Chapter 1

“Are you sure about this, Rosie?” Jace asked me with a sigh. He had not taken my news well. I had always been there for him. Even when he was made Alpha, I had been acting Luna for several years until he found his mate. We were as close as any brother and sister could be.

Even now, with Madeline at his side, I was an asset to his pack. I had guided our new Luna in her newfound responsibility. When she was heavily in pup, I stood in for her where I could. I knew almost everything about the running of the pack and our defensive strategies. Information that in the wrong hands could be catastrophic.

“Yes Jace. I need this.” I take one of his hands in mine and looking into his eyes I pleaded my case. “I am twenty-eight years old. Unmated and I have never found love in this pack. When I visited the Eclipse pack, I felt whole. I don’t know how to explain it.” Letting go of his hand I walk over to the window and look out over the pack lands.

“Do you remember when you met Madeline, I asked you what it felt like to he mated?” Jace gave me a small nod and encouraged me to continue. “You said it felt like you had found the missing piece of yourself that you never knew you needed. That you heart beat solely for her. That in every waking and sleeping moment, you thought about her. When you walked away from her, you felt a deep pain in your soul because of missing her so much.

“That is how I felt whilst staying with the Eclipse Pack. Now my heart aches with longing to be there. I know that it where I am meant to be at this moment in time. It is the only place I have felt true happiness since I was seventeen, with the first flush of hope that one day I should meet my mate. The only place I have truly felt at home.”

Jace looks at me sadly. I could see his inner turmoil at letting me go and how my words have affected him. It was never nice being told that your own flesh and blood felt more at home in a foreign pack, than she did in the place she was born and grew up. I knew he would worry for me. He wasn’t worried because I would betray him. He knew that would never happen. He was worried because he would not be able to protect me any longer, that his sister would be out there alone. Not even her mate to stand by her side.

“This isn’t about Mum and Dad is it?” He sighed in frustration, his hand combing through his hair in a rough gesture.

“What, Goddess no Jace. This is just about me. About where my heart is leading me.”

“If you feel this strongly Rosie, I will not stop you. Just know that I love you, and you will always have a place here. No matter how far you go, or for how long. This is your home. We will always be your family.” A lonely tear slips from his eye before he engulfs me in his signature bear hug. I breathe in his familiar notes of pine and honey.

Jace will forever be my big brother. I will always love him. We had always known this day would come. As a daughter our fates are always going to be to leave home when we find our mates, usually moving into our mates’ new pack. Usually, a she wolf is much younger than I when this happens. I have been the exception to the rule for too long. Jace is settled as Alpha now, he has his own family. I have helped him as much as I can. Now I need to find out who I am.

“Thank you for understanding.” My voice is muffled against his chest. “I love you, big brother.”

“I love you too Rosie.” Jace kisses me on the head before reluctantly letting me go. “When do you leave?”

“Tomorrow afternoon.”

“You should come to dinner tonight then. Say a proper goodbye.”

“That sounds good. I’ll see you tonight.” With that I turn and leave Jace's office and the pack house. Heading for the one place I dreaded the most. My parents’ house.

**

“I’m sorry, but I do not understand you, Rosalie!” My mother’s shrill voice rang out through the house. “Why on earth would want to leave your home?” I had now been listening to her rambling for near on three hours straight and I could feel a headache forming in my temples.

“Mother please, we have been over this. I just feel like that is where I need to be.”

“You've been there Rosalie, two years ago, do you not remember? Did you find your mate, no! So why go back. It is obvious he is not there. That is the only reason that I can think that you would want to throw you whole life away for!” her hands flayed about around her head. I couldn’t help but wonder if she might take off in a moment. At least it would save me for the impending migraine heading my way.

“I am not throwing my life away Mother. And I am also not looking for my mate there.” I sigh in irritation.

“Eleanor, it’s obvious our daughter has her reasons. Can we not be done with this now? She is old enough to make her own choices in life. It seems to me that she is set on making this one.” My Dad seemed as irritated as I about Mother’s questioning.

“Thank you, Dad.” I get up relieved.

“Where do you think you are going Rosalie, this conversation is not over.” I turn to look at my Mother. She was the complete opposite to me in every way. She was tall, slim and wore a tight-fitting beige dress which hugged her fantastic figure. Her brown hair falling around her face in loose curls. She was beautiful. At the age of 50, she looked more like a supermodel than most 20 year olds. Her long hair was always perfectly styled with not a strand out of place. Her makeup flawless. Unlike me, the wild red headed beast that looked like I had spent most of my life crawling through bushes.

