Daughter of the Moon

**Every century or so the boundaries between the mortal and immortal realms decreases to the point that the Gods and Goddess can cross the boundaries and interact with mortals. This happens randomly with no warning for either opening or closing, whenever the boundaries close all Gods and Goddess are automatically snapped back into the immortal realm. It is at one of these times when the Moon Goddess crosses the boundary to interact with her creations. The Moon Goddess is not just the Goddess of the Moon but also the Goddess of all supernaturals. She created all the supernatural creatures and she loves them all, but her favorite is the wolf shifters. Some say that they are her favorite because her mate was an alpha wolf shifter and others say that because they were her favorite that her mate was an alpha wolf shifter, but no one knows for sure.  When Alexander scented his mate on the woods that evening, he never imagined coming upon his beloved Goddess. Alexander left his pack and arranged mating and together he and his mate lived a blissful life, or at least it was blissful for a short time. A year exactly. During that time, the Lunaria, the Moon Goddess, and Alexander conceived a child and the boundaries, as unpredictable and unforgiving closed again; though because the Goddess was pregnant she was allowed to stay in the mortal realm until she gave birth. Lunaria had planned to bring both her mate and child with her after giving birth but fate was no so kind. Right after Lunaria gave birth she was snapped back into the immortal realm. She was devastated but started conserving power so that soon she would have enough to be able to summon her mate and child.  Gods and Goddesses could use their power to be able to bring over objects and even living beings/creatures through to the immortal realm but it required a lot of power so the Gods and Goddesses would start conserving power to be able to snap or transport without too much risk. Actively using magic is like draining power from a battery if you use to much then you run the risk of power failure and shutdown along with a lot of other nasty possibilities. When magic is stored and built up then you know you will have enough magic and the risk is minimal.  Lunaria was a few months away from having enough magic stored when tragedy struck. The female from the arranged mating tracked down Alexander and upon realizing that he was already mated she used black magic to kill Alexander never realizing the infant was alone in the cabin. Lunaria was heartbroken and enraged over the loss of her mate. Instead of giving in to despair she realized that she had more than enough magic to not only transport her daughter through the boundaries but avenge her mate in the process. Lunaria cuddled her daughter to her chest as she felt the magic of her curse find its target and set in. The curse not only killed the b***h that murdered her mate but also caused every member of her family to never receive mates for five generations. Lunaria looked down at her daughter as bit of her grief lessened knowing that her mate was avenged. She vowed that her daughter would never have to feel the soul shattering grief of losing her mate, and with that vow she kissed her daughter on the head and walked away to start planning her training.** **First person POV. Silver** I sighed softly as I opened my eyes and looked out the car window. The topography had completely changed from the rocky dessert environment of Arizona to the lush forest and mountains of New Hampshire. I sat up straight and started stretching. I must have had a bad episode since I was passed out for most of the 39+ hour drive. I caught two pairs of worried eyes looking at me from the driver and passenger seats. My guardians are my best friends and I am so thankful to have them with me. I start thinking about how it’s almost a year been since we first left the immortal realm. **17 years ago** “Mother, are sure this is the best course of action?” My mother has just announced that Aria, Anthon, and myself were to leave to the mortal realm tomorrow. I knew that my mom had been planning this after the healers figured out that the excess of magic in the immortal was seeping into me and causing me magic to grow much stronger than my mortal body can fully contain causing me to have episodes where my magic strikes out and if they are severe enough can leave me unconscious for days. Anthon and Aria are my best friends and guardians. Being a guardian in the immortal realm is much different than it is in the mortal realm. Here a guardian is someone who not only protects you and keeps you company they are also tied to your magic, meaning that can feel when you are experiencing strong emotions and/or having trouble controlling your magic. I have to have two because when my magic gets to be too much to handle it always acts out violently whether it attacks my body or my surroundings. “You know full well that the mortal realm is the safest place for you. If you stay here and keep absorbing magic, then eventually it will completely overwhelm your body and your body will give in to magic. I nod my head, because I do know that, I’m just struggling with leaving this beautiful place that is the only home I remember and my mom who is the only parent I remember. I hug my mom, turning my head to look out over my mothers prized gardens then she spends so much time in. We are standing on the balcony to my mother’s palace, cause apparently all gods and goddesses live in palaces. Unlike most other palaces my mother’s is actually quite homey, or at least a lot homier than one would expect for a palace. The halls are all slate tiles ranging