Embracing My Wolf

Chapter 7

Shay's POV

I just witnessed the most amazing but scariest thing I have ever seen in my life. I couldn't believe my body would be doing that in a few months. I was terrified. I wonder if there was a way I could avoid it happening. I have to admit though that their wolves were beautiful. Kaylee's wolf was a reddish brown color and had the same green eyes her human form had. Alyssa and Melissa's wolves were identical. They were both a dark shade of gray. The tips of their ears and tail were white, as well as their front paws. Both of their wolves had blue eyes, Sarah's wolf was a medium shade of brown a little lighter than her actual hair color. Her eyes were a light brown color. I watched them all take off running after they shifted. It was a sight to see.

The next day, I was up early but the girls didn't start waking up until the afternoon. I could imagine that they were all exhausted from their shift. Me, on the other hand, could barely sleep because of my nerves. I wasn't the partying type, but here I was getting ready to attend a huge party with a pack of werewolves. I was having second thoughts about attending. Alyssa was the first one to wake up.

"Hey, how long have you been up?" She asked.

"Since around eight I think," I said. "I could barely sleep."

"What's wrong?"

"Just nervous about tonight," I said.

"And everything else to come," she said knowingly. "I can only imagine how hard all of this must be for you. We all grew up knowing that this would be happening to us. We literally knew our whole life that we were werewolves and this was just thrust upon you suddenly. It's a lot to take in but I want you to know we're here for you."

"I appreciate that," I told her. I don't know how I would be able to handle all of these changes if I hadn't made the friends that I made.

"Plus, when you find your mate you'll be able to relax about things a little more."

"I doubt it," I said. "I don't date but I'm used to the human way of dating first and everything else later. I can't imagine this love at first sight soul mate thing."

"I can't say I understand, because it's all we know as wolves. Your mate is the one the Moon Goddess has picked for you. The other half of yourself."

"I still don't know how to feel about all of that, but I guess I'll see in a few months."

After the other girls woke up, we ate lunch, then spent the rest of the day relaxing. Before I knew it, it was time to start getting ready for the party. We spent the time helping each other with hair and makeup before putting our dresses on. Kaylee was in strapless emerald green satin dress that went down to the floor. Her red lipstick matched her red stilettos perfectly. Her red hair was in loose curls framing her face. Sarah was in a short red halter dress. It stopped a few inches above her knees, showing off her long legs. She wore black high heels to go with her smokey eye makeup. Alyssa's dress was my favorite. She wore a long sky blue dress with a slit on the left side. Her hair was up in a bun with blue flowers surrounding it. Melissa wore a black dress that was a little above her knees in the front and long in the back. She wore her hair straight with a part down the middle. They all looked so beautiful. After untwisting my hair, I puffed it up a little to let my natural curls stay wild and free. I put on my dress and they all looked at me in wonder, amazed that I made the dress myself. I had on a gray dress that was close to my eye color. There was a slit on the left and right sides that went up to my thigh. The back of the dress was dipped low and stopped in the middle of my back. The top of the front of the dress had criss-cross straps that went around my neck.

"You definitely have to make all of my party dresses," said Melissa. "I love your dress."

"It's gorgeous," said Sarah. "Where did you learn to sew?"

"I taught myself," I told them. "I never liked hanging out or anything, so I decided to learn sewing since I like fashion."

We took a few pictures together before heading out to the party. Alyssa grabbed my hand to comfort me. I was a ball of nerves. The ballroom looked amazing. There were lights all over and bouquets of flowers on each table. Music was playing loudly and everyone was dancing, enjoying themselves. I wonder how many of them found their mates already. We found a table close to the front and sat down.

"A few other packs will be here tonight," Sarah said. "My mate might be in another pack because I don't think he's in ours." She looked sad. "I'll have to leave if my mate is in another pack."

"Why?" I asked.

"The female usually leaves her pack and takes the rank of her mate if he is in another pack," she said.

"That isn't fair," I said. "Why can't the male move?"

"That's just not how things are done," she said.

"Sounds kind of sexist to me," I said, making all of them stare at me. It was my opinion but I believed it to be true. It was sexist for a female to have to uproot her whole life for a man because he lived in a different pack. That should be a choice they made together. I could tell that this mate thing was going to be hard for me and it wasn't even time for me to find mines yet.

