Your Sister Is My Mate

(Lerno da Luciano)

The whole room became quite entirely quiet after Zane made that announcement; everyone was too shocked to say anything for the time being.

"When are the other Alphas arriving? or aren't they supposed to be here already?" Zane asked nonchalantly.

No one replied they were all still trying to understand what he just finished earlier. Then Ace spoke up.

"Can you repeat what you said earlier? About my sister being your mate or something like that?"Ace said in anxiety.

"I said that your sister is my mate and she would leave with me immediately we settle the matters concerning the division of the pack. Does any one of you have a problem with that? He asked in a grumpy voice.

"Zane or whatever you call yourself!!! Who do you think you are, coming into our pack uninvited and claiming my sister to be your mate!! Not only did you say something so outrageous, you even went further to declare that she would be leaving with you. How dare you??"Ace growled in anger.

"All this shouting and growling is of no use, my mind is made up already, immediately we divide the land, I'm leaving here with my mate and that's final," Zane replied standing up and leaving the room.

Shirley sat on her bed, packing her things into a suitcase, tears flowing freely from her eyes. She couldn't believe how her life took a different direction automatically, it was only last week that she was discussing with her friends, though she wished for a mate, but this wasn't really what she was expecting. She smiled in anguish when she remembered the event of last week......

         

 ***FLASHBACK, 1 WEEK AGO***

“I can't believe you're mated to Liam,” Rosie remarked, sipping her wine and expressing her feelings. "So, you'll be spending the rest of your life with him."

“Shirley is to thank for this. I still can't believe it." Hana responded with a flushed face.

“Awwn, it didn't matter; I was just a tool for Mother Nature, and whether I assisted or not, fate was unavoidable,” Shirley said cheerfully

“We wouldn't have met, let alone become friends if you hadn't coerced me into attending his birthday party against my will. It would have taken us a long time to discover each other, or we might not have discovered each other at all, leaving us to be apart for the rest of our lives,” She encircled Shirley in a tight hug and kissed her on the cheek. “Shirley, I will be eternally thankful to you.”

Shirley was teased by Rosie since she and Liam used to date. “Life is a ride on a roller coaster.”

“Because she was unaware of my relationship with Liam, I expected Hana's countenance to change when Rosie mentioned that we used to date, but she surprised me by hugging me even tighter,” Shirley explained.

"Really?" "Tell me everything," Hana exclaimed, "don't leave out a single detail!" She appears to be anxious to hear the story and appears to be quite interested in it. “Please tell me about his likes and dislikes, as well as his overall demeanor, so that we can get along real quick.”

She did not show any hint of jealousy as though finding that one of her best friends had dated her mate was nothing out of the ordinary for her. If Shirley didn't know Hana well, she'd suppose she's pretending to be joyful and hiding her jealousy, but she doesn't seem to be bothered by the past.

"It's nothing serious," Shirley began, but Hana cut her off in the middle of her sentence.

“Nothing is conceivable.” she stated, "It's a big deal because it involves you, my dear friend, I'd want to hear a more detailed version of the entire story.” She said, eagerly waiting to hear the entire love story of Shirley and Liam.

When Shirley didn't say anything, she asked Rosie to give her the whole gist, since she knows Rosie will not leave any facts out, which is why Rosie's nickname is ‘the broadcaster’. She is very quick to receive and provide updates.

"Aren't you envious?" Shirley enquired about Hana's beaming since it struck her as unusual.

She made an unusual noise. "You're funny, Shirl; whatever you two had in the past is history, and I'm pleased he dated you back then; I won't have to worry about ex-girlfriends showing up with unrequited love," she added. "Moreover, I trust you enough to know that there is no reason for me to be jealous, even if you guys still have feelings for each other, which I'm sure you don't because you wouldn't have introduced us..." She continued with her statement.

Shirley could hear her sincerity and see it in her eyes as she talked. The eyes, unlike the lips, cannot be deceived.

"I promise not to do anything that may cast doubt on your integrity."

 "Thank you for putting your complete trust in me," Shirley murmured, her voice tinted with passion.

"No, I should be thanking you for keeping him engaged and preventing him from kissing a bunch of frogs or, in our case, Foxes, and, most significantly, for bringing us together; it is the best gift I have ever received." Hana squeezed her shoulder in thanks.

"Enough of the stupid feelings, girls," Rosie shouted weakly. She was almost in tears.

“That's okay now, come on." Hana wiped away her tears and assumed a more solemn tone. Returning to the topic at hand, she commanded Rosie to share every "nothing" detail of their love lives. “Make assured that no detail, no matter how little you imagine it to be, is ignored.”

“When their pack's Alpha died two years ago, Liam took over as Alpha. He was simply a regular guy who went to the same school as us before becoming Alpha, and he wasn't even that popular. " Shirley got things rolling.

“Liam, the current Alpha and also your mate, Ace, the Beta (Shirley's older brother), and Jakob, the Beta (Shirley's younger brother), We had a gang that included me (Rosie), Shirley, and Emily, Liam's younger sister. Our organization had six members, and they dubbed ourselves the Formidable Six since everyone was frightened of us. Because we were so close, we were always seen together.”