in sizes and all in shades of grey or black. The halls are a light cream and there are tons of openings and balconies so you can see the lush plant life that surrounds my mother’s palace. Due to a variety of different spells its possible to have almost completely open housing without the weather being any sort of issue. Magic is used freely and extravagantly here in the immortal realm. From mundane things like cleaning to even using making to create mini rain showers to water your garden. The most beautiful piece of magic I have ever seen was in my mother’s throne room. The entire ceiling is like being in outer space. In the very center and the tallest point of the domed ceiling is a brilliant shining moon and around are thousands of stars and all the shimmering colors that can be found in the cosmos. Instead of the slate flooring that most of the palace has there is a carpet of thick lush green grass that is dotted with tiny white crystalline flowers that release a light floral citrusy scent. There are also different fountains and streams that complete the tranquil environment. “I’m going to miss you, and my home.” I say as I try to cement this moment into my mind. I felt my mother kiss my head and felt her squeeze me tighter before letting go a stepping back. “I will miss you to my little light, you know that there will always be a place for you here and that I will reach out to you through thought as often as I can.” She cupped my cheek with her hand and gave my one last kiss on the top of my head. “Go and get some sleep, you leave tomorrow.”** A throat clearing brought me back to the present. I smiled at my two guardians. Identical green eyes softened losing the worry from their beautiful eyes. Anthon was sitting in the driver’s seat while Aria was in the passenger seat. I check out both windows. “Where’s Gwen?” I ask Anthon. Gwen is Anthon’s mate and a white mountain lion shifter. A shifter with white fur is said to be blessed by the moon goddess and that she has taken a personal interest in that shifter’s life. As her daughter I can confirm that. Gwen was shocked when we revealed that not only are we not human, but I am also the moon goddess’s daughter. Due to our magic we mask our scent. We can make our scent completely disappear or make it seem like we are human. Oh, by the way, I say we because Anthon and Aria’s grandfather is Silias, God of the Sun. He brought the twins to the immortal realm for the same reason my mom brought me. Their parents died while protecting their dad’s pride. A pride is the feline word for pack. Their dad was a half-lion and half God while their mother was full lion. Their mothers’ pride did not agree with their mother mating their father and so they disowned her and had her kicked out of the pride. Their parents and all of their father’s family was killed in an attack on their pride so their grandfather went through the boundary and brought them here. I was the only kid in the immortal until they came when I was 10 and they were 11. Because they spent their younger years in the mortal realm and had already shifted into their lions the magic of the immortal realm didn’t see them as empty vessels to fill with magic. I’ve always been envious of the twins for being able to shift into their lion form. The excess of magic that built up inside of me made it so I can never shift into my wolf form. I can talk to her and I have all the wolf traits, but I can’t shift. Anthon clears his throat when he notices that once again my attention has drifted away. I notice Gwen’s 2020 Lexus LX pulling into the parking lot. Based off the semi-trucks and the few people milling around on some park benches I would say we were at a wayside. I saw the driver’s door open and watched as Gwen came out and made her way to one of the picnic tables with a bag of food. Anthon had a Ford F-450 XL that was pulled across several parking spots because of a medium sized trailer behind it that probably had our bikes in it. By bikes I mean our motorcycles. I felt someone grab my hand and put a small box in it. I looked down and realized it was my wireless earbuds. I quickly put them in and immediately music started playing and my mind started clearing so I was able to focus. I noticed Anthon then standing with my car door open. “sorry” I mumble as I get down and start walking towards the picnic table. I pretty much always have my earbuds in. My heritage mixed with all the excess magic causes me to have extraordinarily sharp senses and my mind is a constant jumble of information causing me to not be able to focus on just one thing. The music helps immensely by allowing me to focus my senses on just my hearing and lowering it to just a bit better than a human. For my magic I have my sketch pad. Allowing me to focus my magic on using my gift of second sight almost constantly keeping my magic a more manageable level. “So… what happened exactly?” I asked knowing that they would know I meant what did this episode consist of. Whenever I have a bad episode we always leave and start over in a new part of the country. This is our seventh move. Gwen plopped a bowl of soup, two sandwiches, a bag of chips, an apple, and a bottle of soda in front of me, knowing I am always starving after having an episode where most of my magic is expelled and I have almost nothing left. “It was a bad one, doodles” Gwen says as she sits down close to Anthon. Aria looked at me and pointed at my food “Eat so you don’t pass out again and I’ll tell you all about it.” I nodded as I take in her strawberry blonde hair that accentuates her green eyes and compliments her fair skin that has the lightest dusting of freckles covering her nose and cheeks. Her