Meum Miraculum

It had been many years since the werewolves had taken over, leaving us humans to become followers in a world we once lead. I was born into this hierarchy, but I did love reading about the times when humans didn't know about the creatures that now openly live among us. To me and my father who I had gotten my passion of reading from, it seemed like a much greater time. Now all of us humans were distributed into packs. For generations my family was part of the Crescent Moon pack, and like the other humans, we were at the bottom of the pack ranked with the lowest of the wolves.

Dominated completely by wolves.

There was a government that established common rules, but every pack was slightly different depending on the leader, the Alpha. It was said that we had no king or president that lead us all as one, but indirectly we did. We are all under the command of one man, Alaricus Knight, or as most call him The Beast. No one would ever dare attempt to rebel against him, for he was much too powerful. Seldom seen, he kept to himself. I myself in my short 17 years had never seen him. Most humans had never seen him, but despite that he had ruined our lives, for there was a rule for all humans that he had set, that had the power to change our lives forever. Werewolves have mates, basically soul mates, that they fall in love with at first sight or scent really. It is said that a human can never deny a wolf of their mate despite their relationship status for a wolf is incomplete without their mate.

The Beast himself did not have a mate in all his years, it was rumoured he was near 400 years old. Yet he had ruined the lives of all the humans for something he had never even experienced. It was said he never would, for he was much to dark, to cruel to be given the gift of a mate and perhaps that was right. For who could ever love the beast?

---

Peering over the very edge of my large warm blanket I stared wistfully at the fragmented pieces of what used to be my fully functioning alarm clock. It had proven to be very useful over the many years I spent in school, but today was the first day of summer break, the end of the torturously long 4 years of high school. High school wasn't a pleasant experience for anybody but definitely not for the few humans amongst the prideful wolves.

Finally freedom, it was the first day of summer break, after 4 torturously long years of high school, filled with prideful werewolves who thought they were much better then us human students, who there very few of. I was making the most of this day by staying in bed all day cuddling into my warm blankets.

I could hear my mom bustling about ranting to my father about how I was an idiot to plan to go to college so far from home, where my father and her couldn't protect me. I wanted to become a psychiatrist, and the best school for that was in another pack right near the border of the free state. The free state was what I called the one of very few places around the world that were not ruled by wolves, and I planned to practise there, after ten long gruelling years of post secondary. My mom though didn't understand that, she was a pessimist who always said I would never get permission from our alpha to stay in the free state, after college, she believed him letting me out of pack territory was a stretch. Mostly alpha didn't let any unmated females out, especially if we were human, but he couldn't deny the fact that I had very high potential, my grades had always been higher then most kids. I planned to lay low this summer. Enjoy the time with my family, and few friends, and then never return and I had made this very clear to my parents.

The one thing that was deterring me from enjoying my two months of relaxation was the upcoming mating ball. The mating ball was hosted by Alaricus Knight at his castle, this was very odd because Knight wasn't very social, he tended to skip anything which involved socializing only adding to the long list of reasons he was called a beast. The mating ball, like it's name is a ball in which unmated wolves and humans from the territories come to find their mates, and now that I was seventeen it was mandatory for me to attend.

My door was suddenly thrown open by my mom, her curly hair wild, her green eyes ablaze, dainty nostrils flaring in anger, she was angry and as usual it was my fault. My father knew better then to anger her. My dad's head peeked into the room slightly from the door, and at being caught he trudged in smiling sheepishly.

"Have you even decided what you want to wear to the ball yet?" My mother demanded.

"No." I said softly biting into my lower lip nervously.

"But me and Marina were planning to go shopping today." I hastily explained as I noticed her dainty little nose begin to turn red in anger. To my relief my answer seemed to appease my mother for now although I knew if I didn't get a dress today I was as good as dead.

"Can I trust you to get this done on your own?" My mom asks suspiciously her eyes probing at me, pressuring me to crack and beg her to come along, but not this time I would stay strong.

