The yearly mateball is coming closer and every unmated wolf from the age of 18 is invited. This is my second year participating. My name isNora and I live in my pack, Silver stream pack.

“Are you excited for this year's ball, honey?” my mom asks me.

“Yeah” I say and roll my eyes at her.

This year our pack is hosting the ball and our luna is in charge of arranging it. So my mom and I are helping her and this year's colors are silver and green, our packs colors.

The dress code of the ball is formal but we need to dress in each pack's color so we can easier tell what pack we are in.

Mom has prepared my dress since she found out that our pack will host it but I´m not allowed to see the dress, hmpf.

“Hello Mrs J” a sickly sweet voice said and we turned around just to be greeted by the princess of thispack. Emily is the daughter of this pack's alpha and luna.

My parents are the gammas of our pack. Their job is to protect the luna and her pups. So I basically grew up beside Emily, we were like bestfriends. The daughters of the alpha and gamma, no one would even dare to bully us and everyone wanted to be us, but all of that stopped three years ago when I turned 16.

At the age of 16 we gained our wolves and shifts for the first time on the next fullmoon except I didn't. For our pack, the first shift is something special so all of us that will have to shift for the first time, will do it in a special ritual and all of us will shift at the same time and strengthen the pack. Except me, the entire night I stood and waited for my wolf and the shift but it never happened and I was shunned by the pack. But since my parents have a high title in the pack the alpha and luna didn't turn me rogue out of respect for them.

All my friends turned their backs on me and started to bully me, calling me names. One of the names got stuck though, wolfless. My parents told me not to listen to them and said that I will get my wolf, that I Am just a late bloomer.

I guess they were right. My father suggested that I should train with him and Build up my strength, so I started to train with him everyday. I didn't understand what that could help but I found comfort in it. Doing the same thing everyday, like a routine, it kept the bad thoughts at bay.

When I turned 18, I heard her, my wolf came to me, I was so happy and relieved. She told me that I was too weak so she couldn't shift, I needed to train harder so I could become even stronger.

As I trained with my dad I became stronger than him and he decided that I should train with the other pack warriors instead . After roughly a year I took the test of pack warrior and I defeated all the deltas and the alpha gave me the title of top warrior since I was too young to be delta.

But still I am too afraid to tell anyone that I have my wolf since she still thinks that we are too weak to shift.

I didn't pay attention when my mom and Emily spoke so I also missed when my mom walked away and left me with Emily.

“Where did my mom go?” I asked out loud.

“To fetch more balloons,” Emily answered before smiling at me.

“So do you think you will find your mate tomorrow night? But then again, without a wolf you will probably not even sense the mate bond. I wonder if it'll even hurt to get rejected?” she said while circling around me and giggling.

I felt sad over the fact that she said those things just to hurt me. My wolf growled in my mind.

“Who knows” I answered with a shrug, refusing to let her see that she had hurt me with her words.

“ Yeah, who would want to have a mate with no wolf? And have more muscles than your typical warrior?” Emily shrugged back with a small laughter.

Before I could answer her back we heard my mom coming back and we turned around to look at her but she wasn't alone. Emily's mom and our Luna, Sandra, were with her, carrying a large box. I rushed over to them and took the box from her and she wiped my tears that were threatening to fall down from my eyes.

“I have some good news and you two will be the first ones to hear them” Sandra says and smiles at me.

“What is it mom? Is someone of high ranking coming? An alpha perhaps?” Emily says and practically jumps on the spot.

Emily truly believed that her mate would be an alpha or she would reject them.

“Oh my, so excited. Yes Emily, a few alphas are coming but I have been talking to the lycan kingdom and some of them are also coming to the ball” Sandra says with a bright smile.

“The lycans?” Emily squealed.

The lycans are coming? I don’t know much about them except what everyone else does. We are taught in school about the lycan king and his two sons. The queen and their daughter, the princess, died in childbirth, because of a witch and a curse that she placed on all lycans so all their females died.

“Nora? Nora, are you listening?” Mom said and I blinked. Noticing that all of them were staring at me. Damn I zoned out again.

“Sorry I was just thinking about the ball” I say.

My mom sighed and Sandra laughed while Emily rolled her eyes at me.

“That’s good Nora and tomorrow is your birthday too. Anyway I want you to show the lycans to their rooms when they arrive tonight and I also want you to choose and set up the rooms. This is a list with how many they are, their ranks and their names. Do you think you can handle this?” Sandra asks and smiles.

I was really surprised that she chose me for this task, usually it would be Emily’s job.

“But mom, what about me? I want to meet them first” Emily whined loudly.

“Well I can’t have Nora working on her last.. I mean on her birthday so I will give you another task til tomorrow, okay sweetie?” Sandra says and looks at me and mom nervously. Then she took back the box from me and grabbed Emily’s hand and walked away.

I looked at mom and she smiled sadly at me.

“The alpha is kicking me out tomorrow if I don’t shift right? Turning me rogue.” I said and mom nodded.

There have never been secrets between my parents and me before.

“Mom I need to speak with you and dad tonight about something I have been hiding from both of you.” I say but she shakes her head at me.

“No Nora, we already know about your wolf and so does our alpha.” Mom says and looks like she is on the verge of crying.

I just stared at her, they know? And the alpha too? I hugged my mom and she hugged me back.

“Go on and fix their rooms, honey” mom said and I nodded.

Releasing each other, I smiled and then turned around and walked to the packhouse. I was relieved to have something to do, so I didn’t have to think of unnecessary things that would bring me down.

As I walk into the pack house, I look at the guestlist, ten lycans are coming. I know that there are more lycans but not all can come. With their auras no one would be able to breathe normally. But ten lycans in the pack house? No, I need to find the beta or his mate.

I make my way over to the beta quarters and I am in luck as the female beta, Jessica, is there when I arrive.

“Beta Jessica, I need your help with something.” I tell her and she nods and smiles.

“What can I help you with Nora?” Jessica asks.

“Uhm yeah, well we will house some VIP guests for the ball but they will come tonight and I don’t think the pack house will be comfortable for them or us. So I was thinking if I could house them in the guest mansion, if it’s available?” I explain and watch her tilt her head.

