The Mate Inside

"Starr!" "Yes mom!" I shouted back from upstairs as I heard my mom's worried voice calling out to me. "Is your bag ready?" "It is, mom!" "Are you sure everything you need is in there?" I paused combing through my brown locks as I pinched the bridge of nose before yelling back in response, "It is, mom!" I had tried my best to answer her without letting any impatience deep into my voice. I was already feeling jittery and her constant questioning was unnerving me to no end. It's not like it was my first time doing this. "You didn't forget your spare clothes. Did you?" "God!" Throwing the hair brush on my bed, I grabbed my bag before sprinting downstairs. My white sandals made a loud tapping noise against the clear marble adorning the stairs of our two-storey house. As my fingers grazed the railing, my gaze remained fixated on my jeans-clad thighs. They weren't as toned as those of other warriors of my pack. My mother, the Luna of our pack uses to joke about it saying, 'Maybe, you weren't born to protect Starr. Maybe you were born to be protected.' "Starr!" My feet came to a halt as I witnessed my mother standing at the end of the staircase, staring worriedly at me. "I'm all packed, mom. Here, you can check for yourself." With a little smile tugging at the corners of my lips, I offered my bag to my mother. "Don't make fun of your old mother. I worry for you." A frown formed on my mother's beautiful face as she gave me a look of disapproval. "You're no old woman, mother. You're the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on." "Aren't you just appraising yourself?" I let out a little laugh at my mother's comment. She was right, indeed. I was a splitting image of her. A chip off the old block, as they say. From my brown hair and chocolate coloured eyes to my small button nose and heart-shaped face, I had inherited everything from her. "We should get going." All traces of a smile got wiped off of my face as soon as I heard my father's grave voice. "Dear, aren't you going to wish luck to Starr?" My mother, as always, was desperate to make things right between me and my father—Alpha Adrian. My breath got stuck in my throat as sharp blue eyes met my dull brown ones, staring at me a bit harder than I liked. "Best of luck, Starr." "Thank you, Dad." The exchange was too cold to be considered normal and each one of us knew that. As I followed my parents out of the house, my mind started thinking back to the time it all went wrong. I was their only child, conceived with much difficulty. Even my birth had been a herculean task for them yet somehow my frail body had managed to survive against all odds. My parents took great care of me while growing up, but it all went down the drain when I turned eighteen. Like every other teenager, I had dreams I wanted to fulfil, things I wanted to achieve; after my first shift occurred and I learnt to control my wolf, I had planned to go to college and pursue higher education. I wanted to go to the city, make new friends, and explore the world of this small town, but fate had other plans for me. All my aspirations got crushed the day I turned eighteen without my first shift ever happening. My mother reassured me that I was a late bloomer but my dad was a whole other story. He had gotten weird. I wasn't allowed to move out of the town to attend college until I shifted into my wolf form. He was more worried about this whole matter than I was and his controlling nature only got worse in the next three years as I didn't even shift even after my twentieth birthday. It would've felt better if I had gotten an explanation from his side regarding his changed behaviour but I never did. His silent fretting was killing me. "We're here." My mechanical movements came to a halt as my father uttered those words monotonously. "You need to go on your own from here on." "I know the drill, dad." Tonight was the first full blown moon following my twenty-first birthday. Most of the people my age had already shifted and no one had turned an adult in the previous month leaving me to be the only one trying to shift while lurking in the forest. Werewolves were considered to be their strongest on the full moon, and being near nature helped bring the suppressed animal out. "Return early if nothing happens. Don't waste your time over something that may never happen." "Adrian!" I couldn't help the look of hurt that covered my face upon hearing his words. I didn't mind link them like the other members because I hadn't shifted yet. That must have made them worried about my safety but there was no need to remind me of this again and again. "I'll return after midnight, mom..." 'Hopefully in my wolf form.' I avoided eye contact with my father as I said those words. "I hope it works this time.' My mother had high hopes for me whilst my father just seemed more on the edge than usual. Giving my mother's smiling face one last look, I turned towards the thick belt of trees staring me in the face. I needed to go deep inside the woods. Carrying my bag on my shoulder, I dashed into the forest without looking back. I could feel their stares at me; I was slow, slower than an average wolf. I was nowhere being an athlete. I didn't have any defined muscles and I could never stick to workout routines to save my life, which made me stand out like a sore thumb. I didn't want that. I didn't want to become the black sheep of the family. I had no idea how much I ran before I finally reached my desired place— the lake. It was an infamous place for mates to bathe together. There was a legend associated with this place that if the lake's water touched you and your mate at the same time, your souls would stick together for this life and hereafter. I didn't know where the legend came from nor did it hold any meaning to me. I only came here when I felt lonely, to remind myself that I had a mate out there, that I was in fact not alone. Pressing my lips together, I shook my head trying to get rid of weird fantasies and focus on the situation at hand. It was preferred for one to stay naked waiting for your shift, but after three years of waiting, I had decided to stay in a flimsy gown. 'I'm not staying butt naked in this cold.' Lifting my bag onto a rock, I zipped it open and brought out a white dress with a ruffled hem. I pulled my shirt over my head, removing my pants afterwards as I hummed a song to keep myself calm. No matter how many times I did this, stripping in the woods at night never became easier. After I was done putting on the dress, I sat at the edge of the lake letting my feet soak in the cold water. The waiting was the worst part of this routine. You never knew when to stop. "Starr!" I had lost track of time while tracing weird things with the tip of my finger on the ground when out of nowhere, I had a deep voice calling out to me. It was followed by weird gurgling noises resembling that of a person breathing his last. Before I could even get up to take a look around, my chest was getting heavy. My hand went immediately to clench the cloth resting above my rib cage as my breathing turned more and more erratic with every passing second. 'Is it happening? Am I shifting? Is that how mom described the feeling to me? What did mom even tell me? I couldn't remember anything at that time. My brain was only focused on the intense burning pain arising from the left side of my chest. My lungs were on fire. My guts felt like someone was punching it relentlessly, and my brain was in the worst condition out of the lot; it was getting split into two halves. 'Why is hair not coming out? Bones not morphing...' My head was getting fuzzier by the second. My vision was getting blurred due to the tears flowing out of my eyes. If I had blinked for even one second at that time, I would have surely missed it. I'd have missed the moment my back arched while I was kneeling on the ground and a burst of light came out of my chest taking all my pain away with it. As soon as the feeling disappeared, I fell forward on all fours in exhaustion. 'I didn't shift... yet again.' Fresh tears were brimming my eyes, ready to flow out of my eyes any moment when out of nowhere, a deep voice echoed in my head, "Are you there, Starr?" My eyes widened as I raised my head to find the source of the sound, only to come face to face with a giant black wolf standing less than a foot away from me.