Mate!

Ava picked the weeds from the ground, the shackles around her hands and legs rattled as she moved around. From time to time she would look at the happy couple who were surrounded by other guests.

That was supposed to be her position, she was supposed to be the bride to alpha Jax, the alpha of creekwood pack.

She and Jax had been betrothed at a very young age to each other. At the age of eighteen, if they had no mates, their engagement would be finalized.

It was very rare for vampires to find their mates. Most wolves simply mated with who they liked. 

It wasn't always like this though, in the past, all werewolves had their mates. But slowly over the years that had changed. 

Ava had thought that everything was finalized since at the age of eighteen, neither of them had sensed their mates. 

Jax was everything Ava wanted in a partner, he was kind and clever, he was also very handsome. 

When they had clocked twenty three, Jax had taken over the alpha position from his father and plans for their mating ceremony had already started. Things were going well until 'she' came to their pack. 

Ava looked at her bitterly, the delicately beautiful Lily. Lily had been found outside unconscious. The funniest thing was that it was Ava who had brought her to the pack. 

Ava was a member of the guardforce and while doing one of her rounds, she had seen Lily unconscious on the ground, she had called the attention of the other guards and they had carried her back to the pack. 

If Ava had known, she would have left her out in the forest to die. She would never have brought her to the pack because the entry of Lily into the pack had brought trouble to Ava's perfect peaceful life. 

Immediately Jax saw Lily, he became enchanted with her. Everyone in the pack had been charmed by the innocent looking devilish temptress. 

Jax started to treat Ava coldly and he didn't even show interest in their mating ceremony plan. Much later, Ava was to find out that Lily was Jax's mate. 

Back then, Ava had listened to a lot of evil advice from her so-called friends and constantly bullied and made trouble for Lily. She had hoped that Lily wouldn't be able to take it and would give up and leave Creekwood pack. 

To her surprise, Lily had refused to leave. Instead she remained in the pack with the excuse that she had amnesia and didn't remember anything except her name. 

The climax of the matter was when she and Lily had an argument over Jax and in a fit of rage she had attacked Lily. 

Ava didn't really remember much about that day, the only thing she could remember was that she had wanted to kill Lily. That was the only thing that had been on her mind that day. 

Lily had been rescued from her, she was already unconscious by then. Jax had been so furious that day, she had never seen him so furious before. 

He had revealed that Lily was his mate and the future Luna of the pack. For attempting to kill the Luna, Ava had been sentenced to imprisonment and slavery. She became the pack's slave. 

The only thing Ava regretted was that she had put her father to shame. Her father had raised her alone after her mother had died after rogue wolves had attacked their pack. 

Her father had been so disappointed in her. But he didn't abandon her, he still came to give her food every day. He assured her that he would talk to Jax and get her released so they could leave the pack together.  

She cleaned her tears, she didn't deserve such love and loyalty from him. 

"Look how far the mighty has fallen" two female werewolves passed her, one of them looked at the disdainfully. 

"She was always acting like she was better than everyone else because she was betrothed to Alpha Jax. Look at her now, a common slave" the other one replied. 

"I heard the Luna's brother is coming soon and he wants revenge for all the bullying his sister went through"

"I heard that he is a bloodthirsty wolf and he really cherishes Lily, anyone who tries to hurt her always suffers by his hand."

They looked at her and snickered mockingly before leaving.  

When Lily had woken up after Ava's attack, she had recovered her memory and remembered everything. 

She was from Fireblood pack, one of the biggest and most influential pack, she was the younger sister of the alpha. Her elder brother Alpha Ryder was known to be a cruel and unforgiving person. 

If he was really coming here, it meant that he would surely take revenge. 

Her only hope was that he wouldn't harm her father. 

She bent down and continued working, all of a sudden, she heard the most delicious scent, it smelled like vanilla and butter. 

"Mate!" a voice echoed in her head, 

Ava couldn't believe it, she had a mate? After everything she had done, she had someone who would love her unconditionally. 

She looked around frantically, where was he? Who could this mate be? Was he someone from this pack?

She noticed someone walking in her direction, the closer the person got, the stronger the scent was, this was her mate! 

He stood in front of her and Ava looked up at him in wonder. He was very handsome. 

"hi" he said to her. Ava trembled at the sound of his voice. His voice was velvety smooth, just like butter. 

"Hey" Ava replied in a croaky voice. He smiled at her, and Ava felt safe, this was her mate, he would love her unconditionally despite all her flaws and protect her. 

One of the pack guard walked up to them and bowed to him. 

"Welcome to Creekwood pack, Alpha Ryder. I hope the journey wasn't too stressful."

Ava's heart dropped to her stomach immediately.