Rosie went on to give details of how their friendship began, and how their affection and chemistry grew over time until it reached the level of a full-fledged romance.

When she got to the part where Shirley was sixteen and Liam was around eighteen, everyone assumed they were mates because they were so close and almost inseparable at the time; it surprised everyone when they found out they weren't mates; Shirley didn't have to listen any longer because the event was unfolding in front of her eyes; it felt like she went back in time or the same thing is happening right now.

How did you feel when you knew you weren't his mate?" Hana asked Shirley.

“I was upset at first, but I got over it, and we've remained great friends to this day. " Shirley told it just how it was.

“Liam did not let her drift away from him, and he maintained a cordial relationship with her because, after his partner, she was his second favorite person," Rosie interjected to make a point.

And the girls went on and on talking about Liam all night long, it was such a beautiful night.

***END OF FLASHBACK***

Shirley couldn't believe that this happened just a week ago, they were so happy, playful, and content with their lives then and just under a space of seven days, everything changed. It now seems like it happened ages ago. Why did that damn meeting have to take place in her pack? If the meeting venue was somewhere else, Alpha Zane wouldn't have come to their pack and he wouldn't have seen her, then she wouldn't be here packing out of her own room and thinking about the past and worrying about her future. She closed her suitcase then looked around the room memories of what happened here coming back to her. She burst out in tears, she couldn't hold in her tears anymore and she remembered what happened all those nights ago ...

***FLASHBACK, FEW YEARS BACK***

Her wolf had been terrified by previous events, Shirley had gotten up as early as 3 a.m. They were both attracted to Liam and his wolf while knowing it was improper given their tight friendship and the reality that they might not even be mates. She was doing everything she could not to jump out the window and go look for him, as her wolf had instructed. "Stop being a horny bitch and stop acting like one!" Shirley said to her wolf

"Just go to him, shirl," her wolf pleaded, "and we'll have a quick look at him before we return home."

"No!" Shirley responded.

"Stop being so tough and just go to him and let us finish this," she begged once again. "We're both aware that you've been longing to see him."

"No!" Shirley said once more. Because it was 3 a.m., she instructed her wolf to either shut down or go to sleep.

"Why are you being so stubborn when it's not as if you don't want to know if you're his mate?" "Why are you torturing us?"

She imagined her wolf rolling her eyes and was about to burst out laughing when she felt a hand circle her waist. Shirley didn't have to look; she recognized his scent and couldn’t confuse it with anyone else's.

She felt a rush of tingles all over her body, but it wasn't like when you touch your soul mate. Almost instantly, she understood the answer to the question that had kept her awake this late in the night. She felt a flood of emotions sweep over her, but she quickly suppressed them since she didn't want to cry in front of him.

She turned gently to look into his eyes, which were filled with agony and unshed tears, and it came to her that they had both been so engaged in their fantasies that they had forgotten to consider the possibility that they were not mates. They became completely absorbed in their fascination without first double-checking the most important details.

Because of the way he bent his head in surrender and his eyes seemed too dull and sorrowful, Shirley quickly understood that he is in love with her, just as she was with him, she drew him in for a warm hug.

"I thought, hoped, prayed we'd be mates," he said sadly.

"It'll be alright," Shirley tried to console him and herself at the same time, but nothing seemed to be working at that moment.

“This is not acceptable! You don't realize it, do you? I'm madly in love with you, and I don't think I'll ever be able to love anybody else." His tears, which he had been battling to keep from falling down his cheeks since entering her room, suddenly broke loose and began to fall.

"Now we just have to learn to let go of everything," Shirley explained. We will most likely take some time to heal and learn to love someone else again.

"No," he murmured as he drew her closer to him.

"How is it that the moon goddess can't bring us together?" He screamed in agony.

"Isn't it true that we can't interrogate her right now? She must also have a solid reason for doing so," she stated.

He drew back from the hug and looked into her eyes as if trying to see into her soul.

“Shirl, if we reject our mates as soon as we find them, we can be together." He was serious when he made his statement.

She took a step back from him in fear.

"You can't be serious," she mumbled. "We don’t have the authority to tamper with fate. If we try to change the course of history, we shall be severely punished.”

"We aren't destined to be together, Shirl, but we may choose to be together. We have the potential to mold our own fate, and I am ready to do so right now if you would allow me to mark you."

"Liam," she whispered as she moved forward to cradle his face in her palms and looked into his eyes.

“I adore you, and the fact that I adore you only adds to my determination to do the right thing. I can't bring myself to separate you from your lover for selfish reasons; love, after all, isn't selfish..."

He just stood there staring at her for a long time before slamming his lips on hers.

Shirley moaned into the kiss; it wasn't like any of the other kisses they used to have; it was full of their unsaid thoughts, feelings, and remorse for the future they'd never have. After scooping her up, he gently placed her on the bed... He leaned down and gently kissed her forehead.

"I am sorry," he said.

"It's not your fault," she said, explaining that "we have no say in our fate."

She brought him down for another kiss, which would almost certainly be the last, and tried to memorize all of his facial features because this would almost certainly be the last time she'd be this close to his face.

***END OF FLASHBACK***