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"The course of true love never did run smooth." - Shakespeare

Run, keep running.

My wolf wanted to relish the freedom she got. She didn't want to stop. And neither did I. It was only her and I. No one else.

Or so I thought.

"Vivian your hour is over, come back. Important news."

Alpha Alejandro, my dear father, decided to interrupt my freedom.

"Father, please give me five more minutes. I need this after all the physical training we had."

"You already got the hour you wished for. Come back now, sweetheart. It is important."

I was about to beg again but turns out he blocked me. Now, I had no other choice but to obey him.

----

"West-Moon Pack has requested us to come to their event where they crown the new Alpha. They think it would be good if he meets everybody at one place," Father announced as soon as I settled on the couch next to him.

My father was 67 years old, 6'3 in height, very muscular and strong. He had thick, black hair which were turning grey now. His eyes were big and hazel in colour, just like me.

"Ethan is already 24? I thought he was 18 or something," Our beta, Jonathon spoke, amusement present in his eyes.

Jonathan was one of the strongest wolf in our pack. He had brown hair with a lean built. His eyes were a piercing blue colour. Once you looked at them, you couldn't stop staring. As for his age, he was 52.

"He is two months older than me. I thought you knew about such information about the other pack's Alphas and their heirs. Guess not," My elder brother (the future Alpha), Zack, teased Jonathan as I let out a laugh.

Zack was just as tall as father, 23 years old, had green eyes with tousled brown hair. He did extreme forms of training everyday so he was obviously very fit.

"The event is tomorrow, make sure you all wear black since Ethan would be the only one wearing white," After telling us this, father left us leaving Jonathan, Zack and I behind.

I scoffed. Most of the people knew Ethan didn't like me. To be fair, I didn't like him either. We used to study at the same school four years ago. He was my senior but bothered me nonetheless. Long story short, we hated each other. Absolutely despised each other. But I knew I couldn't not go to the event. Out of all the four Alphas, none had daughters except for my father, which meant I had to go too. So, I decided not to fight. I'll just stay in the corners or something and avoid his presence.

"So Zack, the other two Alpha's would be there along with their families?" I questioned to which Zack raised his eyebrows, confused as I usually asked pack-related from Jonathan or our father.

"I'm asking you since I don't think he knows details regarding other packs," I jerked my head towards Jonathan to indicate I was talking about him. It was a joke of course. I was just teasing him. Instantly, Zack and I started laughing.

"Enough!" Jonathan spoke in an angry voice, stopping our laughter. "I am your beta, alright? Show me some respect."

That was our queue. We erupted in laughter once again. Defeated, blood rushed in Jon's cheeks as he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

"God, you two are so immature," he sighed and left us.

As our laughter slowly died down, Zack answered my question.

"Lil sis, all the alphas and their families are invited so obviously they're coming."

"Hmm."

There were total of four packs in our city. Each had their own territory based on directions. We had the North Area, thus we are called North-Moon Pack, which was under my father, Alpha Alejandro.

There was the West territory, West-Moon Pack, under Alpha Chris, which would become Ethan's now.

East-Moon Pack, under Alpha Carlos.

And South- Moon Pack, under Alpha Lennon.

So in all, the place was divided into four parts, direction wise. However, in the middle, an average size area is under the rules of Rogue. A tiny Rogue community.

All the packs had a treaty with the Rogues that none of the parties would interfere or attack another. It has been three peaceful years with no major fights. Neither a pack fought with another pack, nor was there a pack vs rogue war.

"I need to go now, I have to decide what to wear tomorrow. I need to look good for the ladies now, am I right?" Zack flexed his biceps and gave a kiss to each then ran upstairs to his room.

I rolled my eyes.

----

"All ready," I let out a long breath and looked at myself in the mirror. Black straight hair cascading down my shoulders, hazel eyes highlighted with eyeliner and layers of mascara, a little blush on the cheek and a nude lipstick to pull the look together. As for my clothes, I was wearing a black jumpsuit. Classy yet comfortable. Win-win!

"Don't forget the crown," I heard a familiar female voice from behind me.

My mother stood at the door, wearing an elegant black dress with golden heels. Her hair pulled together in an impressive chignon, her golden crown placed beautifully on her head. She looked like a Luna; magnificent and strong.

"Yes thank-you, mother." I gave her a smile and opened the drawer which contained my golden crown. It was smaller in size but was really pretty.

Each pack's female had different crowns, to help people realise which pack they belonged too. The mated females had a stone in their crown which helped keep the unmated males away. It wasn't necessary to wear the crowns all the time, but during important events and war time, it was a necessity to wear it.

Our colour was golden, West Pack's was black, South Pack's was silver and East Pack's was red.

"It's time. Let's go."

Father mind-linked my mother and I.

I took in a deep breath. Tonight, I'll be meeting my enemy after four years; will he be any different or will he be the same old jerk?

I suddenly realised, I wasn't ready.