lips are full, and a light pink and her bone structure made her look like a model with her high cheek bones and heart shaped face. She was beautiful but then, those with the blood of Gods and Goddesses often were something to do with immortal beings having strong genes. As soon as Aria saw me take a bite she started talking. “As I’m sure you can imagine, after going over a month without any signs of any magic issues this one was pretty bad.” I nodded as I finished one sandwich and moved on to the soup. “It’s probably a good thing that you were unconscious for so long, you were badly injured.” “I didn’t blow up another house, did I?” I scrunched up my nose at the thought of possibly harming one of them in another explosion. I feel myself to start to frown before I get a faint memory of being out in the dessert before the episode took over. Anthon chuckled softly. “You didn’t completely blow up that house, just a large portion of it.” I glared at him but smirked when Gwen elbowed him in the gut. Aria was smiling, over her brother’s pouty expression as he looked down at his mate. “No, you didn’t blow anything up, but you did create quite a spectacle out in the dessert.” I winced as I took a drink before opening the package of chips. “Did anyone else, or even a human see?” I know that secrecy is a major problem within the supernatural community. As it is there are human hunters who hate our kind simply because we are different, well different, and much more powerful and they’re scared that power can be used against them. What most humans don’t know is that they have done a lot of damage to the supernatural world than know. Every time they hurt the planet it hurts us as supernaturals who are deeply tied to the earth and the magic within it. Aria shook her head. “No humans, there were a few coyote shifters who saw some of it, but we convinced them it was an amateur witch who was having trouble controlling their magic. They ran off the get help and luckily missed the last part or they would have known the witch part was a lie. As soon as it was over, we snapped home and packed everything and left, on the off chance we would run into the coyote shifters again.” I took a deep breathe. “Ok, no more skating around the story. What actually happened?” Aria watched me for a few minutes before taking a deep breathe herself. “We snapped to you as soon as we sensed it start but when we got there…” She paused and winced “Your magic started playing with all the elements.” I felt my eye’s open wider with shock. I had sometimes controlled the elements but for my magic to have used all the elements it would have had to call the element forth, basically it means I created the element from my magic then controlled it. That was extremely rare and dangerous. People with that amount of power were often feared. Most supernaturals had some affiliation with at least one of the elements. For example, land shifters such as wolves take magic from the earth, and air shifters such as eagles take magic from the air to shift. “I’m just glad that the coyote shifters were freaked out enough that they didn’t stop to think about how all the elements were being used. Basically, you were surrounded by this huge spinning, glowing dome with all the different elements swirling around and randomly shooting out of the dome.” They all got a bit of an awed look in their eyes as they remember what Aria just described. I was actually kind of disturbed that my magic was able to do that, I mean it was enough to just create the elements but to create enough to use it both defensively and offensively in such an extravagant way. I wouldn’t be as shocked if I was still in the immortal realm where my magic was being fed by the magic of the immortal realm but here where magic isn’t as interactive it’s scary because that means all the magic that was used was stored inside me. Anthon cleared his throat. “That’s not all though.” I stared at him waiting for him to continue but he just turns back to his own sandwich and continues eating. I look over and Gwen and Aria and they were staring at him too. Finally, Gwen huffs and lightly smacks him on the back of his head. “Whaaaaaa…?” Anthon whines through his mouthful of sandwich. Gwen glares at him and shakes her head. “You can’t just say that something else happened and not finish with what happened, plus do not speak with your mouthful.” Gwen finished with a little growl. Anthon swallowed before glaring at all of us “I thought Aria was telling the storyteller!?!” He stared and us and we stared back at him. Eventually he huffed again went back to eating his sandwich. I saw Gwen give a little smile and lightly bump her shoulder against Anthon’s causing him to glance down at her and then lean down and gently nuzzle behind her ear. I looked away when I heard the little purrs that they were giving each other. I met Aria’s eyes and I saw the same thing that was in mine. A mix and happiness, laughter, but also pain and envy. We love them both and were happy that they were happy but we both wanted our own mates. Aria gave me a tight smile before relaxing into a more neutral expression. “Since I have taken on the role of storyteller, I guess I will finish my brother’s idiotic explanation. Your magic didn’t just do physical damage. It hurt your body too.” I frowned and did a mental check of my body. Other than still feeling a bit lethargic I didn’t feel any different. I looked up and saw the pain in all three of their eyes as they recalled my injuries. It’s hard to explain why my magic attacks my body. One theory is that it’s because my magic tries to find room in body so that it isn’t the cramped volatile state. Another theory is