Chapter 1
MARINA’S POV
I was tired of running and I was fast running out of places to run to.
I had been inside the packed hall only once in my eighteen–plus years of life.
It had always been somewhere I’d classified as too important and elusive for the likes of me.
And then after the disaster of my wolfing ceremony last year, I had seen it as the culmination of all my failures as a member of this pack.
I caught several disgusted glances as I stood there. At this point, I should be used to their sneers, the whispers, the looks of derision. I should know better than to let their hatred of me hurt me.
I stared up at the grand oak double doors, everything inside me insisting that I turn around, tuck my tail, and run. I was tired of running though, and I was fast running out of places to run to.
And yet, I hunched further trying to hide myself from the cruel eyes. It was no use though.
The one thing I could never outrun was their judgment. It tore at me even when I was all alone, the whispers haunting me even in my sleep.
“Are you just going to stand there?” Someone snapped as a punch jostled me. I swayed with the force of the blow and just barely retained my foothold.
With a final sigh, I walked through the doors of the packed hall.
Strangely, I felt settled rather than more anxious by the mass of bodies. Very few people bothered to stare down at me, most of them more focused on the event that was about to begin; the mating ceremony.
Last week at the store, I had heard whispers that Antonio Brown, the alpha of our pack, would choose a mate today. I couldn’t count how many hopeful girls I had heard gushing about how they hoped they would be his mate. I didn’t have any of such a compilation.
I had never felt like I belonged anywhere. I wanted a mate. It had always been a dream of mine to be happily married to someone strong and dependable. Somebody I would care for and who would care for me in turn.
Finally finding my mate would mean that I was accepted, that I was a part of something. I had prayed fervently to the moon goddess to grant me a mate and I believed today would be the day.
I was full of tentative hope. It had been a long time since I had felt anything other than desolation, the hope burning faintly in my chest was a wonderful reprieve.
The hall suddenly fell silent. I looked up to see the alpha of the Crystal Coast pack standing on an elevated stage.
“Without further ado, welcome to the mating ceremony. Best of luck and more importantly, enjoy.” He said in a booming voice.
There were scattered cheers and nervous giggles. As soon as he stepped off the stage, the lights suddenly went off and the room was covered in pitch darkness.
The Crystal Coast pack was surrounded by miles of woods where the pack was free to run on nights like this.
While mated wolves would run off with their mates, unmated wolves would seek their mates if the moon goddess granted them one.
I could feel the excitement ramping up and I was suddenly sweating even on this cool night, my heart thudding erratically. I was a mixture of scared, nervous, and elated.
The glass dome retracted and the hall was immediately bathed with moonlight. It washed everything in blue ethereal light and one by one, howls went up around the room. The doors were thrown open as men and women in their wolf forms began to lope out.
I was losing hope as everybody around me began to shift into their majestic hairy wolves when suddenly I felt a shift within me.
I gasped. This was it. I dropped to the floor and let out a long howl as my limbs suddenly began to transform for the first time in my life.
It didn’t even matter that no one paid me any attention. I had been shunned for not being able to wolf out last year and yet this year nobody even cared.
The only thing I cared about was the delicious scent that was wafting from somewhere in this hall.
Mate.
I heard a loud howl. One that’s unlike the others, I felt like it was beckoning me.”
1/9
8:40 AM
Chapter 1
My mate was here and he was calling for me.
O
The noise around me seemed to fade till I was nothing but instinct. My first step toward the appealing smell left me sprawled on the ground. I wasn’t used to my new form yet but I was extremely determined.
My dreams were finally coming true. Like a new foal, I stumbled on all fours till I could see the huge brown wolf that was mine.
“Mate?” I asked telepathically.
The wolf’s head turned till its yellowish eyes met mine.
I took an excited step towards my mate only to halt in my tracks when he growled at me and took a step backwards.
No! No! No!
I could be rejected by everybody. But I was sure my heart would break into infinitesimal pieces and I would never be whole again if my mate rejected me.
“It’s me. Your mate,” I communicated in a small telepathic voice.
“Never! You are no mate of mine,” he growled out angrily, attracting the attention of everyone.
At that very moment, all I wanted was to disappear from there but I didn’t even have the strength to move a muscle, I felt extremely weak.
Just as quickly as my wolf form had burst out, it was sucked back in.
I fell to my knees, exhausted and heartbroken. I wrapped my arms around my stomach and curled up. Everything hurts.
The room came back into focus and I could see that we had amassed a crowd, even in their wolf forms, they still found a way to sneer at me.
Even my darkest nightmares hadn’t prepared me for this.
A reality where I would be rejected by my mate. I felt hollowed out and small. Surely, this was the lowest low, even for me.
Now what becomes of me after my failed mating ceremony?
8:40 AM
