Apprentice to the Alpha 

Five: Jolee, Martha, or Tori

---Evelyn---

Josh. I need Josh right now.

Me: [There's a rogue attack going on right now. I'm super relieved you’re not here for this lol]

Thankfully, I get a near immediate response, it's almost like he can sense that I'm upset. Probably part of the kickass mate bond. I'm so glad I found my soulmate before turning 18, especially with everything going on right now.

Joshie: [Gem are you ok!? A rogue attack? What happened??]

Shit I should have explained better, now I've worried him.

Me: [No I'm okay baby, I'm sorry. I was at Marie's party when the siren went off and I just got to the bunker a couple minutes ago. But everyone is safe: both Marie's family and mine. Plus, everyone from the party is here so we're playing some music to try and keep everyone's spirits up.]

Before I had even closed the message, he responded again.

Joshie: [Thank the Goddess. You scared me! You gotta quit doing that]

I know he's just joking around but I really do feel bad. I need to reign in my spazzy nature, it's not fair to him.

Me: [Sorrrryyyyy babbbyyyyyy! I love you!]

As I'm waiting on his answer, Marie plops herself into my lap. "Hey b***h, you trying to weasel out of best friend duties for the night just because a couple of rogues joined the party?"

I smile at her and joke back "Yup, sorry. I’ve just decided I’m too cool for you because I can’t be seen with anybody underage. Talk to me in a couple hours after you meet that wolf of yours."

"Hey! You trying to say this whole friendship has been you trying to get close to me so you can befriend my wolf instead?" She says and playfully punches my shoulder.

"That's right, you caught me!" I laugh. In a more sincere tone, I continue, "For real though, I'm so excited for you. I’m jealous you get to meet your wolf before me, but honestly, I'm grateful. I'm such a spaz and feel like I do everything wrong. I’m glad you get to meet your wolf so soon! Just promise me that you’ll help me through it when it’s my turn."

She hugs me and replies, "Well you've already met your mate so you get to be first in that at least!" I knew she was actually really anxious about the mate thing. One of her cousins didn’t find their mate for like 15 years after coming of age and she was half convinced it would turn out to be a family tradition.

"You know what I'm excited about though? For you to meet your wolf. What do you think her name is gonna be? I feel like you need a spitfire with an equally unique name. Like Martha." I announce.

She looks at me like I have 3 heads and disregards the dumbass part of my comment. "Names, huh? I feel like she'd be called, like, Tori or Madison."

"No way. You need a wolf who will keep you on your toes and kick you out of your comfort zone. There's no way her name is going to be Madison. How about Jolee?" I ask.

"Jolene Jolene Jolene Jolene! I'm begging you please don't be my wolfff" She sings. "I'm definitely not going to have a wolf with a J name. I can feel it in my bones She'll have an M name. Imagine Marie and Madelyn: partners in crime. Or Marley? Marley would be so cute!"

"Hey I said Jolee not Jolene! But now that you said that, you will for sure have a wolf with a J name." I say with a sly smile.

She looks jokingly terrified. "s**t you're right. I guess we'll just see!"

---Marie---

After exhausting name ideas, we moved to personality types, then spiraled into gossiping about which couples in our school would turn out to actually be mates.

"Dude, did you hear that Queen b***h is dating the quarterback now? Wasn't she just trying to con my cousin into believing that she was his mate like last week?" Evelyn asks me with a scowl.

I laugh. "Yeah. But turns out Nate is smart enough to not believe every girl that throws herself at him. The idea of being the future Luna is just way too tempting to girls like her." 'Queen b***h' was Eve's ex best friend, Sarah. They used to do everything together, but once we got to high school, the popular girls decided they wanted her in the squad.

Sarah used all of Eve's secrets against her in order to ostracize her and make herself look better. Now, Eve was an outcast at school because everyone was convinced that Evelyn used her connections as the Alpha's niece to hurt Sarah and blackmail her from telling anyone what she was up to. Turns out that all Eve was up to was staying up late watching chick flicks and eating Cheetos, not secretly dating 3 boys at once for the free food. Now we call her Queen b***h because she doesn't deserve her name after the s**t she pulled.

"Watch it turn out that the Moon Goddess didn't even give her a mate because there's nobody as twisted as her." I say.

She laughs. "Well she's already 18 so if she's met her mate, she knows who he is. I hope that she's not just stringing him along and still dating a new guy every other week if she does know. I mean, we already know that she's a master manipulator, so I guess I wouldn't put it past her."

I know they say forgiveness sets you free, but that b***h can crawl in a dumpster for all I care. If hating her shackles me forever, at least I'll know I'm stuck for a good reason.