1
The day you find your fated mate is supposed to be the best of your life. It was for me. As I turned 18, I discovered the Goddess had mated me to one of my best friends Jason. He was the son of my father’s Beta and they both were so happy for us. We both were smiling like crazy and we were already happy. Except, in a few months we would join college and I wanted to have the full experience. We were holding each other on my couch when I raised my head to look at him.
"Jason." I said.
"Yes, baby?"
"Can we wait until the end of college for the ceremony? I want the full experience and I feel like it won’t be easy for the both of us if we get mated right away. You have your football scholarship, you will be busy, and I took many classes so I feel like it would be too hard on us if we add the mate bond in the mix."
"Are you… Rejecting me?"
"Of course not! I love you, truly but I want to wait until the end of college before completing the mate bond."
He was hurt and I hugged him tight to try to ease the tension. I was right and he knew that. It would be complicated for the both of us to meet with all the college activities and that would hurt us both if we completed the mate bond. In addition, I would probably get pregnant out of it and I was not ready at 18 to be a mom. He nodded to me but his feature got steely as he pulled out of my hug, his blue eyes were cold as ice as he looked at me.
"All right. We do it your way."
He stood up, turned his back on me and walked away from me but I did not follow him. He needed the time to adjust and I would leave him alone.
We started college and it was all I had ever hoped for. Classes kept me busy but thankfully, I was in a dorm with my best friend. She was also a werewolf from my pack.
As we were studying with humans, to be able to justify our proximity and the need to be always together, the pack had a Fraternity for all pack members. To keep the numbers high enough to justify us having a fraternity, we would accept humans that we would eventually turn into werewolves. In that spirit, we would always admit a boy and a girl each year.
As the next Alpha, I should have been president but I did not want the job so I left it to Jason. He would be my Alpha mate so it was fine by me and it was good training. As a Beta, he was more than capable of doing that.
For the first party we organised on campus, we had help from the ancient members. They were happy to delegate to their new leadership like the good wolves they were. I was glad to be surrounded by my friends again and when I saw Jason, I saw that he did not take my statement well. He was with a human girl and they were touching. That was making me shiver as my wolf felt disgusted to see our mate with another female. I soon learned that Jason would make me pay for my decision. He started dating human girls and fucking them. Therefore, to get back at him, I did the same.
That was going on for 2 years and I was slowly reaching my breaking point. I was eating breakfast with my best friend Kristen when I saw Jason walk by with his teammates from football. I glared at him and he glared right back. We had to go recruiting the new members today as it was the first day of college so I knew that I would have to talk to him. I was so not looking forward to it.
"Arya?"
"Yeah?"
"Are we going for a run tonight?" Kristen asked.
"Yeah, sure. That could actually be fun." I shrugged. She saw me glaring at Jason and sighed.
"When are you two going to stop acting like idiots?"
"Never. He started it." I frowned.
"Arya. Grow up please. The pack will feel better if our leaders start to love each other instead of fighting."
"I know… I didn’t mean for things to turn out the way they did." I sighed.
"I know girl but Jason got hurt pretty bad by your words. He may be acting like a dickhead but he loves you deep down."
"I love him too you know but I won’t yield."
I heard a growl and there he was. I raised my scowling eyes to his ocean blue ones that were glaring. He passed a hand in his sandy blond hair to try to calm down enough to talk. I could see that he was holding the sheets of the potential pledges. Great.
"Here is your sheet." He said, handing me and Kristen a sheet. "I also wanted to tell you that I got a call from your father."
"Yeah?" I scoffed.
"Arya…" He warned me.
"What do you want?" I sighed annoyed.
"For the next Hunt, you are in."
"What?!" I gasped.
"That’s final."
I narrowed my eyes at him. Who did he think he was?
"Don’t talk to me like that." I retorted, using my Alpha voice. "Remember where you stand."
He recoiled and growled in submission. He did not like it but I was the Alpha.
"Thank you for the information, I’ll talk to my father."
He growled again before leaving. Chad, my best friend, looked at me apologetically before walking behind Jason. He was the Gamma and a member of the football team as well. Kristen looked at me.
"Well… That was intense."
"That idiot, he won’t disrespect me just because he is my mate. I am the Alpha here."
"You high ranked people. Stop acting like stubborn idiots." She sighed.
"I’ll think about it. First, I need to call my father."
She nodded. The Hunt was our trial to incorporate human pledges to our Frat. We would chase after the humans in wolf form and if they succeeded not to be caught, they would join the Frat. I never participated in the Hunt because as an Alpha, I was too dominant and scared the humans away and with the rage my wolf had against me because of our mate, I was dangerous for them. I called my father and he picked up almost right away.
"Arya, everything all right?" He asked.
"Why am I to join the Hunt? You know it's not a good idea." I said straight to the point.
"You are ready." He answered his voice neutral.
"You are saying that because you want me to mess up? So I realise I need to complete the bond with Jason?"
"Your ridiculous idea of having a normal almost human life in college is of no concern to me. You do what you want." He sighed.
"So why am I joining the Hunt?"
"The wolves need their Alpha and for now, that is you. Take your responsibility."
It was like a slap to my face. He was really good at that my father. He was pissed since I did not mate right away with Jason and was still fighting it. He did not understand that I wanted to take my time because that was not normal for werewolves to do so.
"Fine I will." I retorted almost growling.
"Good, you are finally learning. I’ll be waiting for your report."
We hung up and I needed some air. Right now! I left the cafeteria in a hurry, my best friend hot on my heels.
"Ary… You all right?" She asked.
"Not at all. He is treating me like a child. He wants me to recognise that I need Jason to balance my wolf, which I don’t." I growled.
"Honey… I know you and I’m like you. I know you need him for that, just as much as he needs you."
I gritted my teeth. I knew that, but it was my choice to live the full college experience and an Alpha never goes back on his word. It was childish, I had determined that as soon as Jason got in bed with his first human but I would not back down. He would be the one to come and apologise first.
