Jess:

"SKY! ROSETTE!" I've spent the last 30 minutes wondering around the castle trying to find the only two people I know here.

This place is HUGE!

I sigh in defeat and head back to my bedroom. My mind was reeling after all the doctor had said to me about my werewolf senses.

Yup, I've got werewolf senses.

Being on my pack land is making them stronger.

Supposedly.

The doc didn't seem comfortable speaking to me directly about all the details. She choose to speak to my mother instead.

All I know is that, in werewolf history, there's never been a female who held these kind of abilities.

Except the original King and Queen of the Wolves. The God of Night, a shifter, and his mate, The moon goddess.

I was handed a ton of text books filled with information about the history of the four werewolf realms. I was told it is 'Of Great Importance' that I study these.

And here I thought I was don't with school for a while.

I land face first on my bed, burying my face in my fluffy pillows.

My forever happy place, my princess bed.

There was still a slight smell of shortcake left over from when Eli was here this morning.

I miss him, and Ember...

Slow down Jess, for all we know he could have a mate somewhere and I just haven't met her yet.

I felt a ping of jealousy all of a sudden. I mean, he is the Prince. I'm sure there's plenty of other females who would do an amazing job being his Princess.

Meh, still makes me sad to think like that though.

I met about 1,000 people who kept bowing to my mother and I like we were some sort of royalty.

Which I still don't understand. Hence the textbooks.

Everyone here seems very friendly though. I met one little girl who reminded me of myself when I was young. She was running around with all the boys, trying to keep up. She was doing a pretty great job of doing it.

I ran into Vik who was attending a big end of the school year rally. The kiddos were jumping all over him and he was chasing them around. He seems to be really great with all the little ones.

Wolves roam freely everywhere around here and you see women riding a top them doing chores and such.

I also saw Ember sparring with some smaller wolves. They must be younger. I could tell because they weren't as big and bulky. I also saw Titan and Beckett training with another group of larger wolves.

I shook my head.

Will I ever get used to this place?

Is there another white wolf roaming around somewhere?

I'm lost in thought when my phone starts ringing.

I'm so shocked by my own ringtone I practically fall off my bed trying to reach for it.

Goes to show how often it rings..

JENNIKAH

YAY! my bestie!

Just as I was about to answer, dread flows through me.

Oh no. How am I supposed to tell her that I'm living in a castle full of werewolves?

Take a deep breath Jess.. it's totally fine..

I answer at the last second, "Um Hey..." I try to sound emotionless.

"HEY GURL!!!!" I had to pull the phone away from my ear from the sceram making me laugh.

"Hey Jen!"

There's silence for a moment. I can't think of what to say.

"Jess! you there?!" I hear some mumbling in the background. Ben, I'm assuming. "OH and Ben says hey!"

I clear my throat, "Hey Ben!" I yell back. chuckling.

"Jess, um, you have a moment to chat?" She seems concerned, making me nervous.

"Sure. What's up? Is everything ok?" I check the clock on the wall, 11:30 am. Wait, that would make it 11:30pm there. "It's so late there, why are you calling so late.."

She laughs, "Oh, you know how it is, Ben needed to go for a run..."

My heart drops, tears suddenly in my eyes.

Jen knows? She's always known?

"Jess? did I lose you?" She says as I sniffle. "Jess? are you crying?"

"Jen.. Is Ben a, um..." She finishes my sentence for me.

"A werewolf? Yes! My father is Alpha Kai. Brother to King Kyle of the Western Realm."

We both squeal in delight.

I'm seriously laugh crying like a total werido. All these emotions I've been holding in seem to be flowing out of me. My best friend in the whole world knows everything about this world, and now I get to share all this with her. I didn't realize how lonely I was feeling. It's not that everyone here hasn't been as welcoming as ever, but Jennikah knows me inside and out. Knowing I could share all this with her made me feel overwhelmed with love.

"Oh JEN! there's so much I have to tell you, I made some new friends, Sky and Rosette, and I have a cousin, Ryan, but he's kinda scary. I don't know if he likes me, then there's Eli.."

She cuts me off, "You mean PRINCE Eli babe, and Lord Skyler, and Lady Rosette.. Oh girl, I've got a lot to teach you..."

