PrefaceAfter witnessing how the love between her parents helps them conquer all the hardship that they went through in the past, Fern grew up wanting to have such love and bond with her fated mate.Almost every shifters are bound to find their fated mate once they turn eighteen, but just that was not the case for Fern.Two years after Fern turned eighteen, she remained mateless.But she had a hunch that, in this year's mating ceremony, her fated mate would finally show up.Fern's fated mate did come.The only problem was the shifter whom the Moon Goddess fated her had a complicated feelings towards her.With a fair share of hatred towards Fern and her family, it sounded next to impossible for Fern and her mate to make love bloom between them. But who knows?After all, they were once crazy for one another.Fern's Perspective The mating ceremony officially ended. Shifters who had found their mate started to leave the mating ground, and just like the last two years, I was left standing
Fern's Perspective Giovan's eyes hardened. "You're not doing that little tree," he said to me. Giovanni is my brother. I could feel our bond as fated mates, but I didn't want to accept it. Nuu-Chaah might have made a mistake pairing us. "Eight years ago, I didn't blame nor resented you when you couldn't do anything to help me when Alpha Dylan exiled me...." "Giovan, please. If we accept the bond as fated mates. Daddy will hate you even more! If he only threw you to the wall before, this time he might kill you—" "Don't turn your back on me the way our parents did, Fern," Giovan begged. He looked in pain. "We grew up together, Giovan. Half your life you were treating me like a sister." "Do you want to know why Alpha Dylan and Luna Cherry agreed to kick me out of Starsmoon Pack?" I shook my head and covered my ears. "Your father saw the way I look at you. He said that's not how a brother looks at his
Fern's PerspectiveGiovan slowly pulled away from my neck. Our eyes locked in."Who do you belong to, Fern?" He asked."You," I said. My inner wolf growled in desire. Something about Giovan attracts me deeply, I found his scent addicting, and my wolf now can't stand being away from him, not even an inch."Who?" Giovan asked again."Who owns you, little tree?""You do," I said again.Giovan pushed the hair off my neck, staring darkly at the mark on my neck. He draws a smirk."Do you know what else happens on the night a she-wolf was claimed by her fated mate?"I looked at his wound."H-How can we mate when you're hurt and weak?" I asked. Giovan lifted my chin, gently crashing his lips with mine."Part your lips wider, Fern," he whispered. I pulled away from him remembering something."You remember it now. Our first kiss," he whispered to me."
Cherry I let myself in, noticing Dylan’s keys in the bowl on the table. My heart punched my chest like a jackhammer, overreacting to the fact that he was home. I dropped my own keys in the bowl with a clatter. A moment later, Dylan’s study door opened. Dylan filled the doorway. His shoulders were so broad they almost touched both sides of the frame, and he seemed to loom over me, even with the long hallway between us. I always felt overwhelmed by his presence. His dark eyes found me in the low light, and I fought to conceal how much his stare affected me. His strong features were so handsome, filled with all the rugged beauty of the Moon God that only our pack’s most talented artists could hope to imbue their sculptures with. I felt Dylan’s pull on me like I did the full moon. I wanted to go to him. My lips prickled as if telling me to use them as I wanted to. “Kiss him,” they seemed to whisper. If only... Instead, I stated the obvious, “You’re home.” He frowned. “Thought you wer
Cherry Worry crept through me. For what must have been the thousandth time, I wondered if there was something wrong with me. Dylan hadn’t shown any sign of being attracted to me. He didn’t seem remotely interested in me like that. He hadn’t even kissed me, and we’d lived together for a whole year. Heat flushed over my skin as one of my common fantasies played through my thoughts: Dylan’s tall, muscular form pushing through my bedroom door, his dark eyes claiming mine before he took me in his arms and kissed me. But that’s where the fantasy petered out as it so often did. After all, I didn’t have much experience in that department. Who was I trying to fool? I didn’t have any sexual experience. Nothing. Helplessness whirled through me. The truth was, since being told by our Alpha and Luna that Dylan was my fated mate, I’d grown up with the idea that things between us would just happen. It’s not that I’d intentionally kept myself for Dylan, but I suppose, looking back when I’d fantasi
Dylan I clicked the door shut to my study, running my hands through my hair in exasperation. Exasperation at Cherry, at myself, at this whole god-damned situation. For a moment, guilt kept me at the door. I thought of Cherry perched on a bar stool, eating alone in the kitchen. Her grey eyes washed-out and picking daintily at her meal. I almost went back. Almost. It wasn’t that I didn’t care about her. She was… What is she? The truth was I didn’t know anymore. But the hopefulness in Cherry’s tone as she’d said dinner was ready had knotted my stomach. It wasn’t at the thought of her cooking. Her food is always bloody delicious. I knew part of me would regret not sitting down for a bite. But it was what lurked beneath that simple offer of food. An important part of the mating bond was a mate’s desire to nourish the other. The more frequently I gave in to her cooking and ate with her, the more chance there was for the bond that was destined to exist between us to grow. No doubt, it
Dylan Again, I imagined the slender woman sitting in the kitchen, her long blonde hair and smooth heart-shaped face undeniably beautiful. It was why I couldn’t share a room with her, despite the hurt I knew it caused her. After all, I was still a hot-blooded male who saw how god-damned beautiful she was—every day. I didn’t trust myself to share a bed with such a beautiful woman and keep my hands to myself. I knew Cherry was only eighteen and likely hadn’t had any experience with guys. After all, from the age of eleven, she’d known she was destined to be my mate and the future Luna of the Starsmoon pack. She deserved her first time to be with someone who truly cared for her. And although I found her beautiful and desirable because of my parents and the future they’d decreed for us, Cherry came with too many trappings. I was a future Alpha. My future wouldn’t be dictated to me by anyone. Once, after a few beers, I’d confessed all this to Bert, my Beta, and friend. He’d advised me to t
Cherry Our whole pack was seated around a huge banquet table, draped in crisp white linen and decorated with candles and flowers. A feast of rich dishes rested along the middle, which the pack had all pitched in to make, and were all enjoying now. Despite the festive mood, my own was strained. I sat to the left of Dylan. He was to the right of his father, while Heather sat to Chris’s left. I felt like Dylan, and I were supposed to be the mirror image of our Alpha and Luna, but creeping shame built in me. I couldn’t help noticing how often Heather leaned in to talk to Chris or patted her husband’s arm and other little signs of affection that marked the pair as a proper couple. Whereas Dylan and I had barely exchanged two words all night. Dylan mostly talked to his father about pack business. The only time I managed to speak to him was to ask if he’d tried the salmon or venison and other dull things. A sheen of sweat beaded along my forehead as I dwelled on what everyone must be thin