Aurora
A month passed after Montanaâs death.
I had her buried next to my father and mother. It was only right; Montana had been a second mother to me.
After I thanked Alpha Wolfgang for helping Montana the day of the attack, I thought heâd be less arrogant and bossy toward me, but of course I was wrong.
He and Tallulah had been making more displays of their relationship to the pack. And every time I came across a male wolf, heâd forbid me from interacting with them again.
Of course, they all feared the alpha, so they avoided me like the plague.
The only ones brave enough to keep talking to me were Beta Max and Aspen, though even Gamma Remus had started to hang around me.
Weâd mostly spend the evenings watching movies, or chatting in the garden. They were nice, and helped me distract myself from the constant heartache.
But still, when night came and I was alone in bed, I couldnât help the tears that erupted.
I still didnât understand why Alpha Wolfgang kept me around. Why hadnât he rejected me?
Why was he torturing me this way? If he didnât like me, why would he keep me around?
Was this some type of game to him? It must be.
âRory! Earth to Rory!â Emmaâs voice brought me back to reality. I was currently in my room, video-chatting with my best friend.
âSorry, what were you saying?â
âI was telling you about this cute guy in my physics class but it looks like my life isnât as important as yours.â Annoyance laced in her voice.
âIâm sorry, Em,â I said, not wanting my best friend to be angry with me.
âAre you sure youâre alright? I know it must be hard for you, after what happened with Montââ
âI really donât want to talk about it,â I interrupted her.
âI understand. And howâre things going with the alpha? Have you confessed your love for him?â she asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
âI donât want to talk about that either,â I told her.
âWhat happened?â she asked.
âHe found his mate,â I lied to her, hoping sheâd let it go.
âOh, Rory! Iâm so sorry.â She seemed genuinely sad. âBut hey, at least it was just a crush. Youâll find your mate soon,â she continued, trying to cheer me up.
âI doubt it.â
âYou can't keep degrading yourself like that. You may not see your worth, but I do and believe me, youâre bound to do great things.â
She gave me a determined look that said that there was no room for argument.
I wished I was as determined as her. Maybe my mate would acknowledge me if I were more like Emma.
âI know it seems that the Moon Goddess has cursed you with misfortune, but believe me when I say that greatness will come at the end of this trial. Then Iâll say I told you so.â
Her face softened a bit. âI have to go. I need to study for a test tomorrow. Iâll call you tomorrow night, okay?â
âSure. Good luck tomorrow,â I said, even though I knew she didnât need it. Emma had always been a straight-A student.
âThanks, Rors. Love you, boo,â she said before ending the video call.
I decided to take a cold shower to help my body relax, and then to go to bed early.
For some strange reason my body had been aching a lot lately, and Iâd been experiencing odd heat waves.
Not to mention that Rheaâs constant pacing back and forth in my head gave me headaches.
~âRhea, could you please quit it?â I grumbled. But she just ignored me and continued pacing.~
âWhatâs gotten into you lately?â I asked her.
âI donât know. Iâve been feeling agitated. I donât know whatâs wrong either,â she answered, keeping up the constant back and forth.
I wished I had Montana at this moment, to ask her what could be the issue.
Montanaâ¦
My heart sank at the thought of never seeing her ever again.
A knock at the door brought me out of my depressing mood.
âYes?â I called, wondering who would be knocking on my door at this hour. I looked at the clock set on the mantle and saw that it was past eleven.
When no one answered, I went to the door and opened it to find my mate standing there, his tie loosened around his neck and his suit jacket in one hand.
âAlpha Wolfgang, did you need something?â I asked.
He didnât not answer, just looked at me with hooded eyes. I could swear they had turned a shade darker than their usual baby blue.
âAâ¦Alpha?â I asked tentatively.
His eyes shifted to my lips. For some reason, that simple action caused a sudden ache in the bottom of my stomach, and the heat I was feeling increased.
Wolfgang took a sharp breath as he stared at me.
Rhea was shouting and running around in my mind, almost as if she had gone mad.
Wolfgang took a step toward me, and I backed away. The look in his eye was like a predatorâs, ready to attack its prey.
But even though I knew I should be afraid, I couldnât help the excitement that crept up in me.
Wolfgang growled and he took another step closer, but then backed away as if heâd realized something was wrong.
Without a word he turned away and marched into his room, slamming the door.
I stood there frozen for a moment before turning back into my own room. Rhea was still obnoxiously running from side to side in my head.
My body felt like it ached even more than it had before. I leaned against the door as I tried to steady my beating heart.
~âRhea, pleaseâ¦talk to me. What was that?â~ I asked my wolf.
She finally composed herself and was panting, agitated.
~âThat was the calling of our mating bond. It was your first heat,â~ she said, sending chills down my spine.
~âHeat? Iâm in heat?!â~ I shouted in my mind as panic soon took over me.
~âYes. And it will only increase unless you mate with Wolfgang. Otherwise, you will attract unmated wolves to us,â she said with a whine.~
What was I supposed to do now? Not only was I never going to mate with Wolfgang, but if he didnât reject me, Iâd be forced to hide from unmated wolves.
~âItâs okay, Iâm sure Wolfgang wouldnât allow that to happen to us,â Rhea tried to comfort me.~
But all I felt was fear of what my future would become.
When a male and a female wolf mated, they had to bond. And in order to do that, they had to mark one other.
That way, no other wolf would ever be able to mate with them.
But of course, that would never be the case for me.