All Chapters of Fate Or Mates: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

ANGELA’S POVThe rain had stopped hours ago, but you know how it is—the smell just lingers. Wet dirt, damp leaves, that sharp tang of stone after it’s been soaked. I stood at the window with my fingertips against the cold glass, staring out into nothing. Just shadows. Just dark.But honestly, my mind wasn’t here. It was stuck back there—three years ago, the day Julius stood before the entire Crimson Pack and called me his mate.God, I can still hear it. The cheers, the stomping paws, that wild, buzzing energy filling the air. His voice had been steady, proud, and when he said my name… my chest almost split open with joy. I’d wanted that moment my whole life. Little-girl-me dreamed of it, like one of those fairytales you swear could come true if you just believed hard enough.And being the Beta’s daughter, well, I was used to the spotlight. People always looked my way, treated me special. But Julius? He wasn’t just some guy. He was the Julius. Broad shoulders, tall, eyes the color of t

ANGELA’S POVI woke up choking on air, chest heaving like I’d just run for my life. My heart thrashed against my ribs so hard I thought it might split me open. I blinked once, twice, and my eyes caught the soft morning light bleeding through pale pink curtains. Curtains I knew. Too well.My stomach lurched. No. No way. This wasn’t—this couldn’t be what I’m thinking—But it was. The ceiling above me was scattered with faint glow-in-the-dark stars I’d stuck there when I was fifteen, thinking they’d make me feel less small in the dark.My bedspread still wore those ugly floral sheets Mom picked out—too girly for me even then. And there—God—there was the shelf with my dusty trophies. Cheerleading. Pack academy. Even one that said Best Smile. Like that mattered. Like smiling ever saved anyone.I lay frozen, eyes wide open, staring until the patterns in the ceiling blurred. My brain buzzed, memories clawing at me.Wait. Wasn’t I suppose to be… dead?The rooftop. The cold sting of air against

ANGELA’S POVA boy—no, not a boy. It was a man, though not much older than twenty—stood in front of me with his arms folded tight against his chest. Ripped jeans sagged a little around his hips, loose enough that they swayed against his long legs, and his T-shirt clung to him like it was the last clean one he owned.His short hair was a dark mess, falling across his forehead in that I-don’t-care kind of way that probably took hours to get right.He wasn’t smiling. He wasn’t even trying. His eyes—a deep green, looked, restless, with something simmering just below the surface—clung to me like I was trespassing in his world. Maybe I was.He had the kind of body that wasn’t built for lounging or comfort—it was the kind that came from hard labor, the kind that looked meant for chasing, hunting, surviving. His presence alone pressed against me, heavy, like the air thickened just because he was breathing the same space.I swallowed. My voice betrayed me before I could think. “Who… who are yo

ANGELA’S POVThe next morning, Kimberly showed up right on time, all bright-eyed with those too-perfect smiles that looked like they had been glued on. Honestly, they reminded me of cheap stickers you just want to peel off and toss. One day, I would get the chance to rip that fake shine right off her face.Just not today.Her outfit was, of course, flawless. She always had that way of carrying herself, like the past never happened. Maybe for her it hadn’t. For me, every single piece of it still burned.She linked her arm through mine like always, cheerful to the point of sickening. “Ready to shop till we drop?”I forced out a laugh that didn’t sound like me at all. “You have no idea.”Sliding into the driver’s seat of my pink Audi, I waited for her to buckle in. Dad bought me that car for my sixteenth birthday. He and Mom said a future Luna deserved a gift that made a statement. Back then, Kimberly had been the first one to take it out for a spin. I let her, because I thought whatever

ANGELA’S POVHis hand at my waist felt… steady. Solid. Like it belonged there. Somehow, that grounding touch made the whole glittering dance hall fade, chandeliers and all.I knew this floor. Of course I did. I had been here before. Another me, another lifetime, spinning under those same chandeliers. Back then, Julius had been my partner. I remembered every humiliating second of it.His grip on my fingers had been too tight, as if he could force control into me. That smug grin he wore whenever people looked over, except they weren’t looking at me. They were looking at us. Or worse, at him.And his eyes kept wandering to Kimberly, like she was the brightest thing in the room.I remembered tripping, over and over, because someone kept stepping on my dress. At first, I thought it was me. I thought I was clumsy, unworthy of him. Later, I figured it out. Kimberly had made sure of it, nudging me toward failure with every step. Julius’s patience cracked that night, his lips twisting in irrit