Chapter 1

Amelia kept throwing stones at the lake. She was sitting at the end of the bridge and her feet were in the water. She likes sitting there and killing out her time. Especially when she knew that her pack members had shifted to their wolves and ran off through their territory together. Amelia? She was always left alone.

Her seventeenth birthday will be tomorrow. It should be a joyous day. But for Amelia, it's just the same ordinary day for her. Most wolves meet their mates on their seventeenth birthday. But a wolfless like her would be impossible to find a mate. Amelia had heard about the wolf bond and pairing together of the fated mates. The bond pull is unlike anything else. They will be the better half. Without her wolf, Amelia would never find her mate. And it would be funny if she really thought that her wolf would come out.

Amelia’s eyes watered. How she wished that she could talk with her mother again. She wanted her to explain why she was like that. But it would be impossible too. Her mother died protecting her from the rogues that attacked them. Seven years had already passed but it still felt like yesterday. She witnessed everything. How her mother was slashed in the throat. How she slowly loses her breath while staring at her eyes directly. She could never forget about it. Everyone was blaming her because of it.

Then when she turned sixteen, her wolf never came out like the others. Since that happened, Amelia had been called weak, pathetic, disgraceful, and so many hurtful words. Just because she couldn’t shift to her wolf. They were even saying that was the reason why she couldn’t save her mother. And she didn’t just lose her mother, even her friends. It was like her packmates used it as an opportunity to show what they really felt about her. And it hurt her because even her older brother hadn’t spoken to her since that incident. Well, she could say that not everything left her. Bea was still there for her. She was her best friend. She never left her, despite what their other packmates were saying about her.

Her day would be basically peaceful and lovely at times like that. She could only find peace when her packmates were on pack runs. No bullies. No glaring. She was happy.

Amelia heard footsteps behind her. She turned her head and saw Nicolai, their future alpha. With his girlfriend and friends. She immediately stood up as she saw them approaching her. If there were people that she didn't want to meet, it was their group. She was almost at the end of the bridge when one of the guys grabbed her on the shoulder and pulled her. They all laughed when they heard me groaning in pain. They all have their own wolf. They might be in human form, but their strength was unlikely for humans.

“Where do you think you're going, you stinky wolfless human?” John said. He was a subordinate of Nicolai in bullying Amelia. He was holding Amelia tightly in his arms. His nails were almost piercing through her skin. “What should we do to her now?”

Amelia looked at Nicolai, frowning. She was trying to see and find at least a little pithiness in his eyes. But it just broke her more seeing this man, their future alpha, doesn't care about her. What does she expect? She was an outcast in their pack. Amelia saw Nicolai nod. Then, the next thing that she felt, her body was slowly falling off the bridge.

Amelia tried to crawl above using her hands. But she was no swimmer either and the lake was deep. She gasped for air every time her head was above the water.

“Help!” Amelia shouted. But no one even saved her. They were just laughing at her and looking like she was a pathetic being. Amelia's breathing was becoming hard already as the water filled her throat. She still tried to crawl to the top surface to save herself. Fear was already filling her mind because she knew those people would never help her. Even if she drowned in this water, no one would care.

“What the– Amelia!” Bea, who had just come from the pack run, saw Amelia in the water. She pushed them away and jumped into the water without thinking twice. She took out Amelia and pulled her onto the land.

Amelia then coughed and almost vomited as she filled her chest with some air. She was pounding her chest hard to relieve her feelings.

“What is wrong with you?!” Bea said. She glared at the group and growled. Ready to fight everyone because of what they did to her friend.

“Easy, Bea. We're just having fun with this wolfless stinky loser!” John said. Then they all laughed except Nicolai. “And are you even trying to disobey our future alpha's orders?”

It just made Bea's blood boil more. She was about to say something again but Amelia held her hand.

“It’s okay, Bea. Don’t mind them. I’m okay,” Amelia said. Even though she was still breathing hard.

Bea looked at Amelia like she said a curse word. “You are okay? In that state of yours?”

“Girl! You are really boring like her,” Vera said, the girlfriend of Nicolai. She clung to Nicolai’s arms. “Can we go now, babe? It stinks here.”

Bea growled. She wanted to pull Vera’s hair and pushed her into the water too. But Amelia was still holding her arms. She tried to calm down because she thought that anytime she would shift into her wolf and she didn’t know what she would do anymore. She would gladly let her wolf put everyone in their places. Well, except for their future alpha.

Luckily, the group decided to leave the two of them because of Vera’s whining. Oh, how Bea hated Vera’s voice. She looked at Amelia.

“Come on, Amelia. Let’s get you to clean up your house.”

Amelia let Bea help her stand up. She was already shivering as she was wet from head to toe. When they reached Amelia’s house, Bea stopped in the living room and started sniffing.

“Do you smell that?”

Amelia frowned. “What smell?” She sniffed herself and she instantly regretted it because she just smelled the mud from the lake water. “I guess I really stink.”

“No. Not you.” Bea stared at the door near the kitchen. “Mate.”

Amelia just stared at Bea. Then the door opened and her brother went out, Marcus. She was surprised to see her brother going out of his room. She didn’t know that she had already come back from his training.

“Mate,” he also said while staring at Bea.

Amelia sighed. She finally understood what was happening. Apparently, her brother and best friend were mated to each other. She looked at the two that were now facing each other. She could see the bond from their eyes. Like they instantly fell in love with each other. A thing that she could never feel.

“I-I will leave you two,” Amelia said and ran upstairs to her room.