---

"Welcome North- Moon Pack! We are very pleased that you came," Alpha Chris greeted us. He was wearing an all black suit. He looked exactly like I saw him four years ago. The only changes were that his grey eyes looked tired and he was slowly losing his now all-white hair.

After greeting the people I knew and the Alpha's of the packs, I excused myself and started walking towards the refreshment table. I was surprised to see that the leader of the Rogue community, Jeremy and his mate, Janice, were present too. Father wasn't kidding when he said Alpha Chris invited every leader.

I picked up a glass containing water and gulped it in one take. Still thirsty, I picked up another and finished it in seconds.

"Someone's quite thirsty, just like the old times."

It was Elliot. Ethan's best friend. And erm.... my high-school crush. Along that, he was also the guy who took my virginity.

He was absolutely gorgeous. Tall, lean, light brown eyes complimenting brown tousled hair. He was model material. If you could see him, I bet you'd think the same. Wait a second, I'll mind-link you a picture. Here, concentrate.

See? Told ya.

Although he was my enemy's partner, he was somehow always nice to me. So nice that we ended up having sex. The reason why it happened was because at one point, I believed he was my mate. We weren't in a relationship or anything. Just a casual hook-up.

A part of me still believed that we were mates. But now I am 20 and disappointment fills me as I look into his eyes and realise that he is not my mate.

Well, there goes my dream of having light-brown eyed pups with the sex god.

"Oh shut up, Elliot. Just tell me what is on the menu. I'm absolutely famished." I replied, trying to keep myself sane. He was wearing black skinny jeans, black shirt with a black coat. Absolutely irresistible.

"Still mate-less like me?" He ignored my questioned and started at my crown then gave me a once over.

I nodded, fidgeting under his strong stare.

He is checking me out?! High-five sista, you still got it!

"Like what you see?" I used the infamous dialogue used by men to embarrass poor girls like us.

Well, the tables have turned now.

Sadly, he wasn't embarrassed. He, instead, grinned and winked at me, "Always did."

I gulped.

I am going to scream. I am going to scream. Oh, my god.

Fuck.

Control, Vivian, control.

After a few moments of silence, he spoke, "Come, I'll find something for you to eat." He took my arm and started leading me. I was shocked at the sudden contact but hey, I am not cooooooooomplaiiiiiining!

Suddenly, lost in my train of thoughts, I felt him very close to me. His body pressed right against my side. I could feel his breath on my ear, "You look beautiful, Vivian."

Blood rushed to my cheeks. I looked up to see if he caught me blushing but thankfully he was looking ahead, a smile etched on his face.

I was sweating now.

What was happening to me? He is not even my mate and yet got a reaction out of me!

"T-hankss..." I mumbled, my cheeks getting hotter and hotter with passing second just like his existence.

Why didn't the Moon Goddess gave me Elliot as my mate? This is unfair.

I took a deep breath and let Elliot lead me wherever he wished.

At the back of my mind, I felt my wolf's disapproval which I didn't understand but I chose to ignore it.

You don't get to enjoy moments like these everyday, now do you?

----

After eating two plates of pasta with Elliot, he left when he was called by Alpha Chris. I was starting to get bored so I decided to check on my Pack and see how they were doing.

I still hadn't seen anyone in white clothes so I was really happy. But my happiness died down when I realised I will have to see him when he gets up on the stage to get crowned. Well, let's hope he doesn't notices me. There are over 300 people wearing black so there's 90% chance he won't spot me if I kept myself out of his sight.

"Sister the crowning is going to begin, let's go and see! I'm very excited since in two months i'll be getting crowned too!" Zack grinned and put a hand on my shoulder, dragging me to the place where the stage was set. People were already starting to accumulate there, eager to get a glimpse of the new Alpha.

"Aren't you excited to see Ethan after four years? After all you both were the closest of companions," he winked.

I pinched his stomach, hard.

He winced and gave me a frown.

"Not nice, sister," he took my nose between his index finger and middle finger, and playfully pulled it forward.

"Do that again and your ass will be kissing the ground."

He raised his hands as if to surrender. I rolled my eyes and started looking around.

Elders, juniors, warriors, pups were all dressed in black, eager to watch the crowning ceremony.

Unmated girls from all the packs gave my brother the looks, trying to gain his attention but his eyes were focused on the stage.

That is when I realised we were standing in the direct middle, right under the stage. I couldn't stay there if I didn't want Ethan to spot me. I had to leave.

Now.

"Zack, I need to use the res-" but I couldn't complete my sentence.

An overpowering smell engulfed me. My wolf moved inside of me, wanting to come out, my heart surged forward, goosebumps forming all over my body. I once again couldn't understand why my wolf was behaving like this. However, my question was answered when I looked up and saw him standing on the stage wearing only white pants and looking directly at me.

I felt my heart leap into my throat. My wolf was jumping inside, howling with pleasure. Then she spoke the one word I couldn't believe I would ever hear.

"Mate!"

Oh, hell no.

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