Chapter 5

Melissa

“No.” I whispered softly to myself. There was no way on earth that the moongoddess would do this to me after so many years of waiting. There was no way Alan, my stepbrother, would be my mate.

Still looking at Alan and his raised hand, I turned away again, not moving an inch from the spot. As I stood quietly, I noticed footsteps behind me and from the excited giggles from Lia, I was definitely sure it was Alan coming towards me.

Closing my eyes and sighing in distress, I took to my heels, ignoring the surprised stares everyone threw at me. At the entrance of the school, no one, not even the security personnel spoke to me as I ran out of the gates. I was the alpha’s daughter afterall, and the alpha was the only one allowed to scold me.

I ran as fast as my legs could carry me through the pack houses, until I was close to the woods, away from where living creatures occupied.

“Where are we headed, Melissa?” Lia asked, but I shook my head, still running.

“We are not heading anywhere; just lend me your speed Lia. I need the adrenaline right now to clear my thoughts.” I replied.

Without saying a word or trying to argue, she indeed lent me her speed and I ran as I had never done before. I ran through the woods, until I got to the gate which was still getting demolished by the workers. They all stopped what they were doing to look at me, and I took the opportunity to look outside the gate, seeing Moonriver pack drawing closer.

“Melissa, are you okay?” One of my father’s warriors asked me. “Why did you come all the way to the pack gate?”

I shook my head at him and without saying a word, turned again to continue my race. It was evening when I finally got home and my father was standing outside the house, with a stern look on his face.

“Where have you been?” He demanded with a harsh voice. “I was alerted that you were at the pack gate.”

“I needed some time to myself.” I replied, trying to go inside, but he caught my wrist with his right hand, turning me to face him.

“Have you met her?”

Knowing that he was referring to my wolf, I nodded my head at him. “I have met her and she is indeed perfect.”

My father smiled proudly at me, tucking a loose strand of my hair behind my ear. “Good. I will alert the pack members to be available at the shifting square. Get ready.”

“There will be no full moon today.” I said, reminding him.

“You are shifting for the first time, Melissa.” He replied, still with that proud look on his face. “And you are the alpha’s daughter. You don’t need the full moon.

                                 ***********

It was almost midnight when I walked into the midst of more than half of the pack members, dressed in my normal clothes. My best friend, Mia smiled at me as she occupied the front row of the audience, my birthday gown carefully folded in her hands. After looking at everyone including my father, I immediately felt a strange tingling sensation spreading through my body. A sign, that my transformation was near.

With a mixture of excitement and anxiety, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to steady my beating heart. This is my first transformation to a wolf and I was doing it in front of the pack members. I secretly prayed in my heart that my wolf would be strong, so that my father would be prouder than he was already.

As soon as I felt my muscles begin to tense and contract, I knew just then that it was finally happening, my change was on its way. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist, trying to suppress the panic, but deep down, I knew there was no way to stop it.

With a sudden push that I had never experienced before, my body convulsed and I fell to my knees, a soft howl escaping my lips. I felt my bones shifting and my skin prickling as fur began to sprout all over my body. The pain I felt was something I had not felt in my entire life, but after it, came liberation and from the whispering going on amidst the pack members, I knew that I was now fully shifted into a wolf. From my feet, I realized I was white and I felt stronger than I had ever felt before.

“Go for a run, Melissa,” My father called proudly to me. "feel the new body."

Without turning to see everyone’s expression, I darted into the woods, indeed feeling my new body. It felt good, really good to be finally able to shift like everyone else.

Lia and I ran for very long before returning to the shifting square. Only my father and Mia were left in the venue and the former walked up to me, rubbing my fur with his large hands.

“I am proud of you, Melissa.” He said before standing to his full height. “Get dressed and join us in the hall.”

When he left, I shifted back into my human form and Mia stretched my gown towards me. “You were amazing, Melissa.”

“Thank you.” I replied, smiling at her. In less than ten minutes, I was dressed in my red gown and Mia helped fix my hair. After looking fully at me, she squeezed my hand.

“Let us go to the hall.”

We walked together to the hall, chatting on our way. When we got inside, I gasped at the round of applause that came from the pack members, my heart filling with excitement. Smiling and truly feeling proud of myself, I appreciated them, kissed my father on the cheeks before excusing myself to use the bathroom.

I couldn’t contain my excitement as I looked at myself in the mirror, grateful for my mother and also wishing that she had been here to watch me.

“How do you feel?” Lia asked.

“Amazing. Really amazing.” I replied, turning to walk out of the bathroom, but I was stopped by Alan’s sudden presence. He smirked dangerously at me, eliciting a very sweet sensation through my body.

“You ran away today, Melissa.” He said with the same voice I was used to. “But seeing you shift today has made me want to have you even more.”

I blinked twice at him, having no words to respond with.

“When are you going to accept that we are mates?” He asked, taking more slow strides towards me. I wanted to move or go somewhere else, but his hands caught my wrist and he leaned in to sniff the air around me. “You are intoxicating, Melissa.”

I looked into his dark eyes, aware of the tantalizing sensation his hands on my wrist brought me, but I still couldn’t say anything to him.

When he leaned in to kiss me, I bent, slipping from underneath his arm and he chuckled lightly. “Running again, Melissa?”

I shook my head like an idiot and stormed out of the bathroom, grateful that no one had seen both of us together. Goddess, he really needed to stop doing this to me, because I might not be able to resist for long.

As I walked along the halls, my senses suddenly caught a whiff of a delicious scent that was too strong not to notice. I was about to dismiss it, thinking it was because of Alan, but this time around, the smell was a mixture of strawberry and wet dust, two of my favorite scents.

“Mate!” Lia exclaimed, scaring me a little. Since the scent was coming from the back of the hall, I quickly followed it to see a gentle ravishing looking man, dressed in black suit with legs that I felt went on for ages. He turned to look at me and just then, it felt like the world stopped moving because of the both of us.

“Another mate!” Lia screamed again, but even her voice wasn’t enough to stir me away from the handsome face staring at me from the distance.