The Fated

NOVA On the first full moon of each new year, there is a Ceremony. This Ceremony is dedicated to every eighteen year old in the Beach Moon pack. It's known as the Wolving Ceremony and every single pack member who has reached the age of eighteen will meet their wolf for the very first time. Once we are sworn in as adult members of the pack, we shift and together we run the perimeter of our land in unison. Once we return from our first shift and our first pack run, we take the blood oath and learn our ranks. The truly lucky ones, and the higher ranking wolves also find their mates during this Ceremony. Eventually, every member of the pack will find their mate. But Alphas, Betas and Gammas almost always become mated on this fateful night. I am Nova Solara, the first born daughter of Alpha Oren Solara and Farrah Solara, formerly Farrah Lancaster, of the Beach Moon pack. Tonight is not only the most highly anticipated night of my life, but it also happens to be my birthday. The Moon Goddess must have planned something quite special for me, why else would she have coordinated my birthday to fall on the very same night of my Wolving Ceremony? *** I blink the sleep out of my eyes to find the sun shining into my bedroom. The canopy above my four-post bed sparkles in the rays of sunshine. I can't stop the smile from spreading on my face. This is it! Tonight I meet my wolf, and hopefully, my mate! Practically shivering with delight, I roll out of bed to eagerly start my day. I want to look good, even though the festivities only begin at sundown and we'll all be wearing our ceremonial robes embroidered with our family crests, I still have a whole day of school to look forward to and I want to impress. "A high ranking wolf must be prepared, presentable, punctual and polite. That is your role, you are the Alpha's daughter, and you will act like it," my mothers words echo in my head. My Mom has always done her best to prepare me for this life and all the expectations that come with it. Having been the daughter of an Alpha herself, she knows how important my appearance, education, training and manners are. I choose my clothes accordingly. I want to look presentable, but that doesn't mean I need to dress like a prude. I am eighteen and extremely fit. As one of the higher ranking female wolves of the pack, I have been training since the age of ten years old. My parents strongly believe a female of my rank and size must be fully capable of defending not only herself but her entire pack. I won't hide what the Moon Goddess has blessed me with physically when I can flaunt my curves and still maintain a polished appearance. I choose a dark grey long sleeved turtleneck sweater with two holes shaped into the fabric exactly where my shoulders sit and a tear-shaped peekaboo neckline to show off just the right amount of cleavage. I pull on my favourite dark wash high rise jeans, lace up my burgundy leather boots and finish it off with my long opal pendant hanging delicately around my neck. My grandmother, Frieda Lancaster, gave me this pendant before she passed. Mom had it made into a necklace for me on my last birthday. It is one of my most prized possessions. I can't explain it, but the feeling of the heavy opal pendant resting between my collarbones always makes me feel powerful, confident and safe. It's like carrying a piece of my bad*ss, tough as nails grandmother around with me everywhere I go. Once I've fixed my hair to fall in perfect beachy waves down my back and add a slight bit of mascara on my lashes for that tiny extra "umph", I smile at my reflection with satisfaction and leave my room. My door opens at the same time as the one across from me. On the landing stands Maverick Brisbane. His parents, Mason and Mavis Brisbane are the male and female Betas of Beach Moon and are thus extremely close with my parents. Thanks to our familial standings, we grew up together... and we've been best friends our entire lives. He flashes me his dazzling smile and flips his shoulder length curly hair out of his piercing blue eyes. "Good morning, gorgeous. Since when are you ready at an appropriate hour? If your mother could see this, she'd fall on her a**," he teases. "Today is a special occasion, don't get used to it," I shrug him off with an eye roll. We race down the stairs together, laughing and shoving each other as our shoes slap down on each set of steps. On the main floor, the smell hits my nose. I moan loudly, not even trying to maintain composure. There is one thing a wolf loves almost as much as their pack, and that's food. I am no exception to this common werewolf trait. "Get it together, Nova, you almost made me slip in your drool," Maverick jokes. "Good, if you slip and fall, I'll get to the dining hall first and snag both our plates of food," I wink back at him over my shoulder. The minute my body steps