Wildflower

chapter one

Recently, Aviana had been on some type of rampage. Her wolf had been going absolutely crazy and to top everything off, the Aldaine household had been in total chaos due to the impending arrival of the Alpha King, Mason Blackwell. Aviana wasn't exactly sure why her wolf had been acting up, constantly destroying furniture and nature, but she had assumed it was the stress coming from university. She had attended Harvard for two years, making it her final year required to gain a business degree. In a matter of two weeks, Aviana would be the proud owner of a business MBA, which she would use to successfully run the Anthurium Pack even better than she was currently.

"Aviana Jae Aldaine, if you aren't ready in five minutes I swear you won't be breathing any longer," called her mother, Dawn Aryn Aldaine. Aviana knew that she was the most feared luna in the country, but she couldn't help her giggle at her mother's empty threat. The entire pack knew that she had a certain soft spot for Aviana over her five siblings, which was most likely due to the fact that Aviana took after her in almost every way. Of course, she loved them all equally, but the two were the closest.

Speaking of, Aviana had five younger siblings, four boys and one girl. The eldest were Anthony and Alice, at age 17, who were twins and also polar opposites. Adam was very quiet and introverted, while Alice had the most outgoing personality of anyone I have ever known. Next, was Andrew, who was 16, and he was definitely a mix of the two. He was extremely athletic, but outside of sports, he was even quieter than Anthony. Lastly were the second set of twins, Axel and Alex, who were 10.

Aviana shook herself out of her thoughts and sprinted downstairs, swinging her backpack over her shoulder. She jogged past the kitchen, grabbed her keys, and left before her mother could say anything. Aviana then hopped into her white Mini Cooper, a car she dearly loved, and sped to university, getting there four minutes before her class started.

Aviana entered the lecture hall and looked around for a few moments before spotting one of her closest friends, Hallie, waving her hands craily in an attempt to capture her attention.

"Ana! You have no idea how happy I am to see you here! I have exciting news!" Hallie practically screamed, attracting the attention of half the students in the room.

"Are you pregnant?" Aviana deadpanned, fighting the smile that threatened to peek through.

"No way!" Hallie exclaimed. "Anyways, it turns out that the Alpha King is coming to the pack to find his mate."

"Hallie, I am the alpha of this pack, did you really think that I didn't know about this in advance?" Aviana questioned, internally rolling her eyes. Of course she would never actually do that because she knew Hallie had the best intentions.

"Huh, I didn't really think about that." Hallie scratched her neck, seemingly embarrassed. "But anyways, wouldn't it be so cool if he was your mate?"

"Not really. You've known for years that I have no intention of ever having a mate. I need to have complete focus on the pack," Aviana stated, "and we need to focus on the lecture now."

After coming out of the endlessly boring lecture, Aviana rushed to her car in hopes of Hallie not confronting her. But, she wasn't nearly fast enough.

"Aviana Jae, what do you mean you don't want a mate? Every female dreams of having their mate come to sweep them off their feet!" Hallie exclaimed, daggers shooting from her eyes.

"I mean exactly what I said. I do not want a mate. And please, save this conversation for another time, I have things to do at the packhouse tonight." Hallie hesitantly nodded, but not before glaring at her best friend. Aviana shrugged and hopped into her car, relieved to have put that off to another time. But, she did feel bad for lying to her best friend. After all, Aviana did want a mate, but she had to put the pack before herself. A mate would just set her behind and justify to every other alpha that a female alpha needed a mate to rule.

Driving through the gates, Aviana was surprised to be stopped by the guards and searched for weapons. She didn't recognize any of these men.

"What the hell guys? Who are you?" Aviana demanded, practically fuming. There was absolutely no way that these men would touch her on her own territory, of which she was the alpha of all people.

"As requested by the alpha of this pack, while the Alpha King is here, everyone coming inside the gates must be checked thoroughly for any kind of weapon or drug that could potentially be used to kill the King," The guard stated, his voice wavering between sentences as Aviana glared at him.

"I am the Alpha of this pack and I do not remember saying any such thing, and also, the King isn't meant to be here for another week, so who do you think you are fooling here?" Aviana growled, letting out the tiniest bit of her alpha aura, just enough that they would know she wasn't lying. The men before her started uttering apologies and answers, but Aviana couldn't hear them because of wavering in their voices and their stutters. Eventually, a man in his late forties or so, came from the back of the group and silenced them with a wave of his hand.

"Men, why did you not know that this was Alpha Aldaine? And Alpha, why were you under the assumption the King was coming next week?" The man questioned, the power in his voice showing that he was a retired beta.

"I had been told by the king's assistant that he would be coming at the end of the month, which implies next week," Aviana answered quickly, trying to get home as fast as possible after hearing the news.

"Ah, that assistant must've been the one the King fired last month after causing a ruckus with the Alpha of BloodLust. She was giving out incorrect information on purpose and I suppose that we had missed you. Anyhow, you may go Alpha Aldaine, and sorry for the trouble," The man said happily and waved Aviana off as she drove down the winding driveway toward the mansion.

Once she reached the house, Aviana sprinted inside and started barking orders at the pack members running around like chickens with their heads cut off. A citrusy scent suddenly filled the air, making Aviana stand on edge, quietly watching her surroundings. She knew what this meant, but Aviana couldn't help but be entranced by the smell, all reason floating out from her mind. A large hand found itself on her shoulder and turned her around, making Aviana face possibly the most beautiful man she had ever seen. Even though she had regained some sense back, she didn't have enough to keep herself from looking into his rich, deep blue eyes.

"Mate." As soon as the words fell from his lips, Aviana pulled herself away from him forcefully. She felt terrible for what she was about to do, but it couldn't be helped.

"I, Aviana Jae Aldaine, reject you, Mason Blackwell, as my mate." A lone tear slipped from his eye, before his face hardened and he grabbed her hips, pulling her close.

"You can never get rid of me, mate."