PROLOGUE

Honey

It was the end of the school day, and I was walking down the corridor of the high school that I attended when my best friend Avery ran up to me, happily throwing her arm around my shoulders. "Can you believe it? Sixteen today! How cool is it that our birthdays fall on the same day? she asked, giggling.

"It is pretty cool huh?" I replied, grinning at her, I asked, "I wonder how many friends are as lucky as we are?"

"So, tonight there is a combined get together at my house for our birthdays. Cristi and my mom have been planning this for weeks. They were trying to keep it a secret and thought that I didn't know, but I did," she told me grinning. "Whatever made my mother think that she could hide something like this from me, I will never know," she stated.

"Avery, I'm not sure if that's a good idea. I mean… maybe I shouldn't go tonight. Avery, you know your brother will probably be at the house, right? And you know how he feels about me. Ave's honestly, I don't want to be around him and his bullying on my birthday. It's bad enough that I have to deal with him every other day of my life," I told her.

"I understand that Honey, I really do. But tonight you will be with me, and my parents will make sure that he doesn't get out of hand if he turns up," she told me.

"What do you mean if he turns up? He lives there. It's your family's house," I reminded her.

"Yeah, I know, but he has his own life you know. He goes out with his friends and does his own thing. So, like I said, he probably won't even be home," she replied.

"It's his sister's birthday. I am sure he will be there for you," I told her, feeling my stomach begin to churn at the thought of having my bully attend our joint birthday gathering. As much as I loved Avery, the thought of having to be at her house and around her brother was making me feel nauseous.

"Honey, I am your best friend, there is no way I would allow my brother to do anything to hurt you. I am my father's little princess and I have him wrapped around my little finger," Avery assured me, giving me a brilliant smile that lit up her face.

"For your sake, I hope you're right," I told her, shaking my head at her confidence in her ability to control her father.

"Why is that? Are you going to use the training my grandfather has been giving you to hurt me?" she asked, laughing at the thought.

"Maybe I will," I replied, grinning at her.

"You wouldn't do that. My grandpa would have a coronary if you were to do that," she said as we made our way out of the schoolgrounds. We walked towards my house, discussing our day and the classes we had had. My house was before hers, so it was normal for Avery to drop me at my house before continuing on to hers. When we arrived at my house, we walked inside and went upstairs to my bedroom. Avery went to my wardrobe and opened it looking at my clothing.

"So, what do you think you will wear tonight?" she asked, as she looked at the selection of clothing hanging up in front of her.

"Not sure yet. What about you?" I asked.

"I have a few ideas, fortunately for me I have several hours to make up my mind," she replied with a giggle.

"You're crazy, you know that right? When we have any event coming up, you plan everything in meticulous detail when it comes to your outfit. Now you are telling me that our sixteenth birthday has arrived, and you have no idea what you are wearing to the party?" I asked her laughing.

"I will throw something together in no time," she assured me.

"Well, in that case, you had better get to it," I told her, making my way towards my bedroom door. I opened the door and we stepped out just as Zac was walking out of his bedroom. Avery who had been walking beside me and laughing suddenly stopped and went quiet. I looked at her and noticed all the color had left her face and her eyes were bugging out of her head. I looked at Zac who was standing in front of us looking at Avery in apparent shock. Suddenly a grin broke out on his face and he started walking towards us.

"Mate," he whispered, stopping in front of Avery.

Suddenly Avery snapped out of her shock and stepped back away from him. "You must be joking," she hissed. Zac looked shocked as well as a little hurt by her reaction. Avery took that moment to rush past him and down the stairs, running out the front door.

"I will see you later," she told me through the mind link. I looked at Zac who was looking at me in open hostility. He was looking at me like I was the one to blame for Avery's reaction. Not wanting to deal with him, I walked back into my bedroom, shutting and locking the door behind me.

Two hours later I arrived at Avery's house, pulling up in Tony and Cristi's SUV. As soon as I was out of the car I looked towards the front door and saw Avery was waiting in the doorway with her parents. I had chosen to wear a pair of black leather pants with black heeled boots, completing the outfit with a burgundy Michael Lauren Osian top. I had pulled my hair back in a braided pony tail and applied minimalistic makeup. I never wore jewellery. I was always worried that if I was to wear the items of jewellery I had been given for birthdays and Christmases over the years, the people who bullied me would just steal them. So, if they stayed hidden at home, I knew they were safe.