"Yes, I promise mom, I can do this on my own." I say attempting not to look away from her probing. A small smile tugs at the corners of her lips, lighting up her whole face as I stare enviously, I was going to miss them, but perhaps some time alone would benefit my parents, make it easier on them. Having an unmated child no matter their age in the house led to a lot more attention from the wolves. After spending their entire lives under the wolves' watchful eye, my parents would appreciate some time not being under the radar.

"My little baby is growing up so fast." My dad said his voice cracking slightly, as he came to sit beside me.

"Oh god not again I swear if you cry again, I'm gonna force you to go ball gown shopping with your daughter." My mom threatened, making my dads eyes widen knowing my mom always lived upto her promises. After my mom had completely cleaned my room and me and my dad had awkwardly stood there trying to not get in the way, I had shooed them both out of my room so I could get ready to go shopping.

Showering quickly had never been a strength of mine, but fortunately, Marina was running late. I dried my hair quickly, pulling on a soft creme sweater and dark jeans before stumbling down the stairs, pressing kisses to my parents cheeks before rushing out the door, but even then I was early.

Sitting on the porch waiting for my friend I played with my phone, throwing it up, and catching it, something my mother detested, since my hand eye coordination wasn't exactly adequate. My phone dropped into my lap and I gave up letting out a huff I looked up only to see somebody we were unfortunate enough to call a neighbour approaching. He was a pack warrior, and absolutely like every other high positioned pack member loved by the unmated females. Unfortunately he seemed to enjoy the fact that I wasn't vying for his attention. As a human I was ranked very low meaning I would get severely punished for disrespecting him, outright rejecting his advances would be considered an act of disrespect as well. Only one of the many insufferable rules humans were forced to follow.

He smiled at me, trying to look friendly but being so close to a girl had apparently gotten his wolf a little happy cause his canines were showing, and I struggled to not cringe. Luckily though before I had to endure the awkward small talk my friend pulled up in her cute little blue car beeping obnoxiously. Sending him an apologetic smile I ran right past him to my friends car pretending I didn't hear him call out for me frantically.

Climbing into my friends car I sent her a grateful smile while panting after my sprint across the parking lot.

Soft music played in the car as I rest my head against the soft headrest, mindlessly drumming my fingers to the beat. Marina chatted animatedly about her boyfriend, and I tried to pay attention, trying to give her the best advice, she had a tendency to overreact. Having no experience in this area myself I was completely clueless.

Marina turned into the mall and I sat up attempting to decode the difficult parking chart before directing her. Finding parking fairly quickly we hurried into the mall excitedly, and after countless stores and trying on thousands of dresses we had finally found a beautiful blue number for Marina. While she purchased that in the very long line I told her to meet me in the adorable cafe and book store at the end of the mall. Knowing how I got around books Marina was more then happy to not have to accompany me to a book store, and easily let me go before making me swear that I wouldn't take too long there.

Buying a gingerbread latte I went to the classics section since that was one of the few sections that didn't have books about wolves and mates. Wolves' existence revolved around their mate, and since humans were rarely allowed to publish most books were about mates. In a way they were very romantic, besides the fact that their mate was simply the best biologically suited for them, there wasn't much of an emotional connection to it, no spontaneity of anything unexpected the way love should be.

The owner an adorable old lady who was human, and shared my love for romance, came to chat with me while her husband served drinks. She was the only one who understood my love for classics, and one of the very few I was comfortable telling I didn't like books about mates. I just didn't believe in love at first sight, love was not loving someone for their looks but getting to know them, falling in love with their personality their odd little quirks, and loving them despite their imperfections, and that was only found in human romance books. Werewolves were big on romance since mates were a huge thing for them their mate was their sole reason for existing. But I liked that old fashioned slowly falling in love, and that was probably why I had a seriously sad dating history, I was old fashioned and about the biggest prude ever, most teenage guys don't like that.

While giggling with Mrs.Burkins over fictional characters, I hadn't even realized the amount of time that had passed by and before I knew it Marina was there dragging me out while scolding me when I tried to protest, and looked away ranting how I still needed a dress when I tried my infamous pout.

