Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 36656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
The moon gained power as it went high up into the sky. The pain seemed to go to unimaginable lengths. Then, a sudden jolt, a tearing of flesh, and Alexa was a wolf. She turned on her four legs and stared at the ground, becoming aware of so many things all at once.
Especially the wolf a few feet in front of her.
Landon.
Looking up, she noticed he was already staring at her, and she knew what her parents had been saying since their birth was correct. Landon Gorman was her mate. The flash, the awareness, the needs within her wolf to go to him was so strong, but she held herself back. The boy she’d hated for so long, who was now a man, was her mate.
No.
This couldn’t be happening. She refused to accept it.
They moved together as one and glared. Underneath it all, Alexa couldn’t deny the attraction she felt. The overwhelming need to feel him surround her.
It was strong. Impossibly strong.
She wanted him so badly. But she was going to deny herself. They were not going to ever be mates, ever.
****
Later that night.
“They fought it. How is that possible?” Penelope asked.
Gertie reached for her best friend’s hand and tried to offer her support. For eighteen years, they had waited for this moment. With their kids’ hatred for one another developing, they had all hoped that with the first transition, a mating would occur.
It hadn’t.
They had watched the two face off with each other, and being in wolf form themselves, they had felt the connection the two had. The rumors were indeed true.
Born at exactly the same time, within the same pack, it meant they were fated mates. They knew all their lives that they were destined to be together, but they had fought it.
Gertie had never known anything like it before.
“Their hatred for one another,” Marcel said. “That has to be the key. They don’t want to be mated, so they’ve denied each other the truth for so long. In my experience, I’ve never known anyone to reject their mate before. Never.”
Penelope sat back. “What do we do?”
“There’s nothing we can do,” Gertie said.
“But this is going to have repercussions,” Dan said. “We all know it. Them denying themselves now doesn’t mean it’s going to make life easier for them. If anything, it is going to make life a hell of a lot harder.”
“We will have to deal with that … problem when we get to it,” Marcel said.
“You can’t be serious,” Penelope said.
“I’m not going to force our kids together.”
“Marcel?” Gertie asked, a little shocked by his decision.
“For now, I suggest we just be grateful that our babies got through their first transition. We all know it’s not easy. It’s fucking hard, and it’s painful, but they got through it, and anything that happens, we will deal with when the time is right.”
Chapter Two
Three years later
Alexa smiled at the small tourist family, trying to be her most welcoming self. Whenever civilians came through the town, she tried to be normal for them. It happened often, as Marcel wanted their town to thrive, but fortunately, other than a few wolf-human matings, not many stayed for too long. The harsh winter elements always helped to deter any unwanted stays.
They had hot summers, freezing cold winters, and lots of different weather in between.
She gave the little girl a wink and turned back to the main counter to post another order.
Wolves had big appetites, but she had noticed so did humans, in their own way.
With the order placed, she stuffed the pencil behind her ear and went back to cleaning up the table.
Whenever it was her time to work at the diner, she liked to keep busy. Her wolf had developed keen senses. She had superb hearing, and she detected rotting flesh from miles away. There was always that pesky little problem she had with her strength as well. Only her parents and Marcel were aware of it.
From the moment she turned, her hearing had been impeccable, able to detect hunters, animals, and even when one of the pack was injured down at the lake. They also had a problem last year when some of the young kids wandered off into the woods and got lost. Marcel had come to her, to listen.
She’d found them within ten minutes, afraid of the dark, cold, and more than ready to face the wrath of their parents. Then a few months ago, she had discovered … her strength had gotten a hell of a lot stronger. Like, crazy, scary strong. She wasn’t scared.
Of course not. Why would she be afraid of the fact that she broke doors and had even knocked down a tree? It always happened. No big deal.
Admittedly, she hadn’t told Marcel that the reason she was so angry was that she wanted to punch Cheryl in her rotten face because she was a bitch who liked to tell her in great detail that she and Landon were a couple. The same Landon she didn’t want or care about. The same guy who had just entered the damn diner with the woman who liked to get on her nerves.