Page 1 of Sylas's Captivating Mate

Chapter One

Sylas McCallum yawned as he came around the corner of the supernatural hotel during his afternoon rounds. His tiger was on alert, even if he was currently the most exhausted he’d ever been in his life.

He and his siblings—his brother Ronan and his sister Taryn—had come to the supernatural town of Belle Terra when they’d been on the way to visit Jonathon Black, head of the National Were-Fighting Association, that allowed shifters to fight each other for the entertainment of humans for money. They’d planned to join up with the alpha wolf’s fighters and use their ability to travel within the states to hopefully locate their truemates.

Sabertooth tigers like themselves were able to procreate only with their truemates, and they located their truemates through mating dreams. Ronan hadn’t had a single mating dream until they’d crossed into the state, and then they’d ended up rescuing his truemate Alanah, a fairy who’d been imprisoned by her king. Then Taryn had found her truemate in a warlock named Dredge, who lived at the supernatural hotel, and the couple were opening a magic supply shop next to the hotel’s flower shop.

Which just left him and the weird dreams he’d had since Taryn and Dredge got together. All he saw was a moonlit night. Not even a full moon, as far as he could tell, just a generic moon which could be waning or waxing, he never could really see clearly, and he had no clue what the moonlight was actually revealing. Woods? City? Some barren desert in the middle of nowhere?

He leaned against the corner of the hotel and scanned the parking lot. Two weeks ago, they’d come to Belle Terra after rescuing Alanah and joined up with four other sabertooth tigers who called the town home along with their mates. Then someone had put car bombs near the entrance to the hotel and nearly killed his brother and his new mate. And then someone had tampered with the electricity at the hotel and the club owned by the vampires, collectively known as a kiss.

His sister and her mate had caught the culprit who’d left toxic flowers at the vampire club down the street soon after, knocking out many people inside and creating havoc. They’d realized that vampires were targeting the kiss-owned properties, but after the males who’d targeted the place escaped, the only thing they knew was that the culprits were vampires. No one knew the reason for the targeting.

So everyone was on alert, from the vampire kiss to the club where many of them lived underground, including master Caleb and his saber mate Lia, to the hotel where sabers worked alongside humans and wolves to cater to guests whether they were supernaturally gifted or not.

“Anything?” Slade, one of the other sabers at the hotel, asked as he walked out of the hotel and spied Sylas.

“Nah,” he said, straightening. “I wouldn’t expect vampires to come after anyone during the daytime, though.”

“True, but they did find ways to attack the hotel during the daytime.”

“Good point. But no, I don’t see anything out of the ordinary.”

Slade nodded, scanned the parking lot, and then turned to Sylas. “You look tired. You need a break?”

“I’m fine, just having weird dreams.”

Slade, who’d never had mating dreams about his truemate because he met her and shifted on the spot, nodded. “I remember Alaric complaining about them, and Galen too. What do you see?”

“Just moonlight.”

“In the woods?”

“No clue, I literally see moonlight, like I’m looking up at the sky, but I have no idea why and I haven’t seen anyone or anything.”

“Maybe your mate is traveling,” he suggested. “That’s what happened with my brother Galen. His dreams were really fuzzy, and it was because his mate was out of town.”

“I sure hope my mate lives in Belle Terra and is just on vacation,” he said. He didn’t want to have to join the NWFA and start beating people during fights for a living, just so he could travel. The government didn’t like shifters moving without a lot of red tape, but a traveling organization like the NWFA allowed members to travel easier. If he didn’t find his truemate in a few weeks, he’d join up with Alpha Black and his fighters and go on tour.

But in the meantime, he’d keep his fingers crossed that he’d meet his truemate sooner rather than later. He’d like to get the next chapter of his life started, and he definitely was looking forward to finding his forever girl.

Slade clapped him on the shoulder as they headed into the hotel. “I hope your mate shows up soon too. As my mate would say, we’ll keep all our fingers and toes crossed.”

Sylas nodded and moved behind the front desk, where a human named Jenny was checking a couple into their room. He inhaled silently and picked up that the couple were human.

“We’re in town for the fight tonight,” the male said. “The owner told us to stay here because it’s the best place in town.”

“That’s nice to hear,” Jenny said. “If you need a ride to the fight, there is a shuttle that we can call for you.”

“We’ve got a car, thank you,” the male said.

Jenny finished their check-in, handed over two key cards, and pointed toward the elevators. “Enjoy your stay.”

Then she turned to face him, giving him a sweet smile. She was pretty and friendly, but she wasn’t his truemate so he wasn’t interested in starting anything with her, even though she’d been flirty since he’d joined the hotel staff.

“Have you ever been to one of the fights?” she asked.

“No,” he said.

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