Chapter 1 - ASHLEIGH

“Ash, Ash come on! We’re gonna be late for school,” my best friend and soon-to-be Alpha, Oliver bangs on my bedroom door hurrying me up.

“I’m ready, just give me a few minutes to finish my assignment,” I call back.

“Ugh! Stop being such a nerd, Ash. We all know you finished it last week,” my younger brother Brent calls out.

I hear a growl come from Ollie followed by a slap. “Ouch! Hey, what was that for?” Brent responds.

“Don’t be disrespectful to your sister,” Ollie snaps.

“Pfft, if you weren’t our cousin, I’d swear you were in love with her,” Brent grumbles before making his way down the stairs.

“Come on Ash, we’re gonna be late for school,” Ollie bangs on the door once more before heading down to breakfast.

I sighed. It’s no use trying to finish anything now, both were up and ready to go.

I look around my room admiring the different shades of light pink, silver, and white. In the middle of the room is my king-sized bed with a mountain of pink and cream pillows I love to snuggle into at night, with fairy lights strung behind from floor to ceiling. Flanking the bed are matching bedside tables that have light cream lamps and an alarm clock. Off to the side is a silver dresser with a few knickknacks, including my jewellery box.

There are two other doors in my room, besides the one leading out of my room. The one beside my full-length mirror goes to my wardrobe while the other leads to my ensuite bathroom.

As I make my way to the bedroom door, I stop by the full-length mirror. “Yep, this is as good as it's going to get,” I mutter to myself.

‘Aww, come on I think we look hot,’ my wolf Kia says. ‘If you add a little human make-up, do the hair, and maybe show some skin, the boys will be clawing for us,’ she giggles.

I roll my eyes at my wolf and mutter, ‘what happened to wanting to find your mate when we turned 18?’ I ask her.

‘Well, I know you are longing for companionship, so as long as we don’t fall in love with him, I don’t mind what you do, but it all stops as soon as we meet our mate,’ Kia says with a shrug.

Today for school I am wearing my skinny black jeans with white Vans and a beautiful light pink short-sleeve button-down top with puffy sleeves. My light brown curly hair is thrown up with a large hair clip into a half-ponytail-loose, my big brown eyes staring back at me.

Maybe I could ask Meghan for some makeup tips. I will need something for this weekend at least.

Kia starts jumping up and down in my mind, ‘Yes, yes, yes, I’m so glad Oliver talked you into having a birthday party, more chances of meeting our mate and meeting more people.’

I muttered back to her, ‘I suppose we are going to be the Beta of this pack, might as well put Dad’s and Uncle’s training into some use.’

I collect my things for school and make my way down the stairs into the kitchen where everyone is seated in the large dining room table happily clinking away and eating breakfast.

“Ahh, there she is,” my dad says, looking up from his conversation with Uncle David, the Alpha of our pack.

“Morning Daddy, Uncle, how are you both?” I chippered as I made my way through the dining room.

“How are you feeling today? Nervous, excited?” He asks with a sceptical glance at my uncle.

“I’m fine, I tried to get more work done before we headed off to school but the boys wouldn’t let me, pretty happy with the result so far, let’s just hope it’s enough,” I answer back as I take a seat between him and Meghan.

We are in the final stages of my Bio classes and have just a few assignments and reports to finish up on. I want everything to be perfect before handing them in this morning. Thankfully, I finished everything last Thursday, so it gave me the weekend to proofread everything and make sure it is all perfect.

“Oh, you will be fine,” Meghan says as she passes me food from the table, filling my plate. “You worry that pretty little head of yours too much when you should be having fun and relaxing.”

“I guess so,” I mutter as I eat the food.

Meghan is our Gamma, Alex’s mate, and both are three years older than Ollie and me. Meghan came into Alex’s life when he turned 18. They found each other when he was out in the clubs celebrating his birthday and have been together since.

We all grew up together in the packhouse. Since are all heirs to pack leadership, it was natural for us to forge friendships and ensure the pack works well together. If the leadership doesn’t get along well, how else is the pack supposed to get along?

I looked up at her from my plate of food. I sigh heavily, not believing the favour I’m about to ask her. “Hey, Meg. I want to ask a huge favour, but pleaseeeee don’t make a big deal about it, okay?”

She had stops mid-conversation with Alex. Ollie and Brent also become quiet from across the table, obviously listening to our conversation.

“Erm… as you know, Friday is my birthday, and we are having a party Friday night after school. Could you help me with makeup and clothes? You know everything I have is not great for a party.”

She lets out a squeal of joy and claps her hands. “Yes, yes, yes, so excited you finally asked me to do a makeover for you! You are going to love this! We will also get something for Friday if you meet your mate; you must look hot and sexy.”

She turns to uncle, “Alpha David, can we please use the car and credit cards on Thursday night so I can take Ash for a much-needed shopping trip?”

She bats her eyelashes and asks in a sweet voice, causing her mate Alex to growl in annoyance at the over-affection towards our Alpha. Typical possessive male, I laughed to myself, looked over to Uncle David and dad, who had also stopped what they were doing and are now giving us attention.

“Sure, consider it a ‘welcome to adulthood’ gift,” Uncle David smiles and nods. “But …”

Meghan lets out an annoyed groan. Everyone around the tables laughs. There is always a ‘but’ with Uncle.

“Two guards will be with you at all times.” Being ranked members of the pack I should expect nothing less.

Meghan nods and looks at me, an annoyed expression on her face. “Sure Alpha, thank you. Ash, I’ll pick you up after school on Thursday. The boys have football training, so it works out.”

I nod in response while trying to work out my schedule in my head for the rest of the week since Thursday and Friday study time are pretty much cancelled. Whenever possible I do my homework a week ahead in case important pack business comes up that will require my assistance. Personally, I think it is better to be overprepared.

“Okay, are you kiddies ready for school?” Auntie Sarah calls out as she walks through the dining room.

“Yeah ma, just finishing up now,” Ollie answers while wolfing down the last of his food.

I quickly finish my breakfast and check the time … we had about 20 minutes to go till first period. Mom and auntie are waiting at the door as we all pile out.

“Have a good day today! Please try not to cause any trouble.” Mum kissed each of us.

“No worries, auntie, we will be on our best behaviour,” Ollie calls back as he waves while walking out the door.

Brent, Ollie, and I pile into Ollie’s shiny black Jeep and head to school.