Chapter Two

My phone rang as I sifted through my closet, looking for something to wear. 

“Happy Birthday Bestie!” Sarah, my best friend, exclaimed

“Thank you! I need your help, it’s a fashion emergency!” I laughed as I turned my camera view to my closet, “what do I wear to a mating ritual?” 

“Well my dear friend, you came to the right person.”  she squints her eyes looking at outfits I pull out.  “Mating rituals are normally basic.  You will be shifting, so the less clothes the better.”  

“Yes, but I still want to look hot!” I remark.  “It is my birthday after all.”  She laughs at me shaking her head.  

Sarah was Beta Michael’s daughter and my best friend.  We have known each other since kindergarten.  Being the Alpha’s daughter, Sarah sometimes jokingly complained about her being in my shadow, neglected by others.  Many times she had told me that she wished we could switch roles so that she could look out for me the same way I do for her.  Like that would happen right? The Alpha’s family is always on top.  

 “Are you ready for tonight?” I asked her.  She had turned eighteen two weeks before me, so she would be joining me at the mating ritual too along with her boyfriend Troy.  

“Oh, I am so ready to find my mate!”  she said all giddy.  “When I do, I will jump his bones!”  

I laugh, shaking my head.  Sarah has never had a constant boyfriend.  Troy is number four this year.  She always said they were just boy toys until she found her mate.  I, on the other hand, had Jackson.  

“So do you think you and Jackson will be mated?”  she asked me, with a wink, “then you guys can finally do the dirty.”

“Do the dirty? Seriously Sarah?” I laughed.  She was always so straight forward.  “We will be mated, and will finally take our relationship to the next level.  We will mark each other.” 

“Ahh,” Sarah cries out as she dramatically falls onto her bed, swinging her phone around with her, “you know, Jackson looks like he would be great in bed!” 

“Sarah!” 

“What? All the girls want him, you know that!” 

I laugh as I shake my head, I know she’s right, I see the way they looked at him in the halls at school.  

“I gotta go get ready, I'll see you tonight!”

“Alrighty then, talk to ya later babe! Love ya!”  With a click, she was gone.  

I spent the next few hours worrying about my makeup and hair.  

“You know it’s pointless to do all that,” I look in the mirror at the door and see Heather standing there.  

“And what do you know about mating rituals?” I ask sarcastically.  She was only fourteen and barely in high school.  

“Oh, I know a whole lot more than you do.” She looked at me with sarcasm on her face.  “You will be spending most of your time as a wolf.  That is how you find your mate.”

 I know we shift, she is probably right, but I can’t go out of the house without something on my face and my hair looking decent.  I do have a reputation to protect. 

“Plus, all the makeup in the world wouldn’t cover that ugly face of yours.” I turned, grabbed the closest pillow, and flung it at her as she ducked out of the way and sprinted off down the hall. 

It didn’t take long to get to the meeting area. It was out along the outskirts of the pack land, Jackson parked at the entrance to the woods and waited for me to get there. We walked until we came to a clearing, the moon shone down lighting up the lake.  It was beautiful.  The mating ritual took place here every month for a hundred years.  It is neutral ground, and on mating night, all packs have a truce.  All unmated wolves, over eighteen, come to find their mates.  

I saw Sarah and waved as she looked up.  Grabbing Troy’s arm, she made her way over to Jackson and me. 

“Damn Sarah, are you kissing Jackson too?” Troy said jokingly, “your lipstick is the same color as Em’s!”  He was the only one who laughed at his joke.  

“Maybe Em is the one kissing you, ever thought of that?” Sarah said in return as she glared at Troy.  Out of the corner of my eye, I could have sworn I saw Sarah throw a close call glance at Jackson. I shrugged it off.  

“So, when does the fun begin?” I ask jokingly.  I looked around the area, there were so many people here from all different surrounding packs.  

I already knew how the ritual went.  At midnight things begin to take effect, those of us that  have just turned eighteen gain our wolves and experience our first change.  Everyone gets their wolf at eighteen, but you may not always find your mate.  Some people have been coming to these rituals every month for a while trying to find theirs.  

We hung out and chatted, even met some new people while we waited until midnight.  It was quarter to midnight when it began.

I started to feel weird.  I became really dizzy, and hot.  It was the beginning.  The mating process.   At that moment Jackson looked at me, lust in his eyes. 

“Mate!”  

I couldn’t believe what I heard.  Jackson was my mate!  He had turned and headed towards me.  Everything in my body was shouting to go to him, give myself to him.  Just as I was about to give in,  the other males headed in my direction.  “Mate!”  

Shit.  

The way they all came after me, it was as if I was in heat, the worst possible thought began circulating through my mind.  There is no way, I’m the Alpha’s daughter, next in line, this is a mistake.

I start to back up as they inch closer, Jackson leading the pack.  Each one had lust in their eyes.    My desire to give in to them was becoming too hard to control.  I watched in horror as they all began fighting, fighting over me.  I searched the crowd for Sarah, I needed help.  

When I finally found her, our eyes met.  A look of shock appeared on her face, then she started laughing.  “The Alpha’s daughter is a Sigma!” Her laugh grew louder, “you know, deep down, I’ve always known who you really were.  An attention-seeking whore.  I’m just happy you’ve finally found your place in the pack.” She shouted loud as the rest of the women looked at me with hatred and disdain filling their eyes.  Her words hit me like a ton of bricks.  Sigma.  “Look at you!” Sarah begins again, “how dare you take our men from us?! You selfish bitch, you deserve to die like the rest of the Sigmas!” 

Everything was crumbling around me, the heat was becoming too much to handle.  I had to get out of here.  I looked around for an escape. The woods.  It wasn’t far to the entrance.  Maybe Jackson left his keys in the truck. Fighting the urge of the heat, I turned and ran.