Embracing My Wolf

Chapter 8

Kaylee's POV

I can't believe he's not my mate. He didn't even look at me last night. I was happy for Melissa and Alyssa, but I was sad for myself. I wanted to find my mate so badly and I thought for sure it would be him. How could I be so in love with someone that wasn't my mate?

"You'll forget all about him once we find our mate," Kia said.

"I'll never forget him," I told her. "I love him."

After we left the party last night, I just needed to be alone. I spent most of the night crying until I fell asleep. I woke up to the girls coming into my room to check on me. I really didn't feel like talking, but I knew they wouldn't leave me alone. I didn't feel like anyone feeling sorry for me. I know it's not guaranteed to find your mate as soon as you turn 18. Some people spend years looking for their mate. I don't want to be one of those people.

"You'll find your mate," Melissa said. "Maybe he's in another pack that didn't come yesterday. There will be another party in a few months."

"I know," I told her. "I'll get over it. Where's Sarah?"

"She found her mate this morning," Alyssa said. It took all of my restraint not to roll my eyes. I was happy for my friends but I couldn't help but to be jealous. They all found their mates. Shay was the only other mateless one, but that was because she wasn't 18 yet. "Her mate is the Alpha and mine is the Beta of the same pack."

Seriously, just rub it in. "I'm going to shower and I'll meet you all downstairs," I told them. I needed to get away from them before I screamed.

Once they walked out, I headed into my bathroom to jump in the shower. It was going to be a long day.

Ivy's POV

I didn't need some party to tell me who my mate was because I already knew. All eyes would be on me tonight because I looked amazing, but I only had eyes for Isaiah. I sat at my table with my friends waiting for him to arrive. It was getting late and he still wasn't here. I watched so many mates find each other while I was still sitting there. Finally, he walked in and I headed right over to him but nothing happened.

"What's going on?" I asked my wolf.

"He's not our mate," she said.

"Yes he is," I shouted at her.

"No he isn't," she shouted back before retreating to the back of my mind.

I was furious. What kind of cruel joke was the Moon Goddess playing on me? He was supposed to be my mate. I love him and we are meant to be together. The Moon Goddess got it wrong.

"You look great Ivy," Isaiah said to me.

"Thank you. So do you," I told him, taking his hand and pushing my body close to him. I would just have to get him to take me as his chosen mate.

He pulled himself away from me and got a far off looking his eyes. No! I know that look. I witnessed a bunch of them tonight. His mate could not be here. She must be from another pack. If she was from this pack, he would've known who he was already. I will just have to keep him occupied until these other packs leave.

"Let's go outside to talk," I said, pushing him outside, not giving him a chance to object.

"Look Ivy," he said. "What we had was good, but like I told you a few months ago, you are not my mate and I want my mate. You deserve to be happy with your mate too."

"But we're so good together. I'll be a great Luna for the pack when you become Alpha," I told him. "I was meant to be by your side."

"No, you were meant to be by your mate's side," he said, walking away.

We'll just see about that. I didn't even bother going back inside. I got in my car and drove back to my house. I'll be damned if another she-wolf got what was mine. Isaiah belonged to me. I knew a lot of witches and I would get one of them to help me if I needed it.

The next day, I headed over to the packhouse to see if I could talk to Isaiah again, but he wasn't there. That meant he didn't find his mate last night unless he'd still be locked in his room with her. That was good for me. I know he smelled her last night but she must have left before he could find her. I sat in the living room so that I could see him when he came back but after sitting for a few hours, he still didn't come. Tired of waiting, I headed to the door to leave when, at the same time, his twin sister, their friends and some guys I had never seen before were coming down the stairs. I noticed that the girl with eyes like our Alpha's was with them too. What was she doing here? Was she a part of this pack now?

Shay's POV

Watching the girls with their mates was adorable to me. I wasn't one to believe in fairy tales in real life but they were beginning to change my mind about all of that being possible. We decided to have dinner outside of the pack before they dropped me off at home. We took one of the pack's bigger vehicles so that all of us would be able to fit inside together and wouldn't need a second car. Everyone was all smiles except for Kaylee. She was still upset about the guy she was hoping to be her mate ending up not being her mate. I wonder who he was. She looked crushed and I could see the jealousy all over her face when she looked at the other girls. I hope her jealousy didn't start to affect the friendships they had for so long. We found out that Alyssa and Sarah's mate were from a pack called Blue Lake pack and they were allies with my uncle's pack.

After eating dinner at one of the restaurants that Sarah's father owns, they dropped me off at home. I reminded the girls that I would be coming with them afterschool tomorrow to start my training before getting out of the car and heading into my house. The door was unlocked, which was strange. Living in the city, we never left our door unlocked, so I knew that was a habit both me and Aunt Maria brought with us. I walked into the house and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Something was wrong.

"Aunt Maria," I called out. "Aunt Maria." I walked further into the house and saw that the furniture was turned over. I was starting to get scared. What happened in here? I saw blood on the floor as I walked into the kitchen and stopped. No. I didn't want to believe that something had happened to my aunt. Why was there blood? I took my phone from my pocket and dialed Melissa's number. I hope they weren't too far away.

"Hello Shay," Melissa answered. "Is everything OK?"

"I need you to come back and get me." I walked further into the kitchen and saw more blood. "I think something happened to my Aunt..... aaahhhhhhh." I started screaming.

"Shay...Shay are you ok?" The last thing I heard was Melissa shouting before everything went black.

*********************

When I woke up I could barely open my eyes because the lights were so bright. My head was pounding and my vision was a little blurred. Where was I? What happened to me? I tried to think about the last thing I could remember. I remember being at the pack with the girls. I remember them dropping me off at home. Then it hit me. I jumped up and started yelling for my aunt. She was dead. How could this be?

"Shay calm down," I heard a voice say. "Shay please calm down." I felt arms wrap around me and I started crying. I was so hurt. My aunt was gone. She has been with me my whole life and now she is gone. Where would I go now? What would I do without my aunt? I looked up and saw that it was my uncle that had his arms wrapped around me. He held me tight and kissed the top of my head before helping me back into bed. Once I was in bed, I looked around and saw that the twins were also in the room with me. They explained to me that I passed out when I was on the phone with Melissa. They got to me quickly because they weren't too far away.

"These two wouldn't leave your side," my uncle said. "I reached out to your mom. I'm just waiting for her to return my call."

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"Three days," Melissa said. "The doctor said it was because of the trauma you suffered seeing your aunt that way. And...." she stopped talking and looked at my uncle.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"When you got here you were trying to shift even though you were passed out. We've never seen anything like that before. I can sense your wolf now. You might shift before your birthday," my uncle said.

No this can't happen. I needed more time. I needed time to mourn my aunt. I couldn't think about shifting into a wolf right now. The machine I was hooked up to started beeping rapidly. My heart was racing and I felt like I couldn't breathe. Doctors ran into the room and put an oxygen mask over my mouth before inserting something into my IV. I felt my eyes getting heavy before I drifted off to sleep.