Chapter 5

I wake up to a knock on the door, and I sit up, staring at the door in horror. His smell is everywhere, but I know I locked the door, so he hasn’t been in here. I hope. As the knocking continues, I get up from the bed, and walk over to the door, and slowly turn the lock around, before I open the door up.

I brace myself as I look through the door, but it isn’t him. I exhale in relief as I look into Soraya’s kind eyes.

“May I come in?” she asks, holding up a tray with two sets of breakfast on it, and I nod, stepping aside so she can come into the room.

She walks through the room like she owns it, and I guess she does, but it’s a little intimidating, at the same time as it’s very calming and reassuring. She sets the tray down on the bed, and sits down on the edge, patting on the bedding next to her for me to sit down, too. I close the door again, and walk over the the bed, and crawl up into it.

“I’m sorry for yesterday,” I tell her, and look down at the tray. It smells amazing, and I’m so ready to just devour every last crumb on the plate meant for me. It’s pancakes, and I spot some brown spots in them, that has to be chocolate chips. I have to stop myself from licking my lips as I look up at her again. “I just got a little overwhelmed.”

I send her a soft, apologetic smile, and she just huffs at me, waving her hand in the air between us, before she picks up one of the plates and takes a bite of the delicious-looking pancake.

“Don’t worry about that, child,” she says, smiling. “I know my youngest pup can be a little much. He has a temper. I assume you listened before he stormed out of the house?”

She looks at me with her eyes wide and full of wonder, but she looks like she already knows the answer to her own question. I swallow a little, unsure if I should admit to it or not, but it’s not like I wanted to listen. I end up just nodding as I pick up the other plate of food after she gestured to it being for me, and I take a bite of the pancake. It’s delicious. Even better than the dinner yesterday, and I have to stop myself from letting out a moan. It’s just that good.

“I know you didn’t mean to eavesdrop, Yohanna, that just happens when one meets ones mate,” she says, smiling knowingly at me.

“Mate?” I ask, after swallowing. The word is still so weird to me. I want to ask her more about it, but she eagerly opens her mouth to talk before I get the chance.

“Yes, mate,” she confirms, and takes a deep breath before exhaling, dreamily. “I remember when I met mine. Juan. It was really overwhelming at first, but we both knew what it was, of course, so it was a little easier than with you and Azaire. Juan was in Alpha training, visiting my family’s pack far away from here, and when he walked past me it was like being hit with a wave of emotions. He felt it too, and immediately looked at me. Then he just walked over and kissed me. Right there, in front of everyone.”

She smiles fondly as she tells the story. It sounds very romantic, like love at first sight?

“Excuse me for asking, but what exactly is a mate?” I ask her, as I take another bite from the pancake.

I really needed something to eat. I didn’t eat too much at dinner last night, but I was basically full. I’ll probably be really full from this one pancake, too.

“It’s just a shortened word for soulmate,” Soraya answers, and I choke on my food.

I pick up a glass of water from the tray, and gulp the whole thing down, before I cough a few times as I register what she actually said and look up at her. Soulmate? She has to be kidding, right? There’s no such thing.

“I know what you’re thinking, Yohanna,” she says, offering the other glass of water to me, too. “It probably sounds crazy to you, being raised by humans and all, but every werewolf has a mate. Juan is mine, and you met Alba and Nate’s mates, Marco and Calithea.”

I nod as she talks, gulping down more and more water, and I bite my lip a little as I think about it when the last drop has slid down my throat. It really does seem too good to be true, but then again, so did turning into a wolf on my fifteenth birthday.

“So I’m Azaire’s mate?” I ask her, taking another bite of the pancake when I deem it safe to do so.

She nods.

“Yes, you are,” she says, smiling as if she’s really proud of that. “You seem like such a nice girl, and with some training and education on our way of life, you’ll be just as strong and fast as him.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because he’s gonna train you, dear,” she says, and again I choke on the piece of pancake that’s on it’s way down to my stomach.

Okay, nope. I’m not doing that. I’m just gonna eat up, then, and pack my stuff, and then I’ll leave this village. My way of living has worked out this far, so why would I ever stop doing it that way? I suck at interacting with other people, and when that other person is supposed to be my soulmate, I can’t imagine how stupid that will end up being. I’ll just break his heart.

“Oh, I don’t mean to be rude, Soraya, but I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I say, when I’ve gained control over my breathing again.