FOX

Chapter 5 - Sebastian

The sun is shining through my window straight to my eyes and burning my retinas. Ugh, I hate mornings. I am a werewolf. I live for the moon, not f*****g sunshine. I hear knocking on my door and already know who it is.

"Get out Selene. I'm not ready for your s**t right now," I growled, and put the pillow on my head, blocking everybody out.

The door opens anyway, and my half-sister barges in, squealing. She then proceeds to jump onto my bed and throw a pillow at me while chewing a pancake in one hand.

I hit her back with the pillow and steal the leftover pancake and put it quickly in my mouth.

"Hey! That's mine. Go take yours. Sophia made a ton of them in the kitchen."

"That's for waking me up early," I fought off Selene pretty easily. Even though I am quite older than her, there's still a brotherly connection between us, which almost always involves fighting or sparring. "Besides, you don't need that. You will not fit into your dress for the ceremony if you keep eating like a monster," I laughed and started to pinch her stomach.

"You monster! I am still a teenager, and besides, I have a f*****g six-pack," Selene swats my hands away from her rock-hard belly and starts tickling me. I will never admit it, but that s**t makes my skin crawl.

"Thanks to me. If I did not put you in training every day, you would be obese." There's no heat in my voice, and I know Selene will not think anything about it. She has no issues with her body, unlike her twin sister Sophia, who I am sure is weighing maple syrup she can eat with those pancakes.

Selene laughed and then sighed, resting her head on the pillow next to me. She chews the remains of her pancake while I pretend that I'm sleeping.

"I know you’re not sleeping. Can I ask you something?"

"No. But I figured you would ask me anyway." Selene rolled her eyes and sighted again. She sights more than pack elders.

"Do you really want the ceremony to happen? Anabelle is not your true mate and what if you find the real one after you mate with her? She's so stupid. Her only asset is her ass."

This again. Selene did not let me rest after I told her about the ceremony. Like any other young pup with their dreams still intact, she is a true believer in the mate bond.

"I told you already, pup. I don't care about that stupid mate bond. If I find my mate, I will reject her and carry on with my life. Anabelle is a great woman, and we need an alliance with her father's pack. Besides, her assets are very valuable." I smirked at Selene, who met my gaze with disgust.

"You only think about one thing, and it's f*****g disgusting."

I shrug my shoulders, and I see a small smile on her lips. What can I say? I am a red-blooded male and Anabelle is a real beauty, but I live for those two pups to smile and not see another heavy day in their life.

"Now get out of my room. I will be down in a couple of minutes to help you deal with that mountain of pancakes."

Selene leaves my room, and I'm left alone in my bed. The mate bond is such a bullshit. My mother loved my father, but then he found his true mate, and he forgot about her immediately, forcing her to disappear and leave me behind.

After finishing breakfast with the twins, I dealt with some urgent pack issues and stayed in my office for a while. I put some of my records of jazz to calm my nerves. Then I felt the familiar scent of lavender and expensive perfume. Anabelle came into my office and gave me a kiss.

"How is my dearest alpha doing today?"

"Lots of work," I sat behind my desk and tried to read the report from yesterday.

She walks around my office, touches different things on my desk, and pushes them to their appropriate places.

"You know, we will need to remodel the house after I become Luna. It looks too old. I want it to be modern and not look like a hut. The house is in dire need of some throw pillows."

I frown. I love this house. I don't want any details to change.

"We have throw pillows."

"Yeah, but they are all dull, the pack house needs color and light” She claps her hands in excitement but I don’t have time for that.

"We will discuss it after the ceremony, okay? I have a lot of paperwork now.”

We would never change a thing about this place—except if the twins want it. This is their home, and Anabelle has to come to terms with it.

"Sure, babe. I just want to participate in creating our new family."

I smile at her with clenched teeth and think she will leave now, but she sits in the chair opposite me and looks around. I try to concentrate on my paperwork, but she is hitting the armchair with her long acrylic nails. The music is still playing, and it's the only thing keeping me sane. She sights.

"I just don't understand jazz. It's so boring. You can't dance to it. I like something more upbeat, something like Taylor Swift or Ariana Grande. Can you put something on?"

"I'm sorry, but they don't make vinyl records, Anabelle." I say irritated, but remind myself of the assets.

"I can buy a more modern music player. You could connect it to your phone, and we could share our playlists?" She sounds excited, and I find that it hits my nerves. Anabelle is great as far as the girl could go. I mean, she's not ugly and agrees to everything. Well, she did until we started planning the mating ceremony. Now, she thinks she is already a Luna and goes around the pack, suggesting her opinion on everything.

"I will think about it, but I like my record player."

"Okay, but think about it. You need to keep up with the times," she stands up and leaves my office.

I closed the door and locked it, so nobody could interrupt me again. I work until late at night, standing up just to change the records from time to time and when Sophia brings me dinner to the office. She is such a motherly figure, acting like a real Luna. After our shared father died, their mother killed herself because she couldn't live without him. I think they still blame me for that, but I blame that stupid mate bond. I was left caring for a whole pack and two underaged girls when I was only 18. That would mature anyone quickly enough. I was still astonished that I didn't have grey hair from all the s**t twins and the pack gave me every day. I need a Luna to help me with things anyway, and alliance with Anabelle’s pack will be valuable too.

Around 2 am, I get myself to my room and crash into my bed; after a couple of minutes, I am fast asleep.

I have a dream. I am in the main pack hall where the Luna's ceremony should be held. And I'm dancing with somebody. I see that I'm holding the woman so close to me. I'm afraid she will run away so I press her harder. We dance, and I brush her long red hair, which is cascading to her back. I can't see her face because I hold her close to me, but I feel her soft breath and body against me, and I can feel her sweet salted caramel smell; I inhale, and it feels so real. It's intoxicating. The dream feels so real. Then suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my neck, and I opened my eyes just to see that red-haired woman from the dream looking straight into my eyes and holding a dagger to my throat. The only thing I can mutter is mate.