I stand alone

Two.

It had all begun a day before my eighteenth birthday, a week after losing everyone I called family, I was sitting on the swing my brothers made for me wallowing in sorrows. Some of the pack members come to the now desolate house that only I occupy along with raw and bitter emotions filled with memories of people long gone, those I loved, to console me and occasionally give me some gifts.

I jumped from the swing and twisted my ankle, groaning in agony, I sat on the green grasses on the ground of the backyard. I placed my hand on my ankle and then slowly I healed it, healing was one of my perks. Mom made me promise to never allow anyone to find out that I possess a gift.

"This pack will only love you so far as you have the gift. The leaders are cruel and wicked, seeking only advantages for themselves and trying to eliminate all those who would stand against them." she had said and smiled, stroking my hair in the process, then she continued "Our family has always tried to not mingle so much in pack affairs, only going when they call for us, that's why we have almost half of the pack lands as ours, we are pack but we don't do pack"

She gave me a little history about why we were apparently packed but we never do pack, something about one of our ancestors being slain on false grounds when he had tried to take up some pack affairs, so all in all 'we were a mini pack'.

A single tear slipped out of my eye when I thought of her, she and my father had always made life the best for me, even though I disliked my father a bit for taking me through those horrendous combat training when I reached age seven, apparently one of the perks of being part of my family, you never lack combat skills.

My skin itched again and I broke into a sweat. For some reason, my wolf and I had been restless since the break of dawn, maybe I was going down with an unknown disease or maybe it was because I couldn't take it anymore and I just wanted it all to end. I laid back down on the grass and closed my eyes, allowing the cool breeze of the afternoon to blow on me. The sun couldn't reach me as I was sheltered by a big orange tree. The tree was another reminder of my siblings. My sister and I had planted the tree when I was eight.

We had wanted to eat oranges and maybe make some orange juice but we searched and we couldn't find any. Instead, we went and bought some seeds to plant in our backyard so we could eat oranges whenever we felt in the future. The memory brought a smile to my face and my heart ached more, I wouldn't see them again, not even in my wildest dreams. My body had become numb to the world and its measures when they all left me. I was now just like a leaf, fallen to the forest floor waiting to wilt and perish in just a few days.

I sighed and suddenly I felt restless again just that this time it was too intense, it felt like a thousand bugs were crawling under my skin. What was more was that my wolf was feeling even more restless, wanting to come out and so fighting me desperately to gain control of my body. It all felt wrong but good, it was as if a bittersweet thing was about to come to my life. Taking in deep breaths, I stood up and stripped, shifting into my auburn coat. I shook out my fur and snorted in a silly way. With gentle steps, I came out of the backyard and into the forest. My wolf and I always come down from our high of stress after a gentle stroll or run in the forest and I was going to get a gentle stroll at the moment. My curiosity peaks up a thousand times whenever I'm in my wolf form. Though my wolf and I were in perfect sync, sometimes I can't help but allow him to do some things of his own.

I rested beside a huge tree after I ran around chasing a big monarch butterfly till I had worked out myself. I laid down my head on my paws and then drifted off to sleep. I don't how long I dozed off but I knew I didn't sleep much because I woke not so long after loud laughter drifted into my ears followed by howls, it seemed some wolves were coming my way. The restless itch was back again and this time it was more than what I could bear. I suddenly felt the need to go close to where the voices and wolf grunts were coming from. I huffed and tried resisting only to find my paws start walking in that direction. With extremely gentle and light steps, I approached the wolves against my will, it was like an invisible rope was pulling me to that place.

Finally, I reached there and hid behind a thick bush not sure of risking my presence. If anything, wolves are extremely territorial and the pack didn't really hate not to love me so I wasn't sure what might happen if they knew I was there. I peeked through the bush and saw three young men, who seemed to be about twenty years and two wolves sitting on the forest floor chatting their heads off. Another person who seemed to be like the alpha's son approached them with a girl in tow.

The three boys stood up with big smiles and greeted him and the two wolves shifted into two beautiful females. One of the boys threw their clothes to them and they hurriedly put them in after an enormous protest about how clothes were tiring.

"Greg?" One of the boys said and smirked looking at the one who just came.

I repeated the name in my mind, so I was right, after all, he was the alpha's son.

"What!" Greg dismissed him with a chuckle " You didn't expect me to sit still while you were getting some right?"

"Definitely not," the girl behind Greg said and they all burst into laughter.

Greg tucked his hand in the girl's shirt, his arm finding rest on her waist and I can't deny the sudden pang of pain I felt in my heart seeing that. I don't know if Greg also felt some sort of pain as he hurriedly removed his hand earning him a sharp look from the girl.

Suddenly I felt something and I smelled something, my eyes went wide and my body froze.

No, no, no.

I repeated in my head like a chant, one my life depended on it as the realization of the situation dropped into my mind.

I had found my mate, and he was the alpha's son.

Greg sniffed the air suddenly, leaving the girl's side, and then his eyes came to where I was hiding, crashing with mine. He shifted as he jumped and ripped his clothes. Then with a run, he came to stand in front of the bush I was hiding in. He sniffed the air again and barked, his wolf feeling restless. He howled and released his alpha pheromones and I laughed or more of I made silly wolfish sounds and blew my cover. Alpha pheromones didn't work on me or anyone in my family for that matter.

I came out from my hiding place with a heart threatening to escape from my chest and stood in front of Greg. He sniffed me and yelped, his tongue already licking my face. He made a circle around me and then he stopped.

"What's going on here?" The girl who came with Greg asked.

"I don't know," one of the guys said and the one who spoke earlier exclaimed.

"Finally!" he screamed, a continuous echo making known his words to others as Greg shifted back to his human form.

"Mate," he said after he was in his human form but his expression looked far from someone who just found his mate. He was supposed to feel pure bliss or ecstasy, his eyes filled with love and appreciation but his eyes and expression were anything but.

His short statement made the jaws of the others drop with exception of the first guy who screamed, it seemed he knew about mates and how you find them.

"Shift!" Greg commanded me in his alpha voice and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes in my wolf form.

But I swear I would have rolled my eyes hard at him if were to be in my human form. The guy doesn't learn, how was he expecting me to heed his alpha voice when his pheromones didn't work on me?

But I still made a gesture of an eye roll and jerked my head at his friends with a yelp giving him a look that said ' I wouldn't shift in front of their eyes

He looked at me and then back at his friends and then got my silent message. He told his friends to turn away so I could shift. They all turned away from me without hesitation and I became relieved.

"Satisfied?" He asked and I nodded "Then shift" he added impatiently.

I wanted to roll my eyes again but then I shifted and took my human form, my shoulder-length dark hair, flaunting itself in the breeze that was blowing around us.

Greg looked at me for a moment and then his eyes even hardened more. His expression became grimmer and then he said in a loud clear voice " I Greg Sair, son of Clent Sair, future alpha of the Casing Pack reject you as my mate"

I froze again and my eyes were more than saucers as my mind digested what I just heard.