that because my magic was fed by the magic in the immortal realm it just isn’t compatible with my mortal body. I think it could be a bit of both. “Ok how did it hurt me exactly?” A part of me doesn’t want to know but a much bigger part knows that I need to keep track of just what my magic is capable of. “I won’t tell you specifics but its broke bones, punctured organs, and created several slices on your body. It looked like someone hulk smashed you then Scissorhands tried giving you a massage.” It was Gwen that gave me the description. I could tell she tried to use humor to lessen the blow of the damage that was caused. I winced “Yeah I would say it is definitely a good thing I was unconscious.” “Well your internal injuries were mostly healed before left so we were actually starting to get worried that you were unconscious for so land after healing.” Anthon supplied. Well that didn’t make any sense. I’ve never healed that fast. Fatal injuries always heal the fastest but even then, those take at least a day to heal. Considering all the injuries they’re describing and the amount of time it usually takes us to pack up to move I can’t believe that my internal injuries took only three to four hours. We were very adept at packing and moving. Even Gwen who was a lone shifter when she found Anthon. We always bought houses that were furnished so we never had any issues there. It was just our clothes, toiletries, sentimental stuff, training equipment, weapons, and our beloved motorcycles. “I’ll mention this to mother when she checks in next.” I do the math in my head really quick. I know it was Wednesday when I had the episode and based of the time the drive took, I would say it is mid-day Friday and my mom usually checks in with my every Wednesday morning. “Wednesday morning, but I don’t think we will have long because I’m so low on magic.” In order for my mother and I to communicate through the barrier we both have to enter into a meditative state and use our magic to reach out to each. Picture two people talking to each other through a thin sheet of glass. We can see and hear each but that’s it and takes a decent amount of magic to maintain it. Aria nods as she stands up and stretches. “Let’s get back on the road, I want to make it to the new house as soon as possible so we can get fully settled in before school on Monday.” She must have noticed my repulsed expression because she smiled. “I know you think it’s useless and that it sucks because people are idiots who can’t keep opinions to themselves along with the other millions of reasons that college suck, but unfortunately there really isn’t much to do. I hate to break it to you, but we are still of college age even though we don’t really need it for a career or anything.” Both points were true. You might be wondering how we have so much money especially since we were mostly raised in the immortal realm. The answer to that is that we work as hunters. We actually stumbled upon the career by accident and its how we met Gwen. When we first came through the boundary to the mortal realm, we stumbled on a group of shifters that were arguing about what to do with twins that had stolen from a powerful alpha couple. Gwen was the only hunter who had been able to track them, and we bumped into her right before we came upon the group of rouge shifters. After getting over the shock of finding Anthon and cementing our relation to him Gwen gave us the run down of the situation and we quickly offered our help. Both the rouge shifters and Gwen were shocked when they encountered our powers. After disabling the rouges, we transported them and the babies to the pack lands. We scared the s**t out of the alpha pair, apparently transporting is extremely rare in the mortal realm. As soon as the alphas saw me holding their pups (canine shifter babies are called pups, similarly feline shifter babies are called cubs) they were so grateful they allowed us to stay with them for a while. Over that time, we told them about our identities. After they, the alpha pair and Gwen, got over the awe they quickly began to aid in acclimating and teaching us about the mortal realm. The alpha pair treated us like family and even named us honorary pack members. They gave us a vehicle and some money, by some I mean a lot because most packs and prides are quite wealthy. With that we started our journey growing and learning. We formed a hunting group with Gwen and have helped many supernaturals all over the country.  I stood and stretched as well. “What do you guys think about Aria and I driving the Lexus so Anthon and Gwen can get some alone time. Plus, Aria and I can stop and get groceries, so we don’t need to run out over the weekend.” I see Aria make a face, but I know its just because she hates grocery shopping. Aria sighs “yeah that’s ok with me. I’ll even go do the dreaded grocery shopping.” Anthon and Gwen agree quickly which isn’t surprising because mates can’t be separated for longer than a few hours before they start feeling achy and having headaches the pain slowly increasing the longer, they spend apart. Gwen hands the keys to Aria before quickly going and getting in the passenger seat of the truck. Anthon was already in the driver’s seat. I look over at Aria “do they think we’ll change our minds or something? Also do you want me to drive?” Aria shakes her head. “No, I got a nap in shortly before you woke up, I can tell you are still a little drained. With you volunteering us for grocery shopping that involves navigating through town and you seem to have a talent for getting lost.” She smiles over at me before reaching over and pulling me into a hug. I can tell she is still a little worried over my health by how tight she hugs me. “I’m ok Airy” I mumble softly. I feel her sigh and then smile. A light honk causes us to end our hug. I see Aria flip Anthon off before we head over and get in the car. I pull phone out of my sweatshirt pocket. Aria and Gwen must have dressed me because this was not the outfit, I last remember being in. I’ve got tight dark grey yoga leggings on that have a lilac floral pattern that travel up the sides. I can tell I have a sports bra on underneath the hobo style sweatshirt that’s a light gray with a large front pocket that had my phone in it.   