Saturday
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday little princess, happy birthday to you "my mom sang waking me up from the bed.
I am finally 19 years old. I am finally legal in my home, I am off age now. I can get into clubs now.
" Thank you mom"I smile at her, always honouring our birthday tradition.
That is waking up to a birthday song in bed.
"Blow your candle princess" she says and I take the little cupcake with the number 18 candle on top.
I blow it and she claps her hands excitedly.
"Now, freshen up and get ready, we have a lot to do today. Your brother and sister are already done,"she says and I nodded.
I freshened up and stood In front of the mirror for a while while staring at my reflection.
Yep, the changes happened immediately it struck midnight this dawn.
My boob has become bigger than the actual size, my waist has become slimmer and I have grown a little bit taller.
I'll say 5'9.
Normal average werewolf height.
Wow I really look like a woman, I just hope I find my mate today.
'Of course we will' someone says and I got startled.
Who the fuck is that? Did Crystal get in my head again.
'No silly, I am your wolf' the soft female voice says again and I sigh in relief.
"Oh wow,this is better than I expected. I can't believe I am able to finally talk to you"I say excitedly.
'me too. My name is Averia, but you can call me Ria"she says
"Nice to meet you Averia, I am Serene but you can me Rene" I tell her and she wiggles her tail in excitement.
'We are going to have some fun today' she says and goes back to the back of my head.
I changed into a black denim jeans and brown off the shoulder top. I curled my hair and applied a little bit of make up.
I made my way downstairs for breakfast and we went to the mall for the day.
The entire day was shopped and bought all kinds of girlie stuff for the birthday celebration.
Our last stop was at the gown shop, and I picked the prettiest gown ever.
We then got our hair and nails done before going back home to set everything up.
By the time evening came, everything was ready and set.
I just got out of the shower, my dress hanging beautifully in my room, along with the family necklace, my phone suddenly rings.
I answered immediately when I saw Tasha's name.
"Sup girl?" I say into the phone.
"Serene, I need your help. My car broke down in the middle of the woods near the mall. Can you come and pick me up "she says hurriedly.
Oh that place is dangerous.
" Okay, I'll be there in 15 minutes"I tell her and hang up.
I immediately put on a black romper and grabbed my car keys. Left through the window because mama would be pissed if I don't get to see the Alpha before the party.
Which I am going to miss by the way.
.
"Serene, where have you been?" my mom scolds looking at me and Tasha in anger.
"I went to pick up Tasha, mom. She was stranded. I am sorry,"I told her.
"You'll kill me one day. Hurry up and change, there is around I haven't heard anything yet. You can join the party, you'll see him there,"mom says and I nodded.
Tasha and mom took me upstairs and helped me dress.
My dress was a corset off the shoulder dress. I pair it with silver heels and matching jewelry.
"You look beautiful my darling. May the moon goddess bless you with a good mate,"she blesses me.
"Thank you mother" I replied.
"Come on let's go and enjoy your party" Tasha says happily.
.
After all the rituals were done on the ceremony grounds, the party began, and we started mingling with the others.
My wolf has been giddy ever since we started mingling, and I know something is up.
"Mate! I can smell him! I can smell it, mate. Can we go to him?" she says, wiggling her tail.
"Are you sure he is here?" I asked.
"Yes! Now go to him!" she yells, and I follow her directions.
The sweet scent of mint and wood fills my nostrils as I walk through the rose bush.
What would he be doing here?
I stopped when I heard muffled voices.
"How can it be her? You have to reject her. I am the one for you. You love me!" someone cries.
Wait, is it Crystal??
"I know it isn't that easy, but I'll do it. I love you, and nothing else will come between us," the man whispers.
"Mate is here. Follow the scent!" Ria yells at me.
As much as I want to know who my sister is talking to, I need to find my mate.
I walked around the bush and stopped in my tracks when I saw two people kissing.
"Mate! That is mate! But... but... but mate is with another woman! Mate is hurting us," Ria says, reflecting on our emotions.
"Mate!" I whisper, my eyes beginning to glow bright yellow. Ria wants to come out.
"Mate!" a very well-known voice says.
The couple broke apart, and if I didn't want to faint before, I want to faint now.
Alpha Zander is my mate, and he is kissing my sister! My younger fucking sister.
I stepped back a little as everything dawned on me. The rumors are true; it has been her.
It always has been her.
'mate is hurting us. I can't talk to mate's wolf. He is blocking us,' Ria cries in my head.
"Why would you do this? How can you do this, Zander! What did I ever do to you?" I yell, about to attack him, but he is in front of her within seconds, protecting her.
He is choosing her over us.
"Stay down, Serene. This has nothing to do with your sister. I am sorry you had to find out this way," he says calmly.
"Okay, I am going to forget everything. Let's just go, Alpha," I say simply, trying to control my anger.
"You don't get it, Serene. I can't be with you. I am in love with her, and I plan on marrying her and making her my Luna," he says.
"Wait, what? What is that supposed to mean? I am your mate. You can't reject me, Alpha. I might die," I say, my eyes shining with tears.
Rejection is a shame and disgrace upon one's family and herself. It is also painful, and given he is an Alpha, I might die.
"I am sorry, but it is a risk I am willing to take," he says, and I think I might die before the rejection.
"Why her? Am I not good enough for you?" I whisper, feeling Ria's wail.
"I am sorry, but you are not the one for me," he says. I know what he is about to do next.
"I am the one for you. The Moon Goddess chose me, not her!" I cry, tears cascading down my face.
