"C'mon, Tatum! What are you doing up there!?" Angier Wellington—or Ang, as she liked to call him—yelled in a startlingly obnoxious manner from outside her house. Tatum could almost picture him waving his arms at her window from the porch, the way he usually waved them in the air in front of her face to grab her attention.

She jumped in the middle of running a brush through her hair, realizing that she'd been almost caught ogling him in her thoughts.

Crap, but one couldn't blame her, because faced with his unruly blond hair and twinkling turquoise eyes, she doubted that anyone could resist that level of cuteness.

Paired with that irritated look he was most-likely giving her window now, with his face all scrunched up, nose upturned and lips pursed in that delicious pout, he was definitely growing up to be the most sought-after seventh grader in their school. Tatum had to fist her fingers at the thought—to stop herself from going downstairs and squishing his cheeks hard until they matched the pink color of his mouth.

"Calm your tits. I'm coming!" She yelled right back at him, hiding the fact that she'd been thinking about him in all his boyish cuteness behind a fake annoyed tone. That's how she'd recently started to hide her stupid urges to blush and giggle at his funny and adorable antics.

Prepubescent Tatum wouldn't be caught dead admitting to herself that Angier Wellington was anything but ugly as a toad.

But now these new feelings were confusing the hell out of her, and she didn't know what to do with them but shove them to the back of her mind and lock them in a proverbial suitcase and kick them under a proverbial bed, where it was sure to stay hidden.

Okay, she had lied. She wasn't confused. Not one bit.

To Tatum Karas, one thing was crystal clear.

She had a teeny, tiny, unwanted crush on her best friend.

Yep, there it was. She had admitted it to herself.

The only problem besides confessing them to him and getting him to see her the same way, was their Mates.

Soulmates, to be more clear. Each one of them werewolves were destined to find their soulmates, their other half, the missing puzzle to their soul. And Tatum knew that they weren't each other's soulmates. Indeed, she wasn't sixteen yet—the age at which they would be able to recognize their other half at sight—there were a few years to go for that, but somehow, she knew they weren't Mates. The connection she shared with her best friend was nothing but deep friendship, and to confirm her doubts she'd seen a couple of guys who were childhood best friends in her own Pack who'd turned out to be Mates. According to them, they'd always known that they would probably be each other's Mates because of the strong pull they felt towards each other, and their sixteenth birthday had merely confirmed a fact they'd been very sure of. And this had made Tatum analyze her own bond with Angier, which led to the conclusion that it was nothing special like theirs.

Of course, Tatum knew that their friendship was very special, after all, who would get such an amazing best friend willing to put up with all the unnecessary drama and baggage she came with as an Alpha's kid? She loved Angier Wellington for that and knew that this itsy-bitsy feelings she had were nothing but her developing hormones, and she would be happy and nothing else if he were to find his Mate the next day.

That was highly unlikely, unless his Mate was four years older than him.

'Maybe she is,' Her wolf remarked, testing her reaction.

Tatum wouldn't give the beast what it wanted by getting mad at her as she knew that the reason for her Wolf's anger was justified. The animal in her wanted to wait for her Mate and like him, only him.

Tatum couldn't wait to turn sixteen, though. She wanted to feel that 'magical pull' or that 'extremely mouthwateringly decadent scent' that was supposedly the thing that would lead her to her soulmate.

'All in good time,' Her Wolf, the-wiser-one replied.

Tatum felt like telling her Wolf to shut it 'cause she obviously knew it, but it was almost like fighting with yourself as the Wolf was a part of you. So, she decided to be mature for once and not reply with a snarky comeback.

She shoved her feet into her flip-flops on the way out — completely unnecessary if you asked her, it wasn't like the puny thorns on the ground could damage her thick skin — but she and Angier had planned to go to the human beach on the town over, so it was a necessary evil. And, oh, they'd wanted to go there for two reasons,

1. They were curious.

2. They'd wanted to check out hot girls and guys their age.

The pack was seriously lacking in their opinion.

With a final shove to her head to make sure the straw hat was in place — ridiculous again, but her Mom had chosen her outfit, so she couldn't say no and hurt her feelings — she adjusted the over-sized sunglasses on her face as she ran down-stairs, letting her room's door bang shut behind her in her hurry to not make Angier wait any longer. "Mom! I'm leaving!"

