'Friends are important because sometimes their all you've got'

--Christina Diaz Gonzalez

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I stepped into the Nightshade pack house and my mouth fell agape. It was beautiful and at least ten times bigger than my old pack house — it was a mansion. They led me through a whole twist of hallways and stairwells. This place was even better from the interior. Silently, I wondered how many werewolves they could house in this one home.

The artifacts around the house were priceless, vases made of gold and silver, pictures of the former Alphas that came before, paintings of the past and some speculations of the human world that no werewolves were ever to venture into. The railings to the stairs were what I could bet was gold and iron, polished enough that I could see my own reflection in it. The walls were painted white with no flaws in sight, the floors hardwood and shining.

My hair was a huge mess on top of my head, all tangled from running so much in the woods, and also from the relentless wind. My eyes looked like a panda's, all red with huge black sockets below them due to the lack of sleep.

I knew what I had to do. I was going return to my old pack later and get what I wanted, what I deserved. I would be a whole new me, one where no one would dare push around anymore.

The Alpha opened the door to a room, big enough to fit a whole pack inside. The king sized bed pushed against the wall, a huge walk in closet on the side and a mahogany desk to the side, already accessorized with papers, books and pens.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was made of gold. Everything was glistening with how clean and spotless it was kept, it stung my eyes. The walls white and the bed sheets golden, there were specific patterns of flowers sown in too. This place looked like it came out of a dream, somehow I'd stumbled into heaven.

"This is your room." The Alpha spread his arms around himself, motioning to the room. I snapped out of my trance from the sound of his voice. I had never had my own closet before since my sister was a hog and decided to take mine too. It wasn't like I had many clothes to put in there anyway, whatever my sister didn't want was mine.

"Oh and I forgot to mention, the names Tyler." His smile reached his eyes and they seemed laced with sympathy. "Change into something more tolerable and meet us at the pack meeting room."

"Wait, but I don't ha---" The door slammed shut before I could finish, my mouth still hung open mid sentence as his footsteps faded away.

My first instinct of course was to check the closet to see if there were any clothes in there and sure enough, there were more clothes hung up and neatly folded in drawers than what my sister owned. And to make things better, it was a walk in closet bigger than both my sister's and my old room combined. I couldn't help but chuckle a little, thinking of Cassie's reaction if she had a closet this large. Her eyes would widen to saucers, and her shriek would explode everyone's ear drums from a ten mile radius.

I brushed my fingers through the expensive silk material that made these clothes. They slipped right out of my hands and continued to drag on the hardwood tiles. I walked a little further and there was a section reserved just for jewelry, head bands, necklaces, rings and many more. In the far right corner, the shoes were perched on the floor, ranging from heels, Toms, and leather boots.

The outfits were already paired together, all kinds of impressions were made, girly, beachwear, goth, emo, casual, fierce, animal print, and many more.

I was living in a dream. I chose a floral purple casual dress and slipped it on without a problem. The material flowed behind me elegantly as I walked. Quickly, I gathered my hair into a pony tail and scurried out of my room and back into the luxurious hallway.

It wasn't hard to find the way to the pack meeting room, since the smell of werewolves were strongest from there.

Werewolves usually had a better sense of smell than humans and we could smell things from miles away. I walked into a room full of them, gaping at me as when I walked in. Almost hundreds of eyes blinking at me. Tyler must've already told them about me.

I was not used to all those eyes on me.

It didn't take much for me to realize that Tyler told everyone my story and how they found me. It was obvious from the sad and empathetic stares they gave me. I guessed getting rejected by your one supposed true love was bound to get you some sympathy points.

It was almost like a party to celebrate my arrival, and I felt was special — for once. I'd never been given anything special, or at least no one had ever paid any attention to me unless they wanted me to wash their underwear.

Alpha Tyler propped his elbow on my shoulder, a crooked smirk on his lips and I frowned. I had yet to reach my growth spurt but I was getting there. 

"Lila, meet my friends. The Beta, Ashton, the brothers Trace and Dyson, and my mate Ava." All of them surrounded me and introduced themselves a little bit. They talked and joked with me, as if I had been one of their own from the beginning. I wasn't treated like an outcast like the Moonstones had treated me time and time again.

A warm feeling settled in my stomach as they surrounded me, blabbering over each other with their introductions. The warmth replaced the gaping hole in my heart from the thought of Cael.

Ashton was the beta and apparently he could be really serious when he needed to be, but I could tell overall he was laid back. He made a point to mention to me the fact that he was one of the best fighters in this pack and region.

Might I also add, quite good looking as well, with his dark brown hair combed back, a few rebellious strands sprawled over his forehead, and a sharp jawline. I could just about see the toned stomach he had hidden underneath his shirt.

Trace and Dyson were twins, and they both argued more than they talked, but they did look a lot alike that I had no clue who was who. Both of them had fiery red hair and freckles over their cheeks and the bridge of their noses.