Aria must notice me going through my different music playlists because she mumbles and apology saying that she just turned on the first playlist she got to. I shrug “It’s really no big deal. I don’t have any music in any of my playlists I don’t like.” I switch my music over to my classic rock playlist and subtly bop my head to Aerosmith. I feel a slight pressure in my head, and I start frowning, lightly pressing my fingertips to my temples. I barely even notice Aria following Anthon as he pulls back onto the highway. “What’s wrong?” I hear the deep concern in Aria’s voice. I’m pretty concerned too. After I have an episode, I usually am low on magic for a few days then I have at least a week before I have to start using my second my sight to help regulate my magic levels. This pressure in my head is my second sight trying to show me something. That’s not weird, my second sight is one of my most powerful gifts which is why I use it so often, but it also requires a steady amount of magic which I shouldn’t have after the episode. “My second sight is acting up. It must be really important.”  I tell Aria. I turn around and see my duffle bag in the back seat. I reach in and grab a sketch book and my charcoal case. I tune into my second sight and start sketching losing myself to my music and the vision. Second sight is the ability to see things past, present, and future. I lose track of time as I lose myself to the sight. Eventually I feel someone tapping my cheek. I blink several times as I pull myself out of the sight. I look over and see Aria watching me with a concerned look on her face. I try to give her a reassuring smile but I’m not sure if I succeed. I look down at my sketch book and I am surprised by what I see. It’s a guy’s face, well more exactly it’s half his face. The other half is a wolf. From what I can see the guy has medium length black hair that falls across is forehead with a slight curl, oh and he is completely gorgeous. Even in black and white color spectrum. His wolf is just as gorgeous. I believe, based on the shading or lack thereof that his wolf is a white wolf. The wolf’s eyes are intense, but they also hold a look of loyalty and devotion that matches the look in the man’s eyes. “Do you think that could be your mate?” I feel Aria looking over my shoulder. I can’t seem to look away I’m struck by a soul deep longing for this man and his wolf that is ridiculous since all I’ve seen is this picture. “He’s hot” Aria remarks. Before I know what, I’m doing I realize that I’m growling. I take a deep breathe and close my eyes. While my eyes are closed, I closed the cover of the sketch book, so I don’t get caught up in a staring contest with a drawing. “I’m sorry but based off my wolf’s reaction I would say there is a good chance he is my mate.” I glance over at Aria I see a sad pained look in her eyes before she blinks, and it disappears. I grab her hands and hold on to them tight. “We won’t stop until we find your mate too.” I give a little smile “Who knows he could be my mates best friend.”   Aria looks in my eyes for a moment before a determined look in her eyes. “You’re right, we are hunters for f***s sake. If we can’t find him then no one can.” She returned my smile “We might even get lucky and get a Twofer when we find your mate.” She adds with a wink.  “Come on let’s put the suitcases in the back seat so we can put the groceries in the trunk.” I nod and get out, together we quickly get the large suitcases situated in the back. We come up with a shopping plan while we walk into the store. I take the cart and head to off to shop the perimeter of the store while Aria takes a basket and hunts out the few items we need from within the aisles. I quickly get the fruits and vegetables that we use before moving to the butcher counter and placing my meat order. While that is getting prepared, I go over the deli counter and pick up some of their prepackaged pasta salads and sandwich meats. Just as I head back to the butcher’s counter, I notice that I’m being stared at. I look around discreetly and notice a group standing several feet away just staring at me. I focused on allowing my sense of smell to heighten and I was able to tell that they were all wolf shifters. I felt my heart pick up some as my sketch popped into my mind. A huge part of me wanted to go over and ask them about him but then I remembered what Gwen, Warren, and Isabelle warned us about regarding using our powers and how unless we are firmly tied to a pack we shouldn’t disclose our heritage because others would start seeking us out for nefarious reasons. I try to think about why they are staring. It’s mid-September so tourist season is winding down and people are heading home so it shouldn’t be completely crazy to see new people. I know this is mostly a supernatural town so I try thinking about something that would upset them I mean I’m masking me scent. Oh, that’s it, I’m completely masking my scent which I know is very unsettling for shifters. I’m not sure what to do because I can’t mask my scent so that I smell human because humans can’t mask their scent. I bite my