Chapter 43: Chapter 43

Tanner leaned over the table and wrapped his arms around me in a brief hug then pulled back. "Hey, Max."

He glanced at Jake, stretching his hand forward, "Hey."

Jake stretched out his own hand and shook Tanner's hand. "Hi."

Tanner walked to the seat opposite us and sat down. We also sat back down. I noticed that he hadn't changed much. His dark hair was still short, he still looked boyish in his baggy, beige trousers and white, arsenal Jersey.

"So what do we need to know first as new werewolves?" I asked him.

"First, you need to be able to control your wolves and turn at will." He said, looking between the two of us.

"We can already turn at will." Jake said, and I nodded in agreement.

Tanner looked shocked as he stared at us, "Only Alpha blood could do that on their first try and without any guidance."

"That means we're both Alpha blood?" I asked with furrowed brows.

"Yes, definitely, but yours should be for a Luna."

"Okay, and we also want to know something else." Jake started and we both turned to him. "Whenever I start kissing Max's neck, my fangs extend and my eyes turn black. Can that mean that we're mates?"

Tanner looked surprised again, "Whoa! I have never heard of anything like that before. I'll have to research it because it can mean something else."

"We will really appreciate that since we can't get close anymore because of that." I said with a small smile.

"Sure, it's no problem." He replied then said, "So about controlling your wolves, what has been happening?"

"When we first turned, our strength was so much that we broke things by just touching them. We finally got that under control, but we're still trying to control our wolves when we get angry or our emotions increase." Jake explained to him and I added, "But our friends that we turned didn't experience that except the emotions part."

"Okay, it seems that it's because you two are Alpha, that's why you experienced all of that. As for your emotions, it happens like that for all new werewolves. You need to be in wolf form more to have it balanced out."

"So we need to change into wolves for some part of the day?" I asked with furrowed brows.

"Yes, we prefer to run during that time as wolves like to do. That will also help you have more control."

"So now that we're Alpha, we're automatically the leaders of our packs?" Jake asked this time with raised brows in question.

"Yes." Tanner answered with a firm nod. He glanced at me then Jake, "Now, tell me about the wolves that attacked you."

"They were three; black, brown and amber. They came out of no where and started growling at us." I explained as I remembered the events of that morning.

"You mentioned that they teleported."

"Yes, after I shot one in the leg, they teleported together. I didn't know that wolves could teleport."

"They could, but it only comes with age. These wolves aren't from our pack. They must be from one of the other packs around here."

"They're other packs?" Jake asked in surprise and I felt just as surprised.

Tanner looked amused as he answered, "Yes, but they usually stay out of the way. They must have come there after sending that you're werewolves. I don't think that they mean trouble."

"But they approached us and kept growling like they were going to attack." I protested, and Jake nodded as he added, "Yeah, and I even warned them to stay back, but they refused."

"You do have a point, and if they wanted to talk, they would come in human form. They'll probably return so you can get your answers then."

"Yeah, probably." I replied, I wanted to ask about Kane's pack secrets, but I didn't know if Tanner would give it away. I decided to ask anyway. "Can you tell us anything about Kane and his pack that we can use against him besides the fact that he's not Alpha blood?"

Tanner seemed to think for a while then shook his head, "The secret that he really hates and doesn't want other packs to know is that he doesn't have Alpha blood."

"Man, he's going to hate us even more when he hears that we have Alpha blood when he doesn't." Jake said, shaking his head.

"And I'm going to love rubbing it in his face." I laughed, and they also laughed.

After we calmed down from laughing, Jake asked, "Can you tell us how we can know if we're mates?"

"There is a river, it's called river of true mated. It shows you your true mate, but it's very far. It's in a town right after this one and you will have to travel for almost a day to get there."

"Whoa! That sounds cool!" I exclaimed, and Jake chuckled at my excitement.

"I know, but it's also dangerous. Some creatures are guarding it and you'll have to fight them to have access to it." Tanner explained to us.

"That shouldn't be a big deal." Jake said, confidently.

"Yeah, we can take them on for sure." I added with a grin.

Tanner smiled at how confident we sounded, and nodded. "Okay, but don't say that I didn't warn you."

"Who made it?" I asked, feeling curious that such a river existed.

"No one knows, it just has always been there. Anyway, I need to go back before Kane notices that I'm missing."

"Why do you go back there?" I asked, feeling confused and irritated that he was still in Kane's gang and pack.

Tanner sighed, looking uncomfortable, "I have to. Not because I want to, but my parents were in that pack before they passed. I don't want to leave the pack because of them and his gang is now merged with the pack. You leave the gang, you leave the pack."

"But if you left, they wouldn't blame you. They would understand why you did it." I said, softly to comfort him, but he shook his head.

