Chapter One

Rose

The sun shone in through the open window as a gentle breeze tickled my nose, wafting the comforting scent of my old books around my room. I cracked my eyes open and wiped them, trying to adjust to the morning light streaming in the room. It seems I had fallen asleep reading in the old worn-out leather comfy chair in the corner of my bedroom.

I felt my wolf Delilah stir, but she gave in to the laziness and went back to sleep. I peeled my skin from the chair as I stretched. I closed one of my favorite fairytale books that I put myself to sleep with last night. As I climbed out of my chair, I put my book back on the bookshelf. My fingers grazed across the spines of my books as I wandered into my bathroom. I glanced into the mirror and grimaced. A red mark from my book and drool were present on my face. I hastily wiped the spit away with my wrist.

“Every seventeen-year-old’s dream look,” I muttered to myself as I stripped off my polka dot pajamas and stepped into the shower. I stood in the shower, letting the hot water coax my body to wake up all the way. After a few minutes of standing in the water, I scrubbed my body and hair. Once I was clean, I stepped out of the shower clutching an oversized fluffy white towel.  

I looked back into the mirror one more time and muttered, “Better.”

I dried my hair and then turned back to the mirror. My cornflower blue eyes looked refreshed. My wavy dirty blonde hair fell down in cascades tickling my back. I was pretty enough and curvy to catch a couple of people’s attention, but I preferred to disappear into the background. I dropped my towel in the hamper and walked back to my room. My bedroom door burst open with two blonde girls arguing about something stupid corrupting my room.

“Dude, knock!” I scrambled to grab anything to cover...anything. The girls shrugged. They weren’t fazed at all.

 “We have seen it all before.” shrugged the taller girl. These two were my best friends. The taller girl was Harriet; she had tight kinky curly blonde hair and light blue eyes. She had turned eighteen just a few months ago. I had known her for most of my life. She was one of the most brilliant people I knew, and she knew it too. She was cocky and gave a lot of people a run for their money.

The shorter blonde was Heather. She had straight blonde shoulder-length hair. Heather was Harriet’s baby sister, her only sister. She had the same eyes but a much more reserved personality. She was two years younger but was always with us. We were the three musketeers.

“Just because you have seen it doesn’t mean I want it on display all the time. Give me a scrap of modesty.” I hissed as I grabbed a pair of underwear and a bra from the heap of clothes on my dresser. Heather averted her eyes and pulled her sister, forcing her to comply.

“Thank you,” I mumbled as I slipped on my underwear before quickly hopping into a plain white tank top and blue jean shorts. “So why are you here so early anyway?” 

“She got in trouble with mom again,” Heather smirked at her sister as I slipped on my pair of black converse.  

“It’s not my fault! Matt was in my room last night.” Harriett innocently said as she batted her eyelashes. Both Heather and I groaned as we walked out of my room.

Matthew, or Matt, was the Beta’s son; he was obsessed with Harriet. They had been glued to each other’s faces, at least I only pictured their faces, for a few weeks now. Harriet continued her excuse, “He came to me. Well, for me.” Heather faked vomited as we hustled down the stairs.

It wasn’t unheard of for teenagers to sleep with other people before finding their mates. Mainly when you lived in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do. Harriet mostly slept with Matthew; they had an unspoken agreement that it was just for fun and just to release their sexual frustrations. Matt wasn’t eighteen yet, so who knows, they might be mates.

Unfortunately for Heather and me, we heard about these escapades regularly or worse, sometimes we accidentally witnessed them. The bushes on the side of her house would never be the same for me. 

Personally, I never had the urge to jump anybody’s bones in town. I had guy friends, and I had people interested in me, but it didn’t mean I was interested or wanted them. I guess deep down, after reading so many stories and fairytales, they had influenced me. I just want my mate, Even if it isn’t any time soon. When did I become such a hopeless romantic?

“Morning, Rose Bud.” Called my mom as we made our way into the kitchen. “Morning, girls! What’s on the agenda for today?”

I kissed her cheek, grabbing an apple from the counter, biting into it. Heather and Harriet each hugged my mom before leaning on the counter.

“That is a great question. Besides seeing Rose naked first thing this morning, I haven’t planned anything else out.” Teased Harriet. My mom laughed and swatted at Harriet with a tea towel.

“Mrs. Thompson, please, don’t encourage her. Please, for my sake.” Heather pleaded as she sunk her head into her hands.

“Heather loosen up, will ya?” Harriet wriggled her arms around like she was one of those inflatable flailing tube men at a car dealership. Heather rolled her eyes at her sister and grabbed a banana from the counter.

I took another bite of my apple, and as I chewed, I took in the scene in my kitchen. I selfishly hope that it could stay like this for longer, but I knew it wouldn’t be. We were getting older. Sooner or later, we would find our mates and probably find ourselves in new packs, away from each other. 

I grinned at my best friends bickering and slung my arms around their necks. I kissed my mom before tugging the girls out the front door with me.

“So your birthday is in a few days, Rose; what do you want to do?” Heather asked as we settled on a bench in my mom’s front garden. She contently ate her banana as Harriet stalked a ladybug with her eyes. 

At that moment, Delilah graced me with her presence. “Mate. We will find our mate.” I rolled my eyes internally at her.

“Life can be more than just our mate,” I hissed at her.

“Don’t be like this. I know you want to meet our mate just as much as I.” Delilah snapped at me before retreating to the back of my mind sulking. I swear my wolf was the biggest hopeless romantic out there.

“The Starlight Carnival is that night. Let’s just go there. Maybe Harriet can find her mate,” I teased as I jabbed her in the ribs with my elbow.  

“Sounds good to me. Maybe I will finally get a decent night’s sleep without her nightly escapades disturbing my beauty sleep.” Heather smirked at her sister.

“Y’all make me sound like a horny trollop!” Harriet clutched her chest dramatically.

“For real, though, on my birthday, can I please request knocking on my door before entering that day?” I said as I threw my apple core in the compost bin.

“I make no promises, but I’ll attempt to control myself,” Harriet snorted.