Juniper 11:59pm. That was the time on my phone. Exactly 24 hours had passed since I had turned 19, and nothing that had happened had turned out the way I had expected. I set my phone down with a sigh, my eyes scanning the stars above me, waiting and hoping to see a shooting star, or a comet, or… something… I could make a wish on, something that I could pin my hopes on for the coming year. I still had so many questions, so many thoughts running through my head after the events of today. When would I get to meet my birth parents? Where were they that they couldn’t raise me? How would I be able to rule a kingdom that I knew nothing about? When would they expect me to take over? And of course, the biggest question of all: who would be my mate, and when would I finally meet him?

Lukas My head was pounding, the feeling completely overwhelming and unbearable, the light from a giant window causing me to squint my eyes closed in pain. I groaned, hauling my body over as I rolled and tried to sit up unsuccessfully, only causing me more discomfort. The pulsing in my forehead was incessant, growing louder and stronger every time I made even the slightest movement. “Hey there, easy now,” a male’s voice sounded from nearby. I felt a bottle of some sort of liquid being handed to me, and I grabbed it wordlessly. “Here, drink this,” the voice told me. I finally sat up, eyeing the bottle of water in my hand warily before turning to look for the source of the voice, every movement causing a bigger pulse of pain in my brain. My eyes

Lukas “Birthday boy! Hey, birthday boy! Wake up!” Chloe’s voice bellowed at me through the closed door of my bedroom in my suite in the guest hall, but I just rolled over, shoving my head under the pillow to block out her voice and the sunlight. I had planned on spending the day alone in my bed, letting my misery wash over me as the memories of my birthday two years ago played repeatedly in my head. It sounded like the perfect way for me to spend my birthday this year, since I wouldn’t be celebrating it with my mate or my pack or my family. Chloe had other ideas, however, and before I knew it, my door was slamming open and Chloe was marching into my room like hell on wheels. “Seriously? What the fuck is wrong with you?” she yelled as she saw

Finn This fucker is taking too long, I grumbled in my mind as I waited in the lobby of Hank’s shop. My beast was restless. The trip here was not enough to settle his restlessness. He’d been on edge ever since Lukas arrived. Not that we had anything against Lukas himself. He was great. Almost perfect, which was frankly annoying. My beast respected him to where he almost even liked him, which meant a lot for him. He was ready to follow Luke when he finally went back to his pack, and I thought that was the best idea for both of us. No, Lukas wasn’t at all what had us both on edge. I glanced at my watch again and leaned forward with a sigh, resting my elbows on my knees, when Hank finally walked out of the back. I glanced up at him, and he eyed me quizzically. “What’s eating you?” he grunted. I huffed in response. “The same old shit,” I muttered under my breath, standing up. “Well, take care of it,” he scolded me with rolled eyes. I whipped my head at him and narrowed my eyes; I

Chloe “Finn?” I inquired, and he turned his ear slightly towards me. My eyes were getting watery, blurring his massive form from my vision. “Are you making me dinner, or…” My voice quivered, my nerves and my self-doubts coming back and getting the best of me. “Or are you… are you… providing for me as… as…” I choked on a sob and covered my mouth with my shaking hand, turning my face away. I couldn’t say it. I couldn’t get the words out. I was too afraid that I would say it and he would deny it, or reject me, or walk out on me. I had lived every day since he arrived knowing that he was mine, but he didn’t want me. But if I actually heard him say the words, I knew that would be the end of me. My heart squeezed in my chest, the pain a mixture of my hope of acceptance and my fear of rejection. There was a clatter of a dropped pan, and Finn’s heavy footfalls echoed through the kitchen as he strode purposefully over to me, his firm hands a gentle caress on my cheeks as he turned my face t