My entire body suddenly jolted backwards after a powerful tug at my arm, making me blink with confusion before I whipped around to take a look at whatever caused it.
I met Zara's visibly concerned expression, her hand still wrapped around my arm as she asked,
"What do you mean?"
I blew out an annoyed sigh, frustrated by the fact that she just stopped me from trying to run after Carrie as I spat out,
"What I mean? What I mean is that you shouldn't have said it to her like that!
She's not a wolf, don't you get it?"
"This is all completely new to her, the mating, everything! You can't just go around like "hey, did he fuck you? I think you might be pregnant now but no biggie, we can just cut his dick off if he ever bothers you again, now that you're our queen, a position that you didn't even ask for!"
Silence fell around us, lastly noticing Brie standing just a few steps away from us, her face displaying that same perplexed expression that now marred Zara's features as they both stared at me as if I've suddenly grown two extra heads.
"I'm...We're sorry,"
"It's not me you should be apologizing to," I tugged my arm free from her grasp and lightly shook my head, giving them one last disappointed look before I turned around and resumed to my previous activity, not surprised at all to notice them immediately flank my sides as we entered the small forest situated behind our school, the place where I've lastly seen Carrie run off to.
**
It didn't take us long to find her, thanks to the girls' excellent sense of smell, my gaze falling on the outline of her slender form as she sat several feet away, huddled against a tree and all by herself.
"Fuck off!"
My brows furrowed upon hearing her randomly scream like that as she hadn't even seen us yet, hurrying my steps straight towards her as I tentatively called out,
"Carrie?"
"Who were you screaming at?" I heard Zara ask from behind me as I threw myself on my knees and moved closer to her, noticing that redness around her eyes and the wetness coating her cheeks.
I didn't bother saying anything and wrapped my arms around her instead, holding her into a comforting hug as she started crying again, feeling the two warriors huddle close to us as well as they adopted a protective stance.
At least they aren't talking anymore, I thought after a tired sigh, soothingly holding my friend between my arms as I let her cry her heart out and take however much time she needed to calm down.
She was very scared and confused, of that I knew for sure. It wasn't easy for a human to go through everything that she was currently experiencing, no matter how brave.
She'd been thrust into this supernatural world -our world- where everything worked so differently from the human world. None of those rules she grew up with applied in this world. And she was currently being forced to adapt at a very fast rate.
It wasn't even fair. None of it was. But there was nothing that she, or any of us could do to stop it. Because unfortunately, she had this curse cast upon her soul that was called a mating bond. A bond so sacred and powerful that nothing and no one could ever break it. Once you were mated, there was no reversing it. You were bound for life. And even in death. That was how powerful the Moon Goddess' gift was. Unbreakable.
Feeling her slowly pull back after a sniffle, I loosened my grip on her and allowed her some space, meeting her glassy gaze.
I offered her a warm smile, watching her wipe away her wet cheeks as she let out a trembling sigh.
"So do you like, transform into a wolf too?" She randomly questioned out of the blue, my eyes widening with utter surprise as I stupidly stared at her.
I blinked a few times, feeling my cheeks heating up too as I nervously glanced between the two warriors, lastly sputtering out,
"Yeah..."
I mean, I had been able to, until...
"Can you do it now? I mean, can you do it whenever you feel like it?"
Why was she asking me all this?
My gaze lowered to the ground, fighting that bitter feeling and that hollow sensation that threatened to return within me as I quietly admitted with a sigh,
"I haven't been able to..."
"Well, I haven't been able to ever since they got here," I simply added since I was pretty much aware that they already knew all this. The future king's clique. They were already aware of my situation. So there was no point in trying to hide or even minimize it. It was their doing after all. They were the ones who caused it.
"She's very scared of them for some reason. She hasn't even talked to me in a while now," I explained with uneasiness as I met Carrie's gaze, watching that empathetic expression that took over her features.
"I don't know why but she only feels comfortable around you," I lastly dared to admit with a shrug and a timid smile, noticing the way her brows immediately shot up to her hairline.
"You could try doing it with her," Brie suddenly intervened out of nowhere, her suggestion sounding so weirdly sexual. I almost snorted out a stupid laugh, lightly shaking my head before realizing what she was actually trying to say. She was talking about shifting.
Shifting, Jess. Shifting, not sex -Jesus freaking hell!
"Our wolves want to meet her. They've been trying to reach out to her for a while now but we can't because she's too afraid. And that makes us restless too," Zara chimed in with a hint of sadness, making me turn my head to throw her a bewildered look.
Wait, what? They've been trying to reach her?
"Wait, hold up, hold up, what does that have to do with me? What do you mean do it with me?" Carrie suddenly asked back with a frown.
"Transform. You can help her transform," Zara answered with a hopeful smile, that look on her face actively managing to stir something within me.
They...cared. Why did they care so much? It wasn't like my wolf was too special or even powerful. She served no practical purpose to them. If anything, she could actually be a hindrance to their neverending mission to protect their Luna. My wolf was a possible nuissance to them, not an asset. Why would they even want to meet her?
"Wait, like right now?" Carrie's mildly alarmed tone abruptly drew my attention back to her, watching her shift her gaze between us.
"You could try summoning her at least," Zara suggested and I quickly nodded with approval before I could even stop myself, offering her a timid smile.
I could try. I had to. Even though I wasn't aware of the warriors' true motives yet behind their eagerness to meet her and I still felt a little apprehensive about all this, I had to try. I was desperate. I wanted her back, more than anything.
"Yeah, I mean we could try if you're okay with it too," I nervously added with a mild shrug, a little scared that she wouldn't want to but she quickly nodded instead, making me sigh with relief.
