"Alyssa! Sweetheart wake up! It's time for school!" I groaned, ignoring my mother and covering my sleepy face with my pillow, burying myself in the depths of it. Not for too long though. Before I knew it, the pillow was snatched away from my head, a breeze of the winter morning splashing my exposed face as my mother glared at me from above me. "Young lady, I will not have you arriving late on your first day of senior year"

"Alright alright, I'm up" I replied, elevating myself off the bed. I walked slowly into my bathroom, taking a quick shower and changing into my usual school attire, which mostly consisted of black skinny jeans, a white t-shirt, a scarf, a beanie, a black jacket and black boots. No, I'm not Goth.

I grabbed my bag and sprinted downstairs.

"I'm running late, later parents!" I yelled, grabbing an apple on my way out.

I hopped into my old, green pick up truck, speeding it down the roads towards my high school.

I parked my baby further away from all the high class cars in the lot that I knew belonged to the high class families in the pack, and hopped off, dashing inside. The familiar atmosphere filled me once again as I walked down the corridors towards my locker.

To my surprise, my best friend, Hailey, was already present, waiting outside my locker.

"Well you're early today" I started as I approached her.

"And you're almost late." I shrugged, grabbing my books before making my way to home room with her. "So did you hear the news?"

"What news?" I questioned her as we sat down.

"The future Alpha and Beta have returned from training" she commented, making me groan in annoyance.

"Chace and Adam?" she nodded, confirming my doubts. I always hated those two. They were everything those cliché books and movies talked about, hot ass holes who slept with everyone, jerks, heart breakers. I honestly wished the best of luck to their future mates. "Great, let the drama begin" I commented, making my way to class as the bell rang.

I arrived my locker and busted it open, I didn't even know why we had to study history in the first place. It's not like Christopher Columbus was going to come back from the dead and explain his journey to us. I dumped my books back, anticipating lunch time. I needed food.

'Alyssa?' Hailey mind-linked me.

'Sup Hay. Where are you?' I asked her back.

'I'm in the cafeteria...with my mate..'

'WHAT?! WHO IS IT!?' I yelled in my mind, almost yelling out loud. I couldn't believe it, my best friend found her mate. Her soul mate. And here I was, forever alone. Great, now I lost my best friend. I felt a small pang in my chest, but ignored it, trying to be as happy as possible for my best friend.

'It's the future beta, Adam' she replied, my eyes widening even more. Great. Not only did my best friend find her mate, but it turned out to be a fucking womanizer, and the future beta. I kept my inner criticism to myself and attempted putting up with a smile.

'Congratulations Hay. I'm happy for you.' I replied, somewhat lying.

'Come to the cafeteria, I want you to meet him' she requested. I nodded even though she couldn't see me and without replying made my way towards the cafeteria. I spotted Hailey seated on one side of a table, her head facing me whilst two backs faced me on the opposite side of her.

I walked towards her, sliding into the seat next to her, facing her mate and the other person.

As soon as I did, my eyes completely ignored my best friends mate, instead, they fell upon the other face, my wolf instantly jumping inside of me as she screamed 'Mate!' my eyes widened as I came to realisation.

My mate was Chace Winchester, the future Alpha.

His reaction mirrored mine, but no one spoke. Except Hailey.

"Alyssa, I want you to meet my mate, Adam. The future beta, and Chace the future Alpha" her voice snapped me back to reality as I looked at Adam, studying his features. He extended his hand and I shakily placed mine in his, giving it a firm shake.

"Nice to meet you. Um... I actually have to go make an urgent phone call, I'll see you guys later?" I replied, escaping out of there. His image came back into mind as I skimmed past everyone in the hallway.

My Alpha, a man whore was my mate. The man I despised. But my wolf loved. Tension was increasing in my mind as I soon, felt a pull on my arm – sparks flying through every inch of my body, electrifying me with energy- before I came face to face with Chace Winchester, my mate. He had pulled me into the janitor's closet, how cliché.

"I can't believe I am doing this" I heard him mutter under his breath before his eyes bored into mine. Then, he did it. "I, Chace Winchester, reject you, Alyssa Jackson, as my mate and Luna of the Blue Moon pack" His words crushed my wolf, and her whimpers were loud inside of me. However my human self couldn't care less. He was a womanizer, a man whore, who slept with anything and everything in his way. I forced a smile on my face despite my wolf's protests and nodded slowly.

"Okay" and with that one simple word, I was out of there.

My heart felt like it had been broken into a million pieces, yet I felt nothing. No emotion apart from hate. If I didn't have a wolf, I was pretty sure I wouldn't have cared. But my wolf did, she felt lost, and her pain radiated all over her body, making myself feel it. I was now walking towards the entrance of the school subconsciously, but I didn't care. I needed to get away, I needed to run.

I ran into the woods behind the school and stripped before shifting. I sprinted for what seemed like ages, feeling the cool winter wind strike my face as I pushed myself further, forgetting everything in my way. I soon returned, pulling my clothes back on and grabbing my bag, making my way towards the school lot.

Of course, just like any cliché movie, my so called mate was doing his job, making out with the school slut by his car, which just so happened to be in front of mine. Why is everything so cliché? I inwardly commented before putting on an emotionless front and jumping into my car and without a glance at the smirk he was sending me, I pulled out, driving away.

For just a day, I wanted to forget everything. I didn't want to remember. Sure, I didn't feel the pain, but my wolf did, my other half did. And I wanted to get my mind off things, so I pulled out my phone, clicking on a number I hadn't contacted in ages. It had been almost four years, four years since I had seen her. It was my entire fault. My fault she was taken away, but she told me she didn't even have to forgive me because it wasn't my fault. I somehow never managed to believe her.

"Hello?" her voice radiated through the phone speaker.

"Hey Eve, are you free right now?"

"Sure. Need to meet?"

"Yeah. Our spot?"

"Of course" she replied, hanging up.

Evelyn was the Luna of the Dark Shadows pack, and my sister-in-law. Well not exactly, but the Alpha of the Dark Shadows was my cousin, Carter, but he was more like a brother to me. It was almost four years ago that they had come to our pack for protection when people were after Evelyn. I had gone to the mall with her, I was in the toilet when they took her. It was all my idea, all my fault.

I arrived our spot, a small isolated café on the highway and stepped out, joining Evelyn, who was already present at the table. I ordered myself a small cup of coffee and joined her, embracing her into a small hug before sitting down.

"So, what is it?" she questioned.

"I found my mate." I started.

"Oh my god! Congratulations! Who is it?"

"Don't get too excited. He is the future Alpha, Chace Winchester, and he rejected me" her eyes didn't show sympathy or pity, in fact there was a true honest smile on them that somehow made my heart warm up.

"You know, when I first met Carter, it was the day my grandmother had been murdered. And the very same day, Carter had rejected me" she blurted, making my eyes widen.

"WHAT? HE REJECTED YOU?"

"Yes" she chuckled "but he regretted it, so much. I know this sounds like it's never going to happen, but you're mates for a reason, and that reason is not going anywhere, so give it time, but you aren't going to be living like this for the rest of your life."

"But I can't just stay here for the rest of my life watching him snog other girls in front of me and just wait for him to change now can I?" I questioned, sipping silently on my coffee. There was a moment of silence before she smiled again.

"How about this? How about you join my pack for a few months? Finish your senior year, graduate, and then you can go back. By then, he will seriously be regretting his decision." I smiled wickedly at the sound of her plan, thinking it through.

"I think that would be wonderful"

-Neha