“VIP? Hmm how many are there? The guest house is available otherwise.” Jessica says.

“Ten” I answer

“I will double check, wait here and I will fetch the list.” Jessica says and goes to her office.

I mindlink Sandra, hoping that I don’t disturb her.

*Luna? I’m sorry if I disturb you but I’m speaking with beta Jessica about our guests. I thought the pack house would be too stressful for them and us. So I thought that the guest mansion would be better as it’s closer to the forest but beta Jessica explained it’s occupied. Can I tell her that the guests are lycans so we can arrange it?*

*Okay. I’m on my way over to you. Are you in the beta quarters? Tell Jessica that I would appreciate a cup of tea* Sandra answers and I could hear that she was tired.

*Yes I will ask her* I responds

*Good, I will see you soon then.* Sandra says before closing the link.

“The luna is on her way and she asked for some tea” I told Jessica that I noticed it was back and waited for me to close the mindlink.

“Okay, I will go make some tea, please take a seat in my office.” Jessica answered and walked toward the kitchen.

While beta Jessica is making tea, I walked into her office, knowing my way over there even if I have never been inside the beta quarters before. The beta quarters and the gamma quarters are identical as well as the delta quarters, except for the furniture and colors.

Beta Jessica’s office was decorated with light brown and blue furniture while mom and dads office had mahogany and green furniture. But usually we would have this meeting in Luna Sandra’s office but with all the preparations for the ball, it’s overflowing with decorations and besides beta Jessica’s tea is delicious.

I take a seat in one of the blue armchairs in the corner. The office had two desks beside each other and in one corner were two blue armchairs and a blue couch with a low round table in the middle.

Beta Jessica comes in with a tray in her hands, I help her set the table just as Luna Sandra comes in. Luna Sandra sits down on the couch and we drink some tea before she explains the situation and why I couldn’t say it directly.

“Oh my, well of course they will have the mansion. I will rearrange for the other guests then” beta Jessica says.

“Who were supposed to stay there in the first place?” I asked her.

“The alpha of the silver stone pack and his guests” Jessica answers and shivers.

The silver stone pack is known for their warriors but their alpha is known for not wanting a mate. It’s rumored that he killed his first mate and every female he has had in his bed. No one in this pack wants to be his mate.

“Oh my, well then place them inside the pack house in the blue quarters” luna Sandra said.

The blue quarters are usually reserved for her family members when they come to visit. Luna Sandra comes from the Silver flower pack from the beginning.

“That should do the trick and the mansion can house the VIP’s. What about the villa?” beta Jessica asks.

“The villa?” I am confused.

“Hmm yes, the villa perhaps… yes, book the villa for the silver lake pack and for the guest house we can house the silver mountain pack." Luna Sandra says and tilts her head.

I watched as beta Jessica wrote everything down and nodded for herself.

“Nora, come look here” beta Jessica said and I got up and walked to her and double checked the papers.

“It looks good but how will we deal with all the alphas in one place?” I ask both beta Jessica and Luna Sandra.

“Oh, good question, should we arrange runs or something?” beta Jessica asks.

“What do you think, Nora?” Luna Sandra asks.

“Well with that many alphas in one place plus our VIP’s, there will be a lot of aura fighting so how about som actual fighting? In the arena I mean.” I say and smile.

“That’s really a good idea, Nora. Thank you. Shall we have them before or after the ball?” Luna Sandra says.

“The day after the ball would be good. If they have found their mates then they can show off infront of them and those who haven’t found theirs can let out the frustration.” I say and immediately stay quiet. Luna Sandra and beta Jessica nod.

I felt myself become sad and the room became cold. My wolf urged me to tell them.

“Luna and beta, can I tell you something but it has to stay between us?” I ask them and beta Jessica gets up and closes the door before sitting again.

“Yes of course Nora” Luna Sandra says.

“Well as you both know my wolf didn’t come to me on my 16th birthday but she did however come on my 18th birthday. But she did tell me that we weren't strong enough to shift, so that is why I have trained so hard. My parents and even the alpha knows of this but at midnight tomorrow the alpha will turn me rogue if I don’t shift.” I tell them.

It went quiet when I suddenly felt someone hug me and I looked up and noticed it was beta Jessica and I hugged her back. When she let me go, we looked at Luna Sandra and saw her eyes glazed over, showing she was mindlinking with someone, when she suddenly growled and we jumped slightly.

“Jessica, thank you for the tea, I needed that. Nora, you should go and prepare the mansion, take some omegas with you. I will go and talk to my mate.” Luna Sandra said and took my hand and practically dragged me out of there.

“Thank you for the tea, beta Jessica.” I called back for her and she waved at me with a sad smile.

“Call for Mia and Josh, they will help you. I will make dinner tonight, tell your parents that all of you will be eating with us at eight tonight” Luna Sandra said and hurried away.

Dinner tonight? Why?

I walked downstairs confused and sad, to the kitchen to find the omegas but both Mia and Josh were already waiting for me.

“Hello Nora. Luna mindlinked us so we prepared the bedlinen. Which house are we preparing for?” Mia smiled and asked.

“Good day to you also. We are preparing the mansion for at least 10 guests.” I told them and they nodded.

“The mansion? I have never been there before” Josh says excitedly.

Josh is really cute for being a 12 year old boy and Mia is his mother. Her mate died five years ago and Josh was the only one that kept her alive.

“Yes, so we will borrow one of the cars to get there, okay?” I say and smile at him

“Good, Josh, go and put the boxes in the yellow jeep” Mia tells him and he skips outside.

I wonder when he will notice that he forgot the boxes. Mia shakes her head at her son.

“He looks happy” I say to Mia and she nods.

“Yes, Luna said that he could help at the ball with some serving and doing some dishes.” Mia smiles.

I nod my head and bend down to take one of the boxes and Mia does the same, just as Josh comes running back and says he’s sorry. We laugh a little as he takes a box and we all help to load up the car. Then we drove to the mansion, all singing in the car.

When we arrived at the mansion it was quiet and unlocked, nothing unusual but still, I sweeped the house before letting Mia and Josh in. Even if all pack members got to train, the omegas are still the weakest in the pack and our instincts tell us to protect them.