She had managed to drag me to 5 more stores and forced me into countless dresses before we finally found the one, it was beautiful, a very soft pink that was off the shoulders and slightly trailed behind me when I walked. It was absolutely stunning, but nothing too daring or flashy, blending in was my intention, and this dress was perfect for it, covering, soft colours, absolutely perfect.

Marina gushed about all the guys that would be at the ball, over dinner and the drive home, and scoffed at my indifference.

"Amara you need to at least try to be excited about guys" my friend said.

"Hey I am interested in guys." I said defensively I knew I was a prude but I didn't like to be told that.

"Yeah fictional ones." My friend bit back while aggressively biting into her side order of celery.

"Really you need to start dating who knows maybe you will find a mate soon and never get the chance again." Marina said, and I gulped realizing she was right there was a 30% chance there was a psychotically possessive wolf out there waiting to tie me down forever, and not let me live my life the way I've always planned to.

Having very supportive parents I had big dreams, becoming a psychiatrist traveling the world, volunteering at orphanages around the world, none of those involved being stuck with an oversized mutt.

Before I knew it the night was over, I was back in my house and after showing my parents my dress, I went to bed thoroughly exhausted from all the shopping. Like always though my parents came in to kiss me goodnight.

I fell asleep to troublesome dreams about oversized mutts claiming I was theirs and ripping my plane ticket in half with their canines.

A/N

Please do not copy this story, I also do not let people translate my books, so don't do that either. I will find out eventually and I will report it, and your book will be deleted. There's no point going through that hassle and you have a mind of your own, please use it don't be as low as to copy someone's book. Also if you see any translations or copying of this book please let me know, I have not given anyone permission to do so.

Waking up had always been a struggle for me, but today knowing I would have to attend the mating ball there was nothing I wanted to do more than to simply stay in my warm bed hiding under the covers where no monsters could get to me. But of course that wasn't possible and to ensure this Alaricus Knight actually had guards go around to the attendants houses to pick them and their families up personally.

The day had gone by in a blur and before I knew it my mom was throwing me into my bathroom telling me to get ready. I showered taking my time to revel in the warmth of the hot water, blow drying my hair afterwards. Although I didn't like putting makeup on, I simply didn't have the face for if but my mother would most probably murder me if I didn't and I wasn't cruel enough to let the guards who'd come to escort us be greeted with the sight of my mauled corpse. I climbed into my dress the satin sinfully soft against my skin.

As my dad had always wished he was the one to put the family bracelet on for me, it had been passed down generations and was now mine. The thin white gold chain that had one charm with our family W on it, encrusted with exactly one diamond, to others it wasn't much but to me it was the most beautiful thing I had ever laid my eyes on.

I felt my heart fill up when I saw the tears in my dads eyes, when he looked up at me. I had always been a daddy's girl, but today the fear that I could lose him propelled me to throw myself into his arms, pretending that I would be safe in my fathers secure hold. I heard my mother walk into the room, and my dad gently released me, pressing a kiss to my forehead. My mom gushed at how beautiful the dress was, and told me that our assigned guard was already here.

The guard had come to pick us up in a limousine with two other human families already sitting inside of it. The ride was quiet and much too short. Before I could even attempt to get my heart beat in control it was over and the guard in his gruff voice was demanding for us to exit the vehicle, his attempt at being polite not working very well.

I had never been to the house of Alaricus Knight before, if you could even call it that it was really more of a castle, a gorgeous castle but as I stared at it longer I realized it was missing something, what, even I wasn't entirely sure.

My parents walked slightly ahead of me my moms arm pressed into my dads, and I couldn't help but feel my heart sink at the idea of never having that. Never having a partner I walked in tune with, for there was a possibility that today I would be claimed by some monster, who would forever drag me behind him everywhere he went. Human and wolf matings never turned out well the human was always degraded, the wolf's protectiveness border lining insulting. The human could never even go anywhere without the wolf making a scene, it was repulsive to see, it happened more times in public then I or most human mates wished to remember.