Lastly, there was Ava. She was Luna — Tyler's mate— though she was much unlike the Luna from the Moonstones. She was younger and kinder. The whole time we talked, she treated me with more kindness than I'd expected. Ava was beautiful in my opinion, her long auburn locks flowing down her back, rosy cheeks that complimented her thick eyelashes, and there was always a smile on her face.

She was lucky she had her mate.

I couldn't help but feel a pinch in my heart from the sight of both Ava and Tyler, just about snogging each other in front of me.

Even though I'd just met these people, they'd opened up their pack to me and treated me as one of their own. I couldn't help but feel as though I'd actually found a new home.

Cael's POV

I sat at the dinner table, letting out a heavy sigh as I waited for dinner to come. I wasn't the only one pissed off, most of the others in the pack lounged around with me. Most of them half asleep after our monstrous training session, others mumbling about how they needed a drink. I would be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to my mate's cooking.

Crap. I didn't say that. That was my wolf talking, not me.

I already rejected her for Diana. Diana was supposed to be my mate, my girlfriend that I was willing to die for and she would do the same. My thoughts were interrupted suddenly by a shriek — not a terrified or painful scream in any way —which caused my eyes to roll to the back of my head.

"Oh my god!" The voice screamed again. It sounded a lot like Lila's voice. A girl stumbled down the stairs — Cassie — as she sprinted over towards me, a piece of crumpled paper in hand. Her expression was frantic, eyes wide, though they were filled with amusement.

"I found a note on Lila's bed, she is such an attention seeker you have got to read this." Cassie handed me the note and I snatched it from her outstretched hand. She peeked over my shoulder as if I were one of her stupid girlfriends reading a text message. If it was from Lila, I definitely wanted to read it.

I read it out loud to the pack, but when I reached the end of the note, I blinked at it, baffled. Glancing around the large table, I could tell I hadn't been dreaming from the sight of everyone's perplexed expression. I couldn't believe it. She was gone. My mate was gone.

No, she was not my mate.

I wanted to bang my head against the wall to knock that thought out of my head.

My eyes widened when the realization hit me. They all knew Lila was supposed to be my mate now. Diana would kill me, and so would the pack — especially my parents.

I rejected her and broke her heart. The way the tears slid down her cheeks when I rejected her, her cloudy eyes when I said what I had. My heart clenched uncomfortably and a random, sinking feeling emanated in my stomach.

My dad came out of nowhere, giving me a small wave with his hand. Letting out a heavy sigh, I shot up from my seat and weaved through some of my pack members, to get out of the kitchen. All of them eyed me, but with one glower that I shot at them, they cowered away.

I followed my dad to his — or my new — office, shutting the door behind me.

As a child, I'd always been impressed with how beautiful the office looked, with the territorial maps strung up on brown walls, the wooden office desk perched by the far wall.

He stood behind the large desk, covered in paperwork and pens scattered haphazardly around. He watched me, eyes dark and intimidating, his shoulders were taut and the way he clenched his jaw sent shivers down my spine. He didn't even wait until I had taken a seat in the office chair in front of him before he started talking.

"Son, you can't reject your mate. No matter who she is." He sighed, adverting his gaze onto his desk rather than on me. He sounded disappointed, and I hadn't realized how badly I'd messed up until then.

I was the new Alpha, one without a mate, no less.

"Now we'll look even more vulnerable to the Nightshade, to any pack. A teenage, inexperienced Alpha with no mate." He growled, almost baring his teeth at me. His eyes finally met mine, and they glowed yellow from his anger. "Anyone can use Lila against you, and if the Nighshade captures her..." He trailed off as he ran a hand over his face, heaving a loud sigh.

The thought of her being tortured in the chambers deep inside the Nightshade's pack made my blood boil in my veins. Their dungeon rooms, dark and humid. Filled with chains and silver, her screams echoing through the chamber.

Now that I thought about it, I'd never seen her train with the pack out in the fields. She'd never been allowed to train because of everyone else's household duties that were thrown onto her.

"I know dad. Look, she's weak, but not that stupid. She was my mate, and I rejected her because of that. She's way to weak to be Luna." I defended myself, though it sounded much like I was trying to convince myself to believe it.

Every word I said caused my wolf to growl angrily in my head. Those words were too hard to get out of my throat — a large part of my brain told me it wasn't true.

"No, she's not answering my pack links. She's already in another territory and possibly with the Nightshades. She won't be found." He snapped back at me, almost growling and I just about flinched at his harsh tone. "I'm not harming any of our pack members for someone who doesn't want to be found." His eyes were hard with determination at those words, his balled fists smacking against the desk with a thud.

My dad stormed out of my office after that, without another word. I stayed rooted in my chair, as his footsteps began fading away.

Lila was in a different territory, she was now a rogue and in danger, but I couldn't leave my pack to go find her. I knew I would find her one day. I might have rejected her but I could still feel the mate bond between us. We would reunite one day. We had to.

My heart and every part of me itched for her, not Diana.

My heart ached within my chest, an empty hole began to originate there and in my gut. I lost her.

EDITED