Melissa's POV

The girls and I were on the dance floor dancing together. We decided we weren't going to stress about finding our mate tonight. We were going to just have a good time and let it happen. We danced for three songs before deciding to take a break and head back to our table when I caught the most amazing smell of caramel. Could it be? I paused mid step, making Alyssa bump into me.

"What's wrong?" She asked. The other girls stopped walking too.

"Our mate is near," Mya said. "I can smell him. You have to find him."

"Mya says our mate is here," I told the girls. I scanned the room and locked eyes with the most handsome face ever. A big smile came across my face as he walked quickly over to me.

"MATE!" He growled, grabbing me by the waist and pulling me close to him.

"Hi Zachary," I said. "I was hoping you were my mate."

"I've had my eyes on you," he said. "You're mine." He pulled me to the dance floor and we began dancing, never taking our eyes off of each other. This was the best birthday ever.

Alyssa's POV

Our eyes locked from across the room. The most handsome man I have ever laid eyes on. I knew he wasn't from my pack because I had never seen him before. I couldn't keep my eyes off of him. The girls were talking to me but I didn't hear anything they were saying. I watched my mate walk closer to me as Lyla purred "Mate" in my head. I never thought my mate would be from another pack. I never imagined living away from my sister and my friends, but I could see myself without him either and we haven't even met yet. He finally got to my table and put his hand out to me. No words were necessary for us at the moment. It's like we already knew what the other wanted. I guided him to the back door and out to the garden. I was mesmerized by his hazel eyes. We sat in the garden for hours getting to know each other before we headed up to my room.

Shay's POV

I'd never seen anything like it. Romantic movies couldn't prepare me for seeing everyone here finding their mate. It was like everything was moving in slow motion for them once they saw each other and no one else existed. They were going to turn me into a romantic.

"OK. I'm going to call it a night," Sarah said. "My mate isn't here but I'm happy the twins found theirs. It looks like Alyssa will be leaving us."

"Wait. Her mate isn't from this pack?" I asked. "What pack is he from?"

"I'm not sure," Sarah said. "I've never seen him before but we'll find out tomorrow." We started walking to the packhouse. "Kaylee, are you OK? I know you wanted to find your mate."

"I'm fine," she said shortly. "I just need to be alone." She walked away from us and headed up to her room.

"I thought we would stay in her room since it was the three of us left, but I guess not," Sarah said. "You can stay at my house tonight."

"We're already here and the Alpha set up a room for me just in case you all find your mates tonight. The two of us can stay together and meet up with the girls tomorrow," I told her.

The next morning, Sarah and I met up with the girls in the dining area on the Beta floor. Kaylee was the only one missing. I guess she was still down about not finding her mate last night. It was so cute seeing the twins cuddled up with their mates. They introduced us to them as we ate. Melissa's mate was the warrior that she had been crushing on named Zachary. I was happy for her that she got to be with the one she wanted to be with. Alyssa's mate was the Beta of a pack called Blue Lake Pack that was about 2 hours away. His name was Jeremy. I was sad that she would be leaving, but happy that she wasn't going to be way too far away. She told us that she wouldn't be leaving the pack until after graduation because she didn't want to switch schools and wanted us all to graduate together. We were joking around when Sarah went stiff in her seat.

"Hey, this is my Alpha-" Beta Jeremy started to say.

"MATE!" The guy he was about to introduce growled before grabbing Sarah from her seat.

Wow! I have no words at all. I was literally stuck in my seat looking at them staring at each other. Before I knew it, they were kissing and I had to turn away. The twins started laughing as Sarah and her mate ran out of the dining area together.

"OK, well that was my Alpha Timothy and I guess your friend is his mate," Beta Jeremy said. "And to think he didn't even want to come last night. I bet he's happy he did now."

"So that means me and Sarah will be leaving together," Alyssa said. "Goddess, yes. I'll have a friend there with me."

"Have any of you seen Kaylee?" I asked. "She was pretty down last night."

"She didn't find her mate?" Melissa asked

"No," I said. "When we left, she wanted to be alone."

"Let's go check on her," Alyssa said. She kissed her mate. "We'll be back."

The twins and I headed to the gamma floor to check on Kaylee. She didn't answer when we knocked, so Melissa opened the door. Kaylee was still in her bed bundled under her covers.