Knock, knock.

A light tapping noise on the door dragged us away from our peaceful moment.

“Hey, um, Tristan?” Cassie asked in a quiet and apprehensive tone as she opened the door gently.

I pulled myself off of Tristan and sat on the edge of the bed. Tristan slowly dragged himself up into a sitting position. She paused and glimpsed at Tyler to help. Tyler took over and asked in a sheepish voice,

“Uh, we heard you howl. Is everything okay?”

I watched Cassie and Tyler as they stood in the doorway of my bedroom. They seemed nervous as hell. Cassie was biting her thumb nail and looking around the room. She was obviously trying to avoid eye contact with both Tristan and me. Tyler had his head down and was looking at his feet, while he lightly kicked at my bedroom floor. Tristan broke the awkward silence first and said,

“It's all fine guys, she knows everything.”

He didn't bother to move and continued to lay on the bed. He had his arms under his head and one foot over the other. Cassie and Tyler gradually stared up at me warily. With their attention now on me, I decided to ask them a few questions.

“So, I guess if Tristan's a werewolf, that would make you one too Tyler?”

I sat there for a few seconds staring at him, waiting for an answer.

“Yeah,” he finally replied in a low voice, then peered back down to the floor.

My eyes scanned over to Cassie.

“And you're his human mate, Cass?”

“Yes!” she quickly replied then shook her head. “Oh... wait no,” she corrected herself then continued, “yes, I am his mate, but I'm a werewolf too.”

She stared at me with worried eyes. I stood up, folded my arms across my chest then slowly walked towards her.

“I am so pissed off right now. Either I'm really stupid for not noticing anything all these years, or you three are too good at lying to my face.” I said with an angry frown.

She froze instantly, not knowing what to do, and shot Tyler a terrified look. I giggled while throwing my arms around her for a hug.

“I'm only joking Cass,” I said reassuringly, and Tristan snigger behind me.

Cassie sighed with relief as she hugged me back. I stood back slightly and pointed a finger at her.

“You should've seen your face.”

I burst out laughing and Tyler joined in laughing too.

“You're such a bitch Freya, you really had me going there,” she jokingly snapped back while lightly punching me in the arm.

“Ow, what the hell?” I screamed out in fake pain while I held my arm.

Tristan viciously snarled while jumping off the bed and sprinting towards Cassie. I watched in horror as Cassie's face dropped in pure panic. Tyler quickly pushed her behind him then growled at Tristan. Tristan stopped in his tracks and stood up tall, before growling back at his little brother. The growl was so deep and ferocious that it made me jump backwards out of harm's way. Tyler hastily bowed his head to show his neck then whimpered. Tristan ignored his brother's submission and lunged at him. Tyler braced himself for conflict by raising both of his arms up to protect his face.

“Tristan, stop!”

I ran forwards placing myself right in between them both. Placing my hands onto Tristan's chest, I tried my best to hold him back. He was breathing so hard and his nostrils were flaring in pure anger. I looked up into his eyes and they were jet black.

“Baby, please calm down,” I begged him in a shaky voice.

He ignored me and tried to lunge at Tyler again. I lost my footing and began to slide backwards as he pushed against me.

“Tristan, please!” I screamed out while I reached my hands up and put them either side of his face. I yanked it down to mine, trying to divert his attention. “Tristan look at me, babe. I'm okay, Cassie didn't hurt me, I promise.”

He blinked a couple of times then gazed into my eyes. I softly began to explain,

“I was joking, she didn't hurt me. I swear.”

My hands fell from his face. He gently turned me to the side and lifted my arm to see if there were any marks. Satisfied with his inspection, he stroked my arm with his thumb.

“I'm so sorry. Please calm down,” I said while I shook again with emotion.

I couldn't hold the tears in any longer, I was scared to death. It was just like I’d just watched two dogs having a fight. It was so intense, and now that it was over, the floodgates had opened. I was just so glad that he'd calmed down, because I didn't know if I could have handled witnessing anything worse than what I’d just seen.

He turned me around to face him, then picked me up by my ass. I put my arms around his neck and legs around his waist. He pulled me into him tightly and nuzzled into my neck, inhaling my scent.

Ah, now I know why he always does that.

His breathing had calmed and was almost back to normal when he finally uttered the words,

“Baby don't cry. You're shaking like a leaf. I'm so sorry, please don't be scared of me.”