Mia had brought green bedlinen with them and at once we started to work. I asked Josh to check all the kitchen gear and electricity. Mia went to help him as I set up the last room when I heard a scream followed by a whimper.

I rushed down the stairs and searched through the kitchen when I heard Mia whimper from outside. I sneak outside through the backdoor in the kitchen and to the front of the mansion where I see Mia holding Josh, sitting on the ground.

A large built man was standing with his hands up, showing he meant no harm to them.

“Mia, Josh, are you okay?” I ask while walking cautiously towards them.

Both nodded and showed their necks in submission. I put myself in front of them looking at the stranger. I didn’t recognize him but he certainly was handsome.

“Hello, how may I help you, sir?” I asked him.

I almost gasped when he looked me straight in the eyes, he is a lycan!

The stranger are a lycan, we can tell by their eye color, all lycans except for the royals have the same eye color, gray. The royal bloodline has purple eyes.

“Hi, I am looking for a woman called Nora but I think my aura frightened these two before I could ask them” he said and scratched the back of his neck.

“Well, my name is Nora and these two behind me are Mia and her son, Josh, they are omegas. If I aren’t to rude I want to ask you to move away from the jeep so they can leave.” I say while smiling gently at him.

“What? Yes, of course. I am really sorry, I didn’t mean to scare them.” he said and moved away from the car.

He actually moved quite far so the tension lessened and both Mia and Josh could get up without a problem. I helped them get into the jeep while assuring them the entire time that I would be okay. I waved them off and waited until I couldn’t see the jeep anymore.

“I’m really sorry that I scared your friends, it wasn’t my attention.” the man said and I turned around to look at him.

“Thank you for apologizing, mister?” I said slowly and realized I didn't know his name.

“My name is Ben,” he said and gave me a gentle smile.

“Nice to meet you, beta Ben” I answered and bowed.

“No need to bow. How did you know that I’m the beta though?” Ben asked and raised a brow.

I smiled and took out the list that I had folded and put inside my pocket, I showed him that and he nodded while reading it.

“Yeah, one problem though,” Ben said.

“What is that?” I was confused.

“One of the princes is coming too.” Ben’s eyes sparkled dangerously and I nodded.

“Wait. What? What prince? One of your princes? The lycan kingdom's prince? But, but, did we know this? We didn’t. Omg what are we going to do?” I panicked while walking around in circles.

“Yeah, Nora. Can we go inside perhaps and I will try to explain this.” Ben interrupted my inner monologue.

I nodded and then shook my head to try to clear my thoughts while I took the lead inside the mansion, Ben chuckled behind me. While I showed him the rooms he began to explain about the prince's decision. I nodded while my brain tried to keep up with the information and I stopped once and banged my head into the wall.

“ Are you okay, Nora?” Ben asked with concern in his voice.

“Yeah, I’m okay now.” I say and force my brain to work. I have a job to do, I can have a mental breakdown another day.

I showed Ben all the rooms while asking him which one he wanted and if the colors were okay. Then I showed him the big bathroom with a bathtub big enough for five people, the living room, the playroom with xbox and all other kinds of games that I have never played. The kitchen is restocked so they can fix their food and then I showed him the pool outside and since it’s still warm outside the water will be nice as well.

At last I explained about the forest that surrounds the mansion. We have marked up the boundaries to the other two packs with flags in the trees. One of our neighboring packs aren’t so kind to trespassers while the other will accept anyone as long as they aren’t rogues.

We took a seat at the bench by the pool and Ben asked one of the questions I wanted to avoid.

“How come your wolf isn't affected by my aura? Don’t you have a wolf? Or perhaps have you not shifted yet?”

I took a deep breath and began to explain while trying to hold back my tears.

“I haven’t shifted yet but I have my wolf. She came two years later than the others but as we haven’t shifted I often get bullied but I am one of the top warriors in my pack.”

“A late bloomer, that’s okay though, we get ours by the age of 18 and shift by the age of 21 anyway” Ben shrugs.

“I was 18 when she came but she told me that we weren’t strong enough to shift then” I say and look down, feeling sad.

“Is it okay if I try something? It won’t hurt, I promise.” Ben says and tilts his head and I nod.

Ben takes my hands in his and I shiver when I see his eyes flick to black letting forward his lycan. My wolf perks up and is curious about what is happening so I let her see through my eyes.

“What the hell?” Ben says and pulls away his hands.My wolf retreats with a loud huff.

“Oh I just thought you were my mate and my lycan could call your wolf forward but we aren’t so I’m sorry if I surprised you.” Ben said and I looked at him.

*Nora. It’s me, mom. Sandra spoke with the alpha and he gives you one more day so you can be in the tournament tomorrow if you want, honey*

*Tell Sandra that I am happy, thanks mom*

*Sure honey. Oh and Sandra said that you and Emily don't need to eat dinner with us tonight. Don’t forget that we love you, honey.*

Ben had been waiting patiently for me to finish with the mindlink.

“You look a bit more happy but at the same time really sad. Was it because of me?” Ben asks and I sigh and shake my head.

“No it isn’t because of you it is because of me. I suppose I can tell you now since after tomorrow everyone will know anyway. My alpha is kicking me out. He is a proud man and takes high pride in his pack and when something isn’t as it should be, like a wolfless girl, he turns them rogue.

But he knows that I already have my wolf and is still going to kick me out if I don’t shift. But our Luna did not know about my wolf and so she made him change his mind a little. So instead of turning me rogue tomorrow on my birthday, it will happen the day after tomorrow. Yay for me.” I explained and jumped out of my seat as a ringing of growls were heard.

It wasn’t just one loud growl but seven of them as I turned around toward the forest and saw six more well built men that looked yummy enough to eat.

“That’s outrageous” one of them said

“Completely, we must tell the prince”

“Or the king”

“What kind of alpha can do this to their own pack member?”

“Okay, stop. You guys are scaring Nora.” Ben said and shook his head.

“I’m fine, thank you. May I know your names so I can check the list, please.” I say and bring out the list as the other guys approach.

