Another Lonely Birthday

Zayla

I was six years old when I met my mate.

I was spending the day down by the river with my older brothers while my parents dealt with some pack matters.

My brothers were running wild in the water while I, on the other hand, was busy chasing butterflies.

That’s when I saw it: the most beautiful butterfly I’d ever seen.

Neon-blue with a unique checked pattern along its wings. And it was huge, the size of my father’s clenched fist.

It was fluttering off near the edge of the dense forest that ran along the river, so I took off after it, nearly catching it before it flitted off into the darkness.

Letting out a frustrated groan, I hurried after it into the woods. My brothers were too busy splashing each other to notice I was gone.

The butterfly pulled me further and further into the woods until I was surrounded by darkness.

Its wings emitted a neon glow that guided me as the forest grew gloomier and gloomier.

It seemed important that I catch up to it as if something amazing would happen when I did.

I picked up the pace, eager to reach the creature.

But just then, my foot got caught on a root, and I went crashing to the ground.

It was only then that I realized how cold everything had become. And quiet. There wasn’t a sound to be heard. No birds chirping, no leaves rustling. It was unnatural.

Slowly, I got up on my knees and looked around.

The butterfly was gone, and the trees around me were terribly dark. The shadows seemed to loom up like living, breathing things.

I felt a shiver run down my spine. ~Did I run off our pack’s lands?~

Getting scared, I started to cry. I could no longer see my brothers or even hear them.

But then the sound of a twig snapping cracked through the silence, and I stopped crying.

There was something near me. I could hear it moving towards me through the trees.

I bit my lip, trying to hold back tears. What could possibly be out here with me in the woods?

I slid back on my butt until my back was pressed up against a tree and tried to stay as quiet as possible.

I could hear footsteps now, coming closer.

A man stumbled into the clearing. He was limping and covered in blood. I saw with shock that there was a gaping wound in his leg.

He didn’t seem to notice me. All his attention was on the darkness behind him. He looked downright terrified.

“Please! Spare me!” he screamed, his eyes darting in every direction as if searching for an invisible attacker.

Suddenly, he let out a gasp. Following his gaze, I couldn’t help but gasp as well.

There was a shadow approaching our clearing.

It wasn’t human. It seemed similar to a wolf, but it was at least three times the size of an alpha.

“No!” the man sobbed. He stumbled backward, tripping over his own foot and landing hard on his backside.

The shadowy creature stopped, just out of sight, and paused for a moment.

Then, the shadow began to elongate. Whatever this creature was, it was shifting… shifting into a human form.

A moment later, a muscular man stepped out of the shadows where the creature had been. I looked quickly away when I realized he was completely naked.

I sneaked a look at his face. Even looking for just an instant, I could tell he was gorgeous.

The adonis of a man stepped into the clearing.

The other man was now on his knees, pleading. He looked utterly pitiful in the adonis’s presence.

“Please, please. Spare me, I’ll do anything,” he begged.

The adonis stopped right in front of him and surveyed him with a look of disgust on his face.

“Nobody is spared. All you can do is act like a man when your name is called.”

The man on the ground started to sob uncontrollably while the adonis stared at him in utter disdain.

And then I saw him raise something long and sharp above him. The victim’s voice grew to a shriek of fear. I closed my eyes as tight as they would go.

I heard a loud thump, and the man on the ground went silent.

After several seconds, I took a peek through my fingers. To my surprise, the man on the ground was completely gone. Only the adonis’s muscular legs stood in front of me.

~What was he still doing here?~

I slowly raised my head to look at the adonis’s face. A jolt of fear rocked my body.

He was staring right at me.

“No, please! Don’t hurt me!” I screamed. But it didn’t matter. In an instant, the adonis had crossed the clearing and was standing in front of me.

I closed my eyes as tears started to flow. I’d never be able to see my brothers again. I’d never meet my wolf. I’d never shift. I’d never find my mate.

“Shh, little Lux, it’s going to be alright.” His voice was so deep it scared me, yet calmed me at the same time.

I kept my eyes closed firmly, even as I heard the crunching of leaves underfoot. He was getting closer, maybe kneeling in front of me.

“You really shouldn’t be here, my little Lux.”

Sniffling into the sleeve of my dress, I looked up, and suddenly, I was staring right into his eyes. I felt a warm tingling flow through my body when I saw him.

My fear seemed to dissipate slightly. I felt safe around him.

“I’ve found you, at last, my little Lux,” he said quietly. His voice was so calming. I craved to hear it again.

