"When will I find my mate?" My friend, Ciara, asks me while we continue to walk in the forest, away from our houses so that no one can hear our conversation.

"You're asking me as if I'm the Goddess of Wolves. I don't know when you'll find your mate," I say. I look up at the night sky full of stars.

"Don't you want to find your mate?" She questions.

"I do but I'm not in a hurry," I answer with a smile. I believe that I'll find my mate at the right place and at the right time.

"Who do you think your mate will be? A Beta?"

"Just because I'm a Beta doesn't mean that my mate will also be a Beta. He can be a wolf without a rank."

I'm the Beta of my pack, The Night Guardians. My father was the Beta of this pack but when he was killed in a battle, I had to take over because there wasn't a male in our family to take over the position.

Many people were after the Beta position. They opposed to the idea of me becoming the Beta of the pack. They said that the pack will look weak if a female becomes the Beta. But Mr. Hale had complete faith in me. When I had doubts about myself, he was the one who told me that I would be a perfect Beta to the pack. And to prove to the people that I deserve to be the Beta, I started training hard. Mr. Hale, former Alpha, trained me. Under his guidance, I proved to the people that I'm not just a weak female wolf. I proved to be much stronger than them.

I'm proud of myself and of my accomplishments.

Ciara and I stop at the boundary of our pack. If we walk further then we would be in another state and on the territory of the strongest werewolf pack in the world, The Dawnfall Depths. It is said that if a werewolf not belonging to their pack steps in their territory, then they straightaway kill him.

I watch Ciara looking at their territory. "Is it possible that my mate belongs to the Dawnfall Depths Pack?" she asks.

"It maybe possible," I say.

"Chris, I want to go there," she says, using my nickname.

"If you want to go there then you'll have to tell Alpha Matthew to inform the Alpha of Dawnfall Depths Pack that you want to search for your mate in their pack."

"Can we talk to Alpha Matthew about it tomorrow morning?"

"So eager," I tease her while nudging at her elbow. She just pushes me away from her as I watch the blush spreading over her cheeks. I can't help but laugh at her. My laugh echoes in the forest. We turn around and head back to our houses. I'm still laughing while Ciara is trying to silence me.

"Can you stop laughing? People will hear us and then, scold us for roaming near the boundary in the middle of the night," she says as she brings her hand to cover my mouth. I push her hand away.

I gesture towards the empty forest surrounding us. "Ciara, no one will hear us because no one lives here. We're not even close to the pack houses." I want to say more but I feel a sharp pain behind my head. It feels as if I'm hit with something. I hear Ciara screaming my name before I fall on the ground. My vision starts to blur.

I focus on Ciara who quickly comes to my side. She is shaking me violently, trying to keep me conscious. Then, a man comes in my view. He smirks at me wickedly. Somehow, that smirk is familiar. When I focus on that man's face, I realize who he is. Tim. I once beat him because he tried to forcefully mate with Ciara. I look at his hand. He has a thick tree branch with him. The pain in my head intensifies. That bastard hit me with the branch! I'm going to kill him!

I try to get up but my body feels heavy. Ciara tries to help me get up but Tim pulls her away from me. I see her struggling in his hold. My blood starts to boil seeing his filthy hands on my friend. I see Tim throwing the branch away and dragging Ciara towards the boundary. Before I slip into unconsciousness, I see that they have crossed the boundary.

I slowly open my eyes and find myself lying on the ground. I start coughing as I breathe the dirt. I slowly make myself sit on the ground. My head feels so heavy. I can still feel a little pain at the back of my head. As I rub the spot, my gaze falls on a near—by tree branch on the ground. It has some blood on it. My blood. I bring my hand in front of me and see no blood on my hand. My wound must've healed. Suddenly, I feel okay, like nothing happened to me.

The wind blows in my direction and I smell Ciara's scent. If I can still smell her, that means I wasn't unconscious for long. I can still get to her, using her scent to guide me. Along with her scent, I can also smell Tim. I just feel like vomiting as his scent fills my nostrils. I try to focus more on Ciara's scent.

I quickly get up from the ground. I run towards Ciara's scent which leads me to the land of The Dawnfall Depths Pack. I think of turning into a werewolf to get to her fast but then I won't have any clothes to wear if I want to turn back into my human form. So, I decide against turning into a werewolf and focus on running fast. I am the second fastest runner in my pack, the first being Alpha Matthew.

I run towards Ciara's scent but stop dead on my tracks when I see five men emerging from the trees. They must've smelled my scent. They look so tough. Their toughness reminds me that I'm not in my land anymore, I'm in their land. They can kill me anytime. The men are not wearing anything expect their shorts. I would've been intimidated by their huge muscles but since I'm a Beta, I have my own strength and power. And I'm not scared by the five men coming towards me.

"Stay where you are," the man standing in the middle says. Power is radiating through him. When he comes closer, I realize that he must be the Beta. I obey him while the other four men surround me.

"I'm Beta Chriselda Turner of The Night Guardians, your neighboring pack," I start to say. "A rogue named Tim dragged my friend, Ciara, here on your territory. He wants to forcefully mate with her. I need to save my friend." I calmly say but I'm scared from the inside, scared for Ciara. I hope she's okay, I hope she's not hurt.

Realization crosses on the Beta's face. Does he know Tim? The wind starts to blow again. The wind is so strong that I feel as if I'm going to fly away with the wind. Tonight is really a windy night. The dirt from the ground starts flying in the air, along with the dry leaves. I shield my eyes from the dirt. When the wind settles down, I remove my hand from my eyes. I can see a figure approaching us. He is away from me but still I can feel the power radiating from him.

And I know at once that he is the Alpha.

When he comes closer, my heart starts beating faster. His brown hair is in a mess due to the wind. I watch his muscles flex as he walks towards me. He comes to stand directly in front of me. He is looking at me passively, without any emotions. When I look in his blue eyes, I see his wolf calling out to my wolf.

And that's when I realize that he's my mate.