Prologue
Kennady's POV
"Mom, let's go, we're gonna be late." I whined. I was 15, and my mother was supposed to take me to my dance practice. But she has never had a good sense of time, and I always had to make sure we got places on time. Especially since my dad was never there.
My Mother and Father were not mates. They thought they were when they were 18 and 19, or they just didn't care, and Mom got pregnant with me. But Dad found his true mate when I was two. Being that they never married, my parents talked about it and my dad left to marry his mate, Vivienne. I really didn't mind, I like her, and she loves my Dad, and they have been together ever since, and I now have four half-siblings, two boys and two girls. My Mom was upset, but knew that soul mates were made for a reason, and to separate them was just not going to work out for anybody. So she just moved one town over, close enough for my Dad to visit me as often as I wanted, but far enough to not have to watch him every day with his mate, while she hasn't found her own.
Anyway, we were driving down the road, the radio blasting the Jonas Brothers (don't judge me). Mom dropped her phone, and automatically reached down to get it, taking her eyes off the road for two seconds. Long enough for a car to pull out of a driveway, and for the two cars to collide.
The screech of metal was fast but load, making me cover my ears as my Mother used her werewolf reflexes to slam the brakes.
We got out of the car to survey the damage. Our front bumper was slightly crumpled in, the license plate holding on for dear life. The other car, a little black number, was crushed above the right rear tire like a tin can. And coming out of the driver's seat was one very ticked off beast of a man.
He was easily 6 foot 5, broad shouldered and had the body of a football player. No older than 36 (3 years older than Mom.) Dark hair was cropped close to his scalp, a hint of stubble dusting his jaw, the tanned skin reddened with surprise and anger. His blue eyes were flashing in annoyance.
That is, until they flicked up to meet my mother's forest green ones.
Both looking shocked, they simultaneously muttered one word that would change all of our lives forever.
"Mate"
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It turns out that the man's name was Calvin (he goes by Cal) Burns. He is the Alpha of the Moon River pack, a small branch in West Virginia. He had come up to Ohio to speak with another alpha up here, our's in fact.
And yes. He is my Mother's mate.
He also had two kids. Sebastian, my age, and Ryan, 6 at the time. He had them with a girl he married right out of high school. But she died right after Ryan was born. And they were not mates.
So Mom and Cal started getting to know each other. And that meant that us kid had to meet.
The first time I met the Burns boys was eventful, to say the least.
Mom was sitting on the couch in our house, in the seat one away from mine. Cal entered the room first, leading the boys behind him. A reluctant Sebastian entered behind him, his arms crossed and a small scowl on his face.
Sebastian Theodore Burns was 5 foot 8 at the time, and hadn't yet developed the build of his adulthood. He had definite muscles, but still scaled down. His brown, shaggy hair covered his forehead, and almost hid his eyes. Bright, electric-blue eyes, a match to his father's. His chiseled jaw was rigid, like he was determined to not let it jut out in annoyance.
