"People who don't believe winning is everything, have never won."

Every she-wolf dreams for the day that she smells the heavenly scent of her mate and connects her eyes with his. Even as a kid, the idea never appealed to me. I did not want a male nor did I need one. It only makes sense for me to feel the exact way I felt all those years ago, right?

Wrong.

I didn't expect myself to feel like I needed to be with him every damn second.

My wolf cannot shut up about him and has not refrained from inserting questionable images into my mind. Zane De Luca is an interesting man and if there is one thing I know about him it is that he isn't mate material. He's a playful male who enjoys the attention he gets from females and I don't see how my being with him would change anything. He's a sponge really, soaks up every ounce of attention given and demands more. He was different when he was with my sister but I did not see a world where he would want to dive first into lifetime commitment after being cheated on. Not that I could blame him, I would probably do the same.

Either way, the mate thing isn't for me.

I have my own goals and dreams that I need to accomplish. Everyone acts as if the luna is someone important in the pack but really without the alpha she is nothing. No wolf would look at her twice if she wasn't mated to the alpha. Sure there are female alpha's out there, but those she-wolves are badass and could have a male down in 3 seconds flat. They also scare the shit out of anyone so no one is going to say anything.

A luna is the soft-hearted mother of the pack. She keeps the alpha in check and the pack united. I don't know about the other wolves, but I am not about to baby these grown-ass wolves.

I don't want my pack to respect me and treat me as if I am the finest gold because I am Zane's mate. I desire for them to respect me because of who I am, Alessandra Romano. Not Alessandra De Luca, not the luna, and not Zane's mate.

I already have the respect of most of the pack because of all the competitions I partake in, the things I do for this pack, and what the Romano family has been doing for the wolves since the beginning. I do not need a mate to earn me my respect. I've already got it.

Leya...

My conversation with Leya was cut off by Jaden, thankfully.

"Alessia! What are you still doing here? Training ended an hour ago," Jayden said from behind me.

"Just thinking, I'll be in for lunch soon."

"Don't keep me waiting," he says with a wink.

A forced smile graces my lips before I turn around and continue to stare into the vast forest of Tahoe. The never-ending green meets my eyes and from the corner of my eye, I see a bird. The western tanager. Being a wolf is great and all but sometimes I wish I was a bird. Simply to feel the wind between my wings and maybe even feel the one thing I desire.

Freedom.

But I'm not a bird in the wild, but rather one in a cage.

A wolf that's a slave to the bond. Because no matter how hard I try, my heart will always beat faster when my eyes connect with his. My wolf will always howl with longing and shocks will always reach the most personal part of me if I even look at him.

I can't help that I'm a slave.

A slave to something that was chosen before I even took my first breath.

A slave to something that was written in the stars, embedded into time, and etched into me.

I'm not sure what I expected when I walked into the dining hall but this was not it. Perched on the lap of my "mate" is my darling sister. Her face is radiating with happiness and her eyes with delight. I can't blame her, it's not her fault she doesn't know. She deserves happiness after everything she's been through. Yet, I can still feel the slow simmer of jealousy building up and I look away.

My pack members all shared the same look as me. Confusion. Didn't they break up two seconds ago?

He won't even look up at me. His eyes completely focused on her.

When his eyes finally move away from Isabel's face, he looks up at me before flashing me that devilish smirk. Zane always has the same look on his face when he thinks he's winning, whether it be in a training session or pulling a prank when we were younger. He might think he's winning but he's wrong.

It's always pissed me off.

Tsk-tsk babe, whatever you're doing I can do better.

I walk over to the chair directly across from his. My lips curve into a smirk and I send him a wink. His thick eyebrow raises in question.

"Hey Taara, can I get a piece of your pie?"

"Why of course Alessandra! Please try some dear."

Taara was a sweet lady who had come from a pack in Afghanistan. Their land was destroyed in the Soviet-Afghan War and Alpha Gio's father had taken her and her family in. She makes the best food and her pie is a delicacy around here.

I dug the fork into the pie, slicing through the crust and filling. I made eye contact with Zane as I wet my lips and wrapped them around the fork. My eyes rolled back and I moaned.

"Mhm! Taara this is amazing!"

"Thank you, dear, it's a new recipe."

"Mhm, and it's so creamy,"

I wish I had my phone with me to record this moment. Zane's face was red and I could smell his arousal from here. His fingertips were curled around the table in a fierce grip and his eyes were flashing gold.

Isabel smiled thinking Zane was getting hard for her, but in reality, it was all for me. I pushed my chair back and smiled at them.

"That was great Taara, thank you."

"Oh of course dear, anything for you."

"Please excuse me I must get going."

With a hair flip and a satisfied smirk, I walked out with my head held high.

I always win, Alpha.