I fixed my eyes shut again. I was still too scared to look him full in the face.

“Who are you?” I asked finally. But he didn’t respond.

I cautiously opened one eye. Then another.

What the heck?

He was gone. I was alone in the forest once more.

***

^FIFTEEN YEARS LATER^

The happy bubbling of the river feels like an insult.

Sitting by the water’s edge, with my feet in the current, I feel like it’s mocking me.

Today should be the happiest day of my life. It’s my twenty-first birthday, and I should be out celebrating with a loving mate like every other she-wolf my age.

But instead, I’m here alone by the river, hours’ worth of tears drying on my cheeks.

~It’s not fair, S,~ I think as I run a golden necklace through my fingers, tracing the letter ‘S’ that hangs from the chain.

I first met my mate at this river; fitting since it’s been a river of heartbreak ever since.

Most she-wolves don’t meet their mates until they’re fifteen. So when I met mine that fateful day in the forest when I was six, I counted myself lucky.

I knew, from the moment I felt that warm tingling when he spoke to me, that he was my mate.

I thought he would come back. I kept waiting for him to return. But he never did.

Sometimes, I feel his presence near me, but he’s stayed invisible, not revealing so much as a finger to me since that first day all those years ago.

I’ve long since forgotten what he looked like. I’ve wracked my brain to remember. But other than remembering him as a handsome beast, he’s a total mystery to me.

I started to think I’d just imagined him in my head.

He gave me the first sign he was real when I turned fifteen. I woke up expecting it to be the day he’d finally show himself to me. Instead, I found a beautiful gold necklace around my neck.

Now, as I run that necklace through my fingers, the only evidence that I didn’t just imagine him, I think about throwing it in the river.

Every year after my fifteenth birthday, he’s given me a new birthday gift, and I now have a beautiful flashlight charm, a little metal wolf, a charm with “Lux” engraved on it, and an engraved metal “S,” which I assume must be the first letter of his name.

I love the gifts but what I’ve always wanted is to see him, or even just a tiny glimpse of him.

I was hoping he would do it today. It’s my twenty-first birthday. I’m a woman now, and this would be the perfect time to finally reveal himself.

But this year, I didn’t even get a gift. No, he seems to have totally forgotten me.

I hang my head. Maybe he wishes he wasn’t my mate. Maybe he doesn’t want me.

~“You’re wrong.”~

His voice is close, closer than it’s ever been. It’s as if he’s right behind me. But when I turn around, there’s nothing there. I’m alone.

I feel anger flare inside me. ~How dare he~ treat me like this? He’s my mate!

~Fuck this.~ I jump to my feet, tossing my necklace to the mossy riverbank next to me, and pull off my shirt. I need a swim to calm down.

But the moment I slide my shorts down, I hear a soft groan from behind me.

I pause. ~What the hell? Was that a groan of… desire?~

Even though I’ve felt his presence before, he’s never reacted to me at all.

~Is he watching me now? Is he getting… turned on?~

A naughty smile crosses my face as the beginnings of a plan form in my head.

I stand up and stare resolutely at the place I think he’s probably standing.

When I start sliding down my underwear, I hear him again.

Grunting out as if he’s in pain as my underwear hits the floor in a swift movement.

I can’t help but smirk; he’s usually so good at staying hidden, but tonight I got a reaction out of him.

Diving into the river, I do a few quick laps above water, allowing the sunset to shine down and show off my naked wet curves as brightly as it can. Making sure to stay in the lit spots in the water. If he’s going to be here, he’s going to be forced to see all of me.

On my last lap, I smell it. Arousal!

He must have come closer because his arousal hits me so hard that I halt all movements in the water. My mouth waters at the smell, and my wolf begins to go crazy, trying to claw her way out of me to get to him!

Her primal need to sate his hunger overpowering my own need to even breathe.

The smell of him is so strong that I moan out as my hormones take over every part of me.

Not being able to handle it anymore, I swim to the shore, not even bothering to grab my clothes. I walk to the strongest point I can smell him, a thicket right under the trees.

And then I see him… or at least part of him.

He’s still invisible, but I can see his flickering outline as if it’s hard for him to stay hidden.

Even from the thin aura I can see, I know he’s beyond sexy, noting the bulge of muscles all over his frame.

And then I look up to where his face should be and I gasp.

I can see his eyes. Not just the outlines, the whole things.

They’re dark gray, almost black. And he has flaming red circles in the center.

They’re the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.

I can’t do anything except stand there watching him, my heart pounding in my chest.

And then he takes a step towards me.