Prologue

Finnick’s POV

My eighteenth birthday. The day wolves everywhere looked forward to and for me, it was finally here. It was the day we could find our fated mate, after all. Mates were a sacred gift from the Moon Goddess and finding them was a blessing. I should’ve been more excited but I just couldn’t find it in me to be. 

My lack of enthusiasm had nothing to do with not wanting a mate. I did want mine, more than anything. It’s just that, I already knew who I wanted her to be but I also knew it wasn’t possible, at least not today. For the last year, I’d been in love with Sarah Woods. Not that anyone knew that. Not even her. She was my best friend’s little sister, making her strictly off limits. And she was only sixteen, too young to recognize her mate.

Seth Woods had been my friend since kindergarten. We met on the first day of school and immediately became inseparable. If we weren’t at school, we could always be found at each other’s houses. Our parents quickly learned it was no use to try to force us to spend time apart. We would just hound them until they relented. From then on, family dinners, outings, vacations always included my best friend and vice versa.

The first time I visited Seth's home, Sarah was just a toddler who was intent on following her older brother everywhere. She always had her chubby little hands fisted in the back of his shirt, refusing to let go and risk being left behind. He never cared though, always content to let her tag along.

“Can’t we ever go anywhere without your little sister?” I’d once asked Seth in frustration. We were adventurous eight-year-olds by that time and were supposed to be hiking through the woods but Sarah’s short little legs were slowing us down.

“I’m her big brother.” He shrugged, looking at me like that was all the explanation needed. When I just continued to stare at him he blew out an exasperated breath then elaborated. “It’s my job to take care of her and protect her. I can’t do that if I leave her behind all the time. You’re my best friend, Finn, But if you want to hang out with me, Sarah comes too.”

That was the first and only time I ever asked that question. I was an only child so I didn’t understand, But his answer had been so matter of fact, like it would be ridiculous to even consider any other response. So I’d accepted that was the way it was supposed to be with siblings and took on the role of “adopted big brother.” From that point on, Sarah always had one of us looking out for her, if not both.

As we got older, Sarah started spending more time with her friends at the packhouse. Seth and I were into video games and girls, two things that did not interest Sarah one bit. She’d become close friends with the Beta’s daughter and most often chose to hang out with her and the other kids of the ranked wolves. I didn’t blame her, but I wasn’t completely comfortable with the arrangement either. 

At fourteen, Sarah was emerging from that awkward pre-teen stage we all went through and morphing into a beautiful woman before my eyes. She’d always been a cute girl, with fiery red hair and a personality to match. But where she’d been a tomboy, all gangly limbs and a face full of freckles, now she was growing into herself. Maybe as her brother, Seth was too blind to her beauty to see the way the boys were starting to take notice. But I saw it, and I wasn’t about to let any of them hurt her. So I watched from a distance.

The problem with watching someone though, is that you start to see things about them you might never have noticed otherwise. She was definitely gorgeous, tall and lithe with luscious red locks that looked soft as silk. Her freckles had faded to just a smattering across her nose and cheeks, highlighting the deep emerald green of her eyes. And though she was on the thinner side, she had no trouble filling out her clothes in all the right places. 

But all of those things were external and on display for the world to see. And based on the looks she received from the teenage boys in the pack and some even older wolves, it was clear that everyone did see it. What really hooked me though was who she was on the inside, and I truly doubted anyone saw that the way I did.

Sarah was brilliant and witty, quick with a comeback and able to see solutions to situations that would never occur to most people. She was fiercely loyal to her family and friends but would defend a stranger just as readily if she felt they’d been wronged. As a seventeen-year-old boy I was completely in awe of the fifteen-year-old Sarah Woods. It was a feeling that had only continued to grow over the past year until I could no longer pretend it was anything but love. 

Unfortunately, my love for Sarah was a secret I couldn’t share with anyone. Not even the girl herself. Not because I didn’t think she’d give me a chance. In fact, the opposite was true. While she never gave any outright indication that she liked me as more than a friend or older brother figure, she never shied away from a little flirty banter when Seth wasn’t around and I was actually brave enough to engage her in it. I always thought there was a possibility she might like me too. I just wasn’t quite brave enough to find out.

Staying away from your best friend’s sister was an unwritten rule among boys. Seth was more than my best friend. He was my brother, my family. I couldn’t betray him that way, especially without being sure she felt the same. No, the only hope for me to ever be with Sarah would be to find she was my fated mate. If the Moon Goddess paired us together, Seth would have to accept it. He would never wish a broken bond on his sister or me. But while I was turning eighteen, Sarah was still two years away from being able to scent her fated mate.

I had no problem waiting two years for her. If anything in life was worth waiting for, she was definitely at the top of that list. I would happily spend the next two years watching her grow even more into the beautiful woman she’d already become, being her friend and letting her get to know me better. 

