16

16

My entire being freezes. Erin and i had very few secrets between us. Nothing too deep, we knew even the embarrassing stuff about each other, and that was not because we were such excellent secret sharers, it was because of our keen ability to read each other. At first we tried to fight it, keeping secrets away from ourselves and end up figuring it out the way it was exactly.

I try to figure what exactly gave me away. Was it my facial expressions? What I said? Body language? Did werewolves give out some kind of alert to others that they found their mates? Oh my, if that was the case I was finished. My plan of secretly sending him away could be thwarted.

"How did you figure out?" I give in. There was no need to go around in circles when he already knew about the whole thing.

His eyes went wide for a fraction of a second. He was actually surprised by my answer, he was not sure about it, maybe a hunch but it was possible that it was just an idea he had.

"I put two and two together." He says slowly.

His eyes work furiously, trying to conceal the surprise he was feeling. I almost chuckle at that, but it was not the right time.

"Was it very obvious?"

We had stopped our shopping at the milk aisle, I try to fiddle with the milk cartons I saw, but Erin's mind was far from them, very far from the mall. I don't suppress the sigh that comes out of my mouth.

"No, I saw it only times we were alone with him. Then the surveillance footage that showed you jumping in front of him. Your explanation about you not wanting him to die sounded authentic until one sees how you are with him."

I gulp.

"Do you think any of the guards has it figured out like you have?" I fear the worst. It would be all over social media by morning, everyone would mock me seriously, I can see other cities rising up to replace me as alpha.

A shiver runs along my spine and it was not from the cold.

"No, I don't think so." Erin responded. He was scrolling through his phone.

I angle my head so I can see what makes him think they have no idea. He moved the phone out of my vision line. I rolled my eyes and finally start moving away from the rows of milk, I had already put in more milk than I needed in my basket.

"Actually, they think you absolutely despise him. They don't suspect a thing." He says following me.

"You know this how?"

"They have a forum online. The guards and all, to remind them of their duties so none of them came by their shifts late. And that's where they gossip freely about you."

I raise a brow. Texts were not exactly hear able, not until you read them out loud that is. And I could pretty much hear everything once I zone in enough. The perfect way to gossip in a place full of werewolves was through texts. Which reminds me, I had to comb through the surveillance footage of this mall to find out if any other person heard Erin's mate question. I was not worried earlier because the place was a ghost town, especially since it was self check out. There was nobody but Erin and i.

"Why are you in their forum? You aren't a guard."

He gave me a flat look that said, I can't believe you are asking me that.

"I am on every online forum should I choose to."

I shake my head, heading towards the exit.

"I should send you to Tig, you would be so much useful to them."

He rolled his eyes as he fit everything into the a bag.

"I do plan to work there after I graduate."

I stop to watch him. He does not meet my eye. That meant relocation, he was going to leave crescent moon central and stay in Tig for as long as he worked there.

"You always said I belong with the techies. That I am one of them. Here's my chance to check it out."

"You know you won't be able to leave until you work there for at least six to seven months."

He nodded. Typing into the self check out that it was the alpha paying. I put my fingers in the finger print scanner. It beeped and flashed green light.

"It is important that I get job after I graduate. I don't want to be forced into being a guard."

The cold air outside nipped at face. I didn't realize how warm the inside of the mall was until I stepped outside.

"Good. I don't want to see you doing what you don't want to. Even if we will be miles apart. And probably only see each other during the moon goddess holidays."

"And whenever you visit Tig."

I swallow, I don't want him to see how much it affects me, he might change his mind and become a guard instead. If we were being honest, Erin was very much useless in any other area that was not technology.

"I don't graduate any time soon. You can't get rid of me that easy." He says as we stop close to my Den.

"See you tomorrow morning?"

He nods with a slight smile before speeding away.

Inside my Den was so chilly and dark that the emptiness was re-enforced by plenty folds. All of a sudden the emptiness made me very lonely. I felt like I was hollow, like something was missing inside of me, something really important.

"Well Grace, sounds like it's just you and me tonight. Like always." I sigh, sinking into the only sofa. The grocery bag long forgotten on the kitchen island. I could put them away later.

Weariness creeped into my bones, reminding me that I had not had a minute to rest since we went out to pick up the corona.

"You can't sleep here. You should try to force yourself in bed." Grace advised.

And that is exactly what I do. I force myself into bed. My warm, soft bed, embracing me like a long lost friend.

For the first time in a really long while, I dream. I dream about the day I was made the alpha of Crescent moon pack.

Three Months before I turned eighteen, the old alpha died, alpha Leon. And the whole of the pack mourned him. He was the most merciful, patient, and the most kind alpha our pack had in years. He ruled for five hundred years and every one loved him. Unfortunately, he died of old age. And it shook the whole pack, so much that we mourned him for a full month. Each time the water at the moon goddess's temple turned red, an indication that a new alpha was to be picked, no one showed up. We refused to let go of our beloved alpha Leon.

Until our pack started getting threats and attacks on a daily basis, our numbers were dwindling, all because we were spineless. Other packs thought it would make them seem better once they each a pound of flesh from us.

All of Crescent moon pack ran to the moon goddess's temple. The water was not red. We waited for at least a month, getting even more attacks from every angle. We prayed to the moon goddess to send us a new alpha. I remember it so vividly. The smell of blood, the pungent, putrid smell of death that was present everywhere. We were always on the run for our lives. Parents sacrificed their lives to protect their kids. Nothing worked, there was no food because everyone stayed indoors. A few of us, lucky few, fled into the human world.

One random day, everyone thought the moon goddess had forgotten our pack. She was not responding to our calls, even when the high priests and priestess called unto her, she never responded.

The water turned blood red. The red so thick that it was undeniable. Need travelled fast, before long everyone was gathered around the large pot—a pot so large everyone gathered around it and saw very clearly whose picture was reflecting in the water. I was so stunned I took a huge step backwards, just in case I was reflecting from standing there.

But the collective gasps and stares I got, it was clear who it was. I felt the earth move beneath me. Erin caught me before I hit the ground.

It was the beginning of a new era, the beginning of the first era with the first ever female alpha of the crescent moon pack.