"Be careful, honey! And come here and gimme a kiss!" Her Mom, the Luna of their pack, called from somewhere south, making Tatum smile and roll her eyes at the way she still insisted on treating her like a kid, "I will!" She called back as she ran to the door, "And I'm running late, I'll come back and kiss you!"

She heard her mom mumble something and knew she was about to start lecturing her to come back, so she quickly crossed the living room and ducked through the door, narrowly escaping her.

Once she reached the foyer, she saw him leaning against the grandly carved pillar there, looking as cute as ever in his sleeveless white tee and khaki shorts, hair styled back in a way she hadn't seen him do before, his face and feet adorned by the some fake Ray-Bans and flip-flops that they normally wouldn't wear, too.

"Finally," He let out an over-exaggerated sigh, "You're becoming like those girls in school Tatum, getting ready for hours and making everyone wait." He turned around, grabbing the basket and cooler that were resting by his foot as he made his way to the car.

"I was five minutes late, and that was only because I couldn't figure out the damn bikini," Tatum shot back, rolling her eyes at his comment as she grabbed the basket of sandwiches and goodies her Mom had packed too, that was waiting by the front door — yes, they had an appetite to match their strengths, sue them — following him to the car where Harrison was waiting to drive them.

Tatum's father, the Alpha, had recently started letting her go out alone as she pleased — well, as alone as one can be accompanied by a driver and bodyguard — as long as Harrison drove and Mark was there, playing said bodyguard.

Annoying, she knew, but the dangers and the blackmail her pack could face if some of their kids were kidnapped would be huge. so she and Angier didn't put up much of a fight.

Moreover, Angier was always getting into trouble with all his shenanigans and Tatum was a bit worried for his safety, too. So, it was a double bonus.

"A bikini, huh?" Angier wagged his eyebrows suggestively, letting his eyes rake over her tank top and shorts playfully, laughing at the way Tatum's cheeks colored up so quickly. "Shut up!" She punched his arm, warning him with a look to not say a word more. He raised his hands in defense, and Tatum let out a secret sigh of victory.

Thank Goddess. She didn't think she could take him teasing her about it, when she herself was so insecure wearing one the first time.

Once they loaded the stuff into the hood, they piled into the backseat, only then realizing that Mark was missing.

"Where's—" They started at the same time, only to be interrupted by a loud, "I'm here!", as the man in question came sprinting towards their car, making Tatum, Angier and even Harrison chuckle. He had a flair for showing up a bit late to wherever he was summoned. He threw himself into the front-seat and panted slightly, nodding quickly at them as he shut the door, "Let's go!"

Harrison shook his head in amusement as he revved the engine to life.

Tatum couldn't wait to see what the human civilization was all about.

* * *

With twilight painting the sky a mix of violet and orange hues, the black Range Rover pulled into Tatum's home, making her sigh with happiness, "Today was the best day of my life,"

And it was. She'd had so much more fun than she'd expected, except for the part where she couldn't shift and scale the shore like she'd wanted to.

But what the hell, playing on the beach and running around barefoot on the soft sand had been so much more fun than the lake in their Pack.

They'd kept the cotton candy flowing endlessly, stripping down to their swimsuits as they'd spread their lean bodies on their towels and basked in the warmth of the sun for a good measure of time, before whipping out their brand new surfboards from the hood.

Looking at them ride the waves, no one would've guessed that it was their very first time.

They'd later paid a few bucks to try their hand at water-skiing, but the man who owned the rental wouldn't let them go another time because he thought they were too young. What he didn't know was that they were more sharp and strong than the strongest of the humans even at their age.

"Mine, too." Angier echoed, grinning at her from ear to ear.

"You wanna sleep over?" She asked on a whim because frankly, she didn't want this awesome day to be over yet.

He pondered for a second before nodding, "It's not like I'll get any homework done anyway. Might as well have some more fun," He winked, and she felt almost high with the excitement that they weren't gonna part ways yet, that they could still make this day even better.

"Come on, then! Let's go call your Mom."

* * *

All arrangements were made, parents' approval received and after an evening of some Xbox and back-to-back episodes of  F.R.I.E.N.D.S, the human show that had apparently become a huge hit a few years ago, according to the internet — they'd decided that it was their new favorite show as well, it was just too funny to be not — they were beat, albeit very content as they lay head-to-toe on Tatum's bed, a king.

"Next sleepover at mine. I'm too tired of all these frilly, girly sheets." Angier said with a yawn so loud and huge, Tatum couldn't help but follow.

"Shhurree," She slurred through it, her eyes drifting close on their own accord. "You know that it's my Mom's doing."