If I had thought the castle was beautiful from the outside, the inside was incomparable. This inexplicable strength in the castle, or withstanding age old beauty, a type of eternity seemed to be cemented into the very walls. I had always thought the home of the beast would be empty and dull, but this was extraordinarily beautiful.

I looked around hoping to see a familiar face, and soon caught sight of Marina who was standing next to a pretty girl waving at me enthusiastically. I made my way towards her carefully hoping not to attract more attention then her frantic waving already had. Although being as clumsy as I was I managed to stumble against the edge of a couch. I finally made it over to Marina and after the awkward introductions and the exchange of compliments that Marina and her friend definitely deserved for they both looked stunning I stood off to the side quietly as they spoke. My never a left me completely incapable of making conversation and my naturally awkward personality didn't help very much.

A frown was upon my face as I looked around, the poor girl was actually hoping to find her mate, the werewolf written romance books about matings had obviously deluded her into believing there was anything romantic about the ancient old tradition. I hope she never realizes how serious her misconception of mates really was. She had nobody to tell her the truth and how I wished to but I knew better then to bad mouth them when I was surrounded by thousands of them.

So I somehow managed to keep my mouth shut fearing I was gonna start turning purple with the effort. But if Ana said even one more thing about how wonderful it would be to have a mate, or be able to choose curtains for her house I surely would explode.

Looking around for a distraction from the discussion we were currently having I noticed the odd warrior who lived a few houses down looking at me. He stood in his place his eyes glinting with approval, maybe he thought I would run away before the ball, he really did take his job seriously. My eyes widened as he started to make his way towards me and I panicked hoping to avoid him I quickly excused myself from Marina telling her to distract him and ran out of the hall hoping to find a washroom to hide in.

I found the exit of the huge party banquet and rushed out as I could still feel his eyes on me. When I had successfully made it out and caught my breath I looked up and my eyes widened at how beautiful the castle was. It was even more beautiful on the inside than it was on the outside.

I walked around the gorgeous castle in no hurry to get back to the banquet, until one of the help who were rustling about spotted me and politely requested for me to get back to the banquet. My cheeks turned scarlet in embarrassment as the woman sighed tiredly at me before turning around, she thought I was one of those troublesome people. Mumbling to myself I stumbled around hopelessly lost in the large castle.

After walking down a long narrow hallway I arrived at a staircase. I felt my curiosity peak and started to ascend the staircase despite the fact that was definitely not the way back to the banquet. I went up the stairs cautiously knowing this could lead to me ending up in a dungeon but I couldn't help myself my curiosity always got the best of me. I finally reached the top seeing a long hallway with many doors and a beautiful antique chandelier. I cautiously opened up the first door but to my luck it wasn't leading back to the banquet. Large dark coloured couches lined up against the walls an expensive looking glass table sitting between them but what caught my eye was the grand piano at the back of the room. My dad used to love to play but we didn't have the money to purchase one ourselves.

My feet took me to it before I could think my fingers trailing softly over the keys. I didn't know how to play but I remembered how happy my father would be while he attempted to teach a four year old me. The sound of the door opening broke me out of my reverie my breath catching in my throat as I froze shutting my eyes tightly. Counting to ten in my head I turned around slowly my eyes still tightly closed hoping that it was simply help and not a upperclass wolf. I felt the intense stare of a person on my face making me tremble. Slowly I opened my eyes only to gaze into a pair of blazing honey coloured eyes, a prominent amount of gold in them. Framed by thick black lashes making them impossibly more enchanting. I felt my heart stop when I heard the one word I had been dreading all my life.

"Mine"

I felt strong arms wrap around my waist and pull me causing me to crash into the firm chest of the man who stood in front of me and a soft gasp left my parted lips. His eyes at first so intently gazing into my eyes now released me from their burning hold and fell down to my parted lips. He tightened his grip pulling me impossibly closer.

