Childhood Sweethearts Werewolf Short Stories & Awakening Novels

When I'm four months pregnant, I come home from a checkup to find my mate, Ethan Hale, standing on a ladder in the nursery, pressing glow-in-the-dark constellations onto the ceiling. His childhood friend, Mia Vance, sits below with her chin in her hands, directing his every move. "Ethan, Orion's crooked. Shift it right a little. Yes, like that, so my goddaughter can see it from her crib." "You're worse than the actual mom, you know that?" He laughs. They joke back and forth, and neither of them notices me in the doorway. A pack member wrapping up a furniture delivery catches Ethan on his way out. "Alpha, the Luna really cares about the pup. That star map looks perfect." Ethan glances at Mia, who ducks her head with a blush, and says nothing to correct him. I don't move. Every detail in this nursery is Mia's doing. She picks the snow-white paint on the walls and the carousel mobile over the crib. Even the baby's nickname is Amber—named after a rabbit Mia had for eight years before it recently died. I tell Ethan over and over that I don't like any of it. He always says the same thing, that it's just a casual nickname and not worth getting upset over. I open my phone and submit a mate bond dissolution request to the Elder Council because this is my pup, and I'm going to be the one who names her.

I am Aurora, Princess of the Crimson Moon, the North's most powerful pack. But I gave my heart to a worthless rogue named Blake. In my past life, I defied tradition to make him my personal guard. We were inseparable. I fought my own pack to make him my mate. But on the night of our mating ceremony, under the Blood Moon... He plunged a silver dagger straight into my heart. I was three months pregnant with his child. As I bled out, he whispered in my ear, his voice dripping with venom, "If it weren't for you, I'd already be with Clara. You deserve this!" That's when I understood. He never loved me. He only craved power. He had always wanted my sister, Clara—the pack's chosen heir. Then, I opened my eyes. I was back. Back at the guard selection ceremony. He rejected me in front of everyone. He declared his love for Clara and refused to be my guard. The entire pack stared at me with pity. This time, I just smiled. And I chose my silent childhood friend, Ronan. Blake thinks siding with Clara will lead to ultimate power. He's a fool. The pack's true Alpha isn't chosen by birthright. He is chosen by me.

I've always been half a beat behind everyone else. But my childhood friend Charles and my best friend Annie always seemed to grow faster than me. After every training session, they'd be the first to pack up and leave. I'd still be sorting my gear, piece by piece. Once, we had a moonlit hunt training together. I fell into a trap and screamed for help, but they were long gone. On the day we submitted our Shifter Academy applications, they filled out their forms and left. I was still double-checking my last entry. "Lilith, you're way too slow. I still have to go with Annie to pick up Moon Festival admission passes. We're leaving. Not waiting." "Annie and I are both applying to Silver Moon Academy. Make sure you put that one down too. That way we can all keep training together." Charles said his piece. Annie hooked her arm through his, and they hurried off. They were in too much of a rush to hear the words I said behind them, so quiet the wind nearly swallowed them. "I'm not applying to Silver Moon Academy." I watched their figures shrink into the distance. For the first time, I didn't chase after them. "From now on, you never have to wait for me again."

My mate, Alpha Kade, loved testing my limits using his childhood friend. The more I pushed back, the more he enjoyed it. For the pack retreat, I suggested heading north to see the Northern Lights. He took Ruby to a southern island instead. I spent six months growing rare herbs in the greenhouse. Right before they bloomed, he ordered them torn out. He replaced them with Ruby's favorite roses. I confronted him about it once. He didn't care. "You know I respond better when you're sweet. The more you push, the more I push back. Just be a good girl and listen to me." After that, I learned to compromise. He demanded to bring Ruby as his date to the pack's inner circle dinner. I just nodded. Over the weekend, Ruby wanted to visit the former Luna at the main estate. I stayed calm. "No problem. Do what you want." Kade slammed me against the wall the second the words left my mouth. "Cora, what kind of attitude is that? You're okay with another woman visiting my mother?" I pulled free from his grip. "I'm just following your rules so I don't upset you." Kade froze, completely speechless. Ruby played innocent. "Cora is just acting out. Don't take it to heart." Then came tonight's private pack party. Everyone played Truth or Dare to celebrate the end of his bachelor days before our mating ceremony. The Dare Roulette was the main event. The spinner landed right on Kade and Ruby. They had to do a series of couple's dares together. The Beta running the game tried to smooth things over. "This challenge gets pretty physical. You can still use an immunity card to skip it." Kade didn't care. He pulled Ruby into his chest and looked at me. "It's just a game. She's my partner for tonight. I'll be yours tomorrow." The pack elites whistled and cheered. I kept my posture straight and gave him a blank look. "Fine by me." I had already accepted a transfer to the United Pack Medical Center. I didn't want this mate bond anymore.

