1 CHAPTER 1

Cooper's POV

I looked at myself in the mirror, my hair was wet from the shower, my skin looked slightly pale. Today, is the day our packs will merge and today is also the day I turn 18 years old, the day I find my mate.

I have never believed in this mate bond thing, how can you fall in love at first sight? But, maybe today, I will finally find out how. I brush my hair out of my face and get ready for school. Senior year is no joke, applying to universities and making life changing decisions.

I got dressed in a white t-shirt with black ripped jeans and my black leather jacket. I put on some extra cologne to smell good, just in case I find my mate, but I know it is useless since we only smell our mate's original scent, their natural scent.

I grabbed my bag and made my way down the stairs. I walked to the kitchen and took a seat opposite my father.

"Good morning, father" I greeted him.

He folded the newspaper and set it aside. He folded his arms across his chest. My father can be a very intimidating man, he is the most disciplined and serious person I have ever met. He stared at my cloudy gray eyes with his own gray eyes.

"Good morning, Cooper, happy birthday. I hope your birthday does not distract you from your duties as the future Alpha of our pack. As soon as your school is over, you get here and be ready to welcome the new pack and then we have a dinner with all the old and the new pack members where you will announce if you have found your mate. Is that clear?" My father spoke in his deep voice.

"Thank you, father. And yes, I remember that the new pack is joining us today and I assure you that I will be here on time to welcome the new members. The guys and I will also be helping the Red Moon pack with moving in their stuff, sir."

Yes, you heard it right, I call my father 'father' instead of dad or pops or papa. The only acceptable terms that I can use to refer him are 'Sir' and 'Father'. My father is a veteran and he is a disciplinary. He has raised me as if I live on the borders which I am not complaining about but sometimes it feels good to be on the receiving end of his love. My mother is only one who is fortunate enough to see his soft side.

My mother on the other hand is a very compassionate, kind and gentle woman, she is always showering everybody with love and affection. She is truly a mother figure for our entire pack. Speaking of my mother, I can hear mom singing while she whips up some food for us. I can hear her footsteps coming out of the kitchen.

Mom walks out with two plates full of food. I can see eggs, bacon and pancakes. She sets one in front of my father and gives him a peck on his cheek then she makes her way towards me and sets my plate of food in front of me. She leans down to kiss my cheek and with a huge smile of her face she engulfs me into a hug.

"Happy birthday, honey! You are finally a grown up" she says as she retreats from the hug.

"Thank you, mother" I say politely.

"Oh honey, what did I tell you about calling me mother? I don't care if we are in your dad's company, I still want you calling me 'Mom' ", mom complained.

I hesitated before saying "Yes, mom".

"Are you excited to meet your mate?" she asked in an overly excited tone.

"I am not sure how I feel about finding a mate, mom. I don't know what to expect and like you already know, I don't believe in the mate concept that much" I replied.

"Coop, you will believe it when you meet her" with that said mom went back to the kitchen.

I finished my breakfast quickly before leaving for school. I got into my car, which is my dad's old car, his first car to be precise. The car is old and a little beaten up but holds a lot of sentimental value for my father and I.

I avoided the traffic and reached the school on time. I parked my car in my usual spot and got out. Harry and Stephanie were waiting for me by the school doors. Stephanie and Harry are my second and third in command respectively, they are also my childhood friends hence I trust them with being my Betas.

"Happy Birthday, champ" Harry yelled as he fist bumped me while Stephanie took a much gentler approach and hugged me while greeting me softly. I thanked them both as we made our way to our lockers.

We picked up the necessary books from our lockers. Harry and Stephanie were discussing the new pack's arrival which I ignored. I walked to the restroom before the class started. As soon as I stepped into the restroom, I was intoxicated with the overpowering scent of French Vanilla and Lavender. I closed my eyes and savored the smell.

Closing the restroom door behind me, I walked further into the restroom towards the source of this scent. The person whom this scent belonged to turned around looking confused as hell and sniffing some more. Our eyes locked and both of our eyes widened. She was one of the prettiest girls I had ever seen. She was a natural redhead with chocolatey brown eyes and plump red lips.

My wolf was howling and jumping around in joy as I tried very hard to keep myself composed. All I wanted to do was press her against the walls and make sweet love to her right fucking now but I decided to take another approach.

I walked towards her until I was face to face with her. My wolf of chanting mate in my head. As soon as I stood in front of her, she pushed me to the wall and captured me between her and the wall. I liked her being rough with me. Exciting tingles ran throughout my body.

