ADRIANA
I wake up with a raging headache, sweat covering my body and a heart that is beating out of my chest. This shit happens every full moon, I have this nightmare about two women I don’t know, but I feel an odd familiar thing towards them. They both share the same emerald eyes my mom had. Maybe that’s why. I look over at my alarm-clock, but I already know the time before checking.
The last three years, since I turned seventeen, I had this dream every month and I always wake up at 02.44.
Why does this have to happen every single month? I think to myself and my wolf Alexis gives me an apologetic smile. She knows exactly why this happens every month but decided to keep that information to herself. “Just until the time is right, you know that.” She sighs and I push her to the back of my head. I don’t want to deal with her cryptic messages right now, I just want to be able to get back to sleep.
I toss and turn for half an hour, but sleep isn’t settling in. I groan and kick back my blanket, deciding a glass of water might help. I rise to my feet and head to the kitchen.
I sit at the kitchen-table and a few minutes later I hear someone stumbling down the stairs.
“Hey baby, did you have that nightmare again?” My father walks in, gives me a hug and plants a kiss on top of my head. I nod in response. “It was the same damn thing as always, the two witchy sisters, the torture they went through and their death at the stake.” Dad hugs me a little tighter, his warm embrace calming down the storm that is still raging inside me. “Come on dear, try to get some sleep. There is nothing you can do about it now anyway.” Dad helps me get up and squeezes my shoulder, he always knows just what I need.
The next day I wake up by my little brother jumping on my bed, he is way too excited this early in the morning. “Adri, Adri, Adri! You need to wake up! Mom made us her super special breakfast!” His high-pitched voice fills my ears. “Rover goddess please relax. I am getting up now. Can’t miss moms’ special breakfast!” I push him of the bed with a smirk and send him in a fit of laughter. I swing my legs off the bed, grab my blush pink sweats of the floor and I can put them on.
Rover stands up, tapping his foot impatiently. “Can you hurry up; I am really hungry, and mom told me to not get downstairs unless it was together with you.” “I’m ready, let’s go.” I say while straightening the shirt I slept in a bit.
Rover’s little legs carry him in as fast as possible out of my room and down the stairs. I chuckle at the sight of the little boy and his love for food.
Rover is my half-brother and just turned eight, his mom Sabine, is my dad’s second chance Mate. He met her ten years ago on a meeting with a German pack, she was their Luna’s Beta and had lost her own Mate a few years before. They were shocked, but grateful the Goddess gave them a second chance for love. Sabine is the mom I never had, she treats me and Rover as equals and I love her for that.
I lost my own mother when I was just a little girl. She died while protecting me from vampires attacking our pack, while I remained unharmed. The only thing reminding me to that night is the wine-red scar on my collarbone. It pains me to admit I hardly remember my mom. Just her scent, her laugh and her emerald eyes.
Dad never really wants to talk about her, it is too hard on him. My grandparents however tell me lots of stories about her whenever I am with them. She was extremely outgoing and helpful to anyone; accepting and not afraid of the supernatural world while being human, she had a special talent with anything plant related and her love for me and dad was a beautiful thing to see my grandma always says.
I enter the kitchen and Sabine is just putting a plate with freshly baked pancakes and bacon on the table. “Goddess, it smells good in here.” I smile at Sabine and look at the kitchen-table. It’s filled with strawberries, slices banana, freshly baked bread and different spreads. Dad takes out the coffee can and fills up our cups, except for Rover. He is too young for coffee and gets chocolate milk instead.
“I hope you were able to sleep a bit after your nightmare last night?” Sabine informs while taking the orange juice out of the fridge. “Yeah, dad calmed me down and after that I had a pretty decent sleep.” I say and take a seat at the table next to Rover. He looks up to me with his bright blue eyes. “Adri, you don’t need to be scared. I can protect you; I am your brother and I am really strong!” He attempts to roll his bicep and I gently squeeze it. “I know you can, next time I will wake you, ok?” I say, trying to hide the smile that is creeping on my face.
We eat our breakfast and talk a bit about me leaving the next day to participate in the European Wolf Games. Dad really hopes this is the year I find my Mate and will be able to start a life for myself. Not that he wants me out of the house, he just wants me to find love like he has and obviously he also wants grandkids.
