Running From My Mate

Chapter Two

When Tina Knowles was just a young pup, all she ever wanted was to find her mate, get married, and have children. At the age of twenty, she found her mate, Mathew, in New York City. He was a music major, and she was fashion merchandising major. When she graduated college, she went straight to work. She had so many places to choose from. She was already making quite the name for herself when she was in college. Next on her list was to get married. Her and Mathew had a small private ceremony on the beach and spent their honeymoon in Paris. As she got older, the more she realized that she wanted pups of her own, but she was physically unable to carry a child. She was born with a penis. A curse that has been present within her family for centuries. She was so nervous about having children. She prayed that she would only have boys, but the universe gave her three girls instead. They all were carried via surrogate. Due to Mathew's genetics, his sperm was of no use. They found a traditional surrogate who looked similar to mathew. She birthed all three of their children.

There were many stories that were passed down from generation to generation, but no one knows the truth. The story that Tina chose to believe was that an old witch decided to test her family to see how kind they truly were. On one cold and rainy night, she knocked on the doors of one of her great great great great grandfather. His name was Cleophus. The old witch asked for shelter, and the man and his wife agreed that she could stay in their barn. They didn't want the strange woman near their two young daughters. It rained nonstop, causing the streets of Houston to be flooded. This caused the witch to stay for a week. She only ever saw the man and never his wife. His wife, Udell, was an arrogant woman. She was born to a wealthy family, and didn't understand the value of a dollar. A vain and vile woman that hid her evilness under the veil of her beauty. Udell always had the latest fashion, the best make up, and the hottest parties. She was a socialite through and through.

When she wanted to, she could be so charming and funny. Everyone loved her. The only person she could not fool was the witch trapped in the barn. Little did Udell know, the witch had casted a spell onto the house. She could hear and see everything that went on in that house. Despite Udell's slim figure, she was quite strong. She watched how Udell verbally, emotionally, and mentally abused her husband. The man had been so kind to the witch, so she decided to strip Udell of the very thing she hid her ugliness behind. Her femininity. She called upon her ancestors and used black magic to complete her spell. The curse was irreversible. Every woman from Udell's bloodline would be born with a penis. She not only cursed Udell, but also her two little girls.

At the time, the witch thought that she was getting the full story. Little did she know that it was only half of it. Both Udell and Cleophus were horrible people. No one really knew how Cleophus became so rich; until, one night when a group of men, women, and children escaped his basement of one of his workshops. They claimed that he was forcing them to do labor without being paid. This was supposed to be their way of paying their debts that their parents couldn't pay off. It was cruel and it was sick. Forced slavery. Being someone who listened to her parents talk about the horrors of slavery, she killed Cleophus.

It was a terrible story, but Tina liked it the best. She always had a thing for tragedies. In fact, tragic was a good word to describe her life right now. She was sitting across a desk from Donna Rowland of the Midnight Moon pack. The alpha looked like shit. She looked like she hadn't slept since Kelly and Normani ran away. That was four years ago.

"I just need a little more time." Donna explained. They were so close to finding Normani and Kelly. They had got a promising lead.

"We had a deal, Donna. My daughter isn't getting any younger." Tina stood up from her chair. "From now on, my daughter will be taking care of the investigation."

Donna stood up. "Like hell she is! She is my daughter and my responsibility."

Tina laughed. "Ha! Please. You're the reason why she ran away!" Tina leaned forward. "You think that I didn't do my research? I know how you used to run things around here."