He sounded so heartbroken. I pulled my head up to look at him and his eyes were back to their beautiful deep blue color. I smiled nervously at him. I didn't want to be, but I was scared of him. There was no denying that. He leaned in and I cautiously allowed him to give me a soft kiss. He lowered me back down to the floor and said,

“I'm so sorry. I completely lost it when I thought that Cassie had hurt you. I couldn't control my wolf.”

“It's not your fault T, it's mine. I shouldn't have pretended to be hurt. I just didn't think.”

I turned around to Cassie. She had her face resting on Tyler's chest, and was sobbing uncontrollably. Tyler was stroking her back, trying to comfort her.

“Oh my God. I’m sorry Cass.” I apologized profusely. She turned her head sideways to look at me and sniffed.

“It's okay, Frey, it's not your fault. Werewolves can be really overprotective at times,” she sniffled again. “They get like that when someone hurts their mate.”

Her eyes widened as soon as the words escaped her lips. Tyler's face winced and he sucked in a quick breath.

“Mate?” I questioned in shock.

Tyler and Cassie exchanged looks like they were doing that mime thing again.

“Hey!” I snapped at them. “No fair! Stop having a secret conversation, through your mime link thingy,” I whined.

They stopped instantly, and both turned towards me with smirks on their faces.

“What link?” Tyler asked mockingly while Cassie was holding her hand over her mouth trying to contain a laugh.

“You know what I'm on about. Tristan told me you two mime linked at the table earlier,” I shot my answer back at him.

All three of them doubled over with laughter.

“What?” I questioned in a mix of confusion and frustration.

What is wrong with these people? I thought while furrowing my brow.

They were too busy laughing at me to answer, so I asked in a whiny voice, “What's so bloody funny?”

“Mind link. Not Mime link,” Cassie scoffed back in between snorts of laughter.

I could feel a heat gradually rising up from my chest and my face turned bright red with embarrassment.

“Oh right, mind,” I replied in a low voice. “That makes better sense than mime.”

I chuckled lightly, still mortified that I thought they were doing some sort of mime act. Tristan had managed to stop laughing and put his arm around my shoulder, then pulled me to his side. I reached my arm around his back and he said to me with a chuckle,

“you're so damn cute babe.”

I turned slightly and slapped his chest.

“Hey, you, shut up!”

He chuckled then kissed the top of my head and I could feel his giant grin through my hair. We were all bought back to reality by the sound of my mom shouting up the stairs,

“Hey, are you guys going to your graduation today or not?”

I panicked and shouted at the others,

“Crap! Look at the time. We best get going or we're going to miss our own graduation.”

We all quickly ran down the stairs and out of the front door.

Tyler and Cassie were laughing and play fighting in the back of the car, I giggled to myself as I watch them messing around and having fun. I then watched Tristan. He was holding the passenger side door open for my mom.

He was such a gentleman and very sweet. He was always doing nice things for people and was so darn polite. Watching him be kind to my mom melted my heart. It made me realize that this guy was the love of my life. There were so many things about him that made him perfect. Yeah, the fact that he was a werewolf was a huge deal, and scary as hell. But maybe I could trust him when he said that he will never hurt me?

Maybe, this can work?

A huge smile grew across my face as I imagined a mystical and exciting new future with my Alpha.

“Oi, move over!” I shouted while playfully shoving Tyler's shoulder, so that I could have some more room in the back seat.

Tristan started up the car and music began to play on the radio. It was Meant to be by Bebe Rexha and it was definitely the perfect song for how I was feeling at that moment.

I was a little scared of the new future that was ahead of me, but like the words in the song said, if it's meant to be it'll be. Cassie and I began singing in the back seat, Tyler was sitting between us with his hands over his ears. He screwed up his face like he was disgusted with our singing.

I personally think we sound awesome, so screw him.

We both ignored him and when the chorus kicked in, we sang at the top of our lungs just to piss him off.

Tristan gazed at me in the rearview mirror and he was smiling from ear to ear, he then mouthed the words, I love you. I put my arms around his shoulders and whispered in his ear,

“I love you always, forever be mine.”

He placed a soft kiss on my hand which made my heart burst with a warm and fuzzy feeling. I sat back in my seat with a big smile on my face.

My life is pretty damn amazing right now.

I stared out of the window fantasizing about our future when I heard someone calling my name.

“Huh?” I asked Tyler.

He peeked back at me with a confused expression, and replied,

“I didn't say anything, Frey.”