The European Wolf Games are an annual gathering where all European unmated wolfs between the age of seventeen and twenty-one come together. Our Council came up with the idea at least twohundred and fifty years ago. It was at that time a lot of packs moved to America and Australia, now there aren’t many packs left in Europe. So, the games are a way for us to find our Mate a bit easier and forge alliances between packs.
The games take up fourdays and they are held at a different pack every year. I have been to the games in Belgium and Croatia and this year will be in Spain.
A new pack will be hosting the games, they originated from Costa Rica and rumor has it the Alpha’s competing in the games. I wonder what activities they have in store for us.
“The Spanish you had in school will come in handy this year-round.” Alexis smirks at me. She is way too excited about the new pack and is certain our Mate belongs to it. “We will see tomorrow when we arrive, I just hope you can control yourself for 5 minutes when we do find him.”
There hardly is any information about the new pack. I can’t have Alexis taking control and jumping my Mates’ bones if he belongs to it. “I’ll try.” She says, wagging her tail and a big smile on her head. I shake my head at her and I mind link my best friend, Jenna. “Babe, you wanna go on a run today? I really need to let Alexis blow of some steam.” “Yeah, sure. Laura was also going for a run, maybe we can go together?” I hear her soulful voice sing out through the mind link. “Sure! Tell her to be at towns square at 8 PM.” I say and I end the link.
I live in The Netherlands and we are the only pack in the country. Due to how crowded our country is, most weres moved to Germany or France. But our pack stayed at the place it was originated. We now have a small village all to ourselves on the border of a big National Forest Park. After 8 PM everybody needs to be out of the forest, so we can let our wolves out without anyone trespassing.
The Park is beautiful with a mix of thick forest, sandy plains, patches of heathland and some small streams and I am thankful we are able to have such a good life here. We have everything; a place where we can be ourselves, good schools, a park to stretch our legs and many job opportunities in the area.
ADRIANAThe afternoon goes by easily and around 8 PM I get over to the town square, we always meet up there before we take a run through the forest.The towns square is a bit plain, it has a few benches, cute colored bricks and a fountain in the middle. There are some stores situated around the place and two restaurants that also take up a little space on the square for their terrace.I spot Jenna seated on our favorite bench; I think she is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. Her mom is Antillean and her father is Dutch, making her the perfect mixture of both worlds. She has chocolate colored skin, curly black hair that falls halfway down her shoulders, full lips like her mom and gray/blueish eyes like her father. Her frame is curvy but muscular, with her 5.2 ft she is a little bit smaller than I am.“Babe!” I call out. “Hey girl, how are ya?” She stands up and walks over. She pulls me in for a hug and I give her a peck on t
ADRIANAWe have a relaxed flight and three hours later we land in Malaga, Spain. We pick up our luggage and make our way to the exit. The air is warm and dry, it is almost noon and already thirty degrees. I snatch a bowl of paella for me and Jenna from one of the food trucks alongside the airport. Alexis, my wolf, is happy to be out of the plane and have some food in her belly. She is excited about seeing the new surroundings and the new faces at the games.“So where is this gathering point supposed to be?” Ben quizzes and as if it were meant to be, as we walk around the corner, we find a bus with some other young weres hanging in front of it. I hear different languages at the same time and know that is where we are supposed to meet. “There it is, come on guys!” I say, pointing towards the bus. We walk over there and are greeted by an older woman. She is well is her fifties, has a soft face and a curvy body.“Hola, I am Margareta, y
ADRIANAI spend the rest of the afternoon with Jenna, Irina, Sergei and Anatoli, we stroll a bit through town and tell each other stories about home and life there. Sergei is a carpenter in their pack and Irina helps at the day-care, she truly is a kind-hearted girl. Jenna and Anatoli are pretty invested in themselves, I know my friend well enough to just let her do her thing. She likes to flirt and play a bit with whoever her victim is, woman or man there is no discrimination between those two genders. She is all for equal opportunities.A few minutes before half past five we get back at the square. The tables and benches are still in place, where the big tables used to stand there is now wooden stage set up. It’s decorated with white, green and golden ribbons and in the middle stands a microphone.I look around and see different food-stations lining up on the right side of the square, mouthwatering scents come drifting my way. Goddess I am hungry.
