THE ONLY GIRL

ANDERS

I stared at Zara in surprise as she pulled away from me. I never thought that my first kiss would be so phenomenal. It was wrong, that couldn't be more obvious, yet as she ran away, I knew that I would never be able to let her go, she was now a part of me.

As I walked back home, my heart felt heavy. I had a duty and I knew Zara did too. She was nothing like my alpha's daughter Riley or the other girls in my pack, who all walked about struggling to look pretty and trying to outdo each other. She was a warrior and I was no stranger to her capability. I knew without a doubt that there was a lot at stake for her like there was for me.

How was I going to fight this? I didn't even know when I marked her. I didn't mean to. I lost control and my brain became muddled when she stood so close to me.

I was plagued with guilt and yet I could feel butterflies in my stomach. I had given my alpha my word that I would avenge the death of Ethan and the attack on the beta's son. Killing Zara, the alpha's daughter would have been a perfect revenge and would make my alpha and all my pack members very happy, however, just the mere thought of it made my heart want to stop.

I went into my tent, lay on my bed lazily, and thought back to the special moment I had just shared with Zara. Zara! what a beautiful name, just as beautiful as her. I wanted to see her again, to hold her in my arms and kiss her soft lips. I just wanted to see her.

I hoped she'd be at the boundary in the morning since that was the first place I saw her. The night was long and filled with dreams about her. When I woke up at the usual time in the morning, I quickly got ready and ran to the boundary but she wasn't there.

I felt an unfamiliar pain in my heart, how was I going to survive the day without seeing her? The thought had barely crossed my mind when she came out of nowhere. I felt happy beyond reason and could not stop smiling, even as I said hi to her. I knew she felt the same way, I could see it in the way she looked at me. It was such an amazing feeling.

I wanted to step into the river and cross over, I wanted a chance to hold her close, once again but I knew that if we weren't fighting each other, then it was a terrible idea to be that close to each other at the boundary so I took what I could get and quietly enjoyed the moment of staring at the only girl in my world.

Nothing seemed to matter as we stared at each other for so long but then I heard other werewolves coming and saw the fear in her eyes. I knew what I had to do, I could not put her in a difficult position so when she turned, I disappeared and began running to the neutral grounds, hopeful that she would join me there and she did not disappoint.

She must have run faster than I did because when I arrived at the neutral grounds, she was already there and now, nothing was stopping us from holding each other close.

I hugged her so tight, as though I wanted to squeeze her into my body. Her body heat made me feel even more excited and I could tell that she yearned for my touch just as I yearned for hers.

After what seemed like ages, I let go of her body and held her chin so I could look into her eyes. She placed her hands on my shoulders just as I touched her lips with mine.

I ran my palms around her face and her hair which was tied at the top and braided into a pigtail.

"Zara," I began, "you are so beautiful."

She smiled and her eyes twinkled like the stars at night. I could tell she had a lot she wanted to say but I didn't press her. I was willing to let her tell me only when she was comfortable enough to.

Her hands went upward and cupped my face. Her boldness pleased me and when she pulled my head forward, I closed my eyes and welcomed her lips.

Our moans filled the air as our tongues explored each other's mouths. I pulled away so we could catch our breaths and claimed her lips almost immediately. When our lips parted a second time, she placed her head on my chest and wrapped her arms around my body.

"What we are doing feels so wrong," she said after a few minutes of silence.

"Yes it does," I replied. "I don't want to do this but I can't stop thinking about you. I'm going crazy, Zara."

"What are we going to do?" She asked.

I sighed as I caressed her back with my hands, "let's do it this way, Zara. Since we can't stay apart from each other, let's just be friends. Gradually, we will get used to being just friends and we can grow apart and move on with our lives."

I knew my solution was impossible, the moment I said it but I didn't know what else to say and I so badly wanted a reason to keep meeting her.

"That should work," she said and I smiled.

