Short Story 1: The Mating Bond

Short Story 1: The Mating Bond
Darcia’s P.O.V

“Baby…” Katherine leaned against my bike, her green eyes narrowed at me as she studied me from head to toe. “You’ve been very distant lately. Is something wrong?”

“No.” I gave her an almost half-hearted answer as I drank from my coffee cup. Truth be told, I had been extremely distracted since last month.

I had finally turned eighteen, the age at which a wolf was supposed to find their mate. And yet, I haven’t been able to find that one person who had been chosen for me by the Moon Goddess.

Katherine was an amazing girl and we had been dating for the past year now, but the second I had turned eighteen and found out that she wasn’t my mate, everything between us had changed in an instant. I had been trying to figure out a way to break it off with her, without looking like a complete douche, but I was failing miserably in that department. So I went ahead and started being as elusive as possible. Maybe if I’m paying less attention to her, then she would break up with me first and I wouldn’t have to feel guilty about it.

But clearly from the concern in Katherine’s voice, I was making a miserable fool out of myself and I was hurting her in the process as well.

“Look, Kathy…” I turned to face her, to tell her how I was feeling. “I…”

But I never got to finish the sentence.

A scent reached my nostrils right then…a scent so alluring and irresistible that I wasn’t able to stop myself from closing my eyes and taking a long drag of the scent. My wolf stirred inside me, sitting up on its hunches as it too sniffed the air and begged me to follow that alluring scent.

“Darcia?” Katherine came to stand in front of me, her green eyes narrowed as she looked me up and down. “Are you high?”

“No.” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Look, I’ll talk to you later okay? I’m just distracted right now. Something’s come up.”

“You know you can tell me anything, right?” She took my hand in hers, stopping me yet again from following that scent. “I’m here for you whenever you need me.”

An unintentional grown left my lips as I stared at her in anger. Startled, Katherine let go of my hand and stepped back. “What was that?”

“I said I’ll talk later!” I snapped at her despite not wanting to. My wolf was highly agitated by this woman standing in front of us, blocking our way from following that scent.

Moving around Katherine, I left my bike and ran down the street, trying to catch a hint of that scent once again.

Rosy and citrusy…it was an unique scent that was hard to find on wolves. But as I traced it down the busy downtown area, leading to a restaurant in a populated area…I found the scent coming from the one person that I had no idea was even within my limits.

Sarah Parker.

The blonde haired, blue eyes beauty had always been off-limits for me all these years, especially because she was always hanging out with Cameron MacGyver, the future Alpha of the Ocean Runners pack. I had always thought that she was his mate, judging by just how close they were and with the rumors of their dating flying around wildly. But this changes everything!

My wolf growled in my head, angry at the thought of her together with anyone else. She was mine…she was my mate! That’s what the scent was about. The alluring scent that had led me to this place in the first place. It had always been her…

Now that I remember, I had had a crush on her ever since we hit puberty. I would always get jealous whenever I saw her with Cameron. My enmity with him had started because of Sarah herself, even though I would never admit it out loud. Over time, I had crushed that stupid crush of mine and forgotten her by dating two women who were completely opposite to her personality. But since Sarah hadn’t been there at the time of my eighteenth birthday, I had no way of knowing if she was the one or not.

Now, my wolf was clawing at me…begging me to claim her, to mark her as my own.

As if sensing my presence, Sarah turned to look out at the crowd and her light blue eyes met mine from across the road. Her eyes widened as she realized exactly what was happening. And why wouldn’t she? She was seventeen herself, with only a few months left for her to turn eighteen. I had no doubt in my mind that she sensed me.

Sarah tore her eyes away from me to turn back to her girlfriends. She excused herself from the table and started heading out to the back of the café, to an alleyway that I knew was a deserted area. So I followed her there.

She was already waiting for me there, in a pair of dark blue jeans and a white woollen jacket that swallowed her whole. There were light pink highlights on the tips of her hair now and somehow, it matched her bubbly, caring personality. She was perfect. Absolutely beautiful…and the closer I got to her, the more I felt my wolf wanting to take over…to mark her.

Sarah took a hasty step back when I reached her and I could see the nervousness in her eyes as she looked up at me; her throat moving as she swallowed. My eyes went to the thin column of her throat, at the way it moved when she swallowed…and I felt my eyes haze over…

“What are you doing?”

The sternness in her voice had my head snapping up to meet hers. “What?”

“This is some kind of mistake!” Sarah shook her head, taking another step back. “You and I…we…it’s not possible…”

“Why?” My voice came out as a growl. “Is it because of Cameron?”

Was she trying to reject me? All because of that fucker boy alpha?

“This has nothing to do with Cameron!” Sarah snapped. “You on the other hand, tried to poison him!”

“I did not!” I growled. “I have no idea who it was but if I ever get my hands on that fucker, I’ll rip out his limbs myself!”

Sarah winced at that statement and I immediately regretted letting my anger get the best of me. Fuck! I didn’t want her running away from me!

“We…I…you can’t be my mate…” She shook her head, refusing to believe the bond pulsating between us. “We’re from different packs…we’re completely different people!”

“The bond has nothing to do with packs or our personalities.” Moving forward, I wrapped an arm around her waist and hauled her to my chest. “My wolf can sense you, Sarah. I can sense you. It’s you.”

“No…” Sarah struggled against me, but even I could tell it was a half-hearted attempt. “It’s not…I’m not eighteen yet!”

“Is that your excuse?” I raised my eyebrows at her. “That you’re not eighteen yet? Then why don’t I help you find out?”

I leaned down towards her, with every intension to kiss her soft, luscious pink lips. I lowered my head to hers, holding her body closer to mine…and felt my head whip to the side.

Releasing her instantly…my hands went to my cheek. The sting of the slap registered later than I had expected, but when it did, my eyes widened in shock as I looked back at Sarah.

“Is this how you treat women?” She snapped at me, her eyes sparking fire. “By forcing yourself on them? I will absolutely not tolerate this kind of behaviour.”

“Sarah…”

“Stop! Just stop!” She cut me off. “I didn’t follow you here so I could readily give myself to you in this alleyway. If you really are my mate, then earn that right! I’m not going to jump into your arms just because you might turn out to be my mate!”

“So you feel the connection too?” I smirked, moving my hand away from my cheek. “You can’t deny that.”

“I’ll keep on denying until I think you are worthy of me.” With that, Sarah moved past me and out of the alleyway, leaving me flabbergasted.

What just happen? I stared after Sarah in surprise.

Was this the same girl who had always been sweet and compassionate and caring? I never knew she was hiding a nerve of steel underneath that gentle exterior.

A smirk formed on my lips. This game just got so much more interesting.

Just you wait Sarah Parker…it won’t be long before I earn that right and make you fall head over heels in love with me.