Chapter 3- On My Own

My parents really made sure that I'll be arriving in style at the guest packs.

                Before me stood a pitch-black and shiny Tahoe SUV with dark-tinted windows - the latest model, fully loaded. My bags were already in the back. On the passenger's seat was a food bridge packed with snacks, as well as a cooler holding various brands of drinks. The pack knows I love our own brewed Parbo Radler or Parbo Chiller; they are better than all those international brands that humans make.

 Mom opens the car door and the Alpha just picks me up like I weigh nothing and drops my giggling self in the driver’s seat. I love VIP treatment and they know it. Dad digitally starts the car before handing me the key. I shift to Drive, slowly exiting from packhouse entrance with one hand dipping into a bag with rose petals.

On leaving, I tossed the roses into the air as a token of my deep love for my pack family. As I looked in the mirror, I saw them all smiling and waving at me. I cherish them so much, this is not the last they saw of me.       

I’m driving on the hard road now, still within pack territory.

 My mood is upgrading. I rummage through the car's dashboard, looking for some CDs that match my current state of mind. Ah, here we go! Michael Bolton will do perfectly. Yes!

 I inserted the CD and in no time, the love song began playing. I screamed my lungs out along with it.

 As this is an old song, I know the lyrics by heart. I never imagined how these words would perfectly describe my life and emotions in the past.

 <You are the candle, love’s the flame>

 <A fire that burned through wind and rain>

 <Shine your light on this heart of mine>

                                “You are the one, you are the oneeeeeeee,” I screamed on top of my lungs with one hand lively stretched out of the car window.

 Micheal Bolton, do you know where my mate is?

                 It will take me at least half an hour to get to the border of the pack land.

 No, I won’t get rogue. The Alpha has demanded me to stay connected to the pack till I really find my mate. Only then can I join his pack. Therefore, after crossing the border, I will not sever ties with Moonlight.

                I take in the woods on both sides of the road. Every tree and bush, no matter how small, is crucial to us werewolves as we need them to let our wolf run free and reunite our beastly and human halves. Our wolf represents the other half of our being.

 Moonlight is one of the most feared packs on this side of the world. We consist of more than two thousand members and are continuously expanding our numbers. Both men and women undergo training to ensure that we're capable of defending ourselves from mostly rogue attacks which happen frequently. Our steady growth can also be the result of our fierce intimacy. Yes, werewolves tend to be passionate creatures, possibly explaining why we produce a lot of pups.

We are also known for our cases of multiple births.

Most interesting, though, is our love-life in total. Once mated, we are monogamous. We don’t do multiple pups with different fathers, rather, we remain faithful to our destined partner until death. Males can only impregnate their mates and if a one dies, the other could become insane or even suicidal and eventually be killed for its own good. Weird, but true. For that reason, every mate has the responsibility to keep his other half happy and healthy.

                Therefore, to ensure that mates are compliant with this obligation, the Moon Goddess has created a mate bond.

It is a strong emotional and physical connection. Mates will constantly crave their partner. We can do the deed for hours, nonstop. Our ‘instruments’ are custom-made. Unlike humans, after hours of use, the flower settles back to the same tightness that our mate enjoys. We don’t need steam or hot herbal baths as a fix to get ready for the next round.

It’s no surprise that lots of packs have a steady population growth. Yes, of course, there must be a lot of mates finding each other. As for pack members like me who can’t find their fated, it is a no do.              

Getting close to the border at present, I sense someone watching me. I exhale deeply.

 I’m not afraid of rogues, either, they are scared of me. Pretty sure it must be a pack warrior on surveillance. I take some speed off, just to make sure I have a positive guess of my stalker.

 Yeah, there he is.

 Johnston is the most wanted hottie in the pack. Adonis by sight, strong as Delilah’s Samson and an amazing romantic lover.

 But he is not my fated.

 Surely, we tried hard to force a mate bond, to no avail. We are the proof that the Moon Goddess can’t be persuaded in this matter. The Almighty God gave her the ultimate permission to forge the mate bond for her own good purpose and match up whoever she wants.

 Johnston and I, how outstanding it would be! The pack's most sexy with the unrivaled beautiful girl.

 Our potential mating has already prompted people to start guessing what our pups will look like.

 Johnston was white blonde with forest green eyes and a fair coffee-colored skin tone as if he had just enjoyed the Caribbean sun. On the other hand, I have fair skin along with red hair and unique gray eyes.

                People were really busy mixing up our physics to portray the many pups that Johnston and I would produce. But on his eighteenth birthday, this dream was shattered.

 Well, all were disappointed. No mates, no pups. Sorry.

 “Jooooohnston”, I stretched his name to Michael Bolton's rhythm.

 With a smirk on his face, he closed the gap to my car.

“What’s up, Johnston?" I inquired, tilting my eyebrows to his sheepish grin...