I furrowed my brow and shrugged, then turned away to look back out of the window. We pulled up to some traffic lights and waited for a few minutes. As we were waiting, I saw a tall, dark and handsome guy standing on the pavement. He was holding a huge bunch of beautiful red roses. I thought to myself that it was sweet, and that whoever they were for, was a very lucky person. I thought no more about it, as we drove away.

After a while we pulled up to another set of lights, and as I gazed back out of the window. I spotted the guy again and he was still holding the huge bunch of red roses, but they were definitely not beautiful anymore. Somehow in only a few minutes they had all withered and died. Most of them were now just pathetic stems. I glanced at the flowers in shock and confusion.

How did he catch up with us so fast?

I braved it and glanced up at the guy's face. To my horror, he was pointing right at me, and he had an evil, yet strangely seductive grin spread across his face. I gave him a terrified look in response, then my eyes grew wide, as he suddenly vanished into thin air.

Freya Rose

I decided against mentioning the creepy guy with the dead flowers. Today was meant to be a celebration day. To be completely honest, I barely believed what I'd just seen myself. I mean, moments before, I had just been fantasizing about a future with Tristan. Us as a family with a bunch of our werewolf pups running around in the woods. Maybe my mind got a bit carried away, and made the whole thing up?

We pulled into the parking lot of our high school. We only had one high school in our town. Jasper was a small town in Alberta, Canada. It was nestled in the middle of a national park. The skyline was delicately held by stunning glacier mountains, and there were five beautiful lakes. Each lake was a different shade of color, going from a turquoise blue to an aqua green, and the water was crystal clear. The woods were lush and were home to many different animals like, Elk, Deer, Moose, Big horned Sheep and Mountain Goats. It was a gorgeous place to live and raise children.

Being a tomboy when I was younger, made it the perfect place for me to grow up. Knowing what I did now, I guessed it was perfect for all of the werewolves in town too. Me, Tyler and Cassie would spend our summer's climbing trees, hiking, swimming in the lakes and camping in the woods. We had a great childhood and now we were all here graduating together. It was the end of an era and the start of a new future.

I had no idea what I wanted to do after high school, I would probably just get a job working with my mom. She worked in one of the many restaurants we had here in town. A lot of kids wanted to leave our small town and move into colleges in a big city, but that idea had never entered my head. I loved living in Jasper.

Cassie's family owned a guest house, so she was going to work there, and Tyler and Tristan's family owned a chain of hardware stores across the country called Cole's Hardwere ltd.

Oh, I see what they did there. They used were, as in werewolf instead of ware. I never did understand why it was called that. I'd just thought that they'd spelt it wrong.

Both Tyler and Tristan already helped out with running the business. So, they were never going to leave for college. I guessed they couldn't if they were part of a pack, and Tristan's going to be their Alpha. I wasn't sure if you could even leave a pack to go to college, or if you could move away at all. There were so many questions I had about the whole werewolf thing. Tristan was going to wish he'd never told me.

Tristan parked the car and got out first. He walked around to the passenger side door and opened it for my mom, then held his hand out for her to take.

“Thank you, Tristan,” my mom said as she took his hand and stepped out of the car.

Tyler and Cassie left the car as well and started walking towards the school, hand in hand. I opened my door then swung my legs around and placed my feet on the floor. I held my hand out cheekily waiting for Tristan to notice. Tristan walked back around the car and stopped when he saw me. He raised an eyebrow and smirked at my cheekiness.

I managed to keep a straight face and stayed looking serious, he laughed and walked towards me. I stretched out my hand further, but to my surprise, he swatted it away. He bent down and put his shoulder on my belly before placing his hands around my back and lifting me out of the car. He stood up straight, and as he did, he threw me over his shoulder.

“Ahh Tristan. Put me down,” I begged.

“Nope,” He replied with a pop of the p.

He chuckled as I kicked my legs and wiggled around. He then placed his arm over the back of my knees, so that I couldn't move them anymore.

“Stop fighting me, babe. I thought when I pinned you to the bed earlier, you would have realized, you can't win.”

He playfully slapped my ass, and I slumped over his shoulder letting my legs and arms drop down in defeat. Tristan laughed his head off and walked me through the entire parking lot like that. I put my elbows on his back and held my head up as he walked me through the school. Everyone gorped and giggled at us as we strolled passed them. Tristan laughed even harder seeming very pleased with himself. I huffed and rolled my eyes.