“Sure, no problem but is there something wrong with your wolf? A usual wolf would be showing signs of submission right about now, especially since we are so many at one place.” One of the men asks. He is really hot.

“I don’t know. I haven’t shifted yet.” I shrug

“Hmm okay, anyway my name is Daniel. These two are twins, Andrei and Grey, they are warriors. Linus, Lukas and Anton are warriors in training. Then there are three more coming, Tristan, Fred and Nick along with the prince.” Daniel says with a wide smile.

“Okay so we have the beta, the gamma, two warriors, three warriors in training present. Then a beta in training and the delta along with Tristan and the prince are coming along. What is Tristan’s rank?” I say while I make some notes on the list. As I look up I notice all of them staring at me.

“Nora is cool, she has everything under control here. Tristan doesn’t have a rank, no wait I guess he would be the prince's personal assistant.” Ben says while laughing.

“Great, then I have everything. So the ball is tomorrow night, what do you guys want to do before then?” I ask and look at them.

“Well what do you suggest then, Nora?” Daniel asks and winks at me.

“Well we do have a big forest and there is a pool right here” I begin to say but stop as the guys begin to laugh. I look between them confused. “What?” I ask them

“Well Daniel is flirting with you and your suggestions were all things where we need to undress so..” The guy named Grey says and smiles at me while pointing at Daniel. Daniel looks really happy but I can see he is blushing slightly. Cute.

I blush way too hard now as I can feel my cheeks getting hot. “Well I..” Then I remember what Emily told me before and I become sad once more.

Ben touches my arm and looks at me concerned.

“It’s nothing. Just something a girl told me earlier came into my mind. That nobody would want me since I’m very well trained for a female wolf and I also have a very large and ugly scar on my back.” I sigh and look down on the grass.

I feel a couple of strong arms around me and I look up in Daniel’s gray eyes.

“You are beautiful Nora, don’t let anyone tell you anything else, okay?” Daniel says and I nod.

“Well then I guess we should let Nora go home and we should unpack and then go for a run. Perhaps Nora wants to come over and perhaps swim a bit tomorrow or we can play some in the playroom?” Ben says and looks at me.

“Sure I can come by tomorrow if everyone wants to since I am probably the only one that won’t run away from you guys. So if you want to I can show you around tomorrow?! I say and smile, hoping really hard that they will say yes.

“That would be so great” Ben says and the rest of the guys nod in agreement.

“Wait. What about your celebration then?” Daniel asks and I look at him.

“What celebration?” I ask in confusion.

“Yours of course. Your birthday is tomorrow right?” Anton says.

“Oh! Well we don’t celebrate our birthdays. We celebrate when we get our wolves and shifts. Also when we find our mate or when we get a new rank in the pack or so.” I explain and tilt my head to the side.

And once more the guys growled but I just shook my head and smiled and took a step back from Daniel’s embrace.

“Well can’t you guys tell me how you usually celebrate your birthdays then?” I say and smile, wondering what they do differently.

“Oh well, you do know that we are immortal right? so after the first 100 years we don’t get the huge celebrations but usually we get cake and some gifts and a smaller party.” Ben explains.

“I know you guys are immortal. But why do you get gifts?” I wonder and I really don’t get that.

“What do you mean why? We get gifts because it’s our birthday and the people want to celebrate that.” Linus says and frowns.

“Yeah sure but I have never received a gift before so I don’t get it? I mean our celebrations are cake and getting food first.” I say and shrug

And once again all the guys are staring at me and I sigh.

“Okay, well we definitely need to show you a proper celebration, perhaps next year then. Anyway usually the guys go for a hunt and end up in a stripclub later on. The girls, well the few fated mates that we have in the kingdom usually go shopping for stuff. But they go all in with the presents and cakes and other stuff like that.” The twins, Andrei and Grey, explain.

I stare at them thinking it would be nice if I also got celebrations like that, just once. I slowly nod my head and smile a bit. Who am I kidding? I am going to be a rogue, not a part of the lycan kingdom. Sigh.

“Well I need to go now but I will come back tomorrow. Oh and by the way, if you do take a run in the forest it is free play since the alpha has forbidden everyone else to go near this part of the forest and I told Ben about the boundaries.” I explain while I walk toward the mansion.

“Okay we will try not to leave here then. But can I get your phone number so we can reach you in case of an emergency?” Ben asks and I tilt my head.

“I don’t have a phone? what is it by the way?” I ask and feel even more confused than ever.

Ben and the other guys look at me like I have grown an extra head or something.

“Oh, well, how do you guys communicate with each other then?” Ben asks and scratches his head.

“Mindlink” I answer him and shrug.

“But we aren’t a part of this pack so we can’t mindlink with you” Daniel says and looks sad.

“Don’t tell anyone about this please but I can actually mindlink with everyone I have touched once. “ I say and look down. Missing the knowing look between Ben and Daniel.

“Well then, since we will keep your secret close to our hearts, you can go home now, Nora. But I will miss you the entire time we are apart” Daniel says and waves. I blush at him but go home.

The next day

“Happy birthday, Nora.” my mom and dad say as I walk into the kitchen.

“Thanks” I say and smile. Mom has made my favorite breakfast.

I take a seat at the table and start to eat.

“So, Nora, I need you to be home for at least two hours before the ball begins.” mom says and I roll my eyes.

“It doesn't matter mom. No one will want to have me as their mate anyway. Remember I am worthless since me and my wolf can't even shift.” I say but jump up when my dad slams both of his fists down onto the table

“Stop this at once Nora. You should know not to listen to the brats in this pack and especially the alphas spoiled daughter.”

I smile at my dad while mom gasps and my parents start to argue but I tune them out as I feel the mindlink open up.

*Nora? Are you up? Happy birthday. I was wondering if you could come over, some of the guys are bored out of their minds without your presence*

I chuckle at Ben and my parents glance at me but I just shake my head.

*Thanks Ben. Sure give me an hour to get there, I need to shower and change out of my pajamas. How do you guys feel about a tour of the pack?*

*That would be fun, the twins are eager to find their mate*

*Aren't you?* I ask Ben.

*See you soon, Nora* Ben answersand closes off the mindlink.

