking too. He is desperate to meet his mate. Seeing Knox with Lilah made him realise just how much he wanted his mate. And to be fair, I think it did with me too.

No Abuela, not yet Manuel smiles softly at her.

Aww Chico, she will come, I am sure she is desperate to meet you our grandmother rests her head on Manuel’s shoulder and smiles up at him.

No Abuela, do you not think you would have heard by now if we had? I say.

Well, that is true Chico. Perhaps you should get a haircut, smarten yourself up, and look harder for her, hmmm? My grandmother suggests.

So, how does this work? Manuel gets told his mate will come, and that she is desperate to meet him, me, however, gets told to remodel myself and to try harder to find her. Does she not think I keep looking for her?

I keep looking for her Abuela, she doesn’t seem to be around. Like you said to Manuel, I am sure she will come I smile.

Perhaps Gabriel, though perhaps she already came, saw you and went, neh, and left again My grandmother says with a grin and walks away from us toward my father who is tending to the grills with his brother in law.

Leaving me sat with my mouth open at the brashness of her words. I see Manuel trying not to laugh.

What are you laughing at? I say.

Well, you will keep winding her up he laughs. So, she does it back to you

Oh, its ok for you golden balls isn’t it. She thinks you are amazing! Your mate is just desperate to meet you! Mine must have seen me and run! I roll my eyes.

Manuel throws his arm around my shoulder Gabriel Matias Garcia, don’t you be rolling your eyes at Abuela now! he grins at me. You know she loves you very much.

Oh sure. Now how long we got to stay before we go round to Knox and Lilah’s for drinks? I cannot be asked goddess knows how many more times if I found my mate, and I haven’t seen half the aunties yet, and the female cousins are getting just as bad now! I am so tempted to be like, oh yeah, I did, but she couldn’t come to meet you as I currently have her at home handcuffed to the bed. That would soon shut them up!

Manuel laughs.

They would definitely not know what to say! If you say that then please let me be there to see their reaction he says.

I hate they keep asking, it is like they are desperate for us to find our mates, but at the same time, like they have no consideration for the fact we are wanting to find them too. Our wolves are desperately searching for them, pining for their mates. Seeing our friends settle down now too makes it harder, seeing them so happy doesn’t help, while I am happy for them, it just makes me realise what I am missing.

CHAPTER 2 - Manuel

Seeing Gabe struggling with being asked about mates rings true to me too. He is not the only one. Our family is so big, and with that means there is a lot of support and love, but also it can mean there is a lot of family members to interrogate you, harass you about if you found your mate yet. Give you tips on how to find them.

It gets irritating after a while. I am the quieter of the two of us, so I sit there and don’t say much about it, not out loud anyway, just inside my head I am going crazy, getting frustrated, Sick to death of being asked if I found my mate yet. They think if I had I wouldn’t have been telling the entire world by now?!

I swear each time they ask I wonder just how stupid my family actually are. Or if they actually have any thought for my feelings. Though they have their mates, so they won’t even consider that part of it.

Gabe generally says what he is feeling, and I don’t blame him. He has never been one for holding back. Sometimes I wish I was more like him. But I am too worried what people will think. But I know the fact he hasn’t found his mate is hurting him as much as it is hurting me. He is approaching 24 now, and I am 23, we would normally be expected to have our mates and be settled down with at least one pup by now.

So, to be our age and not have met them is rare, but not impossible, obviously. If she is from a different pack and the paths of the packs don’t cross often then meeting her would be less simple. Though you’d like to think fate would give you a helping hand. Though the more time goes along, the harder it is not to start to wonder if she has already passed on.

My uncles and some of my cousins have suggested taking a chosen mate, but I don’t know if I want to do that. Seeing what Indie and Dan have and what Knox and Lilah have as fated mates and hearing the tales my family tell of their fated mates, makes me want to wait in the hopes of meeting my fated mate. I just have to hope that she is still out there somewhere, and she will come along soon. Hopefully Selene, the moon goddess will give the paths a nudge, so they cross sooner rather than later, because I am really starting to struggle.