He is going to pay for this later, that's for sure.

Tyler and Tristan's parents were already at the ceremony and were sitting in the front row with Tristan and my mom. Cassie's parents were there too with her twin sister Jessie. She wasn't sitting with us though, in fact, she didn't even acknowledge us at all. I didn't really care, but I did feel sorry for Cassie. This was supposed to be a happy day and a huge achievement in her life. It was an experience that she should have been able to share with her twin sister.

“Hello students and family,” a girl’s voice began to address the crowd, making us all take our seats. I looked up and saw Amber Wade starting her valedictorian speech. She appeared snooty and smug. I really hated that girl.

She was really pretty, and she knew it too. She had olive skin, with bright hazel/green eyes, gorgeous long black hair and an amazing figure. But her personality was just awful. She enjoyed bullying anyone and everyone.

“Ugh, it's Amber fucking Wade,” I whispered to Cassie.

She sniggered and tapped my arm gently. She swiftly spun her head around to look at Tristan, remembering how he reacted to her playfully hitting me earlier. He smiled at her and she sighed with relief. When she turned back around, I asked her a question,

“Can you mind link, Tristan, or is it just a mate thing?”

She raised her eyebrow raised and replied,

“No, it's not just a mate thing. We can mind link anyone in the pack. Why?”

We hushed for a second when Amber glared at us. Once Amber glanced away, I began whispering to Cassie again,

“Oh cool. Can you tell him something for me?” She nodded her head in response, so I continued, “tell him that I love him, and he looks freaking sexy today.”

She giggled and turned to face Tristan. After a few seconds, he laughed and winked at me. Cassie was staring at him and concentrating, I guessed she was listening to what Tristan was saying to her over the mind link.

She suddenly and violently shook her head at him, and he burst out laughing. He was so damn loud that people began to stare at him. My mom gave him a confused look like he'd gone completely mad. Cassie blushed and shot me a sideways glance.

“I am not going to repeat what he just said.”

She sat up straight in her chair and tried to concentrate on Amber's speech.

“Oh, it must have been really dirty if you’re willing to listen to this horse shit,” I said with a chuckle while I pointed a thumb at Amber.

I thought that Tristan must have been trying to say something else to Cassie through the mind link, because she was frantically waving her hand behind her back in annoyance. She then turned around and shot him an evil stare. Tristan cracked up again, and his laugh was loud enough to put Amber off of her speech making her scowl at him. Her scowl eventually found its way to me and Cassie. I couldn't stop myself from laughing.

“I'm sorry. Am I interrupting your conversation, Freya?” Amber boomed over the mic while pointing her scrawny finger at me.

Everyone instantly glared at me, making me sink down into my chair with embarrassment and cover my face with my hand.

“Well, I'm waiting!” She snapped while placing her hands on her hips.

She then snarled at me, clearly growing more frustrated with every passing second. Her face was turning bright red, and it seemed like her head was about to explode. I finally built up the courage to take my hand away from my face and saw that everyone was still staring at me. Tyler and Tristan were in fits of laughter.

Jerks

My mom was shaking her head in disapproval, and Cassie was just staring at me all wide-eyed. She clearly wasn't going to help me out of this, at all. Feeling brave and a little bit cocky, I stood up from my chair and shouted back sarcastically,

“Waiting for what exactly? Did I make you forget which bit of the speech you were reading?”

She scowled at me, daring me to continue my defiance, so I did.

“Why don't you ask Elsa to help you out? After all, she's the one who actually wrote the speech you're trying to pass off as your own.”

I instantly regretted saying it when I heard gasps and tuts from the crowd. Elsa threw Amber a worried look, but Amber didn't even notice her. She just kept scowling at me, and it seemed like at any second, she might have spat flames at me.

Tristan and Tyler were beyond help by that point and were laughing so hard, that they had tears streaming down their faces. Their mom Clara was so embarrassed, but their dad Aiden was trying his best to keep a straight face. Cassie just dropped her head into her hands, and Amber's parents looked like they wanted to murder me. I decided to do the only thing I could think of to fix it.

“I'm sorry Amber. That was uncalled for, and I sincerely apologize for my outburst. Please continue with your lovely speech,” I shouted out trying to sound as sincere as possible.

I saw my mom smirk and shake her head again, so I continued to try and apologize some more,

“Oh, and I’m sure you wrote it all by yourself!”

