Chapter 1: Rose
“Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet.”
― Plato
“Rose! Wake up!” Auntie Maria screamed from downstairs.
Rubbing her tired eyes, Rose turned to the side of the bed to peer at her digital alarm clock. The time read 8 a.m. With a small groan, she got out of bed, wondering how she had slept through the alarm for 7:30 a.m. Maybe it was because Rose absolutely abhorred waking up early. Quickly getting ready for school and grabbing a piece of toast on her way out, Rose was ready to go get her driver’s license. Today was her 16th birthday, which meant she could officially drive. Auntie Maria had already bought her a car as a present and Rose could barely contain her excitement as she submitted all the necessary paperwork with Auntie Maria hovering nearby excitedly at the division of motor vehicles office. The two high-fived each other once Rose was officially awarded her license.
“This is the best day,” Rose sighed in contentment.
She gave Auntie Maria a quick hug before moving to get into her new car.
Auntie Maria called after her from the parking lot, “Rose darling, be home on time today. We have some people coming over for your sixteenth birthday party tonight!”
Rose was startled by this revelation. Since before Rose could even remember, it had always just been Auntie Maria and her. Her parents had died in a tragic airplane accident, leaving Rose in the guardianship of her mother's sister, Auntie Maria.
Rose couldn’t even remember the last time her aunt had ever had any company over. Even Rose wasn’t allowed out much, sending Auntie Maria into fits of rage the few times she had tried sneaking out to parties. It wasn’t worth the disappointment or the worry she caused her loving aunt. Of course, Auntie Maria always tried to do something special over the weekends or during extended holidays. Young and full of life, the ladies enjoyed each other’s company, especially since Auntie Maria was so young at heart. Rose often wondered why her aunt had never settled down.
Reaching school, Rose found her longtime crush, Jake, standing in the parking lot. With sandy blond hair and light blue eyes that made all the girls go crazy, Jake was one of the most popular boys at school. Rose was a bookworm with only Erica as her best friend. The only thing Jake and Rose had in common were a few senior-level classes.
As a consequence of her social life being non-existent, Rose threw herself into her studies and she really loved learning. Her mind had an innate thirst for knowledge. It was why, eventually, the educators in her life had advised that it would be best for Rose to take college level AP classes so that she could be appropriately academically challenged. Auntie Maria had been thrilled that her little Rose was such a smart girl. It did nothing whatsoever to help Rose’s popularity or luck in the romance department of her life.
Faltering a little as she walked toward Jake, Rose had to pause a moment to gather her courage. Even if she was the youngest out of all of them, she was still a junior and had some senior-level classes with Jake.
“Hey, Jake!” Rose exclaimed, walking towards the handsome boy she had been crushing on for the past few months.
Jake nodded towards her, scanning her from head to toe.
“Hey, Rose, what’s up?”
He was eyeing her approaching form with interest.
“Not much. How’s your paper coming along?” she inquired, running a hand through her mahogany wavy hair.
They both had the same history class.
“It's going all right. Hey, maybe later we should get together and run over a few ideas with each other?” he inquired eagerly.
“Yeah…let’s do it!” Rose agreed, more enthusiastically than she probably should have.
His eyes squinted, gazing intently at the dark red splotchy birthmark on her pale upper arm.
“Did you get hurt or something?”
“Oh,” Rose said, a little embarrassed. “It’s…it’s nothing. It’s just a birthmark. I usually don’t wear tank tops, so no one can really see it. But this outfit…”
Twirling, so he could take in the silky white tank top and black ripped jeans she was wearing with black leather combat boots, Rose said, “Erica picked it out for me, and I couldn't say no to her.”
Rose blushed; she was rambling a bit.
“Nice. I think that birthmark looks cool,” Jake said with an approving nod.
“Thanks,” Rose said, grinning over his approval.
She mentally checked herself. She didn't want to look too enthusiastic over his opinion.
“So, well…see you.”
Jake nodded at her before adjusting his backpack on his shoulder and walking into the school with his friends.
“See you,” Rose said softly to the boy's retreating back.
He didn’t even hear her as he pushed through the school’s double doors.
* * *
Xavier, Alpha of the Crimson Phoenix Pack, stood back in the shadows of the high school watching his mate talking to Jake. He was tall at 6’ ft 1” but was able to blend into the crowd hanging around the high school building. Maybe it was because he was only eighteen. Many people mistook him for a senior. A couple of girls had walked by, eyeing him appreciatively. He was an alpha and a werewolf, so his frame was muscular and leaner than most of the boys in this human high school. But Xavier paid the girls no mind; his eyes were focused solely on Rose disappearing into the building. There she was. The girl everyone said was supposed to be his luna. This wasn’t fair. He’d come her to scope things out. To figure out his next move. He did not want some stranger as his luna.
Clenching his fists angrily, he couldn’t help but wonder what to do next. Obviously, he felt the pull of his mate, but it was not so strong that he was unable to fight it off. What would his girlfriend say when she found out? He had been with Alyssa for the past six months and breaking off his relationship with her just because the moon goddess had marked some girl as his mate was unfair to his girlfriend and to himself. He couldn’t just develop feelings at the push of a button…could he?
Turning to go back to his car, Xavier looked down at his phone where the screensaver was that of him and Alyssa smiling up at the camera as they hugged each other. Alyssa's long blonde hair and shining blue eyes made his heart twinge. How could he leave her? She had been his rock through his father’s death. And he had been hers when her father was being overbearing. Theirs was a love born from being there for each other in tough times. He loved her. She loved him. It would absolutely crush her if he left her.
“I wish you were still here, Dad,” Xavier muttered, staring up at the sky as if expecting an answer.
As always, there was no answer, so Xavier quietly got into his car and drove away.
A/N: Wonderful readers, if you are just joining us on this journey, i am compelled to warn you that this book is a slow burn with explosive spice (when it finally happens). Also, to keep the cost of the book minimal, some key spicy scenes are in the companion book titled HMOHG companion book. Lastly, this is book 1 in a 6 book series.
