LAUREN'S POV
Sitting on the towel I've laid by the river of a deep forest close to my pack, I consider this hideout place my paradise.
This is the only place I can be myself without the fear that someone will find out my true identity.
I like to spend my quiet time by the river in the forest, not too far from my pack. I often visit the beautiful forest to clear my head from the day's stress.
When the thought of a dream I had a day before crossed my mind, the moon goddess appeared to me again.
"My child, it is time."
Her message to me was clear, but I asked still, “Am I prepared?”
Am I prepared to take back my father's throne from the traitor, who killed my parents and took over our pack?
It was just one sentence. She smiled at me and then vanished.
The first time she appeared to me, I was just thirteen years after I first shifted into my wolf form.
That was also the day I met my companion and my wolf Jada.
“She’s gone, Lