Ashley’s POV:
It was a very big house party. The music played loudly, and people danced to its rhythm. All our friends from school and the neighbourhood were all there. It was a little adult and rascal as I and my four siblings were turning eighteen. My mother let us have a wild party just once because she expected us to come home with a mate.
I was really excited to have a mate. I hoped for someone who would have a matching personality with me: one that I could be most comfortable around.
“Hey, Ash,” my sister, Sandra, said, holding a cup filled with beer in her hand. I knew she was a little drunk by the way she walked up to me excitedly. She handed me the cup, but I waved my hands at her in rejection.
“Come on, drink it. It’s just one night,” Sandra persuaded.
“I don’t believe in getting high for fun,” I said, pushing the cup away again.
“Oh, you’re always so sanctimonious,” Sandra said, sitting down and touching my cheek jauntily. “There was this lady over there, she didn’t want to have a drink until she was challenged into a drinking competition. Now there she is, lying drunk and wasted,” Sandra said, “Maybe, I should do that to you.”
My mind wasn’t focused on what Sandra was saying. I peered at the strikingly attractive young guy, whose name was Fred, who sat opposite Sandra and me. He was looking towards our direction, but I didn’t know what or who exactly he was looking at. My wolf senses became very active.
“Oh, I’m so tired right now,” Sandra said.
“I think you shouldn’t drink again,” I told her, still looking at Fred.
“No, no. I’m still sober. I’m all right,” Sandra said and turned to look at me. “Do you know that alcohol tastes so good?” I didn’t give her a reply because of my lack of concentration.
“Who are you looking at?” Sandra asked. I turned my eyes away from Fred but caught Sandra gazing at him affectionately, and him returning the look. I thought about making a move before he stood up and began walking towards us. My wolf got stronger as he came closer. My heart raced and my palms suddenly became sweaty. His journey towards us wasn’t successful because my brother, Benson, stumbled and poured red wine on his shirt.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Benson said nervously.
“It’s ok, really. I didn’t see you coming. Enjoy your day, bro,” Fred told Benson and walked away slowly.
My wolf became stronger. I was exasperated by my brother’s action, and so was Sandra by her glare. Benson approached Sandra and me and sat beside us. I had lost sight of Fred.
“Woo,” Benson breathed nervously, “You guys enjoying the party?”
“Yeah, we were, until you ruined the fun that was coming,” I said to Benson.
“What do you mean I ruined the fun? Was that guy coming to see you?” Benson asked.
“He was coming to see me,” Sandra said.
“No, he wasn’t. He was coming for me,” I cut sharply and gave Sandra a mean look.
“Do you think he’s your mate, Ash?” Benson asked, avoiding eye contact with me.
“Yes,” I answered. To me, what he asked didn’t make much sense. “Did you mean something, Ben?” I asked, looking at him deeply. I almost got confused. My wolf senses were getting stronger as time passed. I looked around to check if Fred had returned to the party. I didn’t know when Benson answered ‘No’ to my question.
“Oh My God. Look at that,” Sandra said, tapping my shoulders for attention.
“What?” I asked.
“I’m coming back soon,” Ben said diffidently and left. Sandra gave him a response, but I was too weak to. When he left, I felt something lost, something my mind couldn’t translate what it was. Maybe the brotherly love we shared since we were kids. I secretly admired Benson’s defined jawline and conspicuous muscles. His neatly combed brown hair got me aroused; I tried to imagine it was Fred. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I had never felt that way before with another guy than to talk of my brother. I waved the feeling away, convincing myself that it was just Fred running through my head.
“Look at that,” Sandra said again. “The way their tongues never run dry is surprising. I don’t even know how Zach has different girls around him all the time. I mean, don’t they have the sense of feeling cheated?” Sandra said.
“That’s the result of having strikingly handsome brothers, who girls would love around,” I said.
“Yeah. But I feel sad for these girls too because they don’t know that Zach is a werewolf,” Sandra said, “When his mate shows up, he’s definitely gonna leave them for her. Look, all of them there are humans. They think he’s just gonna get married to them somehow. Mom’s not gonna let her kid mate a human.”
“Yeah,” I reply. “I think Zach wants to know the taste of humans before he finds his mate. He wouldn’t want to cheat on his mate with a human and be called, ‘the cheating Alpha of the pack’, would he?”
I expected Sandra to be amused by what I said, but she wasn’t. Her face was frowned like a squeezed paper.
“Zach is not fit to be called an Alpha,” Sandra said, looking away, “Jason is.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Zach’s not tough enough. Benson wouldn’t be able to fight off Mom’s rivals with his fear. Jason is the most courageous and capable for the job. He deserves to be called the Alpha of the pack.”
“Benson is the oldest among them, you know that right?”
“There is no one older than the other. Look around, we are all celebrating our eighteenth birthday. No one is left out.”
“Why are you supporting Jason this way?”
“Because you guys always think the worst about him.”
“Think the worst? We only do that when he does something wrong. Besides, he’s mom’s favourite.”
“All I’m saying is, he’s the one among our brothers who has the chance of standing up to mom’s brothers and dad’s pack. They’ve always tried to kill us, remember? And if they find out that we’re alive, they will come hunting for us.”
“I agree with you on this one.”
The dancing and laughter among the guests at the party stopped. All eyes were on the two ferocious fighters. The punches and weapons they used were enough to give a fragile-hearted person a heart attack. After so much struggle to defeat each other, one of the guys fell on the floor and the other kept punching and punching until his fist were stained with blood. The punching guy was now clear in my sight. It was Jason. He spat on the guy and walked out of the room. Sandra gave me an expectant look.
“Is this what you want us to be?” I asked Sandra
“It has to be. Unless you want us to be killed gradually.”
My wolf was getting stronger. My mate was calling me. I looked around to check if Fred was in the room: he wasn’t there. I grabbed courage; he must be the one calling on me. I left the party amidst the ongoing conflict and went to find my mate. Happily, there was a full moon which meant that my mate and I would share a luna bond. I hoped it was him.
I walked to the forest, the direction my mate called me. With every step I took, I could feel my heart pound and my feet shiver. I would pass out if someone told me that the whole thing was a prank or a set-up.
My wildest and worst nightmare was all I could behold. Benson was the one howling; I didn’t want any joke. But my wolf wouldn’t be sensitive if it was a prank, and Benson was energetically howling: it could not be a prank. Did this mean that I was mated to my brother?
He stopped howling and dropped down from the rock he stood on. I had to shield myself from utter embarrassment. He had done that to be sure of who his mate was, and it turned out that his sister was. I hid behind one of the trees, while he sat down on his back in his wolf form. I was confused and began to revisit our last conversation and how weird he was behaving.
I sensed that he wasn’t comfortable about that either, but I would have to come out to him someday.
I began hearing heavy and fast feet stamp towards the forest. Benson transformed back to his human form and waited for the person to come in. Sandra ran up to Benson and told him something that I didn’t hear.
“When did this happen?” Benson asked.
“Just now,” Sandra replied.
How did she know that Benson was there? And what did she tell him?
“Have you seen Ash?” Benson asked.
“Yeah. She’s at the party,” Sandra replied. I could see the relief on Benson’s face.
“We need to get Zach back. Leo’s pack is here and he would not stop at taking Zach,” Benson said, “He’s going to try to take us too.”
“And mom. What about mom?”