Yuri's father calls and tells me to send his son, the Alpha heir and my childhood friend, home to meet his further mate. But Yuri Blevin is lying next to me, fast asleep and shirtless. Thinking it's just a joke, I nudge him and say with a light laugh, "Yuri, they said they've arranged a mate for you. What do you think?" He raises an eyebrow and lazily wraps an arm around my waist. "Then make sure you pick a nice suit for me. I trust your taste will impress her." When I freeze and say nothing, Yuri opens his eyes and lets out a carefree chuckle. "Hey, Ophelia, what kind of reaction is that? We're just casual lovers, right? Don't tell me you actually thought I'd make you my future Luna?"

Seven years. My fated mate, Alpha Julian, and I only have one topic: Yes or No. "Yes" means he comes home. "No" means he goes to Chloe—his childhood friend. Ninety-eight times. Every time I needed him, he chose her. Tonight is our mating ceremony. One bite on my neck, and the bond seals forever. The banquet hall glows. Elders and elites raise glasses, congratulating me on finally taming the Supreme Alpha. But his phone keeps buzzing. I know it's Chloe. Her "broken wolf spirit" is "losing control" again. He tenses. Ready to bolt. I press my fingers against his hand. "It's our mating ceremony. Do you have to go?" He grips my hand, thumb rubbing my knuckles. "Chloe's wolf is severely broken. She can't survive without me. I'll be right back. Trust me." He buries his face in my neck, inhaling. "You are my fated mate. My one and only Luna." Then he pulls away and walks out the door. No hesitation. Just like every other time. But he doesn't know. The second he walks out, he's not just leaving the party. He's leaving my life. Forever.

Declan, the Alpha heir of the Nighthowl Pack and my arranged mate, proposed to me right after donating his Alpha marrow to his childhood sweetheart. In my past life, I said yes out of love and for the sake of our pack alliance. But after we mated, the weight of two territories fell entirely on my shoulders. Losing that marrow broke Declan’s inner wolf. He couldn’t fight. He couldn’t shift. He couldn’t even give me a strong heir. I had to run the crystal mines while fighting off rogues for him. Before I even turned forty, I dropped dead. Utterly drained. Worked to death. And Declan? He comfortably took all the territory resources I had bled for and marked his little sweetheart. They lived happily ever after in my manor. So, reborn and facing his deep, affectionate proposal once again, I just looked at him calmly and said no. "You gave away your Alpha marrow. Your wolf is broken. What makes you think a defective piece of trash like you deserves me?"

My adopted Omega sister, Maya Bardolph, is known to be innocent and kindhearted. Before the practical admission assessment, I specifically tell her not to interfere in any way. But she secretly puts a prohibited performance booster into my water bottle. I am reported for cheating on the spot. My results are canceled, and I am permanently blacklisted. When I break down and demand an explanation, she bursts into tears, looking pitiful and wronged. She weeps, "Sierra, I just wanted you to get first place... I didn't know things would turn out like this." My boyfriend, Dale Ashshade, immediately pulls her into his arms and blames me instead. He scolds, "She is only trying to help. Why are you being so harsh to her?" My parents chastise me frostily as well. "Isn't it just one practical assessment? She's an Omega. She doesn't understand these things. Can't you be more patient with her?" To apologize, Maya smilingly brings me a cup of herbal tea later. "Sierra, I made this just for you. Promise you won't be mad at me anymore after you drink it, okay?" Without thinking much about it, I drink the tea. But what she uses to brew the tea is highly poisonous silver oleander. I die from the poisoning. Outside the emergency room, Maya cries hysterically, "I'm sorry! I didn't know silver oleander is poisonous... I just wanted to apologize to Sierra..." When questioned by the Enforcers, Dale calmly gives false testimony. "After Sierra was caught cheating, she became mentally unstable. She couldn't accept how things turned out and took silver oleander to kill herself..." When I open my eyes again, I return to the day before the assessment.

For five years, Gideon—my brother's Beta—and I had a secret. We were supposed to announce our mating at the pack's Winter Solstice festival. Instead, he breathed hot against my ear. "Babe, we've been sleeping together for five years. I'm bored with you. Find someone else for the marking ceremony, alright?" I didn't cry. I just gave a calm, simple nod. "Alright." Only because in my last life, I had begged him through tears to complete the bond. After he finally marked me, he grew cold. He never again woke me by rubbing his stubbled chin against my forehead. Even when we made love, he kept his eyes shut, as if he were with someone else, just using my body. When I was in agony giving birth to our pup, fighting for my life, he left me. He was going to comfort his savior, Aveline. The old wound she suffered saving him had relapsed, sending her into a mental spiral. In that moment, I finally understood. A mark I had to beg for was nothing but a curse, a wound that would never heal. This time, I pulled away with a smile, removing his hand from my waist. "You're right. I'm tired of it, too. We're done."