Playing For Two Teams

Chapter One

Chapter 1:

This morning, as I've been walking off my extra carbs at the park (for longer than usual by now; there is no way being stuck at home with my obnoxious brother  beats this awesome weather) I've been thinking about how for the past month I've been "re-discovering" myself. And after doing so, let me just say that I really hope that this is the end of my self-discovery. My 17th birthday was May 11th and that was the first (and most painful!) of the many times I will shift into my wolf. Yay, I'm officially a werewolf! Note the sarcasm.

So as you can imagine, a lot of things have changed for me. I’m kidding. Really, they haven't. I've always been around wolves and I grew up with a pack, so only two major things are different for me: I can actually shift and... I can find my soul mate now. Good for me.

For two weeks my soul mate has been lurking around this place. And I've kind of been furiously avoiding him. The only reason I can tell is because my inner she-wolf can smell him. Stupid she-wolf. When my mom was describing this whole business to me I wondered why my mate has to be the guy who doesn't shower, I mean like it’s not that obvious, of course I was gonna wonder why I can smell my damn mate from miles away. Yeah... well, what she actually meant was that his scent will stand out to me. Which will only make it harder to resist.

God that guy is infuriating me already. Why does he have to smell so damn good? I haven't even seen his face and I've got it bad; which is why I need to get home from my daily walk in the park really, really fast. How is he even here?! Is he stalking me?

I start running in a random direction, desperate to get away from the scent. The moment I see him "everything will change" apparently, and even if my mom meant that in a good way, those words have no positive side for me. I keep going until I notice that his smell is only getting stronger. But this realization comes about a moment too late because there he is, my mate, standing right in front of me.

My first thought: wow, he is so hot. My second thought: I better hightail it out of here. So as he continues staring at me I use the opportunity to sprint in the right direction. And I don't stop until I'm all the way home. I rush past my brother, down the steps to the basement and  into my room, closing the door behind me. Oh god, now he knows what I look like! He'll be able to find me at school and everything. Maybe I should just give into him? You know, quit while I'm ahead? No. Absolutely not. I will do whatever it takes to stay away from him. This pure determination coursing through my veins just can't be beat.

I've heard lots of great stories about mated couples who went along with their destinies and lived happily ever after. And I guess that worked for them, but if I don't want an arranged marriage, then why would I want a mate? It's exactly the same thing. We would just be forcing ourselves to make something work because it's been planned that that's how it should be. But I want something spontaneous! Something more flawed, more... real. And anyways, I don't plan on settling down just to be the less important half of yet another mated couple. I mean, that’s how it always turns out with us females and I refuse to be pushed behind someone once again, especially if it’s permanent. I already feel so hidden away and out-shined by everyone around me. I know, it sounds bad that this be my biggest reason for not wanting a mate but being pushed to the back of the crowd your whole life can drive you to feel this way.

"Naila! There's some guy at the door for you!"