Defying Our Fate

CHAPTER 1- THE BEGINNING

“Freya Greene, seventeen years old, born to the Beta male and female of the Waning Moon pack, future Beta female of the Waning Moon pack, five-two, dominant”, I repeated for the fifth time, while appraising my naked body in the bathroom mirror. My parents demanded that I practice my introduction for the full moon ceremony that was happening in three weeks’ time. You needed to be at least seventeen to attend and since my birthday was after last month’s full moon, I had to wait until this month to be able to go. On the one hand I was excited to finally be able to see what all the fuss was about, but on the other hand I was nervous. Nervous because all of the wolves from the other packs in the area were going to be there, and I was worried that I would make a fool of myself in front of everyone; disgracing my parents in the process. 

I wrapped a large white towel around me and walked to my bedroom. I shared the bathroom on the third floor of the pack house with Amanda; daughter of the pack Gammas, Mitchell and Alicia. She was a sweet girl; quiet, compared to me but we’d known each other since we were little; she was my polar opposite. “Freya! Are you ready to go yet? Your dad has to leave in ten minutes!”, my mother yelled from the kitchen two floors down, everybody in the house would be awake now if they weren’t already. I quickly threw on my school uniform, pulled my hair back into a quick messy bun and ran down the stairs with my bag slung over my shoulder, “I’m ready, Mum. Just let me grab an apple to eat on the way.”

My father was the best. Ever since I was a kid, I’d had him wrapped around my little finger; a daddy’s girl if ever there was one. He was waiting in the car for me when I finally got outside, grinning from ear to ear, “Hey kiddo, ready for your last day of school?”

“You have no idea”, I sighed, climbing into the passenger seat, “I’m so excited for graduation though; I can’t believe I made it into the top of class awards.”

“I still think Mr. Jones had something to do with it. He’s been trying to convince me to turn him for years. I tried telling him that I’m not an ultima but he thinks that since I’m the Beta, I should be able to find one. I swear the man’s gone loopy.”

I giggled at my father’s conspiracy theories about my psychology teacher. True, the man was always annoyingly friendly towards me, but I put that down to his obsession with werewolves and the fact that my father is the Beta of the largest pack in the area. At least I wouldn’t have to see him again after graduation and he would move on to annoying someone else from the pack. We pulled up in front of the school after a fifteen-minute drive. Dad turned in his seat, “Your mother and I are so proud of you, Freya. I know we might not show it sometimes, but you are the best thing that ever happened to us.” He leant across and gave me a kiss on the cheek, “Now go and have a good day, I’ll pick you up after school.”

“I love you too, Dad”, I said before grabbing my bag and getting out of the car, “Bye!” I waved as he drove off and took a deep breath. One more day, just one more day and I wouldn’t have to be here anymore; I’d finally be able to do what I want. I turned and walked into the school, adamant that I was going to get through this day and then forget the whole high school experience. I wanted to be a lawyer, it was something I was passionate about and achieving one of the best scores on my end of year exams made me feel like I was one step closer to my dream. My parents didn’t want me to go off to university, they had already promised me to the next Beta of the pack, Michael. The boy was dreamy, of course, but I didn’t believe in arranged marriage, and had no intention of becoming the mate to someone I barely knew. 

I’d read in the history books that hundreds of years ago, werewolves would go out and find their mate, someone who would complete the missing parts of them. Apparently over the centuries it became more and more rare for wolves to find their one true mate; most of them giving up and mating for power, rather than love. When my father found me in his office, sitting on the floor reading the history books, he scolded me for sneaking around where I wasn’t allowed and I was grounded for a week; I was only twelve at the time. I never got back to reading the book, but what I’d read was enough to make me long for what I would probably never find; my one true mate.

I was collecting books from my locker when the doors at the end of the hall burst open and a bunch of boisterous boys sauntered through it; I didn’t even need to turn to know who it was. Alexander Myers, ladies’ man, future alpha of the Crescent Moon pack, and all-round d**k; he had picked on me since we were in kindergarten together. I avoided him and his friends like the plague: I didn’t want any trouble. 

As they walked past, they all started laughing hysterically, making me jump. I dropped the pile of books that I had just neatly stacked in my arms. “Stupid idiots”, I muttered under my breath. I knelt down and was trying to put them back in order when a pair of hands shot out and grabbed them before I could. I raised my eyes slowly, knowing exactly whose hands were helping me, but why? I gasped loudly when our eyes met, it was like an invisible spark was travelling between us. A brilliant smile grew on his face, knocking the breath from my lungs, forcing me to inhale deeply; his scent was just as intoxicating as the electricity coursing through my body. He smelt like freshly-made golden syrup dumplings and ice-cream, something my grandmother used to make for me. His breath seemed to quicken just as mine did and my eyes fell to his chest where his obviously sculpted body was pushing hard against his shirt, threatening to tear it at the seams. I looked back into his ocean blue eyes; eyes that I could see myself getting lost in. 

We had been kneeling for what felt like an eternity before he spoke, “Here, let me help you with those.” My cheeks grew hot and I forced myself to focus on the books, “Um, that’s okay. I can manage, thanks.” A loud bang sounded from behind me, causing me to jump again. “Hey man, we should really get going”, Andrew laughed. Andrew was Jacksons best friend and future Beta of their pack, but he was about as stupid as a bag of rocks; no offence to the rocks. “Let the loser pick up her own books.”

Alexander stood up and got in his face, a growl crawling up his throat, “I’d watch what you say, Andy. You really don’t want to mess with me right now.”