Shadows of Dawn

Chapter 16

(Landon POV)

Flashback - 13 Years Ago

I can't believe I snuck out for this, I should have never let Carter and Rowan drag me to this house party. The music is too terrible to be played at this volume and the amount of sweaty people here should be a crime.

I feel a body drop down onto the couch and an arm sling around my shoulder. "Come on Landon, loosen up," Carter says, and from the slur in his speech, he's already very drunk.

Peeling his sticky arm off me, I got up from the couch I had been sitting on since the moment we arrived here. "I'm going to go get you some water," I shout over the loud music. Carter gives me an enthusiastic thumbs up as I leave him. Squeezing past couples dancing and making out, I finally reached the kitchen. As I fill up a clean cup with water from the sink I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn around.

"Can I help- Callista?" In front of me stands one of the she-wolves from my pack. We've known each other since grade school and has never treated me any different just because I was the future Alpha.

She gives me a confident smile and I don't miss the way her eyes look me up and down. "Hey Landon, funny seeing you here. Isn't exactly your crowd."

I nod as I hold the cup of water for Carter in front of me. "Yeah, uh Carter and Rowan dragged me here," I say with a chuckle.

She nods. "I figured, those two are always getting into trouble. But I've been wanting to talk to you for a while about something but I wasn't sure how to bring it up," she takes a sip of her drink, "I was wondering if you wanted to go out... with me." She steps closer to me before dragging her finger across my chest

I grab her wrist to stop her. "I'm not interested." I'm waiting for my mate.

Her eyebrows scrunched together in hurt as I move past her to leave. "You don't even recognize your own mate?"

I freeze in my tracks. There's no way. I'm not supposed to be able to feel a bond for another year. I turn back to her. "What?"

"I'm your mate. I was wanting to tell you since I turned 20 a few weeks ago, but I wasn't sure how, or if you felt anything," she says with a wary smile.

My eyes light up. For some, it takes years for them to find their mates and mine is right here in front of me. I try not to get too in over my head and I ask her a question. "Are you sure it's me?"

She sighs with a smile. "I feel the bond with you, I felt it for weeks."

Everything after that was a blur.

Callista- no, my mate, kissed me and then we were heading upstairs. We squeezed past all the bodies in the hallways, dodging the dancers and the couples. She leads me to what I assume is a guest room. It's all a whirlwind of kisses and clothes forgotten on the floor. At one point in the night she's on top of me and comes in close to whisper words in my ear that I can't bother to hear over the loud music.

After she spoke she leaned into my neck and bit me, marking me. The pain from her bite quickly subsided as pleasure took over my body. In Winter, contrary to how other packs function, it is more common for the men to be the ones who are marked by the women when it comes to mates, and should be worn proudly.

After, we lay in the bed for what seems like hours. Callista is asleep on my chest with my arm wrapped around her, the party downstairs has dwelled down. I found my mate- rather she found me. I look down at the girl sleeping in my arms and kiss her forehead. I'm happy and content as I drift off to sleep as well.

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(Landon POV)

Present Day

I ran through the woods, my paws hitting the snow, having shifted into my wolf form soon after I left the house.

Why did she have to ask questions?

There's no way she's going to accept me as a mate now that she knows I've been marked. I'm so stupid.

I don't blame Aeralyn for being curious, I've been wondering what the numbers on her wrist have meant for the last few days. It's the memories and the words Callista said to me that night that I want to forget.

"I'm not her"