foot in the dining hall, my mother swoops in like a hawk. Maverick detects her before I do and slips away without her noticing. "Darling, you look lovely! How exciting is this?! My baby's Wolving Ceremony and her eighteenth birthday, I feel so proud! Now, you remember you must meet with your father and I two hours beforehand to go over everything, yes? You have important duties you must tend to..." her voice goes from pure, unrestrained delight to utterly stern and zero-tolerance-for-bullsh*t. "Yes, Luna," I respond immediately. There are times when she is Mom, and other times when she is Luna. During my eighteen years on this Earth, it did not take long for me to learn which moments were which. "Happy Birthday, baby girl. Eighteen already! It feels like just a few short years ago, you were just a tiny pup, greedy for her mother's milk," Dad joins Mom and I in the doorway of the dining hall. "Daaaad!" I groan through gritted teeth. Leave it to him to bring up something so gross and embarrassing right now within earshot of nearly every single member of this pack. "So sorry, my girl. Your mother is right, you look so grown up. I am honoured that the Moon Goddess chose us to be your parents. We just wanted to wish you happy birthday before you left for school. Your mother and I have a lot to do to prepare for tonight, so we won't be eating with you. Go join Maverick and we'll see you later today," Dad instructs. "Yes, Alpha... and thanks, Dad," I wrap my arms around him in a tight hug before we separate and walk off in different directions. I turn to find Maverick in the crowded dining hall. I spot him sitting at the northern point of the enormous room, directly under the floor-to-ceiling windows. He is already stuffing his face with bacon, eggs, pancakes, hashbrown and sausages, laughing away. The bastard. Before I make my way over to sit next to him, I am struck with a sudden and overwhelming thought. Maverick is really, really, beautiful. I mean, as werewolves, we are all extremely attractive. It is one of the many ways you can tell us apart from regular humans when we are not in wolf form... but right now especially, I realize how stunning Maverick truly is. His dark curly hair hangs down loosely, barely touching his strong, broad shoulders. His icy blue eyes twinkle in the light, his perfect teeth shine brilliantly thanks to his radiant smile, visible from meters away. Why have I never focused on this before? My stomach is doing crazy flips and dips, making me nervous and chasing away my hunger from moments ago. No way, I am not missing out on this amazing breakfast thanks to whatever the h*ll that was... I shake it off and cross the hall to meet up with Maverick. He is sitting across the table from Blair Stormis. Blair's parents are the male and female Gammas of the Pack. As I approach, I make out what the two are chatting about: mates. "With your luck, your mate will be Agnes!" Blair smacks Maverick's arm lightly as he cackles. Maverick grins but shakes his head. "You're such an a**hole, you'd be lucky to have your mate be someone as level headed and mature as Agnes. She's out of your league, buddy." My heart swells with pride when I hear Maverick defend poor Agnes, even when his own friend is the one making jokes at her expense. Agnes is a small, quiet and intelligent wolf. She sometimes gets picked on by the other wolves when she isn't around, I'm not sure if she even knows this. I hate making fun of people and I hate when Blair does it, especially under these circumstances. They're talking about the Wolving Ceremony, and the chance that the three of us will possibly find our mate tonight... that is something so intensely sacred. Maverick and I have dreamed about this day for most of our lives. I'm glad to see he isn't making it all into a big joke like Blair is. As much as we love Blair, he can be such an d**k. I sit down next to Maverick and start heaping mounds of breakfast onto my plate, interrupting their conversation. "Ah, the Chosen One finally joins us. Did Mommy and Daddy surprise you with a birthday gift this morning? Was it another antique?" Blair wiggles his eyebrows, taunting me to lose my cool. "I haven't gotten any birthday gifts yet, which is fine by me. Tonight alone is a gift to all of us. I'm not some "Chosen One" either, by the way. Cut the sh*t," I respond, barely looking at him and refusing to give him the time of day. Blair throws his head back and laughs with a mouthful of food, loving my reaction. Maverick chuckles too and bumps his shoulder against mine. "Atta girl, now hurry up and eat! The three of us are riding in style this morning. Dad lent me the Denali so we wouldn't have to wait for the bus today," he grins. Maverick's parents just recently bought a brand new truck, fully loaded with all the bells and whistles and the most luxury a truck can get. Let's be