Grovel (Rated-R)

Chapter 1 ::: A Growl

A growl. That's all it takes to lock your fate with your one true mate. The rhyming wasn't intentional, but merely a reminder of the what was taught to us since birth. I knew it would never happen for me now that I am well pass the age of eligibility. I've accepted my fate, so why am I getting dressed to go to yet another ceremony to find him? Obviously he didn't want me. After ten years of waiting for him, I thought I had the right to move on with my life.

Now I'm a twenty-two year old repeat offender, a crude term giving to the Lycanthropes who still have yet to find their mate and most likely will never find them. I'm used to it now. Ten years had given me a lot of perspective on life. There was no one holding me back, but still I find myself sleeping in my same room, in my same bed, in my same old shitty town. Unlike smart people, I didn't take the initiative to leave. No, I did something worse, I stayed.

“Tia,” my mother called, “you ready yet?”

My mother was my complete opposite. She was outgoing, I was antisocial. She was a blonde and I had long, brown, frizzy hair, like my late father's. She has a boyfriend, my mate's been MIA since I was twelve and I do not possess the necessary charm to woo another man. Growing up, I could remember her always talking about meeting my mate and how it will be the best day of my life. I found the saying “best day of my life” to be vastly overused.

I groaned as I looked at myself in the mirror for the umpteenth time. Plain. That was the only way to describe myself. I tried smoothing out the wrinkles in my black dress. I was a mess. My hair was unmanageable, leaving my only options to put it in a bun or ponytail. To most, my appearance is average. The only thing God graced me with was a slightly big butt and height.

“Almost,” I replied groaning again. It seems that no matter what I wear, I always look the same. I've never had a princess moment when a big spectacular dress show off my hidden beauty. I sighed the whole way down the stairs. Mom was already sitting in her car as I closed and locked the door behind me.

I slipped into the car and she took off. “This could be the day,” she patted my leg. I let out another sigh. I loved her for having hope but I just don't anymore. “Why aren't you wearing the necklace I bought you yesterday?”

“Because it's not going to help. I want you to take it back. It was too expensive anyway. We need the money instead.

Mom shifted uncomfortably in her seat, “that necklace was a gift. I wanted you to have something beautiful.”

“Can we not talk about this now?” I looked up at her with pleading eyes.

Mom nodded and sped up. The ceremony was usual held at our Alpha's house every month, but this time they decided to have it in the high school auditorium to fit all of the people. Our pack isn't too big. I'd say around two hundred or so members compared to the thousands it could get to.

Since mom decided not to go this month, she dropped me off in front of the school with a kiss good bye. Internally I was screaming for her to come back and take me with her. I didn't belong here. Why do I have to embarrass myself month after month?

I opened the door and walked in. It's only been four years since I've last been here and it already looks foreign. Pictures of the school's new all stars lined the wall, reminding me that I was never on it and never will be.

“Oh Tia!” Beth, our Luna called. Beth found her mate at a late age. We have been friends for a long time, but when she turned fifteen, she found him. He just happened to be the Alpha. Given Beth's low social status, he was reluctant to take her as his mate. But like always, she was able to get him hooked. Unfortunately, it meant that over the years we grew further apart, leaving me as the outcast. “Look, look,” she held up a piece of paper, “some of the wolves from the neighboring pack are coming.”

“Congratulations?” I shrugged. I didn't understand why that was something to celebrate. “They come every month or so anyway. What's so different this time?”

“No, I'm not talking about the pack in the West, I'm talking about the pack in the East,” she walked up to me and gave me a big hug. It was a little awkward since she was six month pregnant. It was like trying to hug a huge ball. “Some of their members haven't mated yet,” she flipped her long red hair over her shoulder. “Isn't that great? He could be here today. Cross your fingers.”

“Beth!” Alpha Beau strolled up next to Beth, wrapping his strong arms around her, “I told you to stay close. Mom wants to show you some patterns for the baby's room.”

“I know,” she kissed his cheek and he smiled, “I needed to talk to Tia. I think today she might find her mate.”

“Maybe,” he shrugged. Leave it to the Alpha to give me no hope. He loved Beth, but tolerated me because we were still friends. “Go,” he said to Beth.

“Fine. I'll see you later Tia,” she walked off until she turned a corner.

Here is when the awkwardness kicks in high gear. I hated when Beau and I were alone. As if him being extremely attractive wasn't enough, he was kind of a jackass. “So...” he trailed off.

“So...” I mimicked. “You fixed that little herpes problem yet?” I muttered.

“I don't have herpes. I would say something back, but you're already pathetic enough. Where's your mate again?”

“Oh well he's with your mother, you sometimes call him daddy,” I spat.

He chuckled, “ As if you could get my father.”

“I've always wondered what Beth saw in you, but now I know,” I smiled, kicking at invisible dust.

“And that is?” his arms crossed, waiting for me to answer.

“You're money. It definitely couldn't be anything else since you're,” I looked down, “underdeveloped as Beth says,” I chuckled then walked off. I could here him growling behind me but I kept walking. After years of dealing with him, I know which buttons to push.

Too bad he knew which one of mines to push too, “I'll pray for you Tia. I hope that you don't end up old and alone with the people in your head as the only ones to comfort you. But hey, at least in your imagination you'll finally have your mate.”

I turned to reply but he had already walked off. Asshole.

I walked into the auditorium and was immediately blasted with loud voices. Too many people were trying to talk all at once. I tried to find a seat, but it seem that every seat was taken and no one looked as if they were going to move.

“Tia!” I saw Beth at the front near the stage waving. I waved back. “Come here!”

I hated when she always brought attention to me. I would be perfectly fine where I was hiding within the crowd. Groaning as I walked pass groups of people, I trip, causing me to topple down and bang my knee. How was that possible? To trip over air?

Getting up, I rubbed my knees then continued my stride forward until I saw her. “Beth, I should really sit in the back. I really do not want to draw attention again. Remember what happened last year?”

“I know, I know, but look, the pack from the East are coming in. Aren't they so hot?”

“Aren't you married?” I countered.

“Yes, but that doesn't mean I can't look. Anyways, I told Joshua to lead them you're way. That way you'll have first dibs.” Joshua was the Beta of the pack and the overseerer of pack treaties. To put it simple, he was the only one who decided who comes and goes in our town.

“But what if none of them turn out to be for me?”

“Stop saying 'what if' and think 'why not',” she smiled. “Here they come.”

I turned and awaited as they made their way to the front. Our pack members cleared the way, surveying the newcomers with curiosity. They surely were...new. It was more of an understatement. Power radiated off of them like they bathed in it. I turned as the fluttering feeling in my stomach surfaced.

And then it happened. It was like a yawn until my neck arched in many directions and the rumbling in my throat took on a life of its own. I was growling and I wasn't the only one. That growl. A growl that we both shared. A growl that silence everyone in the room and sent shivers down my body. The same growl that show possessiveness. Then I knew that I had finally found him. My mate.