Second chance love

T h r e e

It had been a month since Finn's birthday party, and in just two short days it would be Holly's 17th birthday. She was excited to finally shift after watching her brother, Finn, and his mate Lisa, all playing together in their wolf form. 

"Oh Holly," Finn had said to her a few days after that night, "I just feel whole, I feel complete. Not only can I hear Marcus in my head, but I have my soul mate, the woman created just for me, and I am so happy." 

He had paused to look at her, and misreading her facial expression he continued.

"Don't be sad Hols, soon you'll have your shift and you'll have the voice of your wolf there to guide you and help you find your mate. And then, you'll understand just how happy I am."

Holly hadn't been sad for the lack of wolf or mate, she was still gutted that Finn wasn't her mate. She was also annoyed at herself, because her and Lisa had become such great friends in such a short space of time. No matter how hard Holly tried to hate her, she just couldn't. That made her even more bitter about the whole thing!

"Yeah, I guess so. Let's hope I'm lucky and find the two at the same time like you did." She smiled up at Finn before glancing at Darren who was flipping pancakes badly at the other side of their kitchen. He had always brushed off the whole mate bond as he knew that his future held a huge amount of responsibly as Alpha of the largest pack in England, and felt that a mate would only distract him from his duties. Holly wasn't quite sure she believed him, but the longer he went without finding his mate, the more comfortable he seemed with not having one. 

"Any chance of actually eating any of those pancakes soon Darren?!" Holly yelled across to her brother. He shot her the finger and carried on concentrating his energy on flipping pancakes, a skill that he had never been able to master. Just at that moment, their omega Beth walked in to the kitchen, laughed quietly to herself, and began to mix up some more pancake mix before turning to Holly and Finn.

"I assume you would like some pancakes today?" She questioned them and smiled as the two of them laughed loudly. A loud voice came from down the hall before Lisa's face came in to view.

"Don't tell me you let Dazza loose with the pancake mix again guys? Did we not learn from last time?"

Lisa came through and planted a small kiss on Finn's cheek before going to sit next to Holly at the counter. 

"Let's just hope his mate isn't a fan of pancakes or she'll never be able to eat any!" 

The three of them laughed just as Holly's phone buzzed. She looked at the screen and read the message that had just come through. 

"Well as much fun as this is," she hopped down from her seat and gave Lisa a quick side hug, "I've got a party to plan." As she left the kitchen she couldn't resist taking the frying pan from the hob and quickly flipping the pancake that Darren had left unattended for a few seconds. Amongst the peals of laughter and cheers from Finn and Lisa, she shot Darren the finger and shot off down the hall leaving her brother furiously shouting profanities at her retreating figure. 

***

"This is it baby girl," her mother said before giving her a huge hug, "after this, you'll understand what you have been missing your whole life." Holly looked up to see an expression of fierce pride in her mothers eyes, so much so that it gave her a confidence she didn't realise she was missing.

Holly turned from her mother's side, squeezing her hand as she left, and made her way to the small stage erected on the beach. The set up was similar in size and grandeur as Finn's had been. Holly was the daughter of the Alpha, and that in itself held a certain amount of power. She took deep breaths as she stepped on to the raised platform and tried to compose herself as much as she could. She looked down into the crowd to see her mother and father looking up at her proudly, with Darren smiling up at her next to them. The other side of Darren stood Finn looking just as proud as her parents, holding the hand of Lisa who flashed her a cracking smile and put her thumb up in encouragement. She could see Gina and Claire a little further back, and though they hadn't hung out as much since Lisa came into her life, she knew they were still her friends and were there to support her. 

Holly planted her feet firmly in the middle of the stage and looked up expectantly at the sky. Any moment now the moon would break through the cloud cover and she would begin her first shift. She was both terrified and excited at the same time, the last month of watching Darren, Finn and Lisa as wolves made her yearn more and more every day for her wolf. Finally the day was here. She concentrated on her breathing and composed her face, channeling that Alpha power that she had running through her veins. 

Then it hit her. As the moon poked out from behind the clouds she felt a warm sensation building in her spine. Before long the warmth had turned to an unbearable blazing heat that rocketed through her spine and into every bone in her body. She felt a sharp shock of electricity shoot through every single nerve ending, and heard the cracking of her bones like peals of thunder shaking her very core. Just as she felt like she was about to pass out from the pain, she felt her whole body shift and click into place. Her joints stopped aching, her spine stopped burning, and the electricity in her nerves faded. She looked down at herself not knowing what to expect and found herself stood on four large caramel coloured paws. She padded around the stage for a minute, feeling the sea breeze ruffle the fur on her back, and smelt the salt in the air with her enhanced sense of smell. Then she felt a presence, like a tapping at the back of her mind. As soon as she focused on it, the tapping stopped and with what felt like a bubble being popped in her brain she heard the musical voice of her wolf. 

"Hey beautiful," the voice cooed, "we are going to have some real fun together."