Chapter 1 I

Elly

Today is June 29th, my birthday. The day I turn eighteen. I don’t want to be eighteen, I want to remain a child a little more because being eighteen means that I have to face problems that I am not ready to face- like finding a mate.

I am not a typical werewolf, I am shy, and I am scared of almost everything. Darkness? Scares me. Spiders? Scares me. Thunders? Scares the life out of me.

I wonder who would want a mate that is scared even of her own shadow?

I know that I wasn’t always like this and that something bad happened in my past, but here I am, too scared to remember what happened.

I get out of bed and get ready for today. I shower, and after I have dried my hair, I brush it and tie it in a ponytail. I put on a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, and my sneakers and get out of my room.

“Happy birthday!” my older brother, Dan, tells me the moment I enter the kitchen.

Dan and I are pretty close and spend a lot of time together. He is the only friend I have in the pack. The pack we live in is Little Moon Pack, is not a very large pack, with only three hundred members.

“Thanks, bro!” I said and smiled.

“What do you want to do today?” Dan asks me.

I shrug. Ever since our parents died, Dan took care of me, and I am very grateful for everything he did. He is three years older and has yet to find his mate.

“We can see Safe Heaven,” I suggest.

“We have seen that movie, so many times I have learned the lines,” Dan grunts.

“How about we make popcorn and see Lake House?” I ask, hoping he won’t make me go out.

“Elly, this is your birthday. How about we go outside and enjoy the day?”

I groan hard. This is exactly what I have feared.

“Come, out with you,” Dan says and drags me out of the house.

Please, Goddess, don’t let me met my mate and don’t let him reject me. Not on my birthday.

We go to the Main House to get ice cream. I love ice cream. Vanilla and strawberries is the best.

Dan was putting me a big bowl of ice cream went I felt the scent. Cinamon and oranges. My mate is close.

“Dan, can you help with something in the gym?” I hear the Alpha asking from the door frame.

My heart started beating fast. My mate is very close to me. I know he is going to reject me.

“Sure, Alpha. Elly, I will back quick. Wait for me, OK?” Dan asks me.

I nod, but all I hear is my hammering heart.

Victor

“I hope you find your mate soon,” Jake, my best friend and Alpha of the pack, tells me.

“It is not like I haven’t looked for her. In the last five years, I visited a lot of packs. Either I don’t have a mate, either she is too young.”

“Don’t lose hope. I am sure you will find her soon. After all, you are already twenty-five years old. She can’t be that young,” Jake tells me.

As we get closer to the Main House, I am starting to smell cherries and watermelon. Does this mean my mate is close? It was someone from the pack all along?

I follow Jake and enter the Main House. We are coming from patrolling the woods. Rogues were spotted in the woods lately, and we wanted to make sure no rogue got close to the pack.

As we walk down the hallway, the scent has become stronger.

I wonder who my mate is? There aren’t many females in the pack that catches my eye. And I hope it is a strong female. I hate weak females that scream and run away as soon as they see a spider.

When we get to the kitchen, I see who is inside. Dan and little Elly. She can’t be my mate.

Elly, that is afraid of everything, my mate. I will have to reject her and hope to get a second chance with a better mate.

I wait until Jake leaves with Dan to check some equipment in the gym, to talk to Elly.

She is already shivering in fear and not looking at me.

“Elly, can you look at me?” I ask her.

I see her inhaling deeply and, after a few moments, she looks at me.

“I know we are mates and all, but I don’t want you. I need a strong mate.”

She looks at me with the big, soft, chocolate eyes, and, for a moment, I am tempted to accept her.

“I understand,” she says with a sad voice.

“I am really sorry, Elly. I wish things were different. But I am a Beta, and as a Beta, I need a strong female next to me.”

She nods.

“I, Victor Hunter, reject you, Eliana Wolf, as my mate.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt a sharp pain in my heart.

On the soft cheeks of Elly, I see tears, and I feel sorry for making her sad.

“I am sorry, I have to go,” Elly says and rushes out of the kitchen.

I want to go after her, but I already made up my mind. I only hope to have a second chance with a more suitable mate.

Kain

I have been looking for the little werewolf girl that smelled like cherries everywhere. She must be a woman now because ten years have passed since I last saw her. But I never forgot her soft chocolate eyes or her brown hair.

Even after all this time, she is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. I counted myself lucky when she has spoken to me. Vampires and werewolves don’t usually mix, except if we are fighting about something. But somehow, I made friends with that little girl, and the summer that I spent playing with her was the best of my life.

One year ago, I decided to look for her in the USA after looking for her in Europe. Up until now, I had no luck.

I am in a forest close to a werewolf pack. I usually observe a pack for some time, and if I don’t spot Elly, I move on.

As I walk through the forest, I catch a faint scent of cherries. I inhale deeply. I am positive it is Elly. I follow the scent until I get to a waterfall. Next to the waterfall, I see a young woman with brown hair. She is crying. I don’t see her face, but I know it is Elly. I wonder why she is crying.

I want to go and talk to her, but I decide to wait and observe first. What if she has a mate by now? She looks old enough to have a mate.