It had been two weeks since Gail had suddenly appeared in our lives. By our lives, I meant, my life, Cory's life and the pack members' lives! She had made her presence known like any other Luna would've; going about introducing herself to all the members of the pack, smiling and playing with the kids, socialising with the teenagers and the adults around her age, and reassuring everyone else.

Everybody loved her. Everybody. Except me of course, with obvious reason. I didn't show it. I couldn't. If I did, the daze of hate I had been suffocating in was going to become even more prominent. I had known since my early years that I wasn't going to be accepted. I was a hybrid; the product of a drunken mistake; the result of my father cheating on his mate. Automatically, everybody hated me. Queue my relationship with the Alpha. I don't think I need to explain that.

I sighed, sitting up on my bed. I had been holed in my apartment for these two weeks, going out only when necessary. It was time for me to face my fears. I couldn't stay at home any longer. Cory had found his mate and I had no more chances with him. I wasn't going to mope about it any more. I was going to take my life in hand and stop causing myself pain.

***

It looked like pain loved me a lot. I had decided to go on a walk in the woods knowing no one was going to be there at this time of the day. But guess who was there? The Alpha and his dearest mate.

"Denise", he uttered, in his deep voice.

"Alpha", I replied, then turned my gaze to Gail. "Hello Luna", bowing slightly to show my respect.

"Oh you're the girl I met in Cory's office right?", she asked.

"Yes", I replied simply with a polite smile. I just really wanted to get out of here.

"Beautiful day for a romantic walk", she continued, "But you're all alone. Don't you have someone in your life?"

"I did. He found his mate", was all I said, watching Cory out of the corner of my eye.

"Oh that's so sad! But I guess he's happier now since he's with the one who was specially made for him", placing a possessive arm on Cory's forearm.

"Gail...", Cory warned.

"What about your mate?", Gail continued, ignoring her mate.

"Gail stop this", Cory warned again, seizing his mate's arm.

My mood had turned sour. I hated talking about him. "Dead"

"Oh I'm sorry", with a gleeful glint in her eyes, one that told me she was not at all sorry. "We'll get going then", she said, effectively ending the "conversation", both of them heading towards the pack grounds.

I was shattered. I preferred not thinking about my mate and his death and I could tell Gail had brought it up on purpose.

Today was the day I was turning 16. If my mate was in our pack, I was going to find him today. But I dreaded it. What if he had already scented me and wanted nothing to do with me? I was going to be devastated. If I had a mate at least, he could protect me from all the hateful words and reassure me. Tell me I was BEAUTIFUL when everybody else was saying the contrary.

I was standing in front of my locker when someone put their hands on my eyes. Scared it was one of my bullies, but I relaxed when I felt the bond. I gasped out loud. It was my mate!!

"Guess who?", he said behind me. I would recognize that voice anywhere.

"Ethan?", I whispered.

"Yes love it's me", he replied, taking his hands off my eyes and turning me around.

"You're my mate", I whispered in surprise

"Yes, baby. We're mates", he stated, looking right into my eyes. I blushed. I had never held the attentions of a boy before so all this was definitely new for me.

"You look so beautiful", he said to me. I blushed even harder, hiding my face in the crook of his neck. He chuckled, lifting my head up.

"You're so adorable. I can't believe I lasted this long"

"You've– you've known all this while?", I stuttered. It was extremely important for me to know.

"Yes. But unfortunately I couldn't claim you", Ethan replied, his earnest eyes searching mine.

"Why?", I asked.

"Because I couldn't have you hurt! I know I kept on bullying and hurting you and I'm really sorry! I just wanted to convince my friends to leave you alone!", he explained.

"It took you two years to do that?", I did believe him, but I was a little bit skeptical. It was Ethan McHollen, one of my biggest bullies.

"You know my friends Denise. Do you think it would have taken two weeks to convince them to stop bullying you?", he deadpanned, making me feel stupid.

"No... I guess it's just so hard for me to believe you're really sincere. I– I know you're my mate and you love me, but I'm honestly really scared"

Ethan smiled reassuringly, putting his hand on my hip and squeezing it. "That's why I need you to trust me, okay? I promise I won't ever do anything to put you in harm's way. So for now, just trust me and follow my lead. I know it's going to hard, but I'm going to make them accept you even if it's the last thing I do", he promised, making tears well up in my eyes. I had just met him but I already loved him. He was the only person besides my father who protected me and loved me.

"Thank you Ethan. Thank you", I sobbed, refuging myself in his arms. They went around me and I smiled through my tears, everything was going to be better with him present.

I stood up from the trunk of the tree I had been leaning on and dusted off my pants. It was already dark and I needed to start heading home. I knew there was nobody who cared whether I came back home or not, but the woods were dangerous in the night and I had nobody to look after me and protect me. I smiled sadly.

I had nobody...