“Well, Nora, should do whatever she wants today,” Dad says as I listen to them. Mom nods and gives me a hug and smiles.

I say thanks for the food and hurry back to my room for a shower. I lay out some clothes on my bed, a pair of panties, shorts and a tank top. I dress quickly and put on my shoes, say goodbye to my parents and walk out of the packhouse when I feel my wolf wake up.

“Oh Nora, wait up.” Emily shouts. I stop and turn around to face her.

“My dad wanted me to go with you since the lycans already have met you so you can introduce me”Emily says with a wicked smile.

“Fine but I am walking there, do you think you can handle that?” I ask and look at her up and down. She is dressed in a short dress and high heels.

“Walk? No stupid Nora, we will drive there in my new car that I got from my dad last week.” Emily says and sweeps her long blonde hair over her shoulder.

Fine, fine, the princess is in charge again. I followed her to the silver car and took the seat next to the driver. Just as I was about to put my seatbelt on I noticed we weren’t alone, in the backseat sat the triplets.

The triplets are Emily’s new friends or whatever you wanna call them, Josie, Jane and Joan. All of them have green eyes and blonde curly hair, they follow Emily’s orders and are just as horrible as her.

“Emily, do you have your parents permission to bring them with us?” I ask and look at her as she sits on the driver seat but she just smiles and shrugs at me.

Oh how fun this will be, I will get in trouble if she hasn’t got any permission. Sigh.

Halfway to the mansion Emily started to slow down the car and I sensed that there was something wrong with this situation.

“You know, Nora. Dad told me that if you don’t shift tonight on the fullmoon, he is going to kick you out of the pack and turn you rogue tomorrow. He was going to do it tonight but mom pleaded not to do it on your birthday so you got one more day, isn’t he nice? You should thank him on your knees, you know.” Emily laughs and so does the triplets.

I glare at her but say nothing and then I turn my head toward the window just as I notice that one of the triplets, Joan, is leaning forward and I turn my head slightly in her direction but it was a mistake. I didn’t get the time to react before I was thrown out of the car and rolled onto the gravel. Damn.

Joan distracted me while Josie opened the door and Jane unclipped my seatbelt while Emily accelerated and pushed me out of the car at the same time. I scratch up both my arms and my legs, I bounce my head in the road and groan as I skid to a halt.

Emily shouts as she drives away while the triplets laugh.

“Now you will fit in perfectly with the rogues”

So damn childish, what are they? four years old or what? Sigh.

“I saw everything. Are you okay Nora?” Ben’s voice is heard and I jump slightly as I realize that he was closer than I thought.

I turn around and look up just to stare right up at a fully shifted lycan. They are huge. Ben’s lycan are gray and his eyes are black as he looks down at me. I feel for my wolf but she just yawns at him, bored.

“Ben? Wow, your lycan is huge!” I am impressed.

“What? Oh, right, I was on a run when my lycan sensed that your wolf was closed and he guided me here and I both saw and heard what those girls did to you. So if you excuse me.” Ben said and without effort lifted me up in his arms.

I yelped from the sudden movement but put my arms around his neck, well almost anyway, when he suddenly started running towards the mansion.

We come into the backyard and I notice Andrei standing there with a pair of shorts. He smiles when he notices us and I smile back at him.

“Nora, you are finally here but why are you hurt when you come to us? Come here so I can help and treat your wounds.” Andrei says and holds out his arms for me.

But before I could protest and explain that I don’t need help, Ben handed me over to Andrei and took the shorts from him. Fascinating I watched as Ben shifted back and I felt a bit sad over the fact that I most probably wouldn’t ever be able to shift.

“Don’t be sad, Nora. You will shift one day, I promise. But right now, please stop gawking at Ben or Daniel will be sad. He likes you a lot and I think he would like to choose you as his chosen mate.” Andrei tries to comfort me.

“Wait. What? But he can’t take me as his chosen mate, I will die if he marks me.” I say and stare at Andrei.

“Yeah we know. But there are ways around that. We have all agreed to take you with us to the lycan kingdom tomorrow night so you will never be rogue.” Ben explains and I stare at him. Happiness bubbled up inside of me and I felt a tear slip down my cheek.

Andrei and Ben walked inside with me and stopped in the kitchen to tend to my wounds. While Ben walked to the bathroom to fetch a towel and Andrei worked on getting the gravel out of my wounds, I noticed that the place was ominously quiet.

“Where are the others?” I ask just as Ben comes back with a small green towel and a jar.

“Oh they are waiting for you outside but we should hurry because Daniel is beyond pissed off” Andrei says while Ben takes som balm from the jar and starts to tend to my wounds.

I feel my wounds start to tingle and the skin gets warm. I looked at them and noticed them closing way faster than I have ever healed before. I gape at the sight of it before looking at Andrei and Ben.

“It’s homemade, you will probably feel a little bit of a high a bit later but maybe not, we will see.” Ben says while Andrei chuckles and I nod.

I was just about to say that it would be fun but I closed my mouth as a high pitched scream rang out. I jumped down from the table and almost crashed right into Ben as he didn’t move.

“What was that? What is going on?” I ask almost in panic and look around.

“Yeah, come and hold onto me if you want and I will show you” Andrei sighs and holds out his arm which I take.

I like touching someone that doesn’t hate me or treat me like I’m a vermine. We walk out of the front door and I gasp at the sight before me.

Daniel, Grey and Lukas have all shifted while the others stand around and look angry. Before them are the triplets and Emily kneeling on the ground in absolute terror.

I release Andrei and walk up to the brown lycan that my wolf tells me is Daniel and I touch his arm gently. He turns his head away from Emily and looks down at me and for a moment it feels like time is standing still and it’s just the two of us.

“What are you doing out here like this? I thought I was going to show you guys around?” I ask with a smile.

But before he could answer me, Emily’s annoyingly, sickly sweet voice laced with terror was heard.

“Nora, you.. help.. us.. or I will.. tell my dad about.. this..” she stuttered

“Ben mindlinked us and told us what they did to you so you see, Daniel here got real angry and lost control of his lycan. When the brats came onto the grounds he forced them into submission right here.” Linus explained in a boring but angry voice.

