Crescent Falls
Welcome to the town of Crescent Falls.
Population, roughly, one thousand. It’s a quiet, sleepy little town with only one main road running through consisting of a few shops and a couple of locally owned businesses.
The rest of the area compromised of housing for the citizens. The only other building of note was the magnificent large old mansion, that sat in the center of only park in town. This was the house of the mayor, or at least it would be if a human were to ask.
We refer to it as the packhouse and it happens to be the home of the alpha, his family, and the beta’s family.
That’s right, Crescent Falls was just like any other small town in America, except for one major difference. Crescent Falls is actually the territory for the Crescent Moon Wolf Pack.
What was considered a tiny town, not even worth mentioning to humans; was one of the largest werewolf packs in the country.
There was nothing for anyone to fear though. Our pack had grown large because of the kindness of our leadership, not because of our brutality. We stayed away from humans as much as possible, preferring solitude over interaction with greater society.
We didn’t leave Crescent Falls often and no one came to Crescent Falls unless they had business here, which was rare.
Who am I, you may ask?
Well, I’m Marvel. Marvel Hala, to be exact. I’m the only child of the current Beta Jonas Hala and his mate, Shirin. Which means that I live in the packhouse.
It was necessary for the beta to always be accessible to his alpha. It was for this reason that the two families shared the mansion, each living on the opposite end.
The rest of the mansion remained empty to allow for room to house any pack guests or pack members who may have fallen on hard luck. The only other permanent members of our household were the future beta and his mate, who just happened to be one of my very best friends, Aida.
When Aida had found out a few months ago that future-Beta Tyrus was her mate, I was elated. Not just because I was happy for my friend, but because it meant that we could live together.
At least, until I find my own mate, of course.
Aida and I had enjoyed living together these past few months. Our other best friend, Kiara, had spent most of her time sleeping over in my room that way she didn’t feel left out.
Though, sadly it seemed that our time together may be coming to an end.
You see, today was the day of my twentieth birthday. This was the day that my wolf would finally be able to recognize her mate, if he’s a member of our pack, that is.
You see, wolves have many important days as we grow. When we’re ten years old, we begin to have the ability to use the pack’s mindlink, which gave us the option to communicate within our minds during an emergency. It also came in extremely handy when we’re in our wolf forms.
When we turn thirteen, we begin experiencing subtle changes during the full moons. Our emotions heighten and our wolf senses sharpen. Our faces start elongating into snouts and our nails sharpen into claws.
When we reach fifteen, we finally shift into our wolves for the first time. The caveat is that we can only achieve this when the moon is full. So, at this time we can only shift one week a month.
That is until we turn eighteen. On that milestone birthday we begin gaining the ability to control our shifts, becoming a wolf at will – no matter the time of day or phases of the moon. This is the day we become true wolves. The day we merge completely with our other halves.
However, as big as our eighteenth birthday may be. The biggest day of all arrives when we turn twenty.
This is when the Moon Goddess grants us the ability to sense our mates. The other half of our souls; hand-picked for us by the Goddess herself based on our perceived needs and strengths.
Being a beta’s daughter, it was expected that I would find a strong wolf with a high rank. I didn’t worry about such matters though, I wanted a mate because I wanted someone to love me unconditionally. I personally didn’t care if he was an alpha or an omega, as long as he loved me and I loved him.
This brings us to our current predicament…
“Happy Birthday!”
My thoughts were rudely interrupted by the screaming of my two favorite she-wolves in the world, Aida and Kiara, busting through my bedroom door and jumping onto my bed.
I groaned at the intrusion but couldn’t help the smile as it formed on my face. We all laughed together as they toppled over onto the bed joining me.
“So, Marvel, now that you’re officially twenty years old, do you feel any different?” Kiara questioned.
Kiara was the last of our group to turn twenty. Aida had celebrated her twentieth a few months ago. But Kiara still had a little time to go.
Though I honestly wasn’t certain that she was in too much of a rush. She enjoyed her independence and I think she worried a mate might be too much of a drag.
I, however, was on the fence about the whole mating situation.
On the one hand, I’d dreamed of finding my mate since I was a little girl like every other she-wolf. I wanted true love. I wanted to know what it felt like to be so truly immersed in one person. To know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you belong to them and they belong to you.
