The moon bathed our cozy cottage in a silvery glow, its light spilling through the window and casting soft patterns on the wooden floor. I sat there, gazing out into the night, lost in my thoughts. The looming deadline pressed down on me, a constant reminder that everything was about to change.
Mom and I have been given an ultimatum. A few days from tonight and we'd have to leave the pack for good. Life is an adventure and a to every other werewolf, but to my kind of werewolf, life is cruel.
My name is Katherina May, a twenty-year-one-old she-wolf. I can barely say I deserve to be called a wolf. Every werewolf shifts at the age of eighteen, they welcome their wolf and then they find their mate, but that wasn't the case with me.
At twenty one I am yet to shift. Here in my pack, kids look at me as though I'm a plague. Teens my age, call me a weirdo, and the adults frown at me each time I walk passed them. But Mom says I'm just a late bloomer even though we both know that it might never happen. She's just trying to make me feel better. After all, I am the only unshifted one in the Pack, and being the only child of a strong shifter, and a powerful were warrior only adds to my critics.
But I understand. No matter the situation rules are rules, no matter who is involved. I have failed to shift despite being given an extra year to prove myself but I couldn’t do it and now because of me, mom and I are going to become rogues.
Mom says it’s OK but deep down It’s not. I know it’s not okay, going rogue is never okay, but she pretends that it is okay because she just doesn’t want me to take the blame.
Yeah, Mom is strong, she’s like the strongest she-wolf Midnight Howlers pack has got. She has been the Pack’s Academy trainer for a decade now, her strength is almost on par with the Alpha’s new Beta who apart from the Alpha is the strongest person in the Pack, so you can guess what insane amount of strength she possesses. But, even the strongest people need someone to care for them sometimes.
I wish Dad was here, things would probably not be this difficult.
Lost in my thoughts, I failed to hear the wooden door to our cottage creek open.
"Kathy, sweetheart, I have something to tell you," my mother's voice broke through my reverie. I turned to see her smiling at me, her eyes dancing with a secret she was bursting to share.
"What is it, Mom?" I asked, my curiosity piqued.
Her smile widened as she sat down next to me. "I met someone, Kathy. Someone special."
My heart skipped a beat. It had been seven long years since Dad passed away, and my mom had mourned him all this time. To hear that she had found happiness again was both heartwarming and unsettling. "That's wonderful, Mom. Who is he?"
"He's my fated mate, Kathy. His name is David," she said, her voice filled with a mixture of excitement and nervousness.
"Fated mate?" I repeated, unsure of what that meant.
"It's like... finding your soulmate among werewolves. The one you're destined to be with," Mom explained.
A smile tugged at the corners of my lips. I was genuinely happy for her, but a new worry crept into my mind. "What does this mean for us, Mom? With the pack and everything?"
She took a deep breath, her expression becoming serious. "It means we won't have to go rogue, Kathy. I told David about our situation, we'd be moving into his pack and home tomorrow."
Relief washed over me, but it was quickly followed by a cursive wave of anxiety. A new pack meant a new family, new rules, and new dynamics. "I'm glad for you, Mom. Really." I told my mom. I was really happy she was going to find love again, but I was scared as well. A lot of what-ifs were starting to creep into my heart, but, I refrained from voicing my fears, I didn't want to erase the smile in Mom's eyes.