Chapter 3

“Is that Jacob?” my brother asked.

I nodded and put the mug in the dishwasher.

“I will see you tonight. Goodbye, Logan. Sienna” I said and gave my brother a kiss on the cheek.

Logan smiled at me, and Sienna gave me a cold stare. Bitch.

I walked out of the kitchen and opened the front door. My friend Jacob was standing there, smiling at me.

I always had a crush on him. I still do. He is handsome, tall, muscular and has black hair. His dark brown eyes look like a pool of chocolate. And I love chocolate. Sometimes I wish he would be my mate. We would be great together, and I know he likes me. He told me himself.

We never dated or even talked about it. We saved ourselves for our mates. It isn’t forbidden to have sex with others, but it is frowned upon, mostly by our pack elders. The rest of the pack agrees that we should wait for our mates but turns away when they see someone dating outside of a mate bond. Not all of us saved ourselves for our mates, though. I know for a fact that my brother and Logan had their share of she-wolves. I think Logan even slept with Sienna, which only added to her belief that she would be his Luna. Jake and I never talked about it, but I think he slept with some she-wolves as well.

Jacob is 22, but he still hasn’t found his mate. So maybe he is mine and I am his. I will not be happy to know that he slept around if he is my mate, but I don’t want to hold his past against him.

“Good morning, beautiful.” he said and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“Morning, Jake.” I said and closed the front door.

“Are you excited?” he asked and took my hand in his.

“Yes, I am.” I said with a big smile on my face. “I can’t wait to shift.”

“It will be amazing.” he said. “You will be amazing. I am really honored that you asked me to be there.”

“Of course, I did.” I said. “You and Amy are my best friends. I want you there.”

“Maybe I will be something else to you as well.” he said and winked.

I laughed. “Maybe you will.”

We walked over to the training grounds together.

Amy was already there, waiting for us. She is a year older than me, and we met at high school. She introduced me to Jacob. They are cousins.

She and Jacob look a lot alike. She has the same black hair as he does. Her eyes are a little bit lighter than his, though.

“Well, if it isn’t my two favorite wolves.” she said and smiled brightly.

“Hello, Amy.” Jake said and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

She gave me a big hug. “I can’t wait to meet your wolf tomorrow, Emmy. Our wolves will be best friends, I just know it. Just like we are.”

“Oh, I am sure Alora will love my wolf.” I said with a huge grin.

Our wolves have their own names. Amy’s wolf is named Alora, and Jake’s is named Jared. I can’t wait to learn my wolf’s name.

“Enough chitchatting, girls. Time to train. I will see you later.” Jake said and walked over to his training ground.

Jacob works as a patrol wolf, so he trains harder and differently than us. Patrol wolves train separately from the rest of us. Amy works at a greenhouse. She is amazing with plants.

Jacob and I sometimes trained together. He taught me a little bit about what they do at their training sessions. He said he wanted me to know as much as possible to be able to defend myself. He wanted me safe.

After an hour and a half, we were done with our daily training session. Jake still had an hour left so Amy and I went home to shower and change.

We would meet at a diner we always went to.

When I came home, Andrew was not there. He is out dealing with pack stuff. Being a Beta is not like other jobs when you work from nine to five. There is always something to do. Especially when your Alpha is Logan.

I quickly showered and changed into a pair of jeans, a white sweater and my black Converse sneakers. I dried my hair and let it fall down to my waist.

When I came to the diner, Amy was already sitting at our usual booth.

“Hey, lady.” she said. “You look amazing.”

“Thank you.” I smiled. “Not as amazing as you do.”

She is gorgeous, tall, skinny but with curves in all the right places and totally confident. All the boys want her.

“So, tomorrow is a big day.” she said, sipping her chocolate milkshake.

“Yes. I am so excited.”

“Maybe Jake will be your mate and we will be family.” she said with a big smile on her face.

“I would love that.” I said. “You know I love Jake. He would be a great mate.”

“And he is totally in love with you.” she laughed. “Most boys are, actually.”

“What are you talking about?” I said and frowned.

The waitress brought me my strawberry milkshake, and I thanked her before taking a sip. It is amazing.

“Come on, Emma.” she said and rolled her eyes. “You are beautiful and hot. I can’t believe you never noticed the looks you are getting. It makes Jake totally jealous.”

“I always thought they were looking at you.” I said and smirked.

Amy laughed. “Well, they do. But I am not the only one they are looking at.”

I blushed and looked down at my hands. “Well, I don’t care. I will wait for my mate.”

“And here he comes.” Amy said and pointed at the door.

Jake was walking in. He gave us a big smile and walked over to our booth. He sat down beside me and kissed my cheek.

“Hey, girls. What are we talking about?” he asked.

“Mates.” Amy said with a huge grin on her face.

“I can’t wait to revisit that topic tomorrow.” Jake said and winked at me.

I laughed and blushed. “Okay, stop making me blush.”

Jake laughed and pinched my cheek. “Why? There is no prettier sight.”

“Okay, love birds. Enough.” Amy said and laughed. “Emma, when are we meeting tomorrow?”

“Well, I will have lunch with my brother and spend the day with him, and we will meet at the shift site at 8 pm.” I said.

My brother and I have a tradition of spending our birthdays together. No other people. Just him and me. We always have breakfast and lunch together. After that, we watch a movie and eat as much cake as we can. I love our tradition.

“Great. I can’t wait to see if your wolf will be as small as you.” Amy said and laughed.

Jake joined her as I glared at them. “You bitches.”

“Oh, come on, Emmy.” Jake said laughing. “We love how small you are.”

I frowned but joined their laughter.

We spent the rest of the day talking, laughing, and making plans for our first run together.

It was late when I came home, but Andrew was still out. I quickly showered, put on my pajamas, and got under my covers. I can’t wait to see what’s to come tomorrow.