lip and try to think of something before I can, I notice that my order is up with the butcher. I start putting the packages in the cart when I realize the butcher is staring at me as well. That’s when I notice he is also a wolf shifter. I look up and meet his eyes when I see his eyes widen and he stares. I silently curse and finish my shopping as fast as I can. I almost run into Aria as I push the cart into the main aisle. As soon as she looks at me her eyes widen. I see her give a split-second long glance over my shoulder to where I know the group of wolves has been stalking me. Aria grabs the cart from me “Keep your head down” I hear her whisper. I follow her to the check and thankfully we are able to get out of the store without incident. “Wait in the car this won’t take long.” I nod feeling guilty that I wasn’t helping but I knew I could draw even more attention to us. When I get in the car, I pull the visor down and flip open the little mirror. I’m not shocked by what I find. My long black hair that can almost look blue it’s so black and always has loose spiraling curls is fine. I don’t have anything on my face it’s just more normal ivory skin, heart shaped lips, and slightly upturned nose. What wasn’t normal were my eyes. I’ve always been told my eyes were unnerving but that was on a normal day where my eyes are a very vivid grey color but on days like apparently today is where my magic is acting, somehow, my eyes are a bright glowing silver. They are completely unnatural and metallic looking. No wonder people were freaked out. Usually I can control my magic better but lately it seems the sacrifices that have been to try and keep my magic from growing have failed. My magic still seems to be growing and causing new issues. I’m starting to worry that there may be nothing I can do to save myself. I feel the sharp pressure in my head again and quickly pull out my sketch book and start sketching. I don’t even notice Aria getting into the car. Nor do I notice the twenty-minute ride. Eventually I feel someone shaking me in my seat and I snap out of my second sight. I look to my right and see Anthon standing with my door open. Gwen and Aria are standing behind him with equally worried expressions. Anthon quickly undoes my seatbelt and pulls me from the car. Gwen quickly wraps her arm around me and walks me inside. The whole time I keep switching between my regular vision and my second sight. I don’t even see our new home. I feel Gwen lower me into a chair then I feel Anthon press a new piece of charcoal in my hand before he opens the sketch book again. I can’t even say anything to him before I am dragged back into my second sight. I lose track of everything around me. I don’t register anything, I don’t feel tired, hungry, thirsty, nothing it’s just my sketchbook and charcoal. When I finally come out of it, I realize several things at once. One, It’s definitely late at night. Two, there are two sketchbooks to my left on a large kitchen table that have been completely filled. Three, I am sore from head to toe. Four, I’m starving and parched. Last but not least our new home is gorgeous. If there was ever a house that found the perfect balance between craftsman, modern, and rustic then this house is it. The house has a semi-open floor plan which means I can see most of it from here. There’s a large kitchen just to my left with simple minimalistic light brown cabinetry, a creamy white quartz countertop, and higher end appliances spotted around. There’s a formal living room in the front left corner of the house with a large bookshelf full of books and some seriously comfy looking furniture. I’m sitting at the head of the large round kitchen table that is set between the kitchen and the family room which is to my right. The table is set behind a large staircase that leads up to the second story so I can’t see the front door or the room in front of the family room. There are large accordion style glass doors that lead out to a medium sized deck with a hot tub and small outdoor kitchen. The deck steps down to a small yard with trees surrounding the whole property. I look back to the family room and notice that the tv is on with a Harry Potter movie playing and there are some pizza boxes and drinks on the large coffee table. There is also a rich brown leather sectional facing the tv on which I can see the others. I stand and start stretching as I walk into the family room. I smile at my three best friends who watch me carefully. I grab a bottle of water and start chugging. When I’m done and have caught my breathe, I look over at them. “Thank you, guys, for always taking care of me. I love all of you.” I smile at them as I reach for the pizza box and take the whole box. I see Gwen and Aria’s shoulders shaking with laughter at Anthon’s mournful expression. After I’ve had an episode Anthon always complains about me and pouts because the guys can never stop eating. Not like all the eating really does much. The guy is 6’4” with a large defined muscular build. He has honey colored hair instead of his sister’s strawberry locks and his face is obviously more masculine with a defined jawline, thinner lips, and a straight nose. Other than that, he looks just like his sister. Gwen has long rich chocolate colored hair that has the slightest wave at the ends, a light mocha skin tone, navy blue eyes, and full lips. She also has a great athletic build that’s lean and lightly muscled with smaller breasts, a firm butt, and long legs that make up a considerable amount of her 5’10” frame. In sum they are a great looking couple. Aria’s build is closer to Gwen than mine. She is slightly shorter at 5’8” and she’s less lean but still has