real, anything beats the bus, but nothing beats the smell of "new car" and fresh leather seats on your way to school. I wiggle eagerly in my seat and hurry to finish my food. While I chatted with my parents and stood there ogling at Maverick's good looks (which I refused to reflect on too deeply at the moment) everyone else had pretty much finished eating. I'm back to rushing in order to stay on time, something my mother would greatly disapprove of. Once I swallow my last bite of food, I stand with my plate and the three of us walk to the kitchen window to drop off our dishes. The omega at the counter smiles and takes our plates and utensils, wishing me a happy birthday at the same time. I smile and thank her, then turn back to the boys. Blair has a sh*t eating grin on his face but before he can open his mouth, I cut him off. "Don't even say whatever snarky comment you have on the tip of your tongue, Blair, I mean it. I will knock you out cold. Maverick, give me five and I'll meet you boys in the parking garage, I need to grab my school bag." Maverick nods once and starts making his way to his parent's suite in the left wing of the packhouse so he can grab the truck keys, Blair follows him. I run back up the stairs to my room, snatch my book bag off the floor next to my study desk and race down the stairs to meet the boys at the parking garage building at the western point of our border. Even when we are in our human forms, we are three times faster than an average human, we have double the stamina as well. At a decently paced run, I cover the two kilometer distance in under a minute. I'm not even out of breath when I reach the boys. "Careful, now, Nova. Your perfectly curly hair will flatten out if you keep running around like that We wouldn't want the birthday girl to deflate on her extra special day," Blair snickers. With enough strength to sting but not enough to seriously injure, I land a solid punch on his right bicep. He flinches and pulls back, rubbing his hand where I knocked him. "Owww!" He laughs through the pain. Maverick lets out bellowing howl. "Wow, it's only quarter after eight and you've already gotten punched for being dumb, that must be a record. Both of you get in the truck before someone starts bleeding," he commands. We all climb into the gorgeous, brand-new truck and sigh with delight. Maverick pushes the start button and the truck purrs to life. "F*ck yeah!" Blair punches his fist into the air. Maverick and I can't help but share his enthusiasm. We roll out the garage and off Beach Moon property headed towards school in the human part of town. We wolves live in harmony with the humans. Some of them know and believe we exist, but more than ninety percent of them don't. Ultimately, this benefits us, and we aim to keep things the way they are... which, right now, is peaceful and rarely ever problematic. We respect them, they respect us, and everyone is happy. Two worlds living as one. Today will likely be our last day here... each mated pair, and even most of the unmated wolves, will start being home-schooled by either their parents or the their career coaches tomorrow morning. Following the Ceremony, mated wolves, especially, need to be home-schooled as they share an intense and unbreakable bond. Being separated even just by a single door is enough to weaken a newly mated pair while their individual strength evolves into one. This makes regular school nearly impossible on a mated pair, they must remain by each others side for weeks before they can start to exercise distancing their wolves from each other. The rest of the ride goes smoothly as the three of us sit in luxury induced happiness. I'm almost sad as we pull into the parking lot of our school. This whole town runs the length of the largest freshwater bay in the country. Pretty much everywhere you go in Freshwater Beach or anywhere on Beach Moon territory, you're standing on the shores of Freshwater Bay. From nearly every window in our high school, you can spot the water twinkling in the distance. My high school consists of only three hundred kids but I still find it funny when I see all of us slowly cram our way into the wide entrance doors to the building. We look like cattle being herded into a barn. Out of nowhere, I feel Maverick wrap his hand around mine as we walk towards the crowd of our peers. I stop immediately and stare down at our hands, intertwined. He looks back at me, seemingly just as stunned. In an instant he's dropped my hand and turned back towards the school, walking briskly. "Don't want to be late to homeroom, Mr. Garrett hates it when we're late, let's go, Blair," Maverick mumbles under his breath. Blair, for once, doesn't say a single word, just brushes past me. As they make it to the entrance, however, Blair turns around and gives me a wink before the two fade into the crowd. What the h*ll was that?