"Meum miraculum." The man mumbled softly nuzzling his face into my neck inhaling my scent. His soft hair tickled my skin, but my body had become too numb for it to bother me. I felt myself quiver in fear. Despite how softly he spoke his voice had a rough near primal edge to it that awakened my own instincts to flee.

I struggled to get out of his arms and he let out a low but threatening growl effectively scaring me even more and fueling my struggles. But my struggles were futile for the man was much too strong it seemed he wasn't even slightly affected by my movement.

"Calm down love, I won't hurt you." The man said clearly trying to soften his deep voice as much as possible. I stopped struggling hoping he would just release me. His large warm arms stayed tight around my waist, but they shifted to my lower back. Allowing me to bend enough to look at his face.

"What's your name?" The man asked, his scorching gold eyes so intense it took me longer then it should to process the words.

"A-Amara" I stuttered out finally.

"Amara" he said lightly testing out my name on his tongue.

"Beautiful" he growled out in approval and I couldn't help but flush slightly.

"M-my parents are downstairs." I managed to stutter out.

"Lead the way love." The man said staring at me fondly lightly cupping my face in his large hand.

I quickly pulled away from him almost rushing out the door but he was easily able to keep up with me and he lightly grabbed my hand in his.

We walked down the stairs. Him maintaining his gentle grip on my hand and his stare drilling holes into the side of my face. The initial panic began to dim and the dread set in. Everything I had ever aspired to be, hoped to do, was gone. This story was far too common, the human always had to leave everything behind, let go of any dreams for they now belonged to their mate. What their mate chose for them, was what they would have, and the mates were too possessive to ever allow the human to do what they pleased. If it involved separation from them, or the company of another, then it was out of reach for the human. Humans were weaker than wolves, so the wolves primal instincts were heightened, and they became obsessively protective, because in comparison to them we were fragile. Never was it heard of for a wolf to allow a human to gain education, or work, or even see their family without the presence of the wolf.

Everything I'd wanted now was too far from reach, his arms would forever hold me back from all of it. All because of this one man who decided that he had some sort of right on me, a right to claim me, to own me just because I was his mate. This mate bond, Alaricus Night had decided was more than enough for this man to keep me as a treasured possession for the rest of my existence. I felt my eyes begin to water as I realized that was what I was now. I was a prisoner to this man's deeply ingrained infatuation.

I turned to face him meeting his adoring glance with my own hatred filled stare. His brows furrowing in confusion, head tilting to the side. He stared at me trying to decipher as to why I was glaring at him before he noticed the tears in my eyes. Immediate panic seemed to swarm him and he made a move to grab me but luckily we were already at the banquet and I quickly dodged his arms. Stumbling into the hall making everyone turn to look at me questioningly. And despite the situation I felt my cheeks redden with embarrassment. I spotted my parents eager to reach them and feel the comfort of them being so close.

I hiked up my dress a bit ready to run towards them. The man must have guessed my intentions as he quickly wrapped an arm around my waist pulling me back into his firm chest.

"Where do you think you're going love?" The man questioned in his low velvety voice causing my breath to hitch at the obvious power in his voice. The man as undeniably alluring, and that applied to his voice as well. It was positively compelling. Something so dark and low but yet smooth, seducing the listener into doing this man's bidding. My head swarmed for a moment, but I shook it trying to clear my thoughts.

I attempted to struggle out of his arms once again but he didn't let me go keeping his arm soundly wrapped around my waist. Everyone still stared at us and I wondered why that was. It wasn't uncommon for a wolf to be holding their mate, and it was often that we had to turn a blind eye to the struggles of a human as the wolf ignorantly showered them with affection. It was as if the wolves didn't even see the state of their mate, or perhaps they thought coddling them would make it better, perhaps they were unaware to the cause of the struggles.

A nearby standing alpha finally gathered the courage to ask what must have been on everyone's mind. But his words make my limbs fall numb and my breath hitch in my throat.

"Sire Knight is this young lady your mate?"