Awaited Mate

Nightmares

“Leave him alone.”

He had my love by the throat, pinned against the wall. He turned and leered at me.

“You will be mine. He will die, and you will be mine.”

“LEAVE HIM ALONE! I WOULD RATHER DIE THAN BE YOURS!” I screamed.

“Red... Go... Run... Dark Magic... we cannot... beat him,” my love said.

“I can’t leave you,” I sobbed.

“Come to me, Skylar. You shouldn’t fight this. Accept it. You belong with me,” Evil said.

I looked at him with hatred. My love was hanging onto life by a thread, and I couldn’t do anything. I was helpless.

Evil threw him across the room and walked toward him with a silver dagger. I knew I couldn’t live without him.

I had no other choice. The dagger flew across the room toward him; I jumped in the middle, to save him—to save my love.

“NOOOOOOOOOO!” Evil screamed.

My love tried to reach for me. I could feel him trying to protect me, but he was too weak.

Pain shot through my chest as the dagger pierced my heart. -------

Scarlet shot up from her bed, sweat pouring down her face.

This was routine now.

—Scarlet’s POV—

I woke up panting for air, sweat pouring down my face. I should be used to this by now. “Eight years of nightmares — every day, the same one over and over again.”

I dragged myself to the bathroom to wash my face. Standing at the sink, I looked at myself in the mirror. My usually cream-colored skin was pale; sweat clung to my face. My red hair—my curse—was plastered to my forehead. I had dark circles under my eyes from too many sleepless nights. My eyes, the color of fresh leaves, were red and swollen from crying in my sleep.

I splashed cold water on my face and stepped out of the bathroom.

Checking the time, I saw it was 6:30 a.m. No point in going back to sleep.

I started getting dressed in my usual T-shirt and jeans when I realized—today was my eighteenth birthday.

“Happy birthday, Scarlet. You’re officially an adult,” I said aloud.

“Happy birthday, Carly. You officially exist,” I heard in my head.

“I was wondering when you’d introduce yourself,” I replied to my wolf.

“Hello, Scar.”

“Hi, Carly. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too. I’ve been waiting to introduce myself, but after the nightmare, I thought I’d give you some time to calm down before I did.”

“Thank you. The nightmares are normal for me now. I can’t even remember a time without them.”

“I know. How are we going to get them to stop?”

“I have no clue.”

“We’ll work it out together. I feel like we need to find our mate. That’s when they’ll stop.”

“When we find our mate, Carly.”

“No, Scar. We need to find him. You started getting those dreams when I began to exist in your subconscious. Now that I can talk to you, I can tell you—it’s of the utmost importance that we find our mate as soon as possible.”

I was shocked by what my wolf said. It took me a few seconds to gather my thoughts.

“You're being ridiculous, Carly. Why do we need to find our mate? What if we don’t even have one? What if he hasn’t been born yet? You know werewolves are immortal. Some of us don’t find our mates for a hundred years.”

“Scar, I know our mate already exists. He’s alive, and we need to find him. The Moon Goddess told me.”

Now I was really shocked. My mate is alive—and the Moon Goddess told Carly we must find him?

“He makes us stronger. We need him with us—for what’s coming.”

“What’s coming? What are you saying, Carly?”

“We have to find our mate before it’s too late. That’s all I know.”

I was starting to get irritated. My wolf was talking in riddles. How were we supposed to find someone we knew nothing about? We didn’t know his name, where he lived—nothing.

“We will. We will know,” she said calmly.

I pushed her to the back of my mind. The headache building in my skull this was too much for a first conversation with my wolf.

Downstairs, I heard my mum in the kitchen. The delicious smell of bacon wafted up to my room. I walked into the kitchen and found my mum preparing breakfast. Just looking at her, I wondered how someone could be that beautiful. She had dark reddish-brown hair that fell to her waist, eyes just like mine, and a curvy hourglass figure I envied. I was short and petite—only 5'4" with a few curves—but Mum was all curves.

“Happy birthday, baby. Why don’t you sit down? I’ll bring you breakfast.”

“Thanks Mum. But where is everyone? The pack house is empty.”

“Did you forget your brother’s Alpha ceremony is today? Everyone’s outside decorating.”

“Oh yeah. I forgot.”

I kept quiet for a moment. The pack house of the Blue Oasis Pack was usually loud and bustling. I decided to enjoy the peace while I could.

We weren’t one of the largest packs, with only about three hundred members, but we worked well together. My father, Alpha Clayton Radolf, was one of the fairest leaders known. My mother, Luna Vera Radolf, was considered one of the most beautiful women across the packs in the U.S. My older brother, Liam, was a bit of an ass but would make a great Alpha.

This was my family.

We were one of the few remaining pure bloodlines descended from the first werewolves. The only others were packs like the Capital Pack, led by the King of the Werewolves. Most of our ancestors were either killed in war or lost in werewolf challenges, but because werewolves live forever unless killed, we still had quite a few "old-timers" around—including my dad, who’s over two hundred years old.

I was lost in thought, reflecting on my pack and my family tree, when I was jolted back to reality by a sudden yell in my ear:

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SQUIRT!”