AN: OH MY GOD! REVIEWS! So many reviews. I have this urge to print them all out, throw them on my bed, and roll around in them. And yes, I totally admit that I am a dork. I will take complete ownership of my dork-ness. I think I will have T-Shirts made that say Delightfully Original Resourceful and Kooky. Yep, I'm a dork.

And thank you. Thank you for taking the time to review and making me do my little happy dance of joy whenever my I pad pinged. My friends thank you too for the laughs they have shared because of me having, as one put it, a review orgasm.

How I Met My True Mate

At the ripe age of twenty four, Derek Hale was in a state of complete despair. As the youngest Alpha in his family, not to mention the state, he was watched, hounded, and nagged at every turn of his life. The newest 'drive Derek insane' plan his family had concocted was his need to find and take a mate.

His lunch with his older sister had been unbearably blunt on the subject. Of course his sister was blunt on all subjects.

"It's not forever Derek. We aren't asking you to Mark them, just take a mate. Write up a five year contract or even a one year deal. You know that as an alpha you need the anchor of a mate to help you. The Pack can't have you losing control."

Derek felt himself flushing. He had been struggling more and more the last few months with his control, his temper was explosive on his good days and those were becoming few and far between.

"I don't want a contract mate. If I'm going to bind myself to someone I want..." Derek paused, trying to put emotions into words, something he had never been competent in doing.

"You're waiting for your True Mate. Do you know how rare that is? Alphas spend years looking; throw millions of dollars chasing the dream of their true mate." Laura reached across the table in an aborted attempt to touch Derek's hand but the younger wolf pulled away before their hands could meet.

"Dad found Mom." Derek crossed his arms, then realizing how defensive it made him look, uncrossed them and tried to let them fall naturally and comfortably into his lap. The knowledge that he was not fooling his sister and most likely looked like an idiot caused him to scowl. The furrowed brow and slight reddening of his eyes sent a nervous twinge through his waiter before the young human hurried back to the safety of the kitchen.

If Laura noticed she had the decency to keep her smile to herself. "I know and that makes facing reality so much harder. Don't you think I know how you feel? Being raised in the land of 'happily ever after' kind of screws up real life for you. But just because they're not your true mate doesn't mean it can't be love. Look at Max and I, he's not my true mate but I can't see loving him anymore if he was. You need to stop being such a romantic."

Derek snorted lifting his lip slightly to show fang to his know it all big sister. "I'm not a romantic. It's not like I am sitting around waiting for my true mate to just fall into my lap. Just because I'm not ready to tie myself to some human doesn't mean I'm holding out for a fucking Disney ending."

Loosing what little patience he had Derek stood, the force of his rising knocking over the chair and overturning the glasses on the table. Tossing an assortment of bills on the table, not even bothering to look at the denominations knowing there was more than enough to cover the bill and sooth the ruffles of the servers who fluttered nervously nearby ready to right the mess he had created, he stormed away leaving his speechless sister in his wake.

After a block Derek let his hurried steps slow as he mulled over his family's demands on his personal life. Logically he knew they just wanted what was best for him. The last year had been a struggle, his control over his shifts becoming more erratic and his temper explosive even with his family and friends.

Having a mate would sooth many of his problems; ease the tension of holding it together on his own with their presence. But he didn't want a short term contract; he wanted something that would last. Deep down he knew he was waiting for love but he also knew that he lived in the real world. Hell, he wasn't a cub. He knew his chances of finding a True Mate were astronomical. They didn't fall from the sky trailing rainbows out their ass.

But in Derek' crazy life they did apparently come flying into his arms as he turned the corner leading back to his apartment.

The first thing he noticed was his eyes. Brown but not; they shimmered with an inner light, a honey colored richness that glowed from their depths. They were lined with thick lashes, long enough to be the envy of any girl. An up turned nose over inviting lips completed his look of childlike innocence. The human's body was slim under his hands, almost boney. There was less than an inch difference between their heights but the human possessed a gainliness that spoke of growth spurts to come.

And inside Derek's soul his Wolf howled, claiming his True Mate as his own for all time, until his death and beyond.

Finding the other piece of your soul, having it bind itself to you in a blazing second that seems to fill your body up with light to the point of overflow, trailing streamers of perfection and joy down the sides was almost indescribable. If forced to Derek would have said it was just this side of hurting like hell, it was too much. Now he knew what his Dad really meant when he told the story about how seeing his mother for the first time was like being hit by a two by four.

By the time the after images of light had cleared from his vision his Mate was being dragged violently up off the sidewalk by a pair of betas. Their clawed hands gouging bloody holes into his arms as the boy scrambled to get his feet under him.

"Oh my God. It was a little bruised apple. It would have been thrown in the trash. You can't seriously want to waste your time arresting me for a half rotten piece of fruit."

"Be still you little piece of shit," snarled the larger of the two, twisting the boy's arm back so that his back arched to attempt to relieve the pain.

Kicking wildly, the boy managed to catch the smaller one high in the groin as he swung his legs outward and then twisted back in hopes of breaking their grip. Clutching his wounded pride the beta dropped the human's arm. Rotating to escape the seconds grasp, the boy only managed to turn right into a blow that drove him to the ground at the alpha's feet.

The boy blinked rapidly, letting his head drop forward with a little shake as if trying to clear his vision of the stars a punch like that must have caused. Derek could smell the fear and panic rising from the young human forcing his need as an alpha to protect into overdrive.

"Enough." Derek growled, eyes flashing the glowing neon red of an unmated alpha. Immediately the betas backed away lowering eyes and tilting their necks in submission. On the ground, body bracketed by the legs of an enraged alpha, the young human curled into a ball of desperate fear.

Derek stepped forward, straddling the human with his defensive stance. Glancing down he got his first good look at his future mate. His pale skin, dotted haphazardly with small freckles, was stretched over a body made up mostly of sharp angled bones. His shoulders stood out above a bumpy stretch of ribs that were evident without a shirt for cover. Hipbones jutted out over the top of pants that had long since been a proper fit for the boy.

Stooping down, one knee resting on the cold concert by the boy's back while his foot remained on his other side, trapping the human beneath him, under his protection. Derek let his hand trail down the pale skin noting the scars that lay like silver vines along his back. Seeing the damage made it impossible for him to hold in the growl that sent the betas stumbling back another few steps and the human to curl into a tighter ball.

"Just make it fast. Just make it fast," was the desperately mumbled prayer from the boy, whispered in a high frantic voice that made Derek's heart clinch. From the way he curled his body, trying to protect his head and stomach; it was evident that he had been beaten before.

"Shhhh. Not going to hurt you." Raising his eyes from curled form he turned his attention to the betas. They were both members of the fair security, low level betas with only the thin blue band of the city to distinguish them from an omega. "What did he do?"

"Stealing sir. From the Farmers Market in the park." The two betas shifted, eyes downward, under the angry gaze of the much younger alpha.

"He can only be prosecuted if official charges are brought against him. Bring me his accuser. I'll be at the Gibbous around the corner." Standing Derek pulled a mostly limp human after him and returned to the cafe where his sister was still finishing her meal.

Smelling her younger brother coming back up the side walk, Laura's first thought was that he had felt embarrassed by his outburst and come back to apologize. "It's about time you started acting your age Derek. You can't storm out on me like a teenager anymore." The older sister patronizing smile fell from her lips as she turned to see the young human Derek was half dragging behind him. "What the hell is that?"

"My Mate."