I gave her a thumbs up and a cheesy grin. She was not happy at all, it was hilarious. She straightened up, flipped her hair over her shoulder and carried on with Elsa's speech.

“You did the right thing apologizing. You don't need to lower yourself to Amber and my sister’s level, you're better than them,” Cassie whispered.

She glanced over to Jessie and smiled at her slightly. Jessie just rolled her eyes in response then looked away, making Cassie lower her head. I held Cassie's hand and gave it a squeeze. I then sat back in my chair and zone out into my own thoughts, there was no way that I was going to sit there and listen to miss prissy pants, Amber, ramble on.

Cassie was a beautiful and kind girl. She had stunning blue eyes and long, wavy, light blonde hair. She had this cute little freckle on her nose too. Her twin sister Jessie's facial features seemed almost exactly the same as Cassie's, except that she had green eyes and even lighter blonde hair. They used to be stuck together like glue when they were little. They never went anywhere without one another. They even used to dress the same, it was really cute, but that all changed when we were thirteen.

That was when Jessie began hanging around with Amber and Elsa. From then on, she didn't want to be seen with me, Tyler, or even her own twin. Cassie was devastated for a long time, she said she felt like an arm had been cut off. We all tried to stay friends with her, but Jessie turned into a bitch and began picking on Cassie all the time. She was being especially nasty to her and embarrassing her in front of everyone. I guess she learned a thing or two from mean girl Amber.

She eventually took the nastiness a step too far. A few weeks back she began dating Cassie's longtime crush, Landon Wade. On the day of their eighteenth birthday, to add further insult. Cassie had been in love with Landon for as long as I could remember. I definitely understood why. He was an extremely attractive guy and very fit. He had olive skin, dark brown hair and stunning hazel eyes. He was such a sweetheart too, surprising really, considering that nasty bitch Amber was his little sister. But I could have killed him on Cassie and Jessie's birthday.

While I was at Cassie's house giving her, her birthday gift, in strolls Jessie all loved up with Landon. Jessie and Landon both knew how Cassie felt about him. She'd never had the guts to ask him out, but it was obvious to everyone that she was besotted with him. When she saw them walk in, all over each other, she burst into tears and ran into her bedroom. I tried to comfort her, but she asked me to leave.

I guessed it was a good job that Tyler went around there that night, and they found out they were mates. Cassie didn't seem bothered at all about Landon and Jessie anymore. It was a blessing because she was absolutely heartbroken that day, but I think the mate bond with Tyler was stronger than whatever she had felt for Landon.

Amber finished Elsa's speech, and everyone cheered. We threw our caps into the air and our families applauded. I hugged Cassie, then Tyler.

Everything is going to change now, I thought to myself and it made me tear up.

“Don't cry Frey. We will still see each other every day,” Tyler said while he ruffled my hair.

I swatted his hand away and brushed my hair back down.

“Yeah I know but it won't be the same. We'll all be working at different places,” I whined.

“Why don't you come and work at my parents guest house?” Cassie asked while placing her hand on my shoulder.

“Really? Can I?”

“Yeah, of course, I'll let my parents know later.”

“And me and Tristan can come and meet you both for lunch every day,” Tyler stated.

“See life won't change too much. You can't get rid of us that easily,” Cassie mocked.

“Thanks guys, I love you.”

“We love you too Frey.”

I turned around and held my elbows out, they linked an arm each, and we strode over to our proudly awaiting families. Cassie and Tyler walked on towards their families when I slowed down. I’d spotted someone out the corner of my eye. Over by the school building was the guy I'd seen earlier with the bunch of dead flowers. He beckoned with his hand for me to follow him, then slowly snuck behind the school building, out of my view.

I peered over to my mom and the others, and they were all pre-occupied. So, I decided to follow him and find out if he was real, or a figment of my imagination. I slipped away and headed down the side of the school building. I turned the corner and walked around the back of the school. I scanned around but he was nowhere in sight. I shrugged and said out loud,

“I must be going mad!”

I turned around to go back to the others, but quickly stepped backwards as the guy was now standing right in front of me. My heart was racing as I gazed around to see if I could run past him, but he moved with lightning speed and grabbed me by my neck. I winced in pain when he slammed me into the wall and pinned me up against it. Staring helplessly into his deep brown eyes, my tears began to slide down my cheeks, and I found it increasingly difficult to breathe. My discomfort went unnoticed by the guy, he just scanned up and down my body like some sort of pervert.