Gets boring doesn’t it I mutter.

What does? Gabe looks to me.

Waiting. Being Alone. I say with a shrug.

Too right. Abuela is probably right. My mate probably ran for the hills! he smiles.

I shake my head at him, hoping he is joking and knowing our grandmother will have been winding him up when she said it with him winding her up, it being a regular occurrence between the two. Gabe is a lot like his dad, my uncle, in that regard, forever making jokes and forever teasing his Mum.

We sit and watch some of our younger cousins fighting as they play football.

Well least with no mates, we don’t have to put up with our own screaming kids Gabe grins at me.

No, just everyone else’s I laugh.

True that

Yo, Manny, come give me a hand at the grill son My Dad shouts me over.

I have been summoned I say.

Yeah, I am guessing I will not be needed Gabe grins at me, his skills at the BBQ are renowned for being terrible at our family BBQs, and despite our grandfather, and our fathers and Uncles alike trying to teach him he was still terrible. So, he just supplied the beers instead.

Just keep the beers in good supply and they will be happy I laugh.

I love our family. It is a massive family, originally from Mexico, when traced back to our great great grandfathers, but we ended up at Midnight Forest Pack when they moved here as Warrior’s way back when, and the rest as they say is history. I have to say we couldn’t wish for a better family, more loving or caring, nosey as hell at times, and at times you wish they would leave you the hell alone, but they were always there when you needed someone.

At the same time, I am glad it was this pack our family ended up at too, as it meant I ended up with the friends that I did. And again, while they were a crazy mismatch of a bunch, they were the best friends I could ask for. Recently added to by the addition of two mates, Lilah and Indie, but they had become as much of the group of friends as the rest of us. And I could not imagine them not being there now either.

That was another reason I was desperate to find my mate, to add further to our friend circle, and I know Jake and Gabe were the same. Unlike Gabe, I was also desperate to have kids, I loved Knox and Lilah’s little one Kai, and Indie and Dan’s little boy Finn. They were so sweet, and I could not wait for kids of my own one day. Having grown up in such a big family, it was something I had always assumed would happen, I just didn’t realised fate would make me wait quite this long for my mate……

CHAPTER 3 - Manuel

After spending a few hours at the family BBQ, I had headed home, and now was I wandering from my home, over to Knox and Lilah’s. We spent as much time there as we did in our own homes now. I had my own home built on the lake alongside the family homes of Knox and Dan in the last year, it was finally finished a month ago. And while I may not have a family to put it in as yet, I am so glad I did it.

Gabe and Jake had done the same thing despite them too not having met their mate or having a family, but having their own homes built alongside the lake near our friends. So, we had our own little community for our group of friends within the packlands of Midnight Forest Pack, that were still close enough to the pack house for us to get to quickly when needed.

The evening was warm, so I would guess it could well be another BBQ in their garden, which likely meant I Would be roped into cooking. Not that I minded. Seeing Lilah smile like she did was worth it.

She had become one of my closest friends since she had unexpectedly come into our lives a couple of years ago. Her and Indie both arrived in our lives like an explosion of craziness when we least expected it.

A night out after a long day at work and we were there to wind down with some drinks, who was to walk in but Indie and Lilah with their friends. Indie instantly caught Dan’s attention. Probably something to do with the bright purple and blue hair she had at the time, and the figure-hugging red dress she had on. I can still recall his eyes still near popping out of his head at her!

He had spent most of the evening drooling all over as she danced with her friends. So, when her friend ended up being Gabe’s cousin, and they came to sit with us our night and lives changed forever. It was no surprise that Indie was Dan’s mate. They had not taken their eyes off one another all night and our moon goddess had done them well, as they were perfectly matched.

