Unexpected: Forever His (Book 1)

Chapter 1: An Eighteenth Birthday

"Kayla? Are you awake, honey?" My mom tapped on the door briefly before she turned the knob and barely poked her nose through to see if I was awake. I tried to hide under the covers but I knew it was no use. My mom was too excited to let me get off that easy.

I was the one who could not care less that I was turning 18 today. I didn't feel any different and if it weren't for the thought at the back of my mind, I wouldn't have even bothered to remember that it was. Of course, that thought was that when female werewolves turn 18, they are finally able to sense their mates. I am a werewolf, so if my mate is out there, I will most likely find him very soon if not today. I sat up and glanced towards the door.

"Yes. I'm awake, mom." I faked a smile in her direction.

She nodded and pulled the door shut again. I knew she wouldn't linger. I breathed out a sigh and stood up and stepped over to my closet. As I looked at the vast variety of shirts, blouses, skirts, dresses, and pants that I had available to me, the trunk at the bottom of the closet caught my immediate attention and I instantly sat on the floor in front of it and pulled it to me. I opened it and sighed at the memories that it held inside. Pictures of my mom and dad before the unthinkable had happened and they had been slaughtered.

I was happy that the Alpha and Luna had taken me under their care and raised me from the age of 8. I loved them as any child would love their family, but they weren't my parents. I missed my mom and dad more than words could describe. I blinked back tears as I fought back images that were sewn into my memories of that night when the vampires had attacked our pack, Redwood Pack. There were so many of them and they had been so blood thirsty that by the time our neighboring pack had allied with ours to gain the upper hand, our pack had already lost a great deal of warriors. My dad was the Beta. So I was told he had been one of the first to die. He had died protecting our Alpha. My mom had stayed behind to protect me, but she had shoved me into the closet behind the trunk I now kept these memories in to protect me when the vampires intruded our cabin. Her screams were the worst of my memories. I had stayed in that closet that night and cried until Alpha Mark had come and found me. He said he had no other choice because my dad made the ultimate sacrifice for him. I smiled. Since that time, he had never made me feel any less than his daughter. Maybe that was because he and Luna Annaleigh never were able to have any pups of their own.

It was a difficult thing for our pack to accept because no one really knew what would happen after my dad was no longer able to be Alpha. His current Beta and his mate have a son and it has been greatly discussed throughout the pack that it might be Aiden who would eventually have the opportunity at the Alpha position. It was all just unofficial pack gossip though. No one really knew for sure.

I sighed again and closed the trunk and pushed it back in its place in my closet. For my outfit, I decided to keep it cool and casual. I picked a black off shoulder t-shirt and my favorite pastel pink shorts that definitely fit their name. I grabbed my pink belt to go with that and my white tennis shoes that had pink trimming. I wasn't really big on fashion, but I did like to look good on most days. Only on occasion did I just throw an outfit together and not care about the final look.

I headed to the bathroom and within 45 minutes, I was showered, had my teeth brushed, face washed, make up done, and was dressed. I felt accomplished as I looked at myself in the mirror. The last thing was my hair. I brushed my fingers loosely through the waves of my golden blonde hair and smiled. My hair was like my mom's hair. Exactly like it. I loved it because of that. A lot of girls try to find reasons why they don't like their hair. It's either too straight or not straight enough, but I didn't have that problem. I wanted my hair to be exactly the way it was.

After I had pulled my hair up into a half-up do, I turned on my heels and headed out the door and down the hall. Once I was downstairs in the pack house, I heard a familiar voice from behind me.