[01]

AUTUMN:

Fifteen years ago...

Autumn was only 8 years old...

We sprawled on the grass. The three of us. Maddox. Hugh. And me. All of us were catching our breaths, after running for a long time in the forest. It was fun and exhilarating at the same time. Maddox said it would be more fun if we had our wolves, but we had not reached our eighteenth birthday, yet so there were no signs of it.   

"That was fun," Hugh declared, the eldest among us being ten years old. But he did not look like ten years old. He had a huge body and daddy said that he would become a fine alpha with all the muscles and genes he had. Between Maddox and him, he was the tallest with the rest of us and the leader of the among us. 

"If we had our wolves, then, we would be faster than we ran using our feet," Maddox stated. He was one year younger than Hugh was. Two years older than me. But still, it did not stop us from forming a bond.  

I did not know how our friendship started, but daddy said that it had something to do with our parents. With my dad being one of the finest warriors in the pack. He was my idol and one day, I would be as fine as him. I will follow his footsteps.

Daddy said I had some potential. Which I did not understand. 

"One day, I will also become your alpha and you two will bow down before me,” Hugh said proudly. “I will inherit my Dad's position.”

Giggling, I said, "And I will be your Luna and will be your bodyguard. I will be one of your warriors, Hugh."

It would never happen. Bonds were decided through fate. Not because of a human's decision. 

"No. You will be my mate, Autumn," Maddox declared, snatching my hands.  “No, you’re not going to endanger your life like that. It is the duty of the men to protect you. Not the other way around. I will always protect you, Autumn, because you will be my mate.”

A low growl escaped from Hugh's lips. "No! She is mine!"

I turned sideways and pinched each side of their cheeks causing them to flinch. 

“Ouch. Ouch!” the two said in unison. 

“You're both silly, you know that? It's not for us to decide if we will be mates or not. It will be the Moon Goddess. The Moon Goddess will pair us to the people who deserve us.”

“I will reject my mate!” the two said in unison. 

Maddox and Hugh stared at each other and glared. 

“She's mine.”

“No, she's mine.”

Giggling even more, I said, "No one's going to have me because the three of us are friends. Friends are not like that. We will get old and we will always have each other’s back. We will not fight because we understand each other. I will not choose any one of you because we will stay like this for the rest of our lives." 

Maddox and Hugh groaned. They were like that sometimes. Doing the same thing like their minds were connected. 

"I want you to be my Luna, Autumn," Hugh declared, with certainty. “I will become strong to protect you.”

"No. She's going to be my mate. I already told Dad about this, Hugh. Dad said he is fine with it. She likes Autumn too, as do our playmates.”

“Mommy and Daddy like it too when we play together.” Still smiling, I said, "Let's promise to be with each other through thick and thin. That no one will leave someone behind." Extending my hand, I waited until the two would accept mine. “We must honor our promise, alright?”

They hesitated at first. They were very vocal when it came to wanting me as a mate. However, Daddy would scold me for thinking things about that when I am still eight years old. He said that it is time to have a mate if my wolf has already resurfaced. 

"I promised to take care of you for the rest of my life," Hugh declared. 

"I promise it, too," Maddox said. “Nothing will change among us, Autumn. Nothing.”

-------

Present time…

I was about to return the cleaning materials to the utility room when someone suddenly pulled my hair and kicked me on my leg. I cried out in pain as I fell on the ground.

Looking up, I meet the glares of my packmates whose hobby was to make my life miserable.

The mop was on my chest while the rug was on the floor a couple of inches away from me. 

“What did I do?” I asked, although I did not have to ask. 

One of the girls stepped in with a smug expression on her face. I knew her. She was one of Sabrina’s minions, the girl who believed she was loved by everyone because her Dad had a high position in the pack. She was also the girl who believed she could do everything because she was Sabrina.

“You believed it was our fault? You were blocking our path. That’s what you deserved. Next time, look where you are going, bitch.”

Trisha, my wolf growled inside me, wanting to be out. But I kept her on the leash. Nothing good will happen if I let my wolf deal with them. The last time it happened, she ripped off one of the warrior’s ears and I became the number one hated omega in the pack. 

Biting the inside of my cheeks until I tasted the metallic blood, I answered, “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”

They scoffed while I started picking up the cleaning materials while stopping myself from flinching. That bitch kicked me hard and it felt like I fell on the stairs with broken ribs. When they hurt me, they went all out as if they were releasing all their anger towards me.

The woman kicked me again.

A sharp pain exploded on the left side.

I gritted my teeth while forcing myself to swallow all the pain.

‘You are seriously disappointing me, Autumn. Move your fucking hands and hit them back. Hard! Damn it!’ Trisha cursed.

I coughed when the pain was no longer tolerable.

Once, it was only one attacking me and the next, the other followed.

My wolf was shouting in the background, urging me to fight back, but my body was no longer able to move at the continuous attack.

When I felt like my vision was about to darken, I caught a whiff of something amazing. Something sweet which I never inhaled in my entire existence.

Even Trisha froze. ‘Mate,’ she muttered, flabbergasted. She was as confused as me. 

Dulling out the pain, my gaze turned around and saw it was none other than Maddox. Our new beta. One of my childhood best friends was my mate?