“Actually Mother, it is. I am going whether you agree or not.”

“And what about your mate? What about finding him?”

“Haven’t you realised by now? I don’t have a mate. I can’t live the rest of my life waiting for someone who may or may not come looking for me. I need to start to live!” I was starting to lose my patience with this conversation. “I’ll be at Jace and Maddie's tonight. You’re welcome to come. But I won’t be rehashing this conversation, so if you can’t accept my decision, don’t come.” With that I turn and storm out of the house. The door slamming behind me.

Mine and my mother’s relationship had been strained for as long as I could remember. I was always a bitter disappointment to her because I wasn’t into fashion and makeup. She wanted a daughter that she could play dress up with and try out all the latest trends on applying eye shadow. It just wasn’t me.

Give me a pair of jeans and t-shirt over a dress any day. I wanted to be outdoors, dirt under my feet and skinny dipping with my friends in the local swimming hole.

Every time I came home, I would get a dressing down from her. “Why can’t you be more ladylike Rosalie?” “What will you mate think when he sees you like this, Rosalie?” “Your mate will mistake you for a boy if you’re not careful Rosalie.” “Rosalie, why don’t you let your hair down instead of pulling back all the time, Rosalie?”

She was ecstatic when Jace found his mate. Jace was a year older than me, and 24 when he found his mate. She is three years younger than him, and was the daughter of a pack warrior from a pack on the south coast. More of a prima ballerina than a cold-blooded killer. Madeline’s own mother was rumoured to have special abilities, but she had never confirmed nor denied this.

Finally, mother had another girl who she could help get dressed and talk about girly things with. Maddie was perfect in Mother’s eyes, exactly what a Luna should be. Despite her lack of breeding, as mother put it. She was sophisticated and had the kindest heart.

It was hard not to love Maddie. Despite the fact she was now the favoured female in the family. I didn’t care though, not really. I had started spending more and more time away from home when Maddie took her rightful position as Luna. Jace used me as his emissary. During my younger years when I had flown here, there and everywhere, I had made a lot of connections which made me the perfect fit for the role. A role that I loved because it meant that I did not have listen to my mothers disappointed lectures on why I had not yet found my mate.

My Father, Ryan, was a typical Alpha. Growing up he was not at home much. The time he did spend at home, his mind was generally elsewhere. He loved us in his own way, but he wasn’t paternal. He looked at us more as carrying on his family line and securing his pack, rather than a loving family to come home too.

He raised us the same way as he treated his pack, with a firm but fair hand. He would listen to our concerns, but his word was final. He also recognised that sometimes we had to make our own mistakes and learn from them. He always made it clear that he wouldn’t pick up the pieces if everything went wrong though. It made us stronger. More capable of dealing with a less than perfect life.

When Jace took his position as Alpha, he ruled very much in the same way. The fundamental difference between my father and Jace was that Jace loved his family. He made time for them every day. He was sure to tell them he loved them, and he picked them up and dusted them off whenever they fell. Family meant everything to Jace. He was the perfect Dad. It was him that I would miss the most.

I wondered down the gravel driveway that led away from the home I grew up in, looking about the front yard. Most of my happiest memories growing up were running around in this yard. Jace was in every single one of them.

There was one time that we built a tree house up against an old sycamore from odd bits of wood we found out in the forest and around the house. It was completely mismatched and had so many holes in it, that as soon as it rained the water streamed straight through. We were bitterly disappointed after pleading with our parents to allow us to have a camp out for 3 days, only to be woken during the middle of the night to a sopping sleeping bag and a horrendous cold the next day.

I made my way over to Jace’s place, after the torture I had just been through I needed to see a friendly face. My mouth broke into a toothy grin as Ellie, my four-year-old niece came running out of the front door towards me. Her brown hair billowing out behind her.

“Auntie Rosie!” She shouts, running into my arms and giving me the biggest hug around my neck. “Auntie Rosie, is it true that you are moving away?” she pulls back just far enough that her wide hazel eyes could take in my expression, her mouth turned down into a frown.

“Yes baby, but I will video call you as often as I can.” I push her hair behind her ear and cup her face. “And if you ever need me, I will come straight home and be with you, OK?” Ellie gives me a small nod. The good thing about four-year-olds, is that they don’t stay down for long.

“Are you going to find your Prince Charming?” her smiling face once again beamed at me. I laugh loving how she bounces back from everything.

“Maybe. Although he doesn’t have to be a Prince. Charming is good enough for me.” I give her a quick wink, before taking her hand in mine and walking towards the house. Looking forward to soaking up some of Ellie's contagious happiness.