"She chose wrongly," he says with finality.
"Please, Alpha."
"I, Alpha Zander McLean, reject you, Serene Gun, as my mate and Luna," he says.
And I scream as I feel something break within me. Ria wails in agony.
Then everything goes black.
Winter’s POVThe first rays of dawn crept through the curtains, casting pale stripes across the room. Tyron’s arm was draped heavily across my waist, pinning me like an anchor. His breathing was deep, steady—thank the goddess. For once, no jolts awake, no cursing at shadows, no sharp demand for space. He had let me stay when the nightmare had shaken him in the night. He hadn’t shoved me out. He hadn’t hardened himself back into that wall of stone he liked to hide behind.A small, unexplainable warmth lingered in my chest because of that. But the morning ahead demanded strategy, not softness.Slowly, carefully, I slid out from under his arm, his warmth trailing behind me as I pulled away. He didn’t stir, not even when the bed dipped with my weight lifting off it. Weeks ago, he would’ve caught me the second I moved, eyes blazing, jaw clenched, telling me to get out. Now… now he stayed asleep, letting me slip back into my own space.By the time I reached my room and changed into jeans an
TyronNights had stopped being silent.When the nightmares ripped through me now, I didn’t wake up alone, shaking in the dark with my chest tight and my wolf clawing at me. Winter slipped in quietly at first, like she thought I might throw her out again. I used to. I used to snarl, to tell her to leave, to pretend that her presence only made the burn of the mate bond worse. But lately, I let her stay.She’d sit on the edge of the bed, whispering low until my breathing steadied, her fingers brushing through my hair like she was coaxing me back from the fire. Sometimes, I’d wake to her curled against me, her hand over my chest as if she could keep the nightmares from clawing their way out.It should’ve made me furious. Weak. Dependent. But instead, I found myself waiting for the sound of her steps on the stairs at night.And every time she came, I kissed her. Sometimes clumsy, sometimes desperate, sometimes slow and drawn out but always. I wanted her to link my recovery to her touch,
TyronLater in the afternoon, I heard the front door of the main house open. Usually, it was followed by Aria’s giggles, or the hushed, lovey-dovey laughter that always gave away Casey and Louis.But today, there was none of that—only the sound of light, careful footsteps.I glanced at the clock on the wall. Three p.m. Exactly the time Casey returned home, always with either Aria or Louis at her side.From what I’ve gathered in the few weeks I’ve been living in this household, Casey is never allowed to be alone. Because of her past, her trauma. She suffers from mild PTSD, and sometimes selective mutism—barely speaking when there’s a crowd.Too weak to be Luna, if you ask me. If I were Louis, I’d have rejected her and chosen another she-wolf. Someone stronger. Someone fit to lead beside him. But I’m not Louis. Maybe she’s feistier than she lets on, hiding it beneath all that quiet.Either way, this is where my plan falls neatly into place.Casey has sympathy. She has empathy. She knows
TyronI woke to the sound of my own ragged breathing.The room was too quiet, too still. The kind of quiet that gnawed on your nerves rather than soothed them. My pulse was still racing from what I’d seen, my chest heaving like I’d been ripped through fire and dropped back into this cage of a room.For a second I didn’t know where I was. The ceiling above me blurred, the faint light spilling in through the barred window cutting sharp lines across the floor. The Crescent Moon Pack’s generosity, they’d call it. To me, it was just another leash.But none of that compared to the chaos burning in my head.I’d seen my family. My father’s sneer, the sharp bark of his voice. My mother’s eyes, soft and wet with worry, the way she looked at me like she still believed I was the boy she used to hold. My little sister’s excitement, her arms reaching like she could somehow crawl through that magic and land in my lap.And then Isis.Her words hit me like a blade, deep and merciless.Carrying my chi
Casey's POVThe fabric shimmered under Serene's touch as she adjusted it on the mannequin, while Winter leaned closer with her pen, scribbling ideas into the sketchbook balanced on her lap. I stood a little to the side, turning a pendant of soft silver in my hands, my mind sketching invisible lines and stones that would match the dress Serene was building.It still amazed me. This-being here, in the middle of Serene's fashion house, treated as if I belonged. My designs no longer scraps on paper shoved under a mattress. No longer a silly dream whispered into the silence of an omega's quarters. No. Here, Winter leaned toward me, asking how a sapphire chain would fall against the neckline. Serene nodded at my suggestions as if they were worth something. I was no longer filth. I was Casey. A designer. A mate.And yet, even as I smiled at Winter, a part of me was tugged backward. To Louis. Always to him. To the night everything changed.FlashbackThe storm had raged outside the windows, ra
Casey’s POV Louis always carried the weight of tomorrow on his shoulders.Even when he smiled, even when his hands brushed mine, steady and grounding, there was always that glint in his eyes—the reminder that he wasn’t just mine. He belonged to the pack. He was the future Alpha, heir to an entire legacy, trained to lead and protect. And yet, somehow, he still found a way to make me feel as if I were his whole world.I noticed it in the smallest things. The way he cut his training short just to walk me back from Serene’s fashion house. The way he’d slip his fingers through mine during council meetings, like he needed to remind himself that I was there, alive, beside him. Or the way he’d tilt his head, listening, even when warriors spoke around us, as though my opinion mattered just as much as theirs.Sometimes I caught myself staring at him during training sessions, when he was out in the field, sweat glistening across his chest, his body moving with the kind of precision only an Alph