Chapter One

I opened my eyes as the late afternoon coming through the window of our range rover sport hit  them. I let out a groan, my nap wasn't long enough i was sti sleepy. I checked my phone it was 3:30 on a Saturday afternoon and we had been on the road since five. I sat up and stretched, my muscles were stiff from the long hour drive. "Where are we mom?"

"About twenty minutes out kmof st johns. You need to wake up and fix yourself up dear, you have got drool all over your face."She smiled as she looked back at me,

Olivia lawson was a  stunning without benefit if make up. Her sweedish heritage was clear, in her angular facial features, long blond hair that hung straight to the middle of her back. At age forty she haf a figure that a twenty something would spend hours in the gym for.

"We Wil be arriving at St judes pack house in the next twenty minutes, do you remember who we are meeting?" her father and the Alpha of the Tyrone's pack in South carolina was an imposing figure, even sitting behind the wheel."Yes dad we have been over it, four Alphas and their teenage sons who will leer at me and try to get into my pants," i shook my head, i really didn't want to deal with them. But it was protocol for unmated sons and daughters of Alphas and Betas to be brought to intercom meetings. There were so few of them and matings are so important for our survival.

" We have talked about your attitude Lauren, you need to be polite and respectful of the Alphas and their families, as we are trying to build alliances with them" dad looked at me in the mirror "and who knows maybe one of them will be your mate."

"I don't want a mate daddy" I looked out of the window "the last thing i need is someone who just wants to put a baby in me, am boy ready to be that right now, i want to get my education, find my way in the world first"

My mom laughed "i said the same thing when I was young, i had a year of college left when i met your father in a convention in denver, i thought my life plans were gone too but i talked to him about what i wanted and he supported me me"

"You guys are different, disgustingly cute but different, you believe in mates and true love some of this Alphas dont." i say with finality

"we just have to be more careful dear, we want you to be happy, to find your true mate that Luna has decided for you. That's why we have taught you how to defend yourself but more importantly how to avoid bad situations. There will be those who want to put their mark on your neck just because of what it will gain them, if one succeeds you know what happens."she squeezed my hand tight" you have to watch yourself and avoid bad situations  don't ever find yourself with unmated males, stay with us or your friends."

We had covered this in some very uncomfortable pack classes on werewolf mating. Basically, their is one true mate, someone Luna herself has designated for you. Finding that person isn't easy, but you recognize them by smelland the pull is stronger and instant when you see them. When the male bites the female on the shoulder, it starts a mating bond between the two. The female can bite the male back, but that is for show, not for the bond. It just warns other females he is taken. 

The bond is completed whne the two make love in either wolf or human form. And the male bites the female again. Once the bond is formed, the bond only ends in death whne on roof the two dies. The connection is so strong that the surviving werewolf usually chooses to follow ther mate into death rather than go on without them. 

The problem is the bond can also form with the males bite even if the two aren't true mates, you will be irresistibly drawn to him to complete the bond once he bites you. The bond will overrude your desires even if it's againt your will. Tragically when this happens your true mate could be left alone for the rest of his life unless they take a mate out of convinience. 

"Don't worry mom, I will behave for the meet and greet and i will also take care of myself" 

 I look out of the window we had taken the exit from 1-45 and now moving through the outskirts of the small city. "I hope my mate ends up being a third or fourth Alpha son" 

"we will close that bridge when we come to it Lauren, No matter what we will be happy you are with your mate" my mom says

"A third or fourth son, well the first son was the Alpha heir and the second was usually his Beta. The sons stayed with their pack of birth, and it was expected their mate would drop everything  leave her pack and everything she knows and go to be his Luna. In this case, these would leave my pack without an Alpha successor incase my parent's stepped down or died. I hated the idea of strangers fighting for the right to my packs. If it was a later son, they still had Alpha blood but didn't have a higher position waiting for them in their pack for them. So they would move to my pack and we would be next in line for Alphas. 

 The other reason was the older sons grow up knowing they are next in power, and many of them are stuck up ass holes. I have no interest in hooking up with them. 

I dug into my purse for my comb and mirror, we were getting close. I wiped my face clean, got the hair back under control, and applied some touch up make up so i wouldn't look like i just spent the last eight hours sleeping. 

Dad pulled up in front of the pack house, and there was a reception line waiting for us. "Okay, everyone smile and stay sharp, we can't trust them yet." I nodded at my father as we got our and walked around. 

I took a deep sniff of the air, pivking out the scents of the gathered Alphas and their families.