definition to her muscles. She has medium sized boobs and a great ass. As I eat my pizza I think about my mate and wonder what he thinks of me. Both Gwen and Aria say they are jealous of my body. I’m short, especially for a shifter who tend to be taller. At 5’6” I have an hourglass figure that showcases itself with boobs that are on the larger size and a bigger ass and thighs. I’ve always been self-conscious feeling like the short curvy one in our little family. I don’t have supermodel long legs like Gwen or the warrior queen figure and attitude of Aria. I’m in good shape physically but no matter how much I try I can’t get the same definition as my friends. Don’t take that to mean that I am weaker or slower. The opposite in fact. We think that it’s the same thing that happened with my senses how all the extra magic heightens them a lot higher than an average supernaturals would be. “So that was interesting.” I comment after I ate the whole pizza. I see a little smile on Gwen’s face as she snuggles into Anthon’s side. “You mean the pizza, or the elven hour drawing binge you went on and the three sketch books filled with pictures tall dark and handsome and beautiful wolf?” She asks me. I feel my cheeks go red hot as I think about him. I look over at the sketch books. Wondering if they are all of him and his wolf. “What the hell do you mean tall dark and handsome?” Anthon almost screeches. I see Gwen’s smirk and I know she said that just to rile him up. Anthon growls and Picks Gwen up slinging her over his shoulder and using his supernatural speed zooms out of the room and up the stairs. I look over at Aria whose grin is matching mine. “I think we found the quickest way to get Anthon to leave” I mutter which makes Aria give a full belly laugh. I smile to myself while I wonder to myself if my mystery mate would behave the same way. I smile even more just thinking about it. Suddenly I can’t help myself and I get up and grab the three Sketch books and start paging through them. There are thousands of sketches of him and his wolf. Some are just him and others just his wolf. I feel my wolf, Arcadia give off a happy growl at the sight of our mate’s wolf. I send her a silent apology but she shakes her head “Just because I can not run with him in my body does not mean I can not run with him using your body, they are both ours and we are theirs. Besides, I will still be able to be his wolf in the spirit realm. While I would love to be able to run in my form with him, you’re fast enough and sturdy enough that we can still enjoy the chase with him.” I smile at hearing Arcadia in my head. She doesn’t always speak to me with words but when she does, I feel a sense of love and peace that I only feel with my mother. Arcadia rubs against my mine “Your mother is my goddess and you are her daughter; it is my honor to be your wolf.” With that Arcadia steps back into the back of my mind. I look up and see Aria watching the tv but the soft smile on her face shows that she was aware I was staring at the picture. I blushed and kept flipping through the book until I came upon on that wasn’t my mate. I notice something is on the back of the page which is something I never do. I check the back and I feel a surge of joy. I yell Aria’s name and I look up as she jumps and grabs her chest with one hand and the handle of her knife that’s in her boot in the other. When she looks over and sees my face hers scrunches up in confusion. “What the hell Silver! Are you trying to give me a heart attack!” Either because of her yelling or my shout Anthon and Gwen come running into the room from upstairs. Gwen has on a robe and Anthon just has pants on, both have claws out and their eyes have shifted to their animals. When they scan the room, they relax and glare at me. Before I can get yelled at again, I carefully tear out the page in my sketch book and hold it up showing the unknown mans face. It’s a half face just like with the first one I drew of my mate. I see that Aria is fixated on the face and I smile more. Then I flip it over. On the other side is Aria’s lioness snuggled up against a large black wolf. The same black wolf that makes up the second half of the mans face. Before I can do anymore Aria has the picture in her hands staring down at it, constantly flipping it over. Gwen and I sat on either side of Aria and hugged her between us. “I should have put money on our mates being friends!” I say happily. Aria pulls the picture up against her chest like she is hugging her mate. Suddenly it occurs to me that someone hasn’t said anything. I look up at Anthon and see indecision playing on his face. “What?” I asked. He doesn’t say anything just stares at the drawing. Gwen glares at him and Aria gives him a warning growl. His face softens as he looks at his sister. He walks forward and gently pulls Aria up and wraps her up in a hug. “I love you little bit.” I see Aria relax and hug him back. Gwen wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me in for a side hug. “Our family will finally be complete soon” I whisper. We group together into a group hug. After that we all wind up going upstairs. **Two days later** It’s Monday and our first day at the new college. We were lucky that it was early enough in the semester that we could transfer in. Aria and I both have two classes today while Gwen and Anthon have three. We talked about our mates and agreed on masking our scents to smell like shifters. I’m standing in front of my mirror checking my outfit. I have had an antsy feeling ever since I started having the visions of my mate and I can’t help but hope I meet him today. I’ve got a vintage Rolling stones T-shirt on that’s cut to have the neckline tight