I pulled away from her and extended my hand as I said, "let's start from the beginning. Hi, I am Anders Silver, a gamma, leader of the warriors, and next in line to become the alpha of the Forest Mountain Pack."

I noticed her expression change to one of surprise but it disappeared almost immediately as she smiled and shook my hand, "it's nice to meet you, Anders. I am Zara Wright, a warrior and future alpha of the Black Arrow Pack."

I intertwined my fingers with hers, "Warrior Zara Wright, I will like to get to know you better. Come with me, let's sit somewhere so you can tell me about yourself."

She nodded and together we walked to the closest hill and sat by its foot. I let go of her hand and stared at her as she hugged her knees and began to speak, "there's not much to say about me. I've pretty much told you the basics.

Except that, I am the only daughter of the alpha of my pack and I turned eighteen more than a week ago. I lost my mum to rogue lycans when I was a pup and I've since lived my life with the purpose of protecting my pack from the lycans and ensuring that what happened to me never happens to anyone else in the pack.

My dad got a second chance mate and had a son with her, my little brother. Growing up, I wasn't like the other girls in my pack. I never made friends nor showed interest in feminine stuff. I was always training and learning how best to be a warrior, I am the only female warrior in my pack. There were many times I came here to the neutral grounds to train on the hills and mountains.

Everyone in my pack loves and respects me and they were all happy when they learned that I will be the next alpha. I am one of the best archers and fighters in my pack, trust me, you don't want to get on my bad side."

I smiled, "oh wow! Zara, it's a good thing then that I'm your friend and not your enemy."

She laughed and I proceeded to tell her about my past and how I grew up. It turned out that we had more in common than I thought. We both lost our mums due to the enmity between the werewolves and lycans. We were both strong warriors and were next in line for the alpha position.

Perhaps our situation might not be so hopeless. If we both became alphas, we could enter a peace treaty, merge both packs and make a future for us possible. Of course, this would attract the wrath of other packs, both werewolves and lycans who would consider us traitors but my pack was one of the strongest lycan packs and hers was one of the strongest werewolf packs. Together we would be formidable and can fight off any attack from other packs.

I shared this new idea with her and her eyes lit up, "wow! You are right, Anders. How come I never thought about this? It's the best solution. This way, we can be together for the rest of our lives."

For the first time since I realized Zara was my mate, I became optimistic about a future with her and I knew she did too. But we had to be careful. We absolutely could not let anyone find out about us before we assumed our positions.

We spent the rest of the day talking about our experiences from when we were young. We spoke about our successes and blunders and did not realize how quickly time flew.

There was no boring minute with Zara by my side. She was everything I had imagined my mate would be if I eventually got one. Back then, I thought it was wishful thinking but now I was convinced that dreams did come true. Every word that came out of Zara's mouth made sense to me and I wished we could stay by each other's side all day.

However, Zara intertwined our fingers once again and said with a sad face, "the moon is already out and as much as I want to stay, I have to go. For our plans to be successful, we need to be careful. I have been away almost all day, my dad is bound to get worried and other warriors in my pack may begin a search for me.

I smiled at her as I took her hands to my mouth and tenderly kissed her knuckles, "I understand all that you are saying, Zara. Even if you don't say it, I know it's for the best.

Will I see you again?"

"Of course, you will," she replied. "I will meet you at the boundary tomorrow morning."

I smiled, "in that case, I'll be waiting for you. Take care of yourself and get enough rest."

As we both stood up, I pulled her towards my body once again and hugged her. Even though we were going to be separated from each other for just a night, I felt as though I would be without her for years.

The idea of walking her home occurred to me and I could imagine how wonderful that would be but I knew better than to put her in danger.

I stood and watched her as she turned to leave. She turned and waved at me and I waved back. After staring at me for a while, she turned her back on me again and took three steps forward.

She stopped after the third step and stood for a while before turning to stare at me again. Suddenly she ran into my arms and right at that moment, I felt like the happiest man in the world.