The Werewolf Lottery

CHAPTER 5: She deserves better

GARFIELD'S POV:

She turned around, and as our eyes met, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Beta Chandler's daughter Emberlynn stood before me, looking like a goddess had fallen straight to the earth. Mesmerized by her beauty, I watched her prowl towards me in a way that had my heart beating faster than ever before. She stopped in front of me, and before I could recover enough to move she purred "MINE". At the utterance of that word, I snapped out of my daze and my heart dropped out of my chest.

I can never have her.

Never before have I resented the moon goddess. Not even when I presented as wolfless. But at this moment I resented her with all my being. I could only assume she had become bored with her children here on earth and had resolved to play cruel games with us. It is forbidden for werewolves to mate with the wolfless. Why would the moon goddess do this to me? This had to be her idea of a joke because I am wolfless, and she is the daughter of our Beta! She is a strong fighter, a beautiful kind-heated person, she is trained to lead as a future beta, and she is somehow mated to me? She deserves better.

Stuck in my own thoughts, I didn't even notice that Emberlynn was still looking up at me until she fled from me with tears in her eyes.

As much as I wanted to follow her and make sure she was okay, I knew in my heart that comforting her now would only make it harder to say goodbye later. It was better this way.

Running my hand through my hair, I let out a deep breath that I hadn't realized I was holding in. Admitting defeat, I fell back into my seat and slumped over with my head in my hands.

"Garf? What did she mean when she said mate? I don't want to rub salt in the wound, but you don't have a wolf. Is that even possible?" I jumped as I heard Mick talk behind me. I had been so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I forgot he was right beside me throughout that whole ordeal.

"Umm, yeah, I have no idea. It doesn't matter anyway. Like you said, I'm wolfless. It would be illegal." I replied in what I was hoping would be an indifferent tone, though I'm sure it came out sounding deflated at best.

"Dude, that's heavy. Did you feel the mate bond? Maybe she is mistaken." He asked skeptically.

"I don't know. I felt something, but with me not having a wolf, I don't think I would be able to feel the bond properly." I replied. I was honestly unsure if what I felt was the mate bond or just the shots I had consumed, making Ember seem so undeniably attractive that I was powerless to ignore it.

"Well, either way, I assume the only remedy for such a confusing situation is more shots?" Mick said in a tone that sounded more like a question than a statement. I looked over to see his eyebrows slightly raised as if waiting anxiously for my response. I could tell he was trying to lighten the mood, and I appreciated him all the more for it.

Unable and unwilling to address the situation any further, I just nodded meekly as he sped off for more drinks.

Before I even had time to reflect on what had just transpired, Mick had returned with a tray that contained even more shots than before, if that were even possible. These shots were definitely not just Sambuca. They were an array of colors and some were topped with cream and chocolate shavings and some with edible glitter floating on the top.

Mick pulled over a small table and placed the tray atop it. Without so much as a word to each other, we both simply nodded to each other, both feeling the weight of the situation I was in, and started chugging down shot after shot.

After drinking for what felt like an hour or more, both Mick and I were defeated. We had both consumed so much alcohol that I no longer felt giddy and instead just felt tired and sad. Clearly, my night was over. I suppose it went as well as could be expected given my whole situation.

I said a brief goodbye to Mick, who appeared to be almost drifting off to sleep at the table, and went in search of parents.

I found Mick's parents first and informed them of his current drunken and sleeping state, so that I was sure he would be taken care of and would get home safely. After saying my goodbyes to them, I went in search of my own parents. As I suspected, I found them surrounded by people on the dance floor, party animals that they were. For a couple of their age, they sure still knew how to let loose once in a while.

I pulled my mum to the side to let her know I would be heading home and to grab a set of keys from her. I'm surprised she could hear me at all, as the music was so loud at this point that I couldn't even hear my own voice. However, she nodded her head in understanding and kissed me on the cheek before heading back onto the dance floor to find my dad and continue their evening.

Locating the exit, I headed in that direction, with my only aim being to get home to my bed as soon as humanly possible. I sniggered to myself, realizing I had just made a joke at my own expense, since I am wolfless so technically, yes, I would be getting home as soon as humanly possible. Emphasis being specifically on the word human.

Once outside of the pack house, I began my short walk home, taking in my surroundings as I did. Though the pack lands were beautiful, I am certain it is not the pack I would miss, but rather my parents and Mick.

Werewolves are allowed to leave the pack lands briefly every now and then, but they first need to gain permission from the Alpha. I knew if it were up to my parents, they would be coming with me tomorrow, but it is expressly forbidden for werewolves to live in the human world. The supernatural council would hunt them down and kill them for their sins. A fate I surely did not wish for them to suffer. After all, I am now technically an adult and would likely have been moving out of the family home soon anyway, so I was choosing to see this as an inevitable step sooner or later.

Upon reaching my home, I unlocked the door and trudged towards my room. Ince inside I closed the door behind me and fell back against it, letting the emotions of the day crash into me like waves coming in for high tide. Tears began to wet my cheeks and my whole body began to rock and shake with the force of the sobs I was letting out. I was tremendously thankful my parents were still at the party, because if they weren't, they would certainly have heard my cries.

As my cries died down, I stripped off all of my clothes until I was down to my underwear and threw myself into bed. I was now completely drained of energy, having drunk so much and cried until I had no tears left, so showering would have to wait until morning.

As I drifted off to sleep, I could only think of one thing, Emberlynn. My Emberlynn.