I’d been witness to how happy finding Tyrus made Aida. Their life together seemed so perfect. They were literally made for each other in every sense of the term. And there were plenty of other examples of that same kind of love throughout our pack; the kind of love that was beyond compare.
Though, I had to admit, there was a small part of me that sided with Kiara.
I was an independent she-wolf; I had dreams and ambitions of my own. What if my future mate didn’t support that, like I hoped he would?
I shrugged in response to Kiara’s question. I didn’t think I felt any different. I certainly hadn’t sensed my mate yet. Everything was about the same as it’d always been.
“Well, your scent is different. It’s stronger like it’s trying to beckon someone. Same thing that happened to Aida’s,” Kiara offered, sniffing at the air around me.
“Either that or you really need to take a shower,” Aida interjected, wrinkling her nose as though my scent was repulsive.
I gaped at her in mock offense. While they both began laughing so hard that they rolled onto their sides, clutching their stomachs as though desperate for air.
“Hey, no one told you guys to come into my room and climb into bed with me,” I retorted haughtily.
“We had to come wake your lazy ass up. Come on! We need to go for our morning run.”
“Alright,” I replied with a sigh as I stretched out my limbs. “Let me throw on one of Enzo’s old shirts.”
I pushed myself up from the mass of limbs that had become my bed, shoving my friends aside. Before reaching into an overstuffed dresser drawer and yanking out a ratty t-shirt.
I always elected to wear something old and baggy when I went to shift that way I wouldn’t overdress just to get nude again. This was a common practice for females in the pack. Just as it was common for the males to wear nothing but shorts.
“Speaking of Enzo…” Kiara cooed, practically singing as she spoke. “Do you think there’s any chance he could be your mate?”
I should’ve known she’d ask this. Should’ve known they wouldn’t hesitate to question me about Enzo. He was my not-so-secret shame.
“Wouldn’t that be perfect!” Aida squealed in excitement. “Then you’d be the luna and I’d be your beta! You wouldn’t even have to move out of the packhouse! Plus, you’ve had a crush on that boy forever. It’d only make sense.”
She wasn’t wrong; I’d been crushing on Enzo for as long as I could remember. But I doubted that anyone would blame me for that. After all, he was the most handsome male that I’d ever seen with his soft chestnut hair, enticing green eyes, square jaw and golden skin.
He had a body that would make a Greek God envious – chiseled to perfection. Not too bulky, but definitely not thin or wiry. Moreover, he was set to be the next alpha of Crescent Moon.
Honestly, if it wasn’t for his notorious reputation as a womanizer, then he would make a great mate for any she-wolf. Certainly a mate worth showing off and bragging about.
“Yeah right, Enzo barely even knows I exist. If it wasn’t for the fact that we live in the same house, I don’t think that he would even know my name anymore. As it is, he never refers to me by my first name, he always calls me Hala.”
When we were young, Enzo and I were very close. It was easy to be best friends because we were the only two children who lived permanently in the packhouse.
It was common for alphas and their betas to only have one pup, as it was necessary for them to focus their time on the pack as a whole. They produced an heir then stopped, while other families in the pack tended to be much larger.
As we grew older, we slowly went our separate ways. He was more into boy things and I liked to do girly stuff, at least, every once and awhile.
Then one day, we stopped spending any time together at all. He started to avoid me and on the occasions that he couldn’t, he barely acknowledged me. It was as though I’d never meant anything to him. Like we hadn’t grown up together and been nearly inseparable for years.
I had no idea what I’d done wrong to cause him to become so distant. He never offered an explanation. Never explained his sudden distaste for me. Yet, sadly and stupidly, no matter how cold he became; my feelings for him never changed. I knew it was ridiculous and I hated myself for it, but I couldn’t help it.
No matter what I did. No matter how hard I tried. I couldn’t get over this silly little crush of mine. Could never completely move on.
“She wouldn’t want to be mated to that prick anyway,” Kiara scoffed, ignorant to my inner turmoil. “He’s so full of himself. He thinks that he’s the Goddess’s gift to she-wolves. Gag!”
I giggled along with Kiara even though I knew she was wrong. I did want to be mated to Enzo. I despised myself for it. But it was the ugly truth.