He knew, of course. It'd been a big topic of discussion between them, but Tatum had never mustered the courage to say no to her Mom. She'd been just too sweet and hopeful when she'd returned home from a shopping spree, armloads of bags in hand with stuff that Tatum despised.

She would eventually let her Mom know that she was not the beauty pageant type, but more the captain of the soccer team.

Just not anytime soon, though.

With that last coherent thought in her mind, Tatum fell into a blissful sleep that put an end to the best day of her life.

Little did she know that the best was soon about to turn the worst.

* * *

The scream jolted Alpha Basil Karas awake.

His wife and Mate, Luna Maarika Karas jumped up too, knowing instinctively that it was their pup's voice, before the haze of the sleep cleared completely from her foggy eyes. "Tatum." They echoed in unison, looking at each other in alarm.

In a second, both of them hurtled themselves out of the door, leaping into action as they dashed down the corridor and jumped across the steps, chanting her name in their heads, praying that nothing was wrong. Maarika threw the door to their daughter's room open as they skidded to a halt, taking in the scene. "Tatum! What's wrong, pup?!"

And they froze, their hearts almost tore itself apart from the scene in front of their eyes.

Their daughter, little Tatum was crying her eyes out, screaming in pure agony as she clasped her heart like it was being ripped out in front of her eyes and young Angier was clutching her close to him as he looked up cluelessly, sorrow and despair evident in his eyes as he unknowingly shares the burden of his best friend. "Alpha! Luna! Help us!" He yelled, relief coursing through his naïve body the moment he saw them, somehow hoping they could help.

A quick scan told them that there was no danger, neither was there anything wrong physically.

Another gut-wrenching sob tore from her mouth as she clutched herself and her husband Basil flew into action, running up to the bed and pulling his daughter to his chest. "Baby girl, tell us what's hurting you? We can't fix it unless we know," He cooed, rubbing her hair.

Somehow, looking at her daughter's uninjured body and fine-a-while-ago state, Luna Maarika had a sinking feeling in her gut as a realization she didn't want to be true dawned on her. She shoved the thought away, hoping above anything that it was just a stupid hunch, nothing more, as she telepathically ordered for Flavian to come, the elder healer who knew everything, so that he could prove that she was wrong.

She'd never wished she'd be wrong so much in her life before.

Tatum thrashed in her father's arms in reply, rejecting his touch and Basil held her closer to him in helpless anxiety as he looked up at her, the question evident in his blue eyes. Maarika shook her head no, communicating that it was not the right thing to do, making him reluctantly drop her back to the bed, where she curled into herself, screaming "NO!" over and over as her eyes shed tears she didn't understand the reason for. Maarika tentatively made her way inside the room, letting her hand drift over Tatum's curled back in a feather-light touch as she nodded at Angier, letting him know it was okay to comfort her.

Just as she'd expected, Flavian burst through the open doors in a second, rushing towards Tatum without question. She turned away with another screech as she borrowed into Angier's arms, making the boy cry with her. Flavian gently coerced her arms away from her chest, checking her vitals, examining her eyeballs with the patient diligence of a healer. After a minute of thorough checking, Flavian let out a sigh of torment, turning to the Alpha and Luna as he looks down in pain.

"What is it, healer?" Basil asked, and his tone told Maarika that he was in denial, somehow still refusing to accept the inevitable.

"I'm afraid nothing's wrong with her." He replied, just as Maarika'd known he would.  Basil let out a growl as he grabbed ahold of the older man's collar, getting up in his face in instinct, "WHAT IS IT, THEN?" He demanded, the Alpha's eyes filling with tears as he waited for the healer to deny it, to tell him he was wrong.

Maarika fought to hold a sob that threatened to break free of her chest.

No, this wasn't happening.

Not to her own pup.

She wouldn't wish this on her worst enemy.

NO!

"It must be her Mate." Flavian swallowed, looking down, "I . . . I think he might be dead." He whispered, and Maarika couldn't hold it together anymore. She ran out of the room as fast her legs could carry her and the sobs wracking her chest were so painful, she knew she couldn't even begin to fathom what her little pup was going through.

"NO!!!" She screamed, the sound shattering the thick silence as she shifted, letting her Wolf take over, howling into the moonless, black night.

* * *

And there it is, the Prologue.

Don't forget to check out the trailer above!

Sorry it was so sad but that's the point of the story.

Please,

VOTE

COMMENT

FAN!