SEVERAL MONTHS LATER
When I was young, my mother was known and loved for her social nature. She was everywhere you go. I always felt uncomfortable being left with my nannies, so she always takes me along. Every day, a new place she steps in—which was why I was okay with adapting.
They had told me someone saw me lying lifeless in the Pack house and brought me to this Pack called Sage Pack. They told me I wouldn't want to return since the person that plotted my death, my Uncle unfortunately, is the new Alpha of my former Pack, a place I once called home. They asked me to remain in the Pack, in the care of the kind-hearted Miss Vivienne, and act dead. I adapted to my environment quicker than I thought. However, informing me that I needed to find a mate or else my rebirth would expire and I would go back to being dead—did it for me. At once, I broke. The adaptation slipped away from me without warning.
I had lost all my powers when I became reborn. And I had no wolf. How was I supposed to perceive my mate? If I needed a mate to remain alive, then I definitely would be dying very soon. Marcel rejected me the day I died, and that was my third rejection. I heard that after a third rejection, there is a 90% possibility that I don't have a mate anymore. But if the Moon Goddess was kind enough to give me one, then it'd be extremely hard to find him.
Besides, no one liked me in this Pack. They looked at me like a piece of rag. Even right now, as I'm dressed in my finest dress for the welcome-back party for the Alpha, I looked so out of place. The hall was buzzy, filled with elite werewolves dressed in the most elegant outfit ever. Of course, they'd look at my dress like it was a piece of rag. It was a wine sequin dress, and it fitted perfectly. It was gorgeous, but it also showed my bust and my plus-sized weight, which made the people stare at me as if I was a beggar.
I ran my hand down the dress, adjusting it everywhere. A voice echoed from behind me, "Stop doing that."
I looked back, watching Astrid stride towards me, a drink in her hand. She had bought the sequin gown for me on credit—even when I pleaded with her not to. Astrid had been the only one to accept me with open arms. She had been nice to me as Miss Vivienne has. The only friend I had in this Pack.
She wore a black open-back mini gown with glitters. I looked at her shape. The gown fitted perfectly. I wished I could just have her shape. Maybe I would have found a mate that would protect me when Uncle tried to kill me. Not like Marcel, who ran away and left me for the dead. Or maybe I would have found another mate by now to prolong my days on earth.
"I said stop pulling the gown. You'd ruin it. Don't you like it?" she asked, dropping her drink on the tray of a passing server.
The hall was the Pack's main hall, called the Hall of Sage. It was very large and could accommodate ten thousand people. Everyone gathered in the hall for the welcoming of the Alpha were not more than fifty. Astrid had managed to pull some strings and got the VIP ticket for us. She said she wanted to meet the Alpha.
The Alpha was her biggest crush. Drawings of what he looked like hung on the walls of her room. Her drawer was filled with letters she had written about him that never got delivered. She said she met him once back in school, where he picked her as his date for a dinner party, and she had fallen deeply in love with him since then. I always roll my eyes at her and even teased her that she had no chance with him because he would most definitely not look at her twice. But deep down, I knew he would if he wanted to—because she was gorgeous.
"You are looking a little too hot in this dress," I teased her.
She twirled playfully. "You know why." She eyed me.
"Astrid, the Alpha is most likely to appear with a Luna."
Her smile dropped. "Stop jinxing it!" Her lips parted again with a smile. "He won't."
"And even if he doesn't, he won't remember you," I teased again, leaning against a stand in the hall as the bustling proceeded.
"He would. I have a plan." She smirked mischievously.
"Which one?" I plucked out the letter she held between her fingers. "This?"
She jumped. "Give it back!" she protested.
I leaned away from her, keeping the letter out of touch, and opened the envelope, slipping the letter out.
"Look what we have here..." I studied the content of the letter.
"Dear Alpha Sinclair." I read out and frowned. That name sounded familiar. "Is that his name?"
She blushed. "Yes. Sexy and beautiful, right? I actually have a ship name for us. AstridClair. Beautiful, right?"
I snorted. "You are obsessed with this man."
She winked at me. "I'll take that."
"Be careful, though. Men are not that nice for you to be doing all of this."
She plucked the letter back from me. "You speak like it's from experience."
My smile faltered. Marcel...
Marcel's betrayal cut deeper than a knife. And I didn't want to reopen that wound.
"And I have faith that this would work."
The bustling finally settled down, and the atmosphere changed—becoming chill and still, as if a presence had graced the hall.
And a presence had indeed graced the hall.
He stepped towards the podium, just steps away from where Astrid and I stood.
I could only catch his back view, dressed gracefully in a wine-red tailored three-piece suit.
However, when he turned to face us, my breath was stolen. He was the most gorgeous person I had ever set my eyes on—nothing like the drawings from Astrid's room. Dark brown hair slicked back, a strand dangling off. Perfect sculptured nose. Cupid bow lips. Skin like milk. Eyes as transparent as glass.