"Mine" I growled in my deep rustic voice before leaning closer. "May I?" I asked eyeing her lips.

She didn't respond with words instead she captured my lips with hers. Her lips were soft and plump. Our lips glided over with ease. I licked her lower lip asking for entrance while my hands made their way to her lower back. She parted her lips granting me access. I massaged her tongue with mine and sucked on her lips while elicited a moan from her.

The temperature seemed to have gotten hotter. I was feeling very hot. I had to stop myself now if I didn't want to be having sex with her for the very first time in our school's bathroom. I flipped us so that she was against the wall now. I pushed myself into her and deepened the kiss. She let out a beautiful yet loud moan which brought me back to my senses. I slowly pulled away from her, both of us breathing heavily trying to catch air.

She looked confused as to why I pulled away from the kiss. "I am sorry for doing that but I don't think you'd want our first time to be inside a ladies room. I am sure that you would want our first time as mates to be special. I am sorry but, I don't want you to regret our first time being in a restroom" I explained myself.

She seemed to understand. She looked like she was in a deep thought. "What is your name?" she asked, her voice was angelic, very sweet and very seductive at the same time.

I was having a hard time controlling myself and my wolf who wanted us to mark and mate with our mate this instant. But I know, I will have be strong.

I cleared my throat before speaking with a smile "Cooper, and yours?"

"Full name?" she asked.

"Cooper Blake Jones" I said.

"I, Heather Penelope Bloomingdale reject you, Cooper Blake Jones as my mate."

My heart shattered when I heard her utter those words. My mate was rejecting me, was it because I didn't have sex with her here? I composed myself and maintained a neutral expression.

She pushed herself off of the wall and I stepped away from her to give her some space. She bumped her shoulders into mine as she started to walk away from me, but I held her wrist to stop her. Electricity shot up my arm, she must have felt it too because she looked at out hands before glaring at my face.

I let go of her hand before speaking "I am assuming that today is your birthday" she nodded her head.

"I don't have a proper gift for you, but it looks like this will be the the first and last birthday where we get to meet, I have a small gift for you." I pulled out a chocolate bar from my pocket and extended my hand. She took the chocolate bar, still looking at my face with confusion written all over hers.

I took a step closer to her. "May I?" I asked and she nodded her head understanding what I was indicating to. I pressed my lips to hers for a brief moment but before I could pull away she grabbed me by the neck, not letting me go. I deepened the kiss before biting her lip a bit too harshly before breaking the kiss.

"Happy Birthday" we both wished each other at the same time. I walked away from her quietly as my heart shattered into a million pieces. There was this hole inside my chest, aching and burning at the same time. My heart yearned for my mate and my wolf was whimpering in pain. I was so close to shedding tears but I know that I am stronger than that.

This is why I never believed in this mate bullshit but guess what? It is true, people are capable of falling in love at first sight but my mate just broke my heart by rejecting me.

I made my way to the class and took a seat. The whole day passed by in a blur. I still couldn't get over the fact that my mate rejected me and I was heartbroken. My whole existence ached for her but I knew I had lost her.

Heather's POV

I rejected her, I rejected my mate. I knew she wasn't my true mate because my one and only true mate is Drake, Drake Banjo. I have planned my entire future with him, he has been my boyfriend for two years now and, I know that he loves me and I love him. He is my soulmate.

Even though I knew that I didn't love her, my heart still ached when I rejected her. Her kisses made me so hot and bothered. If it weren't for her stopping the first kiss, I am sure we would have mated and it would have been a lot more difficult to reject her then.

Her kisses were so hot, the way she bit my lips a little too harshly sent jolts of electricity in my body. My entire body was aching with lust and desire.

I quickly made my way to my class where my boyfriend was waiting for me. We attended the rest of the classes. I was impatiently waiting for our classes to end so that we could go back home and make sweet love to him. I was so turned on that the wait was painful.

As soon as the last bell rang, I grabbed Drake's hand in mine and ran towards my car. We got inside the car and I drove out very fast. We made our way to the house. I burst through the front door and ran upstairs with Drake in tow, ignoring my mom calling out my name.

When I reached my room, I opened the door and latched myself on to Drake's lips engaging us in a passionate make out session. I worked my fingers on his shirt and threw it on the ground. I jumped up and wrapped my legs around Drake's waist.