ADRIANAI hear a loud growl behind me and I quickly slide back in my place as I see it is the woman from stage. Us werewolves are always so possessive as it comes to our mates, with Alpha’s it’s even worse. I see her eyes flicker from their natural brown color to the gold of her wolf. I bow my head out of respect, not to upset her and her wolf. As soon as they lock eyes you can see the Mate-bond falling into place.I pull myself up and wink at the others to leave them alone for the evening and give them some privacy. My stomach growls vigorously and I head over to the food stations. I spot a station with different types of salads and tortillas. Everything looks so tasty, I almost start drooling. Anatoli walked with me to the stand and picks two different beef tortillas and waits for me to decide what I want to eat. I choose a chicken tortilla and a colorful looking salad. “Good choice, that looks damn tasty.” He speaks. “Where do you want
ADRIANAI wake up to my alarm, the thing blares it’s tune through my room and I hear Ben curse in the room next to me. Seems I woke him up too. I quickly turn it off and hop out of bed. Chucking on a shirt and shorts I yell “Bathroom is taken now!” and I storm out of my room, into the bathroom and lock the door behind me. I hear Ben groan loudly. “You better be quick. I have to fucking pee.” He grunts and I turn on the shower. I pee while the water heats up and with a soft moan I step under the water. I always love the feel of the water running down my face and body, it relaxes my stiff muscles and always refreshes me in a way that borderlines to sensual. I try not to wet my hair too much and wash myself quickly. I turn off the water and dry myself. I chuck on my clothes and smear some toothpaste on my toothbrush.“Bathrooms free!” I yell while brushing my teeth. Ben comes rushing past me and I chuckle as I hear his pleasurable
ADRIANANot long after Ximena takes to the stages again, asking everyone to be quiet. “Remember, all lost artefacts must be returned to these chests and no shifting! We will begin in five… four… three… two… one… GO!!!”Our team runs up the mountain and as soon we are surrounded by bushes, I call for the others. “Guys, wait we need to have a gameplan and work strategic here. Megara has the paper with all our artefacts on it. Who is really good at tracking?” I ask and James raises his hand. “I am, I come from a family of trackers.” He speaks. “Perfect, we will both do the tracking.” I tell him and he nods. “Now if we all hold on to one artefact the chances of it being stolen are a lot slimmer. The other two will act as security. I do not want to lose any of the artefacts, so better safe than sorry.” I say. Alexei and Joao offer to act as our security. Since they are the two lar
ADRIANAI feel much more relaxed after Alexei’s statement, especially when Joao and Antoinette back it up, also offering their help. I learn they all have high ranking parents in their pack, Alexei is an Alpha’s son just as Alexis told me. Joao is already a Beta at his pack in Portugal and Antoinette is the daughter of pack commanders. Ditte, Megara and James are all from normal upbringing, just like me. That’s also the reason they were affected by the authority that oozed of me and Alexei, Joao and Antoinette not. “They will be once you learn to use our power properly.” Alexis chirps excited and I roll my eyes to my wolf. “Weirdo.” I grin at her and focus my attention back on my team.“Okay, now let’s find that new trail and get off this open field.” Alexei takes the lead and I let him. James and I start walking in circles around the pond and the others keep an eye on our surroundings.Minutes later Ja
ADRIANAWe head on, tracking the scent further into the forest on the mountain. I sense other teams are close by and we move quietly through the forest. The vanilla scent is now mixed with the scents of the wolves who have already been here and it is getting harder to track down the trail.I am leading my team further north and ask James to come up with me. “I can’t risk showing the other teams my eyes. You have to help me, keep an extra eye at whatever direction I tell you too.” I whisper to him and I can feel Alexis getting more and more antsy. She is pacing through my head yelling at me we need to go and to trust James with our mind link. “Can I trust you? Really trust you?” I whisper, so soft the others can’t hear and I search his eyes as he nods. Nothing but pure sincerity shining in them.I think about a link between me and him, see it forming in my mind and with a snap the teether is set in place. “I can mind link