"Wait, no, Prince Eli told me to call him just Eli, and Sky and Rosette have never corrected me or said anything about being a Lord and Lady..." I huff into the phone. I felt a surge of energy flow through me as I wanted to retell, in great detail what my last 24 hours has been.

"Wait, Prince Eli said that?" I can hear a deep muffled voice in the background. Probably Ben.

"Yes! and he kinda gets pissed when I try to call him Prince..."

She starts laughing hysterically, I hear Ben laughing too.

What could possibly be so funny?

I hear some shuffling then a deep voice singing into the phone..."Jessica and Prince Eli sitting in a tree..."

I roll my eyes, "Oh JEEZ BEN! It's not like that!" I try to yell over his song as I hear Jennikah trying to get the phone back.

"Ignore him Jess, and OF COURSE we're coming out!"

"We?" I ask confused.

"You don't think Ben would allow me to fly across the country on my own do you? Besides, I'd go crazy not having my mate with me..."

I gasp. OF COURSE!

Ben is Jennikah's mate! Makes sense.

"Oh RIGHT! of course Ben is your mate! You told me you guys made it offical on your 18th birthday. Wait, Ben is 19, oh wow. He had to wait around for a while didn't he."

"Yeah, and it didn't help that I kept turning him down for dates all the time..." She chuckles, "I was honestly just in denial."

"Wow, things are so different out there. They don't date here."

I hear Jennikah sigh, "I know, not all realms are the same, but honestly, it's probably better that way..." she pauses for a moment, thinking, "Listen, I got to go, but let's Skype later ok? Maybe you can introduce to me to everyone? Pretty please?" I giggle.

"Of course!" I laugh into the phone. "I mean, if I can find everyone. I just spent like 30 minutes roaming around and couldn't find anyone..."

"Jess, I don't think you realize how, um, popular Prince Eli and his little crew are. They are very well know through out all the realms..."

Really? so I just sat around eating ice cream with a bunch of famous werewolves huh?

Cool beans.

"Really? why?"

She sighs, "Ok, here's the short version, Prince Eli, Lord Ryan, and Lord Sean are very powerful and incredibly smart. Their parents are even stronger. Werewolves from all over travel to their realm in hopes to train with them and their parents. They sort of live the best life, that castle you're staying in? That was the original castle of the wolves. That land? It's the birthplace of our people."

Speechless.

"Jess?"

"Yea? Sorry, um, it's just, now I feel like an idiot that I didn't know all this. I mean I've just been hanging out with them like they're normal 18, 19 year old kids who happen to hold high positions in town. You know? Crap. I feel like I probably should have..."

She cuts me off, "Shhhh, Jess, calm down. You didn't know any better ok? I'm sure no one has been offended. Let's Skype later, we can talk more ok? 9PM your time sound good?"

"YUP! I'll make sure to charge my computer up!"

We say our goodbyes, as I lay back on my bed.

OK, cool. I'm just living with some of the most powerful and famous werewolves around. Plus, I sort of, if I'm being truly honest with myself, have a crush on Eli.

No biggie.

I roll over on my stomach, cracking open the first textbook all about werewolf biology. I tossed the one on history aside, science was always my stronger subject.

I begin flipping through the chapters, taking notes as I read when I get to the chapter about mates.

Werewolf Mating:
A male werewolf is paired with a partner who will bring out the male werewolf's true strengths. A werewolf's mate is chosen by our creators. The werewolf's mate, after marking, will be connected emotionally to their werewolf partner and therefore can control the Wolf hybrid during the full moon.* Mates can only truly be discovered on the Werewolf's 18th birthday. Same for the partner. The strength of both the werewolf and their partner will determine the strength of the bond leading up to the 18th birthday.
*see Full moon hybrid pg. 78

Pregnancy is only successful after the marking accords during mating, and the female is in heat. A true mated female's mark will be unique to that of her mate and will never fade. *see forced mating pg. 158

A female will go through heat 6-12 months after marking.

What did I just read? Marking? Mating? Heat? Wolf hybrids?

I sigh as I quickly turn the pages to find page 78.

My eyes go wide.

So to sum it all up, during the full moon, the wolves take over their hosts in human form.

I try to imagine Ember walking around in Eli's body. I chuckle and shake my head. I wonder if he'd just want to cuddle and play all the time? He might actually be a lot of fun.

Maybe?

Jeez, what have I gotten myself into?