But tonight, my parents were throwing a birthday party for me and the entire pack was invited. It was common practice to hold a gathering like this when a wolf becomes mating age to see if their mate was part of the pack. Mom and dad had hardly talked of anything else for the last month. They were happily mated and I knew they just wanted the same thing for me. I wanted it too, but not tonight. because if I walked out there tonight and scented my mate, it wouldn’t be Sarah, and she was all I wanted.

Sure, I’m told as soon as the mate bond kicked in, old feelings died away and you became happy with the person the Goddess had chosen for you. But I couldn’t wrap my head around that. I didn’t want to feel that way for someone I barely knew. I knew Sarah, her beautiful heart and soul. It would devastate me to be mated to anyone but her. 

It was these thoughts that consumed me as I neared Seth’s house, swinging by to pick him up for the party as I’d promised to do. Sarah would be coming later with some of her other friends so she wouldn’t be riding with us. I could only hope I’d still be single by the time she arrived. Otherwise, I wasn’t sure I could bear to see her there, knowing we would never be together.

I pulled my jeep to a stop at the end of the drive, quickly hopping out and closing the distance to the front door. I needed to hurry before I changed my mind and skipped out on my own party. I knew Seth would never let me do that. He was almost more excited than my parents for me to find my mate. I think he wanted to live vicariously through me until he turned eighteen. His birthday was a few months behind mine and I knew he was anxious to be old enough to scent his mate as well. 

I let myself in the front door as I’d done a million times before. The Woods’ considered me family and insisted I didn’t need to knock. I was so intent on my goal, I barely registered the fact that my wolf was becoming more and more agitated the closer I got to the house. But as soon as I walked through the door, it became impossible to ignore.

The first thing I noticed was the most enticing scent I’d ever smelled. It was spicy, like nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves, but interlaced with a rich vanilla. My mouth watered and I longed to drown myself in it. But as alluring as the fragrance was, my wolf’s words in my head overrode everything.

“Mate!” He howled.

I froze in place as a thousand different thoughts warred for my attention. How was it possible my mate would be here? Only two she-wolves lived here. Seth’s mom, who was already mated, and Sarah, who was too young to have a mate yet. Did Seth have a girl here? He never dated, always wanting to wait for his mate. Fuck! How awkward would it be if his date turned out to be my mate? 

Just then, the scent grew stronger and I braved a glance to see who it could be. Shock rippled through me as my eyes locked with the most beautiful, sparkling emerald orbs. I’d seen them nearly every day since I was five years old but never like this. Today, I could see every facet of them, the way they were streaked with the thinnest gold threads and the intricate combination of colors, not just emerald but jade and spanish moss as well. I was completely mesmerized.

“Mate!” My wolf howled again. “She’s ours!”

“What are you talking about, Callum? She can’t be ours, not yet.” I argued, even as I drank in every part of her.

She was walking down the stairs in a dusty pink sheath dress that hugged her curves and fell just above her knees, showing off a healthy expanse of her toned legs all the way down to her nude stilettos. The square neckline dipped just low enough to bare the slightest hint of cleavage but the teardrop necklace that nestled in the creamy swell between her breasts drew the eye right to them. The color of her dress and the barely-there make-up she wore made the green of her eyes stand out even more and the pale pink lip gloss on her plush lips made them look even more kissable than ever before.  Every part of me ached to have her, even though I knew this had to be a mistake.

“Hey Finn!” Sarah greeted me with a bright smile, sweeping aside the errant red strands that had escaped the glittery clasp in her hair. It was the way she always greeted me but she quickly noticed that something about me was not the same. “Are you okay?”

“Uh, yeah. Sorry!” I quickly apologized for my awkward stare. “I was just surprised to see you. I came by to pick up Seth but I thought you’d already be gone.”

Even as I spoke, my mind was grappling with the idea that my wolf could recognize her as our mate when she wasn’t of age while listening to him insist that he could. He was urging me to claim her, unable to understand why he could scent his mate but not be with her.

“I was just on my way out.” Sarah interrupted my thoughts. “But Seth is upstairs if you want to wait in his room.”

It was that simple statement that made me realize what my next move had to be. Because it proved what I had already known. Sarah didn’t know I was her mate. She was too young to scent me. So until she was eighteen and could finally recognize me, I had to go. 

With the way Callum was already pushing me to mark her, there was no way he could be around her for the next two years without forcing the shift and taking matters into his own hands. And even if he could, it would kill me to be so close to her and not be able to really be with her. I knew she was waiting for her mate so although I thought a part of her might feel something for me, there was no way she would act on it until she knew for sure. 

“Uh, actually something came up.” I lied, pretending to read a text on my phone. “Can you just tell him I’ll have to meet him there?”

I didn’t even wait for an answer, turning on my heels and nearly sprinting to my car. It was only fair that she got to live the next two years of her life as a carefree teenager, I told myself. I’ll stay away until she turns eighteen, come back for her party, she’ll recognize me as her mate, and we’ll live happily ever after, I thought,  making another attempt to convince myself. My wolf whimpered and whined in my head, begging me to go back to our mate. I felt his pain but I knew I couldn’t give him what he wanted. So I did the only thing I could do.

I ran.