All Indie’s wonderfully weird quirks Dan found irresistible and undeniably cute. And all the stuff about Dan that drove us as his friends crazy, Indie thought were funny and cute. Strange how the mate bond works……

Lilah was so the complete opposite of her best friend, but still as beautiful in a more understated, classy way. In a simple black mini dress and her honey blond hair in loose curls down her back that first night we met her, she had caught Knox’s attention too, though he did his best to pretend she hadn’t. That was funny.

Ahh memories. Hard to believe it took weeks for Knox and Lilah to realise they were even mates…Though Lilah had her reasons, bless her. I am just glad she decided he was the right one for her and that having a mate was the right thing in the end. I understand why she was scared to have a mate after the hurt she had been though. But seeing her with Knox now and you can see they were perfectly matched.

He was meant to be with her, and she has changed so much. She is so much happier, so much more confident too. Having a mate, being a mama and being a Luna suited her. She was smiling so much more. She was meant to be here I think, and being here has made her happy.

I often look to her and wish I could find a mate like her. Knox is a lucky guy. Though I am lucky to call her my friend. Seeing them together and the connection they have has only made me crave finding my own mate. Yet I seem to be having no luck.

It didn’t really bother me before. All my friends had been single so settling down was never much of a focus. Despite me being 23 and looking for me fated mate since shifting at 17 I was yet to find her. That’s even assuming she was still out there for me…

Manny! I hear Lilah’s voice greeting me as I walk through the door.

Hey Angel I go to hug her.

Alright Manuel Knox high fives me as he is stood to the side of his mate.

Yeah, all good. How is Kai doing? I ask.

Kai is their little bundle of gorgeousness. Their baby boy, born 8 months ago. And he truly was gorgeous too, a headful of dark hair like his daddy, and beautiful aqua blue eyes like his mama. Lilah’s eyes are breath-taking, so Knox was so excited to have his son inherit them, but then realised it meant he would have another person that could use the eyes against him. Goddess help him if he ever has a daughter! My sister was a nightmare for manipulating our dad.

They were both amazing parents and fell naturally into the role. I can imagine the two of them with a large family eventually. But right now, they have their young future Alpha, and he was perfect. My little nephew, seeing as he was to call me Uncle Manny.

He is snoozing in his chair bro, go sit down, the others should be here soon Knox smiles.

No sooner as he said that Dan and Indie walk through the door, their little boy Finn toddling in front of them. He was a little mischief, especially now he was on his feet and getting around.

Hey gorgeous Indie grabs me in a hug, knocking me with her small pregnant belly as she does.

She is a couple of months into their second pregnancy now. Soon our group would have another little one joining us. Another reason I was so desperate to find my mate, to settle down, so I could have my own family to add to our group of craziness.

CHAPTER 4 – Gabriel

I can hear the chattering in the house before I get to the door. Another of our weekly get togethers. I am happier to be here than I was at the family BBQ earlier, getting sick of being harassed in the end…

It works out so well having the houses nearby, as we literally pop in and out of one another’s homes, or gardens. A little community of our own which is what we had wanted with us all being so close. So, as we have kids they grow up together. Not that there are kids on my horizon anytime soon.

Jeez, the noise and smells that come from Indie and Dan’s and Knox and Lilah’s kids, they can keep them! They are cute, don’t get me wrong but fucking hell they are noisy! And sometimes there is no pleasing them. You feed them; they still cry. You change them, they still cry. It’s like well what else can I do for you?

If I do find my mate and have kids, I hope some paternal instinct will appear as right now I am more a fun uncle type that they can have a laugh with, and I get distracted playing with their toys. I have no clue how to take care of them!

Hola! Party can start, I have arrived I greet everyone as I walk in the door.

Hey Gabe Lilah comes and hugs me.

Looking gorgeous as ever Chica I kiss her head.

My Luna is the sweetest, she has changed so much in the little over two years we have known her, and I know that is all down to Knox and being here in our pack. She is where she belongs. Plus, I think being a mama too, she is a perfect mama for that little bundle of joy of theirs. Though I think Knox changed too meeting Lilah, he was always a