Chapter 2 Something wrong

**Ezra's 18th Birthday**

"Happy birthday, baby," Lindsay said, hugging me.

"Thank you, dear," I kissed her forehead calmly.

We were all here. At least, the people most important to me. I mean, at least I can consider each one of them as such.

"So?" My father looked at us hopefully.

"Should it have started by now?" I frowned. "It just turned midnight."

"Yes, it should have," my mother's face twisted into a grimace. "Oh, dear..." she sobbed. "I'm so sorry."

"There must be a mistake, there must be..." I stammered, trying to find an explanation.

"Ezra," Lindsay held my face with one hand and looked at me, her blue eyes tearing up and she sniffled. "I'm sorry, I'm not your Luna."

"There's still time, I haven't started transforming yet, it was a... mistake?" I frowned, feeling my fingers tremble now.

No. It couldn't be. I was sure she was my mate. I was sure she would be the woman I married. That we would be happy together.

"You must have someone much better waiting," she sniffled. "I'm not upset. I swear. Of course, I would have loved to be yours forever, honey, but we're not and we need to... understand." She sighed.

Before I could give her a sincere response, before I could even think of cursing the goddess, something inside me broke.

We get our wolf at sixteen when we're alphas. But we only transform and discover our mate when we turn eighteen, like any common wolf.

Our wolf is our balance point. We need to learn to deal with him much earlier than all the other pack members. We know we're stronger than everyone else and we need more.

So, I've had Hades since I was sixteen, but everyone will be able to meet him only now, at eighteen. I'm glad that my family will finally be able to connect with my wolf, but heartbroken to have my heart crushed like this.

Even worse, when I find my true destined mate, I'll have to see Lindsay suffer until she turns eighteen. At least I know she and Kyle will continue to be loyal friends-since I doubt she'll want to be close to me for a while.

The pain is so intense that I whimper as I stagger to the small garden of my house.

I have my father, my mother, Uncle Paul, and Lucy, as well as Beta Carl and his wife, Aunt Mel.

They were all staring at me as I writhed, feeling my bones ache like hell as they broke.

I had heard about this so many times, studied it a lot, but now the pain I felt was much closer to death than anything else. Goodness, is the goddess punishing me?

And as the worst pain in the world spread through my body, the best scent in the world filled my nose.

"Mama," Emily's voice echoed. She was wearing her pajamas, clutching a teddy bear tightly in her left arm, staring at me in alarm. "Uncle Ezra... is he hurt?"

"Come in, Emily. Where's your brother?" Aunt Lucy asked.

"Kyle left me alone. Said Lindy was inconsolable," she said, still not taking her eyes off me.

Heavens. The girl... she's my... my mate. I let out a pained grunt and dig my fingers into the soil.

"Emy..." I call out, in a moment of desperation. My voice comes out weak and strained, but I know everyone heard. I know everyone is staring at me. "Emy, I need..." I growl, closing my eyes. "help..."

"Dear, come here," Uncle Paul calls, taking charge of the situation.

In an instant, he's beside me holding the little one's hand, her eyes wide with concern.

"Uncle Ezra," she whispers, placing her hand on my back. "Does it hurt a lot?"

"Y-yes," I stutter, giving a disbelieving laugh.

The pain seems more bearable now, so I just lift my eyes to hers.

"Thank you, little one," I sigh.

"Do you want me to stay close by?" she asks, and I nod. "Okay."

She sits next to me and watches attentively.

"Let it flow, son," Paul says, catching my attention now. "Don't hold Hares inside you."

I nod and close my eyes, feeling Emily's gentle touch somewhere on my back.

When I open them again, I'm lying on my own paws. My breathing is erratic, my lungs ache.

I look at Emily and slowly approach her.

"Don't you dare," I growl at Hades. "She can't know. Not now. Look at how small she is."

"Mate," he grunts at me. "I want to protect her, Ezra. We can't let anyone hurt her. Never."

"She has a loving family, and she lives within the Alpha's lands. We can be sure she'll never get hurt," I murmur.

Emily approaches slowly and runs her fingers through Hades' dark fur, petting and giggling as she runs around him.

I just let Hades play with her, jumping around as if he's also ten years old, acting like a damn dog while poor Emily throws a ball for him.

I can't deny how humiliating this is, but I take a deep breath and don't move. He's been trapped for years, and if this is how he wants to spend his time, so be it.

Our parents were talking somewhere, and at some point, Emily lay down on my back and drifted off to sleep. Hades allowed it, lying down too and closing his eyes to sleep sweetly.

He's a traitor. A treacherous wolf. He shouldn't do this. He shouldn't get so close. He just shouldn't. What kind of freak am I?

"It's time for Emily to go to bed," Paul says, picking her up and she curls up completely on him, like a koala. "Goodbye, Ezra."

Hades blinks at him and whimpers, but that doesn't make Gamma Paul stop. He bids farewell to the others, and when it's just us-me, Mom, and Dad-I go through the pain process again, but this time less intense.

When I'm back in my human form, I blink at my parents.

"Has the goddess cursed me, Mom?" It's the first thing I ask as soon as I open my eyes and see myself human again.

This must be some kind of punishment... isn't it?