I turn my head and glare at Ben. I would’ve handled this myself but no of course he couldn’t do that, sigh. Ben just stared at Emily in shock and I looked at Emily but she kept her eyes on me. I will be damned if they aren’t mates, no way in hell that I will move to the lycan kingdom now.

I sigh and crouch down and hold my head in my hands. Daniel bends down and picks me up in his arms and once again I am in the arms of a lycan.

“You whore.. is this why.. you aren’t.. helping us?.. Have you.. had sex.. with all of them?.. Slut..” Emily spits out through gritted teeth.

She earns herself a loud ringing of growls as all the guys growl at her including Ben. She lets out a scream when she is smashed with their auras and the triplets cry even harder. Emily snaps her head up and looks around until her eyes land on Ben and she all but screams.

“Mate”

Now everything became quiet and all the guys stare at Ben, wondering what he will do. Ben growls loudly and shifts into his lycan and takes off to the forest.

“Well he will have a hard time now, deciding” Andrei say

“Yeah but please tell the brats to piss off so we can spend some time with Nora instead. I can’t stand the sight of these idiots any longer.” Linus says and points at Emily and the triplets.

Daniel growls even higher and all four girls get the hint as they run to the car and drive off. Daniel carries me inside still in his lycan form which is huge. But my fear dies out as he seems just as comfortable in this form as well. He walks past things without destroying them.

Daniel puts me down gently on the lounge before he wanders off and Linus comes and sits down next to me.

“He will get dressed and then he will come back” he says and I nod.

“Where are the others?” I ask him.

“Well some are chasing Ben and the others are trying to find our lost friends. They were supposed to meet them this morning but they wanted to see that you were okay first.” Linus explains and I just look at him in shock.

“Oh, okay. Can I ask why Ben reacted so strongly against Emily and the matebond? I thought it was really rare for you guys to find your mates?” I asked him as I was so confused by Ben’s behavior.

“Ben’s little sister was also bullied and she died when she was gangraped by a pack of rogues. She was tricked by a couple of females in our pack” Daniel explains while he walks inside.

I stare at him in horror. What is wrong with people?

“You remind Ben of his little sister but not because of your appearance, you don’t look alike but your personalities are really similar and she was also a bit weird” Linus says and Daniel chuckles.

Daniel takes the seat on my other side and puts his arms on my shoulders. I take a deep breath and smell his scent and let it comfort me.

“Andrei and Ben told me that you have been thinking of bringing me to the lycan kingdom and taking me as your chosen mate” I say and look at Daniel.

“Did they say that? Traitors.” Daniel muttered and blushed slightly.

Linus chuckled.

“It isn’t so bad actually and you won't die because the bond will be artificial”

“Artificial?” I ask and look at Linus in confusion.

“Yeah, with a witches help” Linus winks at me and earns a growl from Daniel.

Well it is tempting but I don’t know if I want to live another life with Emily again, sigh.

“Let’s not talk about this right now. Let’s take a swim instead” Daniel say and pulls me up in his arms

“But I didn’t bring a swimsuit” I protested and tried to get down and Daniel just smiled at me.

Linus laughed and followed us outside and I really tried my hardest to get down from Daniel’s arms when I suddenly was airborne and then I hit the water. I will kill him.

I force my body to relax and I sink to the bottom of the pool and lay still. I could hear Daniel and Linus shouting my name but I didn’t move at all, I even closed my eyes and relied on my senses and my wolf.

Both guys dived into the pool but Linus reached me first as he grabbed my head and forced it up, probably to look in my eyes. Daniel grabbed my arm and turned me over and I let him when I felt Linus touch my lips with his thumb I opened my eyes.

Linus screamed underwater although only bubbles came out but he didn’t move away fast enough as I headbutted him hard enough to draw blood. I started to spin my body around and flung Daniel into Linus' body and they crashed into the wall. They tried to untangle themselves from each other and I swam up to the surface in the meantime.

As I broke the water surface and took a deep breath I was lifted by a pair of strong hands, Ben.

“Impressive water dance. Are you perhaps a mermaid?” Ben chuckled.

“Yeah, almost. I have always been really good at holding my breath” I say and shake my head and splash some water onto Ben that is blushing real hard.

“Your tank top made your skin visible” Linus said as he climbed out of the pool. I looked down on myself and noticed he was indeed right.

“I will go get you a shirt,” Daniel said while Ben turned around.

“He will probably get one of his own to drench you in his scent. By the way, Nora, what is that scar on your back?” Linus said and I frowned but touched my shoulder.

“Oh, that. Well I told you guys that I am one of the top warriors in this pack and one day on training I encountered rogues and a lot of battle happened. Then someone slashed a silver knife down my back and I was put in a coma for roughly a week to be able to heal myself” I explain and look away just as Daniel comes back with a black shirt in his hand.

Linus was right, the shirt had Daniel’s smell on it and I chuckled at the thought. All three guys had turned away from me now so I could change my tank top. Cute.

“Ben? If you don’t mind that I ask but what are you going to do now? With Emily I mean.” I ask him when I have finished changing and Ben looks back at me.

“I don’t know. We don’t get a second chance mate like regular werewolves do but neither me nor my lycan likes her. She is mean and superficial.” Ben growled and looked away with a sad expression.

“You know, Emily hasn't always been this mean. When we were younger, we were best friends but I think that the pressure from our school friends and her dad turned her into a mean bitch.” I explain and now all three guys stare at me.

“Don’t defend her, Nora. she isn’t worth it, our lycans can sense when someone is rotten and Emily is rotten to the core. She will never change.” Daniel growls low and Linus nods his head.

“So how about we go inside instead and play something? Forget about the boring stuff for a while. I know they have some cool stuff inside that I want to try atleast once.” I say and all three guys agree with me. I push away the thoughts that invade my mind. If their lycans can sense that about Emily, then what do they sense about me? Sigh.

The rest of the day was absolutely one of my best. We played a lot of games, the xbox is my favorite so far although I always lost but it was so much fun to play with others. Then we laughed a lot so my stomach started to hurt but we cried even worse when Linus brought food that he cooked.