I walked over to Aver who was dressed in a dark blue a line scoop laced dress. It had beading on the bodice and the color was perfect for Avery's complexion. She looked stunning in it. She had her hair gathered up in a nice updo with a few tendrils hanging down around her face. She looked stunning.

"You look wonderful," I told her as I embraced her.

"So do you," she said, smiling at me. "Do you think I will ever have the opportunity to see you wear a dress?" she asked me giggling.

"Highly unlikely," I replied, laughing with her. I hated dresses. Cristi and Avery knew this. I preferred wearing long pants, so cargo pants, leggings, jeans and sweat pants were my thing.

Once the greetings were out of the way, we all made our way inside. I was relieved that Avery's brother Caleb wasn't home. I didn't want to deal with him. I felt bad for Avery though. I could only imagine how bad she was feeling having Zac here at this moment. We walked through to the dining room where the food was in the process of being set out on the large dining table. I sat down beside Avery, and her father raised his glass of champagne and said, "Happy birthday to you both. Sixteen. What a milestone. Around midnight the two of you will meet your wolves and go on a run together. Like me, I am sure that everyone else here is excited and feels privileged to share in this momentous occasion with the two of you."

"Cheers," Avery's grandfather said, raising his glass to us.

We ate our meal which was a selection of different meats with an assortment of salads and vegetables. There were dinner rolls, gravies and assorted sides as well. Avery and I were having a great time talking and giggling, and we were listening to the stories that the adults around us were sharing. I could feel Zac's eyes on us and I hated it, but I was trying not to let it get to me. Once the main meal had been eaten, the table was cleared and the desserts were laid out along with fresh crockery. A moment later, a large two-tiered chocolate mud cake was brought in and set down on the table right in front of Avery and I. The cake was covered in chocolate ganache icing, with strawberry icing trickling down the sides of it. The cake had purple and blue fondant stars stuck to the sides of it and numeral candles showing sixteen on top of the top tier. The candles were lit and the adults and Zac began singing happy birthday immediately. Once they had finished singing, Avery and I blew out the candles together and hugged each other. Avery's mother stood up and began cutting the cake and Cristi stood up and began helping her hand out the bowls until everyone had a slice of cake in front of them. The cake was delicious. Once I had finished my piece of cake, I also tried some of the other desserts that had been set on the table. I was really enjoying myself. As we tried each other different deserts, Avery and I discussed the desserts and what we thought of them.

The sound of the front door closing alerted us to Caleb returning home. "Don't worry, I'll protect you," Avery said as she giggled.

Caleb walked into the room and stopped a few feet from the table. I was avoiding looking at him. I didn't want to have him ruin my evening. As far as I was concerned, he had ruined enough moments in my life over the past four years. 

"Caleb, you missed dinner. However, as you can see, there are plenty of dessert choices to choose from," his father told him.

"Yes, they are all very nice. I have been enjoying the desserts as you can see," his grandfather added.

I wasn't looking at Caleb, but I heard him say, "Mate" real quietly.

"What?" his dad asked, looking at him in shock. "Who?"

"Who's your mate?" his mother asked, looking excited by what he had just said.

"No way man! She's my mate!" Zac growled, jumping up from his seat at the table and sending the chair crashing behind him.

"Like hell," Caleb growled as he approached Zac. The two boys were squaring up for a fight when all of a sudden Avery's father shouted, "That's enough. Sit down both of you."

The two boys sat down quickly and Avery's father asked, "Zac, explain to me who your mate is."

"Avery," Zac replied.

"Caleb, who's your mate?" Avery's father asked.

"Honey," Caleb replied.

I had been refusing to look at him, but now I did. He was looking at me with a look of fascination upon his face. Usually I had only seen him with a scowl or a smirk upon his face. For four years I had seen this boy at his absolute worst. Did he honestly think that him being fated to be my mate would just erase all the pain and humiliation?

"You can't undo what you did just because some twist of fate has made us mates," I told him.

"The same goes for you too, Zac," Avery said, looking across the table at Zac.

"Would someone please tell me what is going on here?" Avery's father asked, looking at Avery and me in confusion.