Chapter 0001

Eleanor’s POV

When I crossed paths with my first love again, time had turned us into the very opposite of the young lovers we once were.

As for me, I once had a great life. My father was a lawyer. My first love was my fated mate. I was accepted into the Royal Ballet school to fulfill my dream.

Now I was fatherless, broke, single, and was forced to drop out of my school.

I never gave up hope, but the truth is I've only paid off 10% of my debt in three years. It'll take me a full thirty more to pay it completely and by then there's no chance I'd be able to continue my education.

Now after another long day of waitressing, I counted my paycheck in the greasy envelope the manager had slapped into my hand, I did not feel like myself anymore.

I tossed the envelope into my bag and headed out the door towards home.

"Hey Eleanor," I was almost at my front door when a voice interrupted me.

I glanced up to see my debt collector, Craig Little, leaning against a telephone pole, watching me like a hawk gazing at its prey. Little always personally oversaw my payments, and I knew he always wanted more than just my money.

What a creep.

"Why are you here Craig? I've already paid you for this month." I never defaulted on my payments. The less I had to see Craig the better.

“What, a guy can’t stop by and see his girlfriend after work?” He said with a sleazy grin, as he moved to walk in step with me.

“I’m not your girlfriend Craig. Leave me alone,” I mumbled trying to ignore him. Then I felt an arm snake around my waist. “Get off me!”

“Now that’s no way to treat me baby, come on now,” Craig growled in my ear pulling me in closer. His hand slid down lower, dangerously close to where my money envelope laid in my bag. At first I thought he might steal from me, until his hand slid lower and grabbed my ass, hard.

“Let go of me Craig,” I yelled.

I struggled against his hold on my hip as he reached around to try and grab my arm too. In a panic of aggression I managed to turn my body away from him, using my momentum and the weight of my bag to dislodge Craig’s hand from my hip.

We both stumbled.

Greasy Craig spun to the ground, hitting his head hard on the pavement.

I wasn’t so lucky. I tumbled over the curb and out into oncoming traffic, my ankle twisted at an awkward angle. Pain seared through my calf. My head swam. I tried to get my bearings, only vaguely aware of the pair of headlights barreling straight towards me.

An engine roar accompanied my screams as I threw my arms up to cover my head, preparing for my demise.

Maybe I would be free from my debt this time.

But freedom never came, and all I heard was tires aggressively screeching to a halt. I trembled and opened my eyes to see a limousine inches from where I laid in the middle of the street. The license plate read ‘ALPHA LS’ in bold black lettering.

“Alpha Lorenzo, we almost hit a young woman, I believe she was in the middle of some fight,” a voice, I assumed belonged to the driver, came from inside the car.

“None of our business. Just leave,” a second voice responded, seemingly annoyed at the fact that they had almost flattened me to a pancake. The voice sounded strangely familiar.

I scrambled towards the curb to safety as the limousine left. Despite my shock, only one thing was on my mind.

Lorenzo.

That was the name of my first boyfriend, the first person I had ever loved.

We were only 18 at the time but we felt so strongly about each other that we had agreed to be chosen mates: meaning it didn’t matter if we ever found our fated mates, we would risk it all to be with each other. Well, at least I was willing to risk it all to be with him.

We were love birds but at the last minute, Lorenzo just suddenly rejected me for another girl and left me like our promise meant nothing.

I can’t believe so many years after his rejection, my heart still pulled at the thought of being close to him again.

Lorenzo. It couldn’t have been him, could it?

No, no way. When we were together in high school, Lorenzo was all handsome, smart, but came from a poor family. I didn’t mind that at all as his girlfriend and fated mate, but he seemed to care a lot about our difference.

It’s just hard to imagine he could have had access to a limousine and a driver just a few years later.

It couldn’t have been him. No matter how familiar he sounded to my former lover, it must’ve been a coincidence that they had the same name.

But the license plate…

I was so lost in thought that I hadn’t noticed Craig regaining consciousness. He stood up and staggered towards me, visible angry and clearly ready to mess with me some more. He was only a few steps away when I pulled myself up and started to run.

But as I ran away, a heard a familiar tire screech and the limousine came barreling back down the street. The driver rolled down the window quickly and revealed a gun pointed not at me, but at Craig.

“Leave the young lady alone Blue Moon scum, you’ve already delayed us once today,” the driver shouted at Little who didn’t say a word before sprinting away in fear. What a coward.

I stared in shock as the driver put the gun down and replaced it with another wad of money, extending his hand out to me. Unable to speak, I sputtered in confusion.

“Just take it, heal that wound of yours and stay out of trouble,” the driver said. I took the money gingerly, not knowing what else to do. I was desperate and in need, how could I refuse?

The driver rolled up the window and rolled away, leaving me alone in my thoughts.

I couldn’t help but wonder if that really was Lorenzo, the one who I’d known long ago would have been kind too.