I didn't like the road it was headed down, so I commenced clawing at him and thrashing around, trying to get away. He hissed at me and squeezed his hand tighter around my throat causing me to choke and gasp for air. I froze in fear when he moved closer to me, and with tears still streaming down my face, I quickly closed my eyes when his lips met mine. I tried to keep my mouth tightly shut, while his tongue forcibly tried to gain entry. I sobbed uncontrollably when his tongue managed to break through my barrier and roamed freely, inside my mouth. I made sure to keep my own tongue firmly planted to the bottom of my mouth.

He finally finished his putrid kiss and pulled his face away from mine. I peeled open my eyes and watched as he wiped his mouth with his free hand. He smirked at me then squeezed my neck even tighter, cutting off my air supply completely. Little black dots began to flood my vision, and before I knew it, his evil grin was all I could see. It was etched into my brain while the rest of the world began to fade into an all-consuming darkness.

I awoke to a girl's soft voice calling out my name.

“Freya? Freya are you okay?” Elsa asked with concern in her voice.

She was kneeling down on the floor next to me, and had her hand was held out for me to take. I took her hand and slowly rose to my feet. I straightened out my clothes and asked her,

“What happened?”

She shrugged and replied,

“I have no idea. I was heading back to my car and found you lying there, unconscious. Do you remember anything?”

I stood there for a moment trying to remember what had just happened. I couldn't remember a thing.

Why am I at the back of the school?

I shook my head, then replied to Elsa,

“No, the last thing I remember was walking over to our parents with Cassie and Tyler, then it all goes blank.”

She shrugged again.

“Hmm, how strange. Well you seem okay now. Do you need me to walk you back?”

She actually sounded quite sincere in her offer, but I felt fine.

“Na, I'm good. But thank you for helping me, Elsa.”

I leaned in and gave her a hug.

She began to walk in the direction of the parking lot, and I strolled the opposite way, back towards the others.

“Oh hey, Freya?” I heard Elsa shout and I turned around to see what she wanted. “Do you know that guy over there?” She asked as she pointed over towards a brand-new white Land Rover.

Standing beside it was the guy with the dead roses. I furrowed my brow as I inspected the bunch of flowers, they weren't dead anymore. In fact, they were beautiful again like the bunch I'd originally seen him with. I shook my head at Elsa as I continued to watch the guy.

“Oh okay, never mind I thought he was being a creep. He was just standing there staring at you, but I guess he was actually staring at her,” she said while pointing to someone behind me. I spun around, and a girl in a graduation gown waved at the guy. She then ran towards him with her arms open wide. Elsa waved me goodbye then headed back towards her car.

I couldn't shift the feeling that I was missing something. I stared at the couple a little longer. The girl then stared at me and smiled widely, before turning back around towards the guy. I blushed as the guy grabbed her ass with one hand then swept her hair aside with the other. I didn't know why, but I couldn't take my eyes off of them. He peered up and smirked at me, showing off a set of pearly white, very sharp teeth.

Did I just see fangs? What the hell? They were fangs, I'm sure of it! No, they can't be...

My confused thoughts were cut off as he lowered his head towards her, then sunk his fangs into her neck. Images flashed before my eyes. In the images, I was the girl and the strange guy was sinking his fangs into my neck instead. I gasped for air as panic overtook me. Suddenly a hand grabbed the top of my head, and another held onto my shoulder. My head jerked to the side and a searing pain shot through my neck as fangs pierced through my skin. The world once again began to slip away from me as darkness dragged me away from eternal light.

Freya Rose

Elsa dramatically waved her hand in front of my face, trying to get my attention. She then shouted,

“Earth to Freya. Come in Freya.”

I blinked a few times, so that I could focus on Elsa, and replied,

“Sorry Elsa. What's up?” I tried my best to shake the fuzzy feeling from my head, and snap out of the daze that I was in. “Wait. Didn't I just see you in the parking lot a few minutes ago?”

I glanced over to see if the guy with the flowers was still there, but I didn't see him, or the girl.

“Um, no. I was with Amber and Jessie. You've been standing there just staring at the parking lot for the last ten minutes,” she explained then let out a nervous giggle. “Um, can you sign my yearbook?”

She held out a pen for me, and without even looking at her, I took the pen and scribbled good luck, love from Freya, into it. I was still distracted while handing her back the pen. She turned the book around to read what I had written, and as she did, I casually walked away from her.

