Chapter Two
Creed Makami smiled, staring down at the forms in his hands.
In three months, he would mark the completion of his twenty-four years in the military service. Creed was ready to get back stateside and reconnect with his brother and finally meet his new sister-in-law.
Creed was a part of the Naval Special Armed Forces and had gotten stationed in the Middle East for the past three years. Creed was ready to return home to Eden Cove and start his civilian life and hopefully find himself a mate. Sadly, because of his military commitment and obligations, Creed had made it a point not to get involved with anyone.
Sure, he’d fucked omegas, and betas because that was what he was attracted to, but he hadn’t felt the need to mate. Creed realized that he had a specific type. They had to be slender men who were a bit shorter than him. He wasn’t concerned about their ethnicity. To Creed everyone needed love, all that mattered was, in the end, they both made each other feel good.
It was his choice to put starting a family on hold for twenty plus years. While some of his friends were happy to share their lives with the military and their family, Creed was sure he wouldn’t want to be apart from his mate for long periods of time. Like any other alpha, Creed wanted children who would carry on his name, but first, he wanted stability and love.
Creed also wanted to spend time with his brother, and he missed how close they used to be before he’d enlisted. He was a bit envious of his brother Richard. Although it was his decision to join the Navy, Richard was able to find his mate and possibly start a family. Being in the military and always traveling it left little time for him to develop a close familial relationship. He was getting that chance again, and he wasn’t going to give it up.
“Hey, there you are. I’ve been looking for you.”
Creed turned around and saw his friend, Lieutenant Commander Riley Scott-Harding, heading his way. They became friends when they were at the Naval academy and went to their first duty station together. They’d kept in touch with each other when they were stationed at separate commands, following each other’s careers and later being attached to command for the past three years.
“You look happy. What’s up?” Riley asked.
Instead of speaking Creed held up his papers showing that he started his terminal leave in two days and will be heading back to the states to begin his out processing.
“Dude, that’s fucking awesome,” Riley said grabbing the papers from his hands. “I’m not that far behind you, brother.”
“I know, in a couple of months we’ll be able to do what we’ve always talked about.”
“I can’t wait. Don’t get me wrong, I loved serving my country, but I’m ready to settle down. I hate not being able to tell my family where I am, or what the hell I’m doing. I know my folks are worried about me, but now that I will be home, they won’t need to.”
“Yeah, the last time I heard from Richard was a few months ago when he told me he was getting married. I can’t wait to meet her, and if I know my big brother, she’s already pregnant or just about to have their first child. Richard is not a man who likes to wait.”
Even being so far away, they communicated through letters, not email or text messages. Operational security was essential to the military and their missions. Richard and Creed had their own way of communicating by using coded messages a skill they had learned growing up together in foster homes. It didn’t bother him that they hadn’t talked to each other much in the past couple of months. Richard was a busy man. He’d started his own architectural firm with his friend Jarrod that Creed had never met. It wasn’t large with hundreds of employees, but Richard was proud of his accomplishments.
Before he’d enlisted in the Navy, Richard had asked him to join on with him, but Creed turned him down. He wasn’t an architect like Richard, but he was good at landscaping. He’d picked up the skill while working summers to make extra money as a teenager and found that he had a knack for it and didn’t mind getting his hands dirty.
After two years of community college, Creed decided to join the Navy after feeling the need to serve his country. Creed had initially signed up for four years, but after he was approved to the special forces, he’d re-upped for another four that turned into twenty-four years later. During that time, Creed had gotten his Masters degree in Landscaping Architecture as well as the certifications he would need.
Once he was settled back home, all he had to do was take the exam and register with his state before starting his business. Creed wasn't afraid to admit that he and Richard were more alike than just in appearance. Both with the desire to build things, but in different ways.
Riley smirked. “What’s the first thing you’re going to do when you get back?”
“You should know the answer to that,” Creed said with the smile of a shark.
Riley wiggled his eyebrows chuckling, knowing the answer. Creed was going to find the sexiest thing he could find and fuck his brains out. Riley was an omega, and they’d turned to each other for comfort, but that was as far as it went.
He’d never felt the urge to knot or bite Riley whenever they fucked, and that’s exactly what they did. It wasn’t making love even though they cared about each, they were merely friends, and that was all. Both he and Riley were looking for their own mates.
“I hope he’s the one,” Riley said to him.
“It would be nice to find my mate out of the gate, but shit, like finding your forever love doesn’t happen so easily,” Creed told him.
“Always the damn skeptic,” Riley said then chuckled as he shook his head.
“I’m being serious,” Creed said. “I know you believe in love at first sight, Riley.”
“I do, and I know you’ve said that it doesn’t exist. But I think you’re wrong my friend.”
They’ve had that argument countless times, and no matter how many times Riley tried to convince him that love of first sight was real, Creed had his own thoughts on the subject. While they both believed in love, Riley romanticized mating as instant everything. Love, family, and happily ever after. Creed, on the other hand, was under the firm belief that even after finding his mate things will go much slower and they would need time to adjust to each.
No one falls into the perfect happy ever after the second they meet.
