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April for the last time, what the hell is going on?

Mate is near
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My eyes went wide. I could feel my heart beginning to pound violently.

'Mate, my mate.'

After all these years, I was finally going to meet my mate. The time was finally right. I had sat and watched everyone around me since 16 years old begin to find their mates. Most of my friends had already found their soulmates back when we were still in school. I was one of the few wolves left mateless.

Usually, one would meet their mate between the ages of 16-20, typically a year or two after your first shift, where your wolf fully matures and the body fully adapts to shifting, thus meaning my mate could have been in the pack the whole time, and I wouldn't have had any knowledge of who they were. The scary part is that some wolves take longer to mature. They could spend 30 to 40 years without a mate. Some do not have mates at all, but that is highly uncommon. Everyone deserves a mate, at least someone they could share their life with and love. I waited anxiously, anticipating, wishing upon stars, hoping for this day.

'Are you sure?' I asked

'Of course, why would I say it if it wasn't true.' She snarled back.

A smile crept onto my face in anticipation. I was finally going to finally, meet my mate.

"What's going on? Why is your face like that?" Came the voice of my littlest brother, interrupting my thoughts.

"Nothing, go on ahead. I'll catch up." I smiled brightly, butterflies fluttering in my stomach. My parents agreed and left my brothers following in toe. I reached down to clean up the mess from the slice that I had dropped.

After throwing out the garbage, I walked toward the sink and began lathering the soap onto my hands under the warm water. The sun was still peeking above the trees that covered our pack territory. It shined into the window in front of me, lighting up the empty kitchen. Like an alarm, my wolf began sounding. 'Here! Mate!" The butterflies in my stomach had turned into a zoo of animals.

A strong scent consumed me as footsteps sounded coming towards me. The smell was strong, like firewood. I turned around quickly, my hands still soapy and wet. My eyes widened as I met a familiar pair of dark emerald eyes. Elijah stood on the other side of the room. His eyes were narrow as he stared at me.

I couldn't speak, no words came from my brain, and though my wolf was very vocal, I had nothing to say. I found myself stuck in limbo.

I was in disbelief that out of all the werewolves in the world. I had to get stuck with Elijah as a mate.

Neither of us had spoken a word. We only stared at each other. The silence was eating at me slowly. The only sound in the room came from the water droplets dripping down from my fingers onto the hardwood.

I swallowed a lump in my throat. "I-." I began but couldn't finish. He stepped towards me, his body stiff. I couldn't sense nor see any life in his eyes. They were just dark clouded pools of green. My wolf had strangely gone silent, leaving me alone to drown in my thoughts.

Once before me, he bent down slightly, his hands gripping the sides of the sink behind me, trapping me. He let his head hang, lips hovering over my neck. I felt his cold breath on my skin. I waited for him to say something. Anything, but not a single word left his lips. Elijah's breaths were shallow, but I could hear his heart beating abnormally fast. He is seemingly the only reaction to this whole occurrence.

He straightened himself and just peered down at me.

I balled my hands up tightly, "so you aren't going to say anything?" I finally asked through gritted teeth. I was angry, angry at this situation, angry at his unhelpful silence. Granted, I was speechless myself, but I didn't want to have been the one to speak first. He remained silent and just continued staring lifelessly at me. His hands moved towards my body, boxing me in tighter.

His rough hands snaked their way around my waist. I felt faint sparks erupt on my skin, much weaker than what others had described occurred when your mate touched you. My wolf perked up a bit when he touched me. She began to call out for his wolf to respond, but Elijah just stood there dead silent.

I shook my head, "let me go." I demanded coldly, my hands on his chest, pushing him away. My body was on fire from all the mixed emotions ignited inside me. My animal instincts begged for any response from him, while my humanity felt no connection. His eyes never broke eye contact, and out of nowhere his lips landed on mine.

When you and your mate share a kiss I was told it would be like fireworks erupting. This wasn't that.

I pulled my head back, disconnecting his lips from mine.

'Mate.' My wolf whined as his hands thankfully rested at his sides once more. I sighed, "Elijah, I'm-" Before I could even finish, Elijah walked away. He just walked away like nothing had happened and left the pack house.

The loud sound of the door slamming shut shook the whole house. I lost control of my body and fell to the ground. I felt anger and confusion at why him.

Why had he looked at me with such empty, lifeless eyes?

They were so cold, and his body language was so unreadable and confusing.

'You don't like our mate.' My wolf lamented, but I didn't respond. I only sat in complete silence on the floor, attempting to make sense of what happened.

"Hello everyone, I'm so happy we are all here for this tremendously important occasion. Lois and I are grateful to pass on the alpha title to our son Elijah. He will be a great alpha to our amazing pack." My ears twitched as I heard the alpha's voice from outside.

I hadn't realized how long I had been sitting on the floor. The sun had gone down, taking its light with it. The kitchen swallowed in complete darkness.

I picked myself up from the floor, deciding I needed to join the rest of my family. If I missed the ceremony, they would be worried. And for the time being, I didn't want anyone to know what had transpired.

When I walked outside the pack house, the yard was completely decorated. Pack members had been seated at different tables. Our Alpha Rick and his luna Lois stood on the stage, speaking into the microphone placed in front of them. Elijah wasn't on stage.

I slipped through, seemingly unnoticed, and sat down with my family, whose table was a little less than halfway towards the stage. "Where have you been?" My mother scolded, but I didn't answer.

"Now, to say a few words, your new alpha." There it was again, that smell of burning wood, his scent. Elijah walked on stage and stood next to his parents. As he looked up, our eyes immediately found one another.

My wolf was howling. 'Mate! Mate! Mate.' She whined

"Elijah, say a few words." Lois encouraged, rubbing her son's back. We never broke eye contact as he grabbed the microphone into his hand, bringing it close to his mouth.

"You know." A crooked smirk plastered on his face. "I'm so happy to be making another announcement tonight.

'What is this idiot going to do?' I raised an eyebrow, ignoring my wolf, who cursed me for calling 'her' mate an idiot.

He tapped the microphone before clearing his throat. His lips curled into a smirk so foul it would put the Grinch' to shame, "I Elijah westmoon reject you, Bianca North, as my mate." He stated proudly into the microphone. Clangorous gasps filled the night sky.

My wolf howled in pain, but all I felt was an embarrassment as hundreds of eyes were suddenly on me. Her howling turned into a shrinking whimper. I rubbed my temples slowly in an attempt to ease the head-splitting pain.

His words kept echoing in my mind.

With an aching heart, I jumped up and out of my seat. "Excuse me," I mumbled. Everything moved in blurs around me. The sound of my family members and others calling out to me fell deaf to my ears. My wolf's painful howls were driving me insane. I quickly ran back and disappeared back into the lightless house.

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