A few weeks ago
"Hi beauty, can we have a drink?"
At the party, a guy approached me with a drink in his hand. He chatted with me in a flirtatious tone and put his hand on my shoulder.
"No Logan, I had a beer earlier," I said,
It was Logan Wilson. He was a sixteen—year—old wolf boy, the son of the Alpha. He is known as a troublemaker in the pack.
"Let go of your hand." Suddenly I heard my boyfriend Cameron's angry voice.
"And if I don't?" Logan raised his eyebrows.
"Then don't blame me for being rude." Cam is so angry that his fist already began to clench.
"All right, Cam, ignore him," I pushed Logan aside as I tugged Cam down the hallway.
"Why are you speaking for him?" He questioned me.
"I'm not speaking for him Cam. I just don't want you to get hurt."
I stopped you to save you. Do you think you can beat a werewolf? I thought to myself.
"How can you think I will be the one who gets hurt? He is always by your side these days. Does he have a crush on you?" His tone became excited.
"What the hell are you talking about? I—"
"Is it because of him that you won't bed with me?" Cam cut my words, said angrily.
"What?! Are you drunk?" I felt shocked about what he said. "Always sex, why do you always mention it? Is it more important than our love?"
"You're being unreasonable. Every other couple does it all the time."
"Well, I don't think this is going to work then," I said quietly, sitting on the bed and looking up at him.
He looked down at the corner of his lip twitched a little. I was hoping that he'd sit down beside me and apologise. I hoped I meant more to him than sex.
Instead, he silently held eye contact with me for a few moments before his face hardened.
"Fine," He said coldly. "At least now I can have sex for the first time in five months."
"What do you mean?" I looked at him with shock.
"I said, we're done. I can stand it anymore, I can't stand our sexless love. Understand?" He said before he turned away, leaving only stunned me.
I can't believe Cam abandoned me because of that. I marched down the stairs angrily. My brother Connor was standing at the bottom, looking up at me in confusion.
"Ella? What's wrong?" he questioned.
I didn't answer him and running to the outside.
I've reached the age when I can find my mate. Breaking up with him now might be the right thing. After all, Cam is just a human and we don't have future. I comfort myself but I am still upset. So I let off steam by running.
Running for a while, I found a small footpath leading into the woods.
That was the first stupid thing I did.
Walking into the woods in the middle of the night alone could never be a smart idea... especially with the number of werewolf territories around here.
I lived in Washington state and there were hundreds of packs in the vast mountain ranges and forests, sparsely populated by humans so with little risk of exposure. Cerridwen had a different pack on every border. I didn't bother to know much about them. As far as I was concerned, I lived a human life now and packs and territories didn't concern me anymore.
I was still steaming from the Cameron and Logan incidents even as I marched through the trees.
The second I was far enough from the town, I stripped down, tying my clothes to my wrist and shifting. It was that or fall onto my knees and have a complete breakdown about all the aspects of my life going wrong — oh, so every single one of them.
The wind through my hair and the forest under my paws was the perfect remedy. The pain dissipated and endorphins took its place.
It was hours before my wolf grew tired and I had to shift back. Putting my clothes back on and feeling the sticky patch of lemonade against my skin was an unpleasant reminder of how sour the night had been.
I sighed and leant my back against a tree, still catching my breath. Connor and the girls would be wondering where I had got to, so I pulled out my phone intending to call them.
No service.
1%.
Oh, one bar of service!
0%.
After groaning, I glanced around, only just noticing the unfamiliarity of my surroundings. The trees were tall and menacing here, an eerie gloom hanging around them that trickled down my spine, triggering a shudder.
But even more unsettlingly, after allowing my wolf to take over, I had no idea where we were.
I took a few steps forward, taking a deep breath of the air and all the scents it held.
This was no longer Cerridwen territory; I was fairly sure of that. The scents of other packs were all around me. None of them particularly remarkable, yet something about the forest ahead was alluring. The shadows and darkness enticed me with their mystery and I was compelled to saunter on.
But within a couple of minutes, I halted at an invisible borderline. I must have crossed through half a dozen territories already, but this one was different and my wolf didn't want me anywhere near it. A new scent filled my nostrils now. One too intense to go unnoticed.
But there was something about that damn scent.
So I stayed. I traced the outskirt of the border, running my hands along the leathery bark of the trees, occasionally daring to dip a finger into the territory. My eyes scanned every bush and tree the darkness would allow me to see, examining every little branch and twig.
Nothing but stillness, the only noise being the crunch of leaves under my feet. I paused for a moment, my foot hovering above the divide between the two territories.
Nothing of any physical significance marked the spot yet my wolf still whined and begged me to turn around.
But over the years of living in the human world, I'd become immune to the control of my wolf and she didn't govern me anymore.
So I placed my foot down.
The second I was across, I took a short deep breath.
As a rogue, I'd just stepped into yet another Alpha's territory. Was I asking for a premature death tonight?
But after a few agonising moments, the forest remained still and I let my anticipation crumble. After a deep sigh of relief, I almost laughed at how easily I had let fear grip me and stepped further into the unknown territory.
I pushed a low branch with a brittle network of twigs out my path and kicked up a mass of leaves with every step. There was no beaten track, wolves must not often cross this territory.
Maybe it was abandoned.
Although, the small matter of that incredible scent still hung, now stronger than ever amongst the trees. But everything was just so quiet and still. Something wasn't adding up.
Just as the idea of escaping the gloom to go back to my lovely warm bed was becoming very appealing, a voice sounded.
"Hello."
A jolt of shock seized me.
"God" I cursed, spinning around.
The figure of a man before me.
