All eyes were on me. Thousands of eyes, just staring at me like I was an alien. And none of the eyes showed acceptance. They all showed disapproval.
I felt like my world was shrinking, soon to become nothing. Just a small speck floating around in a universe. I was nothing to these people, I was nothing to my mate’s pack. I was just a small speck to them.
Would Christopher deny me because of this? Would he just kick me out like I was morning trash?
Thoughts kept running through my head. I had to just let it go, forget that they didn’t accept me.
“Diana,” Grace whispered as her bony fingers dug into my forearms. “Are you okay?”
I nodded and gave her a relieving smile.
“Of course,” I lied.
The jacket on my shoulders seemed to have felt heavier, as if the weight of the world was resting on me.
My world was resting on me, this pack would soon have to depend on me, after they accepted me.
Christopher came to me and grabbed me by my hand. Immediately shocks engulfed my arm, but weren’t as sensational as usual. Then he pulled me closer to the pack, as if presenting me as a gift.
“This is your luna, you must accept her,” he said while releasing my hand.
Their eyes continued to stare, making me feel more like an experiment that was getting observed.
Tears threatened to fall from my eyes. This isn’t how I imagined it would go.
But then, a familiar pack member bowed their head.
“Luna,” Kate said loudly as she bowed her head.
Soon her example was followed by more members, then the whole pack.
They were all bowing their heads to me.
“Luna,” they said in unison.
My eyes widened. I looked back at Melanie, Brent, and Grace and was surprised to see them doing the same.
“Christopher, they don’t have to-” I looked at Christopher and smiled. He was bowing to me to.
The hurt that I was feeling earlier was replaced by happiness. I was accepted by the pack and my mate.
I couldn’t help but giggle. But then the giggling turned to laughter, causing the pack to lift their heads.
“Diana, what’s so funny,” Christopher asked while cocking his eyebrow.
“It’s just that, you’re all bowing to a half naked girl,” I said while clutching my stomach from all the laughter.
Christopher soon joined in and brought me into a hug.
“Gosh Diana, you’re so adorable.”
I continued to laugh as I hugged him back. But our fits if laughter was interrupted by a familiar voice.
“Wow, I like seeing Diana half naked and all, but what do we do now? Home? Or school?” Alfred asked.
Christopher pushed me behind him before releasing a growl.
“Shut up Alfred!”
Alfred held up his hands up. “Okay, okay, jeez, I was just wondering.”
Christopher took a breath before answering. “You guys can just go home. I doubt the teachers were going to go back to school anyways. I’m talking about you Mrs.Buchard.”
A moment later an elderly woman giggled in the crowd. Then she jumped into the sea of people.
Weird.
The pack began to cheer. Then they began to disperse, leaving me, Christopher, Melanie, Brent, and Grace. I guess Kate decided to leave.
“I think they don’t fully accept me Christopher.”
Christopher reached and held my hand. “Oh trust me, they do. The thoughts I’m hearing right now. They wanted to talk more, but you’re, ya know, practically naked.”
“Hey! It’s not my fault! Last time I shifted my clothes ripped.”
Christopher laughed. “And when was the last time?”
“Umm, three years ago.”
Christopher froze and looked at me. “Three years ago?”
“Yeah. I haven’t shifted since my pack was killed.”
He looked lost in thought, but he finally answered.
“There’s something wrong with your wolf, no offense. But if somebody doesn’t shift that long, their wolf tends to fight for control, and they usually win and become a rouge.”
I let it sink in. I was suppose to be crazy, gone wild. But for some reason, Sofia never fought for control.
Sofia, I thought. What’s going on?
No answer.
I shook my head and turned to my friends, but I was surprised to see Brent and Melanie holding hands.
“Do you think they’re mates?” I whispered to Christopher.
Christopher laughed. “Of course not. Melanie hates Brent. She’s never touched him in his life except when she punched him in the hallway this morning.”
There was a moment, but Christopher’s eyes widened.
“No way,” he said before darting to Brent and tackling him. I quickly ran and caught up with him.
“Bro! You’re mates with Melanie?”
I looked at Melanie and caught her blushing. I couldn’t help but giggle.
