Taboo: Her Married Mate

Chapter One: Aurora and Annie

Aurora never thought she would have an affair with a married man, let alone her best friend's stepfather. Her inner wolf did not care how wrong it was. Being with him felt right.

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The bell echoed down the school's hall. It always seemed to be extra quiet just before the final bell of the day had rang. Not a sound was to be heard, not even from any of the students in their classrooms. It was as if they were all holding their breath, waiting to exhale the day away with the sound, and go home to enjoy what little freedom they had left. That is before having to get ready for the next day and repeat the same habitual routine all over again until the weekend granted two days of freedom.

Annie looked over at Aurora with a big smile on her face. With only seven days until Annie's big nineteenth birthday and her extravagant party to celebrate it.

Aurora already knew what she was going to ask. After all, her best friend always asked the same question after school. It had become a part of their day to day since they were enrolled in preschool.

"Your house today?" Aurora asked Annie while packing up her book bag. Without saying anything, Annie's smile got big, and she nodded, then packed up her bag as well.

Heading to their lockers, Annie broke the silence that was awkwardly growing between them. "So tonight, my mom and Charles will be home, but they should be off on their own sides of the house doing their own thing. That means we will be able to do all we need to get done in preparation for next week." Aurora's stomach tightened in knots when Annie said Charles's name. Since he came into the picture, Aurora has done nothing but think and dream of him, and instead of confiding in her best friend, she had kept it a secret from her. There was no need for Annie to know Aurora had feelings for her step dad. After all, it was a harmless crush.

Annie's mom remarried a few years ago to Charles after they had met in a group for widows. Charles was a lot younger than Annie's mom. It bothered certain people in their town, but Annie did not ever once complain about their age difference. Eventually, the pack got over the scandal and moved on. Especially since everyone knows that after losing your mate, you will be lucky to find someone else to spend your life with. Finding a second true match for a mate was rare and had not happened in over a century. One mate bond was all anyone was able to get. Unless you were a twin, those mate matches got a bit confusing for some, especially young wolves like Aurora and Annie, who had yet to transform into the wolf form and find their mates of their own.

Once the girls were at their lockers, they emptied them out to take what was needed for the weekend and started on their walk home.

It was an everyday occurrence for Annie and Aurora to walk home together. Depending on whose parents were doing what or what assignments were due for a particular class would factor into whose house the girls would stay at each weekend.

Every weekend, the girls had a sleepover. Ten years of weekends with one another made them incredibly close. With Annie going to be nineteen first, their sleepovers would start to become less and fewer since Annie would soon find her mate. Leaving Aurora behind as she waits for her transformation and maybe someday a mate as well.

They would both be so lucky to find mates around the same time as the other. At least, that is what Annie believed. All she ever talked about was finding her mate and living happily ever after. Meanwhile, Aurora didn't have the same dreams.

Aurora and Annie made their walk toward Annie's house. Doing the same thing that they usually do while walking. Gossiping and talking about all the cute boys at school. And who could be Annie's future mate?

The pack was not that big, and the town was just big enough to accommodate it. The girls would make lists of boys that could be their future match, pulling names from the yearbooks of all the boys in their school.

Annie was excited for her wolf spirit to come. For her to find her match and mate for life. To Annie, that was all she wanted. Straight out of a romance film, romantic comedies to her were real, and she was bound to have an extraordinary story to tell that would be just like it was straight out of a movie. Whereas Aurora was a little more realistic.

Aurora's parents were still together and alive, and although Aurora knew her parents loved each other, they did not display their affection for one another. Not like Annie's parents did when her father was still alive.

Aurora's idea of love was far different than Annie's was, but still, the idea of finding a mate intrigued Aurora.

The day was hot, and the girls were both complaining about how sweaty they were getting.

Summer was fast approaching, and the school year was definitely coming to an end. The weather screamed with extremely high temperatures.

“My God, it's so hot! Thank goodness for undershirts, or I would be dripping in this wet uniform!” said Aurora, giggling. Taking off her button-up long sleeve blouse, she revealed her olive skin.

The uniforms they wore were the dress code for school. Wearing uniforms was not the most fun thing, but it definitely helped with deciding what to wear every day. Not to mention, it made students feel a little bit more special to be seen in their weekend or street clothes, giving them any and every possibility to show off their outfits and the accessories that went with them.

Aurora tied up her long red hair into a bun atop her head and threw her blouse into her bag along with her embroidered school vest and her school keycard. Her olive skin stood out with her purple tank top and black slacks.

Annie, following Aurora, took off and put her blouse in her backpack along with her vest and her key card as well. Annie kept her phone in her back pocket while it played through a playlist the girls had created together. Wearing a lime green tank with her black slacks, she left her long blonde hair down around her shoulders. Her hair always perfectly framed her face no matter how humid it got. Annie was blessed with good looks and great hair and knew it. Aurora loved that Annie never flaunted her looks. She didn't have to. She would only ever "organically" put them on display.

The girls turned to walk down the last street before reaching Annie's house. Walking side by side, they hummed to the music that played faintly on Annie's phone. They were enjoying each other's company. Over the music, the girls could hear a car driving up slowly behind them. Annie stopped to turn to see who it was. And regrettably, Aurora had stopped to do the same.