“Hey, is that it? Good luck? Nearly six years of school together and that's all you...” She babbled on, but I had walked too far away from her to hear the rest of her rant.

“I am so proud of you honey,” my mom said with tears streaming down her face.

“Thanks, mom,” I replied and gave her a hug.

Cassie's parents were congratulating her, and they both threw their arms around her. Tristan had Tyler in a headlock and was rubbing his knuckles across his head.

“Congrats little bro,” he said playfully.

I laughed and began to stroll over to them. It was strange that no one had noticed that I'd been gone for ages. It was like I hadn't been anywhere at all. Well, actually from what Elsa said, I hadn't been anywhere at all. I was just stood on the grass daydreaming, like a crazy person. I decided that I would tell Tristan tonight when we were alone. I didn't want everyone to think that I was going crazy.

“Move out of my way, you idiot!” Amber snapped sarcastically at me and barged me out the way with her shoulder.

“Hey, watch it you jerk!” I snapped back at her while trying my best to keep my balance.

She looked me up and down, then put her nose in the air, before flipping her hair and strutting off towards Tyler and Tristan.

“You stupid bitch.”

I said quietly, but obviously not quietly enough, because Cassie overheard me and asked,

“What's up, Frey?”

“That stupid slut just bumped me. I nearly fell right on my ass!” I snarled while pointing at Amber.

Cassie growled and folded her arms across her chest. I couldn't hold my tongue and I spat out,

“She's always picking on people. I hate that stuck up bitch.”

“Well, you got the bitch part right.” She sniggered. “And she thinks she's better than everyone else too.” Cassie nodded her head in agreement and casually said,

“that's probably because she's the Beta's daughter.”

“What? She's a werewolf too?” I questioned with disbelief.

“Oh, um, yeah she is,” Cassie replied while she turned to face me.

“What in the hell? Is everyone in this town a damn werewolf?”

Am I the only human around her?

“No, but there is quite a lot of us,” she answered with a smirk.

We just stood there in silence for a few minutes, as we glared at Amber, while she walked over towards Tristan and Tyler. A thought suddenly dawned on me and I asked Cassie,

“So is Landon a werewolf too?” She didn't say anything she just nodded her head. “Oh, so are Landon and Jessie mates?” I asked her cautiously not knowing if I would hit a nerve or not.

“Yeah, they are,” she answered quickly, without any particular expression on her face or tone to her voice, then went on to explain, “we can find our mates any time after we turn eighteen. Jessie was over at Amber's house on our birthday. I guess Landon was home, and they found out that they were mates.”

She was still eyeing up Amber when I asked her,

“so, are you okay about them being together?”

She gazed at me, and with a smile she said,

“I won't lie and say it didn't break my heart at the time, because it did. I felt betrayed by both of them, especially Jessie.”

She looked over at her sister. Jessie was laughing and joking with Landon. Cassie smiled at them, before looking back at me.

“I didn't understand, or even fully believe that the mate bond was real at first. I thought people in the pack were just overselling it, and I hadn't watched anyone find their mate before.”

I watched as she peered over at Tristan, then back to me with a sad look on her face. The look on her face said exactly what I was thinking.

Tristan hasn't found his mate yet, and my heart sank at the thought of him leaving me for someone else.

“When Tyler came around that night, I was a complete mess. I was crying into my pillow and everything. He came into my bedroom and asked if I was okay. I took one look at him, and my wolf howled mate. His did the same, and in that instant all the pain I was feeling, and any feelings I thought I'd had for Landon, disappeared.”

She watched Tyler with a giant smile on her face.

“So how do you know, someone's your mate?” I questioned her.

She slowly turned back toward me, and when she furrowed her brow at me, my heart sank again.

“It's hard to explain, but as soon as you see them, your heart aches to be with them. You see nothing else but them, they become your entire world in an instant,” she said with such feeling.

She placed her hand on her heart and lovingly gazed back at Tyler. The way she described it was adorable, and I wondered, if that's how Tristan feels towards me?

“That sounds incredible,” I said in awe.

“It is. There is no other feeling like it in the world,” she replied as she waved her fingers at Tyler.

“Can a human be a werewolf's mate?”

She stopped waving and quickly snapped her head back to look at me, her eyes were full of sadness. I took in a deep breath as she delivered her short and blunt reply,

“No.”