“Uh, yeah.” Brent replied looking a bit embarrassed.
“Why didn’t you tell me? Holy freaking crap!”
The two began to wrestle while me and Melanie laughed.
“Uh, Diana,” Grace croaked.
I turned to see Grace struggling to stand. It was like something was trying to pull her down into the earth. But then the worst thing happened. She passed out.
“Christopher!” I screeched.
He looked up and his eyes widened. He immediately jumped from the ground and swooped Grace into his arms.
“Wow, she’s lighter than a feather. She needs to get dehydrated, food, and sleep.”
I nodded. “Then that means we should get home.”
He nodded and began to walk. I caught up to him and fell into his pace, that was until Melanie spoke.
“Oh I know you guys aren’t leaving us.”
Christopher laughed and dug into his pocket while holding Grace. Then he pulled out his car keys and tossed them to Brent.
“Ride my car home, then you guys can hang out with us.”
They nodded simultaneously and began to run to the school at inhuman speed.
“All right, let’s get home and take care of your friend.”
I nodded and we both began to walk quickly to Christopher’s house.
** Paul’s POV **
Diana Jones.
She was all I could think about. The way her blonde hair blew in the wind. The way her blue eyes always showed kindness. The way she talked. The way how she acted so real. She was just captivating. That’s why I loved her. But how can I love her if I already found my mate? How is it even possible?
For some reason, I couldn’t see myself with Sophia. She’s my mate, but I have to admit, she’s cruel. We have our own pack of rouges, but she just treats them like trash. A real luna would never do that. That’s why it feels like we’re drifting apart.
But Diana, I can see myself with her. I can see us raising our own pups and teaching them how to shift for the first time. If she was my mate, that would be perfect.
But I think she still hates me. After that night, who wouldn’t. I killed everyone, even my best friend. I thought I killed Diana too. My heart just felt broken. But when I saw that she was still alive, joy overwhelmed me.
I shook my head. I shouldn’t be thinking about this. Sophia’s my mate and I love her. But why does Diana keep popping up in my head?
“Hey babe?” I whispered.
A moment passed until Sophia finally answered.
“Yeah,” she mumbled from underneath the bed sheets.
I smiled. Her morning voice was so cute. She almost sounds like Diana.
No! I can’t think about her!
“Um, I’m going to go for a jog, if that’s alright.”
“Yeah, but when you get back I have some loose ends I want you to take care of.”
I nodded. “Of course.”
I got out of bed and slipped on a sweat shirt, sweat pants, socks, and some teni-shoes. Then I crept out of our room and out the front door of our small shack.
It was morning for sure. The sun had barely risen and the wolves were sleeping by some forest trees. I wonder which ones Sophia wanted me to take care of.
I shook my head and began to jog into the woods. I began to pick up speed and the trees soon became blurs as I ran. I only had one thing on my mind.
Diana.
I kept running until I was right in front of Diana’s wall. The wall she made around her burnt down village. I remember watching her build it. She wouldn’t take a break until it was finished. And sometimes, I could tell when she had her feelings. When she would feel that I was watching her from the trees. But she would just ignore it.
I stepped inside the wall for the first time and was amazed at what I saw. There were flowers growing everywhere. There was a partially burnt house, but it looked well taken care of. And down a path from it were graves. A lot of graves. Most likely the bodies of her pack.
But something caught my eye. There was a large circle of dead grass. I knew exactly what that was three years ago. It was the bonfire Diana and I had danced around. That was the first time I realized I actually loved her instead of my mate, but I denied those feeling then.
“Diana!” I called.
No answer.
I walked to the burnt house and entered. It was cleaned up and well decorated inside.
So this is where she lived.
“Diana!” I called again.
Still no answer.
I began to panic. Where could she have gone? This was where she was meant to be, in a house near me. If she left… No, I can’t jump to conclusions.
I began to search frantically. I ran around, searched every room, and tore things apart. She wasn’t here.
My wolf began to grow restless. He even cared more for her than Sophia.
‘Where could she have gone?’ Douglas demanded.
“I-I don’t know.”
Douglas was silent, as if he was concentrating. Then it happened, he took control.
I could see what was going on, but I couldn’t control it. It was like I was in a daze.
