1 - Nineteenth birthday

CHAPTER 1

NICOLE'S POV

I woke up as the sound of my alarm blared through my ears. With annoyance, I arose from the bed but not before switching the damn annoying alarm off. A thought crossed my mind and I smiled as I remembered that, yes, it was my birthday and I would be nineteen years of age today.

I entered my bathroom to do my morning duties, and when I was through and had freshened up, I threw on a baby pink polo and a bum-short as I walked down the stairs.

The smell of pancakes wafted through my nose and my stomach grumbled at the sweet aroma. I hastened my footsteps to the kitchen and smiled as I saw my mom Kayla finishing up the preparation.

"Good morning Mommy." I greeted the woman who had brought me up since I was a kid. Mom Kayla wasn't my real mother but she treated me as if I was her real daughter. She had never told me but I knew, I knew she had picked me up from the forest when I was four years old, as I could faintly remember, I was abandoned all because I was a half-breed. A werewolf. Perhaps my real mother hated the fact that she had given birth to a monster so she threw me in a forest, as if I was a trash. This memory was something that was blury, but all I could clearly remember when I regained conciousness, was that I was left in a thick forest, crying, until a kind woman picked me up. And since then, I had lived with the humans, and was treated like one. Mom Kayla's had never ever called me a monster or treated me as if I was a stranger, and sometimes, I wonder if she was actually my mother, that my blury memories were all a dream.

"My dearest Nicole, good morning and a happy birthday to you. I made your favourite, have some pancakes." She passed me some pancakes and a cup of tea while I devoured it there, right on the stool. I took the tea and took a gulp but she just smiled at me and added more pancakes to my plate. 

Have I ever told you how much I loved this woman? Well, if I haven't, I'm telling you now and she loved me all the same, except for a certain someone, her son, who had never reciprocated my feelings for him, never!

"Mason called and said he would be coming back." At the mere mention of that name, I choked, like literally choked and the poor tea spluttered out of my mouth.

"Mason?" I asked her to be sure of what I heard.

"Yes, are you excited?" Mom Kayla chimed happily like a little girl and I nodded, smiling nervously.

Mason Israel Maxson. My first crush. My first love. I had loved him since the first day I laid my eyes on him. It started as a crush at first but later developed into love. Not a love between siblings or half siblings like I was to him, but a love between lovers, just that he never saw me that way. Heck, he never saw me even as his sister. With just his stare, you would know that he hated the sight of me, he was disgusted by me but that never changed my feelings for him. That was the effect Mason had on me and I was practically obsessed with him. I don't know why but that attraction I felt for him was something that could never be replaced. I don't think I can ever love someone as much as I love him.

Mason was someone you would call aloof, he was always alone and had never liked the company of another, or perhaps he never liked my company. He always kept to himself, in a corner, writing. That was his first love. And I noticed that he writes whenever he was angry. He writes in a big journal that was always locked whenever I see it and I had always wondered what he had written in it. 

He was four years older than me and had just currently graduated from the university, which was the main reason he was coming back after four years. Four good years of never seeing him or hearing his masculine voice. He studied business administration in the university so that he could take over the company once he was through with his studies, a company that his late father had left for them before he died. Mom Kayla was the current chairman and CEO of Maxton Corporation, a very popular company, but now I guess she would willingly step down so that Mason could claim what was finally his.

"Do you want a big celebration or just a little celebration between us family?" Mom Kayla asked me but I shook my head. I knew she would do anything for me, literally anything to make me happy and I was utterly and completely grateful to her for that.

"A family celebration would be better." I told her smiling nervously, not wanting to disappoint my dearest mom Kayla.

"You sure? You'd be nineteen, ya know and remember it's also the day you would know who your mate is and probably hear your wolf speak." Mom Kayla reminded me and that made me totally remember. Mom Kayla had been reading a lot of books about werewolves all because of me. She got really interested in the mystical creatures I call monsters, and not only was she interested, she usually told me everything she had read so far. All her latest knowledge and what not. I wasn't really interested in it but thanks to mom Kayla, I knew basically all things I needed to know about who I was. Like the fact that I would find my mate today, the day I clocked nineteen. I would find my other half.

"Nah, I don't want a grand celebration, if I don't meet whoever it is today, probably I would meet him another time. I mustn't find him today..." I said to her feeling uninterested, why? Because I was scared. I was scared to find out who my mate, knowing too well it's gonna be another werewolf just like me, as mom Kayla had always told me, there was always asking chance that a werewolf was mated to a human.

Truthfully, I had always prayed to the moon goodness that I should be mated to a human, why? Because of him, and I would be extremely devastated if the human I might peradventure be mated to isn't Mason. I wanted him bad and I wanted him to be mine forever!

"Anything for you my darling... A family celebration it is." She chimed happily and I smiled faintly.

"When will Mason be back?" I finally asked the question that had been bugging me since like forever. My heart drummed loudly in my chest as I waited for her reply.

"Today. This morning." And that was it. Mom Kayla practically laughed at me as I rushed back to my room to properly prepare for his arrival, and I got shocked when I heard a soft voice speak beside me.