" Happy birthday!!!"

   I smile happily as my adoptive mother presents my birthday cake to me, a smile gracing her pink lips," It's your favorite! Red velvet." She states proudly as she places the cake in front of me with the candles lit.

   " Smile for the camera Noah~" Roxy chimes, holding her mint-green polaroid camera. I smile brightly as the camera flashes. She smiles to herself as she pulls the photo and waves it in the air before the picture it appears," Wow! Definitely gotta show my photography teacher this one. I mean, seriously! The lighting is perfect! And you, Noah, you just...look fabulous!"

   " Roxy please don't..." I whine; I hated taking pictures but sadly Roxy made me her 'model' for of her photos. And I especially hated it when she'd show her photography teacher them," You know I hate it when you do that..."

   Roxy rolled her eyes, placing her camera on the table before sitting down beside me," Fine fine...Only because it's your birthday. But you can't stop me from putting into my 'Noah Photo Album'." She says before pinching my cheeks playfully," But hey! I can't help my baby brother is so cuuute~!"

   " Roxy...!" I whine out, pushing Roxy's hands off my face.

   " Let the boy blow out his candles Roxy." My adoptive brother father scolds playfully, a smile dancing upon his lips at our sibling bond.

   She rolls her eyes before nudging me," Well go on! Make your wish." I give my family -who are all seated at the dining room table- a smile before making my wish, blowing out my candles after," So wha'cha wish for Noah?"

   " You know I can't tell you; it won't happen if I do." I say with a small smile as my adoptive sister groans. I laugh in amusement as my mother cuts the cake, placing a slice on each plate with a fork for all of us.

   " So?~" Roxy wiggles her eyebrows at me as I dig into my slice of cake," Are you excited?"

   " For what?" I ask with a mouth full of cake.

   " Sweetie, don't talk with your mouth full." Mom scolds, well, more like states kindly as I nod.

   " About finding your mate! Well, your real one." I almost choke on my cake," What? You have to turn 18 before you can find your mate right?"

   " Y-Yeah, but why bring it up now..?!" I question, feeling a bit embarrassed.

   "...Well, it seems really important to find your mate in all those gay werewolf books I read..." Roxy mumbles to herself, shrugging as she eats a fork-full of cake," So I was wondering if you were excited about it."

   I gulp nervously," O-Of course I am, I mean...who wouldn't? But..." flashbacks of my past begin to play in my mind:

   " Come on Noah~ Swim with me...!" Jacob insists as he swims in the lake, with me on the dock watching," It's more fun in here than up there~!"

   " Yeah...nope." I reply, turning my gaze away from him in a playful manner; Jacob had decided to bring me to the lake for my 16th birthday. Though I'm not an expert swimmer, he insisted we'd go.

   " I'll hold my breath underwater if you don't come in." He playful threats. I shake my head in response," Suit yourself." He plugs his nose before diving his head under.

   " He's bluffing..." I say myself as I cross my arms over my chest, waiting for him to come back up. But after a moment, he still doesn't come back up," Jacob..?"

   When he doesn't respond, I begin to worry," Jacob! Jacob this isn't funny anymore!" I shout, but get no reply," I swear to the goddess above..." I strip myself of my shirt, leaving me in my swimmer trunks -what? I came prepared- before diving into the water, in search of my mate.

   I come back up for air and frantically look around the lake's waters, hoping for a sign of Jake anywhere," Jacob!" I shout again, but this time, I feel two muscular arms wrap around my waist.

   " Miss me?" He whispers in my ear before gently biting it. I turn around and slap him in the face, feeling tears swelling in my eyes," What was that for?!"

   " You scared me!" I scolded, letting my tears escape my eyes," I-I thought I lost you..."

   Jacob's facial expression changes quickly as he wipes my tears away," Shhh, shhh, don't cry baby; I'm sorry, I took it too far, I'm so sorry..." Jacob pulls me closer to him, my head now on his chest as he keeps us afloat,"...I love you..."

   I sniffle a bit before replying," I-I love you too..." I snuggle closer into his chest, my heart swelling at his words as my cheeks blush red,"...b-but if you do that again, I won't go looking for you..."

   " Sure you will~" He chuckles before placing his head in the crook of my neck, inhaling my scent," You smell so nice..."

   I blush at his words," T-Thanks..."

   " Come on," He begins to swimmer towards shore, still holding me in his arms,"let's get going. Your parents might actually want to see you today."

   I giggle and nodded. I loved being with Jacob; he was sweet and kind, protective when needed. Just...a perfect mate...

   "-ah?"

   " -oah?"

   " Noah?!"

   I am brought back to reality by my family's worried voices," H-Huh? Sorry, I-I spaced out..."

   " Noah, are you alright dear?" my mother asks, worry swimming in her eyes.

   " W-Why wouldn't I be?" I ask.

   " You're crying..." Roxy states, placing a hand on my shoulder, gently rubbing it to comfort me. I raised my hand and touched my cheek, and she was right, I was crying.

   You see, Jacob wasn't actually my mate; he lied to me. Since I was only 15 when we met, I couldn't sense the mate bond, and since he was already 18, he just lied and said I was his mate. I ended up finding out he wasn't my mate when I went to his house to surprise him one day and caught him making out with a she-wolf...He lied to me, and when I confronted him-...I rather not say...