Douglas didn’t shift, but instead he began running. He zoomed passed trees and ran down hills. That was, until he reached the edge of the forest where a town lied.
He released control and allowed me to take over.
“Douglas!” I hissed. “What was that all about?”
‘Diana’s scent came from here. Look around.’
I nodded.
Diana. She was somewhere around here.
I began walking along the border. Just on the edges of the town, and it was huge. But the weird thing was, the streets were abandoned.
‘Paul, this is a pack territory.’
I froze. Why would Diana be with a pack? Did someone take her in?
No, I can’t think like that.
I continued to walk until a soccer field came into view. A group of teen kids were walking away, leaving a small group behind. But these weren’t normal kids, they were all wolves.
I stared at the group of kids left behind. A scrawny girl that looked partially familiar, a girl in a t-shirt and jeans holding hands with some guy, and in front of them with their backs turned to me was a blonde girl that seemed to only be wearing only a jacket. She was holding hands with a tall, muscular guy. Must be mates.
They turned their heads to each other and seemed to be talking. But a moment later the guy turned and darted away from the girl and tackled the other guy. Then the blonde girl ran after him. That’s when my heart skipped a beat.
I recognized that hair, that face, and those eyes. It was Diana. My Diana. But she was half naked and wearing a jacket.
She stopped next to the girl who was recently holding hands with the other guy. Then they began to laugh as the two men began to wrestle. But then she looked at the scrawny girl.
The tiny, little thing was struggling to stand. But then she collapsed, causing Diana to screech so loud that I could even hear it.
“Christopher!”
The man that she was holding hands with responded by jumping from the ground and swooping the skinny girl into his arms.
He said something to Diana and they began to walk away.
He was walking away with my Diana.
A small growl erupted from my chest. At first I thought they heard me because they turned towards me, but they just began to talk to the other couple.
The guy, who I’m guessing was Christopher, dug through his pocket and tossed the other guy some keys.
The couple dashed away while Christopher and Diana walked side by side, away from me.
Anger filled me. He was taking Diana away from me.
I ran back into the woods and began to run at top speed. Then I stopped and punched a tree as hard as I could while releasing a painful scream.
He wasn’t going to take her away, I wouldn’t allow him to.
That’s when the idea came to me.
“Douglas,” I muttered. “Beat me up.”
I could feel my wolf snicker.
‘With pleasure.’
Douglas took control once again and ran at top speed. But he wasn’t dodging anything. He kept crashing into trees, bushes, and thorns.
I could feel pain engulf my body.
Perfect.
He released his control and I dropped to the ground, panting.
I looked at my ripped clothing and now bare arms that were seeping with blood. I looked like I was just attacked by someone or something.
I smiled and got back to my feet. Then I began to dash back to my pack.
I dashed through the trees and jumped over one of the sleeping wolves, making it yelp and scatter.
All of my pack awakened and stared at me in confusion. Then they shifted back to human and circled me, asking questions.
“What happened?”
“Is he all right?”
“You don’t think he was attacked, do you?”
“Alright men!” I shouted.
Everyone froze and gave me their full, undivided attention. Even Sophia came out of our shack, wearing only a t-shirt and a pair of shorts while she rubbed her sleepy eyes.
“I was attacked by a nearby pack,” I lied easily.
Everyone broke into murmurs.
“Well then, let’s kill them like we did to that other pack three years ago!” Someone shouted.
The pack nodded and murmured with agreement, but I raised my hand to silence them.
“I have a better idea.” I stated.
I glanced at Sophia and saw her smirking evily. Did she know what I was up to?
I shook my head and continued. “We convince their luna to leave.”
The pack of rouges cocked their heads.
“What’s the point of that?” A female voice asked.
I smirked. “Because an alpha can’t live long without his luna. He’d kill himself, and the pack would go into chaos. They’ll all kill each other for the throne.”
The pack smiled wickedly and nodded with agreement. Then they began to cheer.
While they were cheering, one of the females ran up with a wet rag and began to tend to my wounds. But I didn’t pay attention. My thoughts were elsewhere. My thoughts were of Diana.
I’ll get you back Diana. We’ll be happy together in your village.
You will be mine.