"Alright, do what you think is right, but always remember that your parents would want you to do what's good." Jake said in a reassuring voice, bringing both of our attention to him.

Tanner seemed to think for a while before he nodded slowly. "Thank you for comforting me, I really have to go now. Call me whenever you need help."

He stood up and started getting out of the booth in a hurry. "Okay, bye!"

"Until then, Tanner." Jake added and Tanner nodded at us before turning around.

He jogged to the door and left. Jake turned to me, "Want to get something to eat before we leave?"

"Sure." I replied, and he stood up from beside me then glanced at me, "I'll be right back."

"Okay."

He walked towards the counter and ordered lunch for us. I watched him as he walked back to me and sat down beside me. "When do you want to go to the river of true mates?"

"As soon as possible, but we have to tell the others first if they want to come along." Jake responded as I looked around the empty diner.

"Yeah, they probably would. But I don't know about Jane and Drake. If they're not mates then they also have to split up."

"That will be sad because Drake is head over heels for Jane." He sighed, and glanced at me, "I hope that won't be the case for us because I don't think that I can live without you now that I know you."

He took my hand and I gave him a reassuring smile as I squeezed his hand lightly. "I'm sure it won't be, and I know that your fangs coming out when you kiss my neck has to be because we're mates."

"Here's your order." We heard a voice say, and we both turned around to see a waitress, placing two plates of fries and burgers on front of us. She looked up at us, "Do you want anything else?"

"I ordered two sprites too." Jake said as he glanced over the table.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that, I'll go get them right away." She turned around and walked into a door beside the counter.

"Let's go tomorrow after school and it'll be like a road trip." I said, bringing Jake's hazel eyes to me.

"Yeah, let's do that." He smiled at me, and I smiled back.

After having lunch at Julie's, we drove back to my place since Greg and Grey were coming back that night to have their first change. Jake and I were sitting on the floor as Jane sat beside, Drake beside her, Shane beside Jake, Sean beside him then Mike and Alex. Jake had called them over together with the twins to come over to hear about what we learnt.

"So you two are now leaders to our wolves too?" Alex asked, looking between Make and I.

"Yeah." I replied, and Mike said, "And this river of true mates shows everyone who their true mate is?"

"Yeah, that's what I just said." I said, looking pointedly at Mike and Alex.

"Do you all want to follow us there tomorrow?" Jake asked, glancing over at their faces, and I did too.

Jane and Drake have been quiet since we mentioned the river of true mates. Shane and Sean have seen excited to find their soul mates while Mike and Alex were still trying to wrap their heads around what we told them. Shane grinned, "Definitely."

"H*all yeah!" Sean exclaimed, also grinning.

Mike shook his head, "Nope, I wanna enjoy the free life first before being chained down to one person."

Classic player, Mike. Of course, I knew that he wouldn't want to go. But what took me by surprise was Alex's reply. He also shook his head, "I don't want to know just yet either. Maybe later on after I've experienced loving people at my own will."

The others also looked surprised at his answer, but didn't comment on it. I turned to Jane and Drake, "What about you two, Jane and Drake?"

Jane seemed to be thinking deeply before she looked up, "I want to go and find out who my true mate is."

Drake looked panicked as he protested, "Baby, no. I really don't want us to go. If we're not mates then we have to separate. But if we don't find out, we can just be together."

"And what will happen once we finally meet our mates?" Jane asked him, looking annoyed. "Will you leave your mate to be with me forever? Even if you wanted to, you can't because the mate pull is too strong."

"I- baby, I know that I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you." Drake said, quietly.

"Then you should want to find out. Whether you're coming or not, I'll go with them and find out." Jane said with a sad expression, and Drake looked hurt.

"If that's what you want then I'll support you, but I can't go to see you find someone else as your mate."

"That's fine with me." She replied and placed her hand on top of his, but he slipped his hand away. She sighed as both of them looked sad.

"Okay, so Shane, Sean, Jane, Max and I are going after school tomorrow. If we aren't able to come back before the next morning, the rest of you cover for us in school." Jake said, looking at Mike, Alex and the Drake as he said the last part.

"Okay, you can count on us, Alpha!" Alex said, grinning to lighten the mode after the fight between Jane and Drake.

"Yeah, for sure! Though we will be super lonely if you guys didn't come to school with us, so make sure to come back as early as you can." Mike added, also smiling.

"Okay, Mike. We're coming back as soon as we can." I said, smiling at them.

"But you're going to miss out on this cool road trip!" Sean said to Mike and Alex.

Shane nodded, "Yeah, it'll be super cool with karaoke and snacks in the car."

I laughed and so did Jane while Jake grinned, shaking his head. Mike frowned, "Bummer, I'm gonna miss out on a car party, but I would rather miss that than miss out on all these single ladies."