around my neck with a triangular cutout that shows off some cleavage and the signature Rolling stones logo. I’ve also got black ripped skinny jeans and my motorcycle boots on. I grab my black leather moto jacket, is has a diagonal zipper and a snap collar. I always feel badass wearing it. I pull my thick curls into a tight braid, so I don’t get a tangled mess. I meet Aria in the hallway, and we walk downstairs together. “Are you feeling it too?” I ask her quietly as I walk over to the coat rack and grab my backpack, Aria doing the same thing. “Yes, I think we’ll meet them today.” I notice Aria has her hair pulled up into a perfect French braid and I can tell she has on tight black leather pants and the style of moto jacket that I have in a dark red. She also has her moto boots on completing her completely badass look. When we walk out the front door, and I use my magic to lock it behind us. When we get in the garage it’s to see Anthon and Gwen already straddling their bikes. Gwen smirks over at Anthon when she sees us. “I told you they wouldn’t notice the mudroom with the garage door.” Aria and I pause then look over the where Gwen motioned and see a door with a frosted glass panel that does appear to lead to a mudroom. “Has that always been there?” I ask because I swear that I had investigated the whole house over the weekend. The house had four bedrooms each with their own bathrooms all on the second floor. The basement has a media room and a large space that we turned into a gym as well as a small room where we stored all our weapons. The main floor, I had thought, was just the foyer, living room, a powder room, kitchen, dining space, family room, and the side by side private studies. Anthon frowns at us, obviously not pleased with loosing the bet. “It’s down the same hallway the powder room is in.” He states with a glare. I feel myself blush some. “We’ve been a bit distracted lately” I mumble as I press the button to turn my music up on my earbuds before putting on my helmet. It’s got Bluetooth that links to the others so we can talk to each other but usually we just enjoy the ride. Anthon rides a Triumph Thruxton RS because he loves the retro look with the modern accompaniments. Gwen rides a Ducati Panigale V4S, she loves the speed and handling. Aria likes going off roading, so her bike is a KTM 790 Adventure R. Then there is my beauty, a Kawasaki Z800 in silver and black. The symphony of the purrs from the engines amazing. Slowly we file out of the Garage. Anthon is leading with Gwen behind him then me and Aria bringing up the rear. We maneuver through the twists and turns with ease as we go the fifteen-minute ride to campus. This is definitely a predominately shifter college because there is a large number of bikes in the parking lot. We park our bikes then Anthon, Aria, and myself cast a protective shield over them so we don’t have to worry about damage or theft, though I don’t see theft being too much of an issue. Shifters are very territorial and possessive, so they don’t mess with others stuff and the other supernaturals don’t care to mess with shifters. We decided over the weekend that we would mask our scent to hide the scent of our magic. We didn’t want to mask our full scent because that could interfere with our mates scenting and finding us. When we walked into the building, we already knew we were going to get stared at being the new people in town. We just ignored them and searched for our first class which we all shared. We were the first ones there, so we went to the back and sat taking up the whole left side row. Anthon sat by the aisle then Gwen, Aria, and I was the last chair, so I had the wall and a window right by my seat. Aria and I monitored everyone coming in but most everyone just stared for a few minutes then found their seats and just gave us occasional curious glances. None of them were our mates. I leaned over to whisper to Aria since the professor had just started talking. “I’m going to try using my second sight to see if they are here.” Aria nods and squeezes my hand but keeps hold of my wrist to pull me out if necessary. I close my eyes and slow my breathing. I slowly shift into my second sight focusing it to focus on the present. I use that to look around the school and I feel my heart drop when I don’t see either of them. Before I come out of it, I check the parking lot and I stop breathing for a second. They are here. Standing around our bikes scenting the area. Scenting us. I suspect that some werewolf’s saw the new bikes and new scents and called them in because from what I can’t my mate is the local wolf alpha and Aria’s mate is his beta. I can tell once they realize our scents as their mates because their eyes flash wolf and they jerk their heads to the building. That’s all I see before Aria Jerks my wrist. I let go of the second sight and see everyone getting up and leaving. I look over and see the three looking at me “They are tracking our scent.” I say with a huge smile that Aria copies. Gwen and Anthon wish us luck as we separate in the hallway. Aria and I travel through the hallway constantly monitoring for our mates. Our shoulders droop some when we don’t see them. Since this classroom is laid out the same, we sit in the back row, but we sit right in the middle leaving the seats on the end of the rows open. We sit and watch the door. Quickly dismissing anyone who isn’t our mates. We start frowning when the professor comes in and starts closing the door.  Suddenly some bodies bang into the door not only pushing the professor but causing the door to slam against the wall. The doorway fills with our mates who are staring at us their eyes shining with their wolves.