Annalyse

Thank the goddess it’s Friday. Slamming my locker door, I turn to look for my best friend Cassidy, glad we’re one day closer to being through with school. And I was one day closer to turning 18, so there’s that.

I’m so ready to move on from teenage drama, teenage boys and teenage, well, everything. Especially teenage Jace. I had the biggest crush on him and got nothing in return except glares and whispers behind my back from the “popular” girls. He was going to be our pack’s next alpha and all of the girls set their sites on him. Including me, it seemed.

I really had zero interest in him at all until he got flirty last summer. Turns out, I heard rumors that he was just trying to get to me because I showed no interest at all (outwardly anyway).

All of the catty bitches whispered and gave nasty looks. All of them except Cassidy. She was my best friend and the only one at school, well really in our pack, that got me besides Cristabell, my other bff.

I’m not popular, or unpopular. I’m definitely not competition for any of the hot girls at school, who all have their eye on being the next Luna, it seemed. I’m just average, which in the high school world, equals… invisible. And while invisible was generally alright (less drama), for the last couple of weeks, I had been feeling…off. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Restless. Almost stir crazy; like I had been sitting around too long and just had to do something. Like something bigger was waiting for me.

I was lost in thought as I closed my locker and headed toward the forest and my refuge. Tranquility Lake.

It wasn’t really called that. I don’t think that it actually has a name, but I call it Tranquility Lake. It was a beautiful turquoise blue and so still you could stare at your reflection like looking into a mirror.

I start on my path through the forest, enjoying the sun on my face, the breeze through my hair and the sounds of nature around me. One of my favorite smells in the world was the trees in the forest and the rare blue lotus flowers that bloomed along the bank of the water; the smell of the blooms bringing almost a sense of deja vu to me every time I got a whiff of their fragrance.

I loved going to the lake and went to it almost daily after school. It was my spot to get away from the noise of the kids at school and the peace there allowed me to calm my mind and relax. 

I had two months of school left, and only about a month until my 18th birthday. 

 My parents always get excited talking about it, because at 18, I can find my mate. I have mixed feelings about that. I didn’t know my birth father. He died right before I was born, but mom has never really talked about it. Merrick is my stepfather and has been just like a dad to me since I was just a baby.  He is awesome. And he was just as excited about my birthday as my mom.

I don’t really know if I want a mate yet. On the one hand, I don’t completely hate the idea. On the other, I felt this longing in my soul for…something. I couldn’t place my finger on it exactly. I just felt like I had something left unfinished.

Our wolf usually comes forward at 15, but mine didn’t appear until I turned 17. And she was small. Beautiful, but small. Really small. Hence the “runt”, “pipsqueak”, “weak” and “puny” comments that I heard in whispers from most of the pack. Never to my face. I was small and not particularly beautiful, but fierce, but I definitely heard them spoken with my crazy great hearing (a perk of being a supernatural, I suppose). I’m smart, strong, a great fighter and negotiator (just ask my parents), and I carry myself with a measure of self assurance and grace that oftentimes I don’t really feel. I frequently ask myself though: Why would anyone want me as their mate?

I walked, lost in my thoughts, toward the edge of the forest at the back side of the field where everyone did their training, taking a quick glance around to make sure I was alone before heading through to find the path that I had worn for myself. Something pricked at my senses and had the hair on the back of my neck raising. I looked around, but there’s no one and nothing around. Even the birds were quiet today. Weird. 

I continued on my way, taking my time and enjoying the beauty, fresh air and silence the walk was bringing me today. I lifted my face toward the sun and breeze and caught it. The faint scent of bread baking with a touch of cinnamon mixed with the forest. My mouth was all watery now. It reminded me of something familiar in my early childhood, though I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. But it was wonderful. 

I walked through the last stand of trees to the clearing where my lake was, and stopped short.

There was someone sitting on my rock, under my willow tree, looking out across the glassy surface of the water.

I stopped short, annoyance and curiosity warring in my head. I mean, this wasn’t really my lake. I’m sure others know about it, but no one comes here. 

I have never seen him before, but he smells good. Really good. I don’t feel afraid, exactly. Maybe just a little cautious, and more than a little curious. I took a couple of steps closer and he turned his head, chestnut hair ruffling with the late spring breeze. As he faces me and looks up, I’m rooted to the ground by a jolt that hits me when he looks at me with the most electrifying green eyes I’ve ever seen.