The other guys came and joined us two and I finally got to meet two of their lost friends, Fred and Nick. They complained about the food so I offered and made enough sandwiches to feed half of the pack. I was highly praised by the guys and Daniel was busy growling at all the guys when they touched me. We all laughed at him and he blushed as he couldn’t control his lycans possessiveness.

“Hey Nora. I know this isn’t my place but the time has really flown away and shouldn’t you do some girly stuff before the ball?” Grey asked me and I gasped in horror. I had put up a mental block on the mindlink, not wanting anyone to disturb my fun time.

And as I drop the block, I also drop to the floor clutching my head as my moms loud voice is ringing through it.

*NORA! Where in the world are you? Young lady come home this instant or you will regret it*

I whimpered at her voice and answered. *Yes, mom*

Once the ringing stopped I opened my eyes and looked up into Daniel’s gray eyes. He had catched me before I crashed onto the floor. I noticed that all of the guys looked concerned for me.

“I’m okay but I should get home or my mom will kill me. I will see you guys tonight? At the packhouse?” I say and give them a small smile.

“ Yeah we will see you later. Can we meet by the forestline?” Linus asks and all guys relax as I smile and nod.

I practically ran home and to say that my mom was pissed off was an understatement.

“You go take a shower and shave, we don’t have much time to get you ready for tonight. Only 45 minutes. Hurry!” my mom said and looked on the verge of a breakdown.

It was my absolutely fastest shower and shaving in my entire life. My mom was satisfied and started with my hair by curling it. Then she tried to do the makeup and after a bit of arguing that I won, she didn’t put so much on my face. Some eyeshadow and lipgloss.

Then she showed me the dress, it was stunning. A deep emerald color, one shoulder and the skirt flared a bit but stopped around my knees. Mom put my hair onto the shoulder that was bare and covered my scar elegantly and also made sure my scent could be smelled by ease.

My mom took a pair of flats out that were decorated by green rhinestones.

“Come, let’s show your dad” mom said and I nodded my head with a bright smile. Even I think that I am beautiful.

“You are so beautiful, my baby girl. But you really need to go now or you will be late” dad said and hugged me.

As I walked down the stairs and out of the packhouse I was ambushed by Emily and the triplets. They kicked me behind the knees and I fell down in the dirt. When I tried to get up Emily growled and took out a knife. The triplets held me down while Emily cut my dress into nothing, she even cut my skin so I bled all over it.

I trashed against them but I was tired and slow in my movements, the knife, it must be silver plated.

“This is your own fault. You little slut. That lycan is my mate and you will not be in my way, do you understand” Emily growled and stomped down her shoe in my face before kicking me in my stomach.

Emily and the triplets walked away laughing, they left me there bleeding and crying. My dress was destroyed. I cried more as I once again showed them that they could trample all over me and I couldn’t even defend myself. Weak and useless.

A low growl came from the forestline. I had forgotten about the guys, they couldn’t see me like this but as I tried to move Daniel was crouching beside me. He wiped away my tears.

“I have decided now. I am going to reject her.” Ben growled and I didn’t say anything. I noticed all the other guys coming out too. They either gasped or growled when they saw me.

Linus came over and put his jacket on me to cover me and I nodded weakly at him.

“Take her back to the mansion and heal her” Ben said and I felt Daniel as he lifted me up in his arms.

I put my face in his neck and cried in silence.

“Everything will be okay Nora. Let us deal with this.” Linus said and Daniel started running.

As we came up to the mansion my wolf woke up and sniffed around. Something smelled nice but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

A new face greeted us and Daniel told me it was Tristan and I nodded and mumbled a hello. Tristan took the jacket away from me and his eyes flickered black as his lycan looked out.

“I will fetch the balm” Tristan said while Daniel put me slowly and gently down onto the lounge. I took off my torn dress and looked down on my wounds just as Daniel growled low at them.

Tristan came back with the balm and gasped when he saw me, both him and Daniel helped rub on the balm and made the wounds close themselves.

“Well you can’t wear this dress anymore, pity because it was very pretty. But you know I actually have a dress with me and I think it would fit you perfectly, miss Nora.” Tristan said and I turned to look at him and shook my head slowly at him.

“Don’t bother, I am not going there anymore.” I say and Tristan looked at Daniel.

“Yes you are. Because I want to have your first dance you know.” Daniel says and lifts my chin so I look directly in his eyes.

“You should go, miss Nora. To show them that you are not easily broken down. Show them how strong you are.” Tristan encouraged me.

“Thank you. Yes I should go but I don’t have another dress and my hair and my makeup is destroyed so it’s not any use for me to go there” I say and stare at my hands.

Tristan takes one of my hands and kisses it slowly, earning a growl from Daniel.

“I have everything you need so come with me and I will make you shine like the star that you are, miss Nora”

I giggle at him, he really is nice. I follow him to his room where he shows me the dress and helps me with my make up and my hair and then helps me with the lacing on the dress. When we are finally done Tristan helps me down the stairs where we meet Daniel and he smiles.

When we made our entrance at the ball everyone went quiet and the whispers were louder than I thought.

“Who is that?”

“Are they lycans?”

“Isn’t that Nora?”

“Is she mated to both of them?”

“Lucky her”

And so on.

“Nora, may I have your first dance now?” Daniel asks and I accept.

We take place on the dancefloor and we start to dance. It's a very calm and slow dance and I can hide from everyone that stares at me. Daniel chuckles at me and I turn my face up to him and he bends his head down to me and places a soft and gentle kiss on my lips.

A roar is heard and Daniel is ripped away from me by a man that smells divine. The strange man growls one word that makes me freeze along with everyone else here.

“Mine!”

Daniel was ripped away from me by a man that roared. “Mine”

My wolf woke up and started to wag her tail. “Mate” I say out loud.

The man in front of me turns slightly around to look at me and he smiles at me and nods.

“Yes I am your mate and you are mine” he says to me and I stare at him. He’s wonderful, dark blonde hair and dark purple eyes. Wait, purple eyes? He is the prince of the lycan kingdom.

“Yes, I am your mate and you are mine, princess” He says in a deep voice.