"Yeah sure,"
"Promise not to freak out?" I expressed an anxious grin, hopefully peering between her sky blue eyes. I just wanted to be sure. She was my best friend and I didn't want her to feel forced to accept this. We were going to do this only if she agreed to it too.
"Please. After everything that their lovely Alpha did to me, trust me, there's nothing more you could scare me with. Unless you plan to take a bite out of me too," She snorted with amusement, my face however quickly morphing with shock and confusion.
*He...What?*
"Oh! You mean the mating mark!" Zara suddenly said after a tensed moment of silence with a small and rather awkward chuckle, blowing out a relieved sigh.
"Uh...yeah I guess," She simply said in reply, nervously glancing between us.
What the hell happened to her? What did that crazy Alpha actually do to her?
"No, I'm not planning to "take a bite out of you"," I replied with an awkward chuckle,
"You're obviously not my mate,"
Though I can't even begin to fathom what you must've endured at the hands of yours.
Damn. Please dear Goddess, let my mate be a lone wolf just like me, or at least a lowly omega.
"That sounds so weird though. Mate. What does that even mean?" She curiously asked with a pensive gaze directed at me, childlishly tilting her head.
"Oh, it's just an abbreviation for the word soulmate," I replied with a shrug and a smile, receiving a nod from her.
"So it's not just a weird, kinky way of calling the one you're sexually attracted to then. My mate, my fuck buddy...". She casually said with a frown, all three of us quickly bursting into a fit of giggles and laughter.
Oh my god.
I could feel my cheeks heating up before daring to even wonder what must've happened or what he must've told her to make her think like this.
"Well that's one way to put it," Brie said with an amused snort,
"But no. To be called one's mate is way more special than that. Mates are our gift from the Goddess. The ones we're supposed to love and cherish, and spend the rest of our lives with. Us, wolves, we spend all our lives searching for our mates. Our other halves. Our mates are the most important beings in our lives. A wolf's life without their mate is a miserable and incomplete life. We cannot live without them. They are part of our very souls, our identities as werewolves. We need them to survive, to be stronger. That's why our Alpha needs to publicly claim you and marry you before he can become King. To show his people that he is strong. Complete,"
Upon hearing that last word, I couldn't help but let my mind wander back to those constant and various thoughts about my mate. About what they would be like, and how my life would possibly change like after having met them.
Would I feel complete too?
Would they be happy to have me as their mate? A lone wolf?
More like a hidden wolf...
I blinked a few times, clearing out my thoughts as I refocused my gaze on her.
"And do you..." She said after a moment,
"Do you all have one? A mate?"
"Of course. Each wolf is blessed with one,"
"Each one of you?"
We all nodded in response, offering her candid smiles.
"What about you?" She suddenly turned to me, taking me by surprise.
"You said that you are a lone wolf. Does that mean that you're different?"
"Umm, no," I quickly blurted out, feeling a little embarrassed,
"Normally, I should have one too. I haven't met him or her yet but they must be somewhere out there," I explained with a timid smile, earning myself a quick nod from her.
"Okay..." She remained with that dazed expression marring her features, seemingly lost within her own mind as she blankly stared at nothing in particular.
Oh no. I could feel that anxiousness quickly returning within me as I lastly realized it, so many negative thoughts starting to take form inside my mind. She didn't want to do this. She was scared.
"Look if you don't want to help me it's okay-"
"No no no!" She hurriedly interrupted me before I could finish that sentence,
"I do! I promise I do! It's just that no one even bothered to explain to me how this works, how all this works,"
"Look, I'm very new to this and I'm still struggling to adjust, but I do want to help you. I promise. I'm not scared or anything, I was just trying to understand some things,"
*Oh. Now I feel kinda dumb.*
"Look," She grabbed my shoulders, offering me a warm smile,
"We can start right now if you want to,"
"Okay?"
I quickly nodded in agreement, blowing out a relieved sigh before I wrapped my arms around her and gave her tight hug, listening to her small giggle.
"Okay, so how do we do this?" She said as I pulled back, expectantly looking at me.
"It's actually very easy," I said with a relaxed smile, taking her hands in mine after adopting a more comfortable position.
However, I didn't get to say or do anything more as a sudden rush of magical energy went right through me, rendering me completely breathless and stunned.
I gasped out loud, feeling a powerful and warm sensation overtaking my body, starting from my heart and then travelling to the very tips of my toes and fingers, filling the entirety of me before that all-too-familiar slow pulse returned to my very core, making me remember about a certain, very special moment of my life.
Screams echoed in my ears as I let myself remember exactly what it felt like, that life-altering pain and the fear, letting it drown me and take over my mind and body whilst my memory replayed those moments, one by one.
My younger self all alone into that clearing, crying and screaming my lungs out as my small body struggled to adjust and receive my wolf spirit, the apparition of that big and black pack pup that smelled of Alpha blood and his caring and nurturing behavior towards me and lastly, our moments together after I finally shifted, running side by side and singing to the Moon Goddess.
*Luna...*
My wolf's unmistakable and ethereal voice echoed in my head like a thousand chants, shaking me to the core with her sudden presence. I gasped at the feeling of that previously empty spot inside my chest now brimming with fulness, making me feel so happy and at peace.
My gaze finally refocused, finding myself staring back at Carrie through my wolf's heightened vision, only now sensing her different and unique smell and that magical aura that seemed to cling to her like a second skin.
Wow.
My eyelids fluttered for a few times before my normal sight returned, however still reeling from what I'd just felt and seen.
*She's...she's not-*
"What...What the fuck was that?!?" She shrieked, visibly shocked as she stared at me like she'd just seen a ghost. I knew what she was talking about though. My memories. I didn't know why or how but somehow, I knew that she'd seen and felt them at the same time as I did.
"That...that was the first time I ever turned..."