   " I-I guess I am..." I slowly stand up from my chair, placing my cake on the table,"...I think I'll go to my room now..."

   I slowly begin my way to the staircase, hearing my parents scold Roxy as I walked," You shouldn't have brought mates up Roxy..! You know he's sensitive about the topic..." my mother scolds.

   " I know! I know. It was a stupid move." She admits," I just...now that he can find his real mate, maybe he'll get over Jacob..."

   " But still. Roxy, you should know better." My father sternly states to her," We have to be careful what we say to him. We don't want Noah to remember his past right now..."

   I stop at the top of the staircase," Goodnight everyone!" I shout before walking over to one of the many doors in the hallway; my room. I open it and walk in, being greeted by darkness, the only light being from my glow-in-the-dark star stickers on my ceiling. I quickly turn on my bedroom light before shutting my door, shuffling over to my bed and kneeling down in front of it. I reach under my bed and pull out my record player. I reached underneath it again and pull out my record box. I open it up and flip through my albums which varies from artist like Jack Johnson to bands like Black Veil Brides. 

   I decide on my 'Queen Greatest Hits' album, slipping the record out of its case and placing it on my record player. I switch the player on, watching as the record spins in circles before flopping onto my bed.

   The song Bohemian Rhapsody begins to play, causing me to sing along.

   Is this the real life?

   Is this just fantasy?

   Caught in a landslide.

   No escape from reality...

   Open your eyes.

   Look up to the skies and see~

   A sudden knock at my door causes me to sit up and stop my record" Who is it?" I ask, looking over at my door from my comfortable spot on my bed.

   " The tooth fairy." my sister jokes, causing me to laugh in response," Who do ya think it is?!"

   " Come on in Roxy!" I shout out as Roxy slowly peeks inside my room before stepping inside.

   She stands there for a moment, staring at me before saying," Well at least you ain't crying or anything."

   I don't know why, but I laugh," What? I didn't want in on my baby brother balling his eyes out or something. Especially on his birthday." Roxy replies, walking closer to my bed," I don't find pleasure in seeing you cry, Noah."

   " Well, at least you care," I say, smiling at the wild redhead.

     " Of course I do! I'm your sister." She states proudly in her usual county accent.   

   " Adoptive. Remember?" I state.

   " You know I hate that term..!" She whines, plopping herself on the foot of my bed," I am your sister. End. Of. Story."

   " Yeah yeah..." I reply, amused at my older sister," So...why are you here?"

   " I wanted to see if...you were alright. After the whole thing downstairs." She asks, her facial expression changing from amused to worried," So ya ok?"

   I shake my head," I'm fine..."

   " Really?" I nod.

   " It's in the past, Roxy...I need to move on..." I feel tears pricking my eyes," I-It just...hurts so much..."

   Roxy quickly comes closer and hugs me comfortingly," It's okay Noah...let it out..." I begin to sob on my sister's shoulder; I really loved Jacob, even if he wasn't my mate. But he cheated on me and- was I just not enough for him..?" Shhh...it's ok...it's in the past now..."

   My sobs slowly turned into small sniffles," I-I loved him, Roxy..." I cried, tears creasing my cheeks," Was I-I not good enough..?"

   " No no...you are perfect Noah. He was too stupid to see that..." She reassured, petting my hair to calm me down," Don't cry over him...he didn't deserve someone like you...you guys just didn't work...and that's okay! Now you'll be able to find the perfect one for you.."

   I sniffle a bit," Thanks sis..." Her face lights up at the word sis; she loved to be called sis.

   " Anything for my baby brother..." Roxy replies, causing me to laugh.

   " Y-You're only a few months older." I laughed.

   " Best few months of my life."

   I laugh again, lifting my head off her now soaked shoulder," Sorry about that..." I point to the wet spot.

   She waves her hand up in dismissal," It's fine. It needed to get washed anyway." She smiles brightly at me, which makes me feel better," So you ok now?"

   I nod with a small smile on my face," I am now...thanks Roxy..." She smiles at me again, embracing me in another hug before finally getting up.

   " Anything for you Noah. Now I'm gonna go." She points her thumb at the door," I better not come back here and see you moping, got it?" I laugh before nodding.

   " Okay. Then goodnight Noah, happy birthday again." She blows me a kiss playfully before walking out of my bedroom, closing my door after.

   I sit on my bed for a moment before letting out a sigh, flopping onto my back. Maybe she was right...maybe I'll find the right one this time around...

   I get up and change out of my clothes and into my PJs, flopping back down on my bed after I turned off my room's main light, with only my lamp on now. I plug my phone into its charger after putting my alarm on. Right before I turned off my lamp, I catch a glimpse of a family heirloom my mother had kept. It was some sort of medallion that way a wolf cycled around a sapphire jewel piece.

   I had taken it after my parents died, and it was the only thing I had to remember them by.  I don't wear it often since I'm afraid to break it, so I keep it on my nightstand at all times.

   I felt a tear slide down my cheek. I quickly whiled it away," I love you, mama, papa..." I say before turning my lamp off and wrapping myself in my blankets.

   My mind kept wandering off to certain topics -I wasn't sure what I was really thinking about- but soon enough, I drifted off to sleep.