“Your majesty. I didn’t know that she was your mate, please forgive me.” Daniel says and I look around my mate to see Daniel kneeling on the ground.

“Yes, I know Daniel but now you do and I want you to respect that, alright?”

Daniel nodded and avoided my eyes.

“Good, now then I would like to get to know my mate, so what do you say? Is there somewhere where we could be alone to talk?” My mate turned to look at me and I nodded and pointed toward the fountain in the middle of the garden.

We walked over there, leaving the others, but I couldn’t concentrate on anything other than my handsome mate. Just yesterday did my mom, me and Luna Sandra decorate this place.

The fairy lights hang down from the trees and across to the fountain, creating a magical and intimate place.

“So I get this is a surprise for the both of us” He suddenly says as we sit down on one of the benches across from the fountain.

“I suppose, If you want to reject me, please just do it fast.” I say dejected and look down at my hands.

It was quiet for a minute until a growl teared out of him and I whimpered by his heavy aura that slipped out of him.

“Why in the world would I do that? Do you know how long I have waited for you?” he almost shouted at me and I just stared at him, unable to do anything else.

“No, no. But I need to tell you something that might change your mind.” I whisper and he nods at me slowly.

“You have had sex with both Daniel and Tristan. I can smell both of them on your skin.” he says and looks away.

“What? No, I am a virgin. Tristan gave me this dress because mine was torn and Daniel just danced with me and..” I told him

“He kissed you” he finished what I was saying and I nodded.

“So what did you want to tell me then?” he asks and takes one of my hands.

“ Well I am not like any other werewolf, they call me wolfless since I didn’t get my wolf at the age of 16 but I did get her when I turned 18. She told me that I was too weak for her to shift.

Since then I have trained every day and I have the rank of top warrior and I have muscles all over. I am not slender and pretty like most girls and I understand if you want to reject me now. Because honestly who would want a mate that can’t shift and let herself be bullied when she is strong enough to defend herself.

And tomorrow night she is kicked out of her pack because she is the great shame of her alpha and her pack” I rambled while fighting back my tears, which didn’t work.

My mate just stared at me when he suddenly took me in his arms and kissed me hard.

“Don’t cry princess. Let me tell you something, we lycans don’t get our lycan until we are 18 and we don’t shift until our 21 birthday. But a female lycan won’t shift until she is marked by her mate so you see, there is nothing wrong with you.

Your wolf, as you like to call her, was just waiting for me. Look at your reflection in the water princess.” he explained and I feel that I am so confused. But I do get up and walk slowly toward the fountain.

I stop and turn my head to look at my mate that stands up now and nods at the water. I take a deep breath, making myself ready to get laughed at, but when I look down at the surface I gasp.

I look like myself but with my makeup is smeared over my face but what stands out the most are my eyes. Instead of my dark green eyes they are glowing purple as my wolf is peeking out.

“Do you understand princess? I have been waiting for you all this time. You are mine and only mine.” he said and hugged me from behind.

“Nora” I whisper.

“Nora?” That suits you. Well Nora, my name is Helios and I accept you as my mate.” he says and I blush as his voice is so close to my ear.

I turn in his arms and smile, he bends down and kisses me softly on the lips.

“I accept you as my mate too” I say when we stop kissing each other.

“Can I get a dance with you then, Nora?” Helios asks me and bows with his hand outstretched towards me.

“Yes” I take his hand and he kisses mine.

Helios leads me back to the ball where we can hear the music and the chatters.

“Let’s show them that you aren’t a weak, wolfless little girl instead you are this strong, beautiful woman that is the mate of the lycan prince.” Helios whispers as he takes me in his arms and we start to begin to dance.

“Helios? Why are my eyes purple? I thought that only the royal bloodline had them?” I ask him confused.

“ Oh that. Usually it is but my mom was not from any royals and her eyes turned purple when she met my dad and they accepted each other. Dad believes it’s because of the matebond.” Helios says and smiles at me.

I nod my head slowly. That makes sense, I think.

We continue to dance until a scream is heard and we stop and look around us.

Emily comes rushing over to us but stops as Helios aura leaks out, probably because I jumped slightly when I saw her.

“Nora! What have you told Ben? It must be your fault that he doesn’t want me” Emily wheezes out her anger at me.

“Or it’s your own fault Emily. You haven’t been exactly nice to our future queen have you now?” Ben says as he walks up behind her.

“A queen? Her? Don’t make me laugh. She is nothing. Worthless. Bitch.” Emily spits out and once again earns herself a ringing of growls.

“Miss Nora, can you please give me Emily’s full name and title?” Ben asks me as he looks me in the eyes. I can see his sadness in them so I give him what he wants.

“Her name is Emily and she is the daughter of the alpha and luna of this pack.” I say and smile sadly.

“Thank you, Miss Nora.”

“I, Benjamin, beta of the lycan prince Helios, hereby reject you Emily, daughter of the alpha and luna of the silver stream pack” Ben’s voice was high and clear.

The scream that left Emily was shattering and I turned my head from the sight of her.

Helios let me go and I watched him go over to Ben before nodding and Ben bowed to me and walked away.

Then I felt 10 claws in my arm and I whimpered in pain. I looked down just to see Emily on her knees and her eyes black, showing the grief of her wolf.

“You backstabbing bitch. I will kill you. I, Emily, daughter of the alpha of the silver stream pack, challenge you, Nora, daughter of gamma of the silver stream pack. "To the death.” Emily screams in anger and sadness.

I feel this overwhelming force and my vision darkens.

“I accept your challenge, Emily. See you tomorrow at the arena.”

Emily gasps.

“Your eyes, they are purple. You do have your wolf.” she says in utter horror.

My vision brightens when I hear Helios' voice.

“What is this challenge about?”

“What? What challenge?” I ask him confused.

“This Emily girl just challenged you and you accepted” Helios says and I stare at him in shock.

“I did what?” I almost scream.

“Your wolf must have taken control and accepted for you then” Helios chuckles.

What? Oh my goddess. What have you done, you stupid wolf.

The alpha of this pack made all warriors swear a pledge so we can’t hurt any member of this pack. Especially the alphas family.

I am so doomed, help!