Chosen Mate

Sarah had been able to shift for three years. Three long years of seeking out her fated mate and coming up empty-handed. However, she never thought that her bad luck would continue when the alpha’s son returned from his studies abroad to help his father manage the pack.

Sarah knew Thorn. After all, they went to the same school and were almost the same age. But she had never been brave enough to talk to him or even be close enough to him and his friends. Everybody knew that Thorn belonged to Silver, and the rich kids didn’t like the trash next to them. They liked to bully and tease the less fortunate ones. So Sarah tried to stay away from their radar.

But after what had happened two days ago, she had to be brave enough to talk to him. It was a frightening endeavor, for the Alpha’s son had a reputation. Thorn was known to be an arrogant bully. To make matters worse, he was madly in love with Silver, the daughter of one of the higher-ranking members of the pack. They had been claiming to be fated mates since they were young kids, and they said they were fated once they shifted the first time.

Sarah didn’t know how to explain this.

How could he be fated to Silver if her wolf recognized him as her mate?

For the next two days, she kept out of sight, feeling a twinge of jealousy as she watched the couple.

Were they lying? Or was her gut feeling wrong?

Thorn was alone. It was her opportunity to talk to him.

She quickly composed herself and reminded herself that she was on a mission.

Nervously stepping forward, her heart kept pounding in her chest.

Thorn was tall and handsome. His dark eyes and thick, black hair made him look like a prince. She could not help but admire him, despite his arrogant attitude.

“Hi, Thorn,” she said, her voice shaking slightly.

He looked at her with frowned eyebrows. “Do I know you?”

She cleared her throat, staring him in the eyes, hoping that his wolf would recognize what hers did.

“I was wondering…” She twisted her hands. “Are you sure that you and Silver are… you know.”

He sneered at her and pushed her back. “If you dare to say something like that again, I’ll kill you. Understood?”

Sarah nodded as she kept walking backward and away from him. His glowing eyes and raging face scared her beyond words. There must be something wrong with her since she felt the pull between Thorn and herself, but apparently, he didn’t. Maybe she was imagining things.

“What’s going on?” one of Thorn’s friends asked as he arrived, eating a doughnut.

“This bitch doesn’t know her place,” Thorn growled.

“I’m sorry if I disturbed you. I’ll be out of your way,” Sarah said, turning around and sprinting.

She was too nervous to check if he was coming after her or what else he had said to his friend. She simply knew that he didn’t feel the pull, and she made a fool out of herself.

If he told his friends and her girlfriend what had just happened, Sarah would be the laughingstock of the pack for several weeks or months.

He was right. Someone low-ranked and orphaned like herself couldn’t dream of being his mate.

She needed to spend the little money she had and talk to the Pack Healer. Maybe he could cure her from whatever was messing with her mate-finder ability.

A week went by, and she kept her head low and tried to be invisible while performing her cleaning tasks. Luckily, Thorn seemed to have forgotten the event, and no one was talking about what had happened or teasing her about her silly assumption. Sarah stayed away from the places where the rich people liked to hang out. She went to work early and came home immediately so she didn’t have to cross paths with any of Thorn’s friends.

That Friday night was a full moon, and the pack would reunite to eat, drink, and dance. But she wasn’t going to attend. Thorn and Silver would be there.

Maybe changing packs would be a good option for her. But who would accept a weakling and worthless member like herself? No one ever praised her for her good grades, inquisitive mind, and physical abilities, either in her human form or wolf form. After a while, she became good at pretending to be average and not bringing attention to her. Being better than the rich kids only made them bully, insult, and hit her while the adults pretended nothing happened. She didn’t have a family to protect her. Her mom died when she was ten, and her father died two years after while he protected their pack from rogue attacks. The reward for her father’s death while on duty was to be dropped in the pack orphanage and have a place to eat and sleep while being trained to become a maid or one of the farmers. She opted to be a maid since it would allow her to stay in the Pack Den, where she could use the library and access books and the old computer no one else used.

“You should know better,” she grumbled as she sauntered down the path to the small house she shared with three other maids. “Now, I won’t even be able to attend the gatherings.”

“Hi. Sarah, right?”

The sound of Silver’s voice sent shivers down Sarah’s spine as she stopped and widened her eyes to see the tall red-haired in front of her door with folded arms and a fake smile.

Sarah was unable to speak.

I’m done. I’m so done. She knows and came to beat me up.

“Why so scared?” Silver teased as she unfolded her arms and walked to Sarah. “Do you feel guilty about something?”

Sarah gulped. “I-I didn’t know what I was doing.”

“Of course you didn’t,” Silver whispered with a fake sweet voice as she took a strand of Sarah’s hair and grinned. “But… we’ll talk about this somewhere else.”

“W-what?”

Before Sarah could say anything else, a hard-muscled arm slid around her waist and forced a rag with a pungent smell against her mouth and nose. She tried to scream but only managed to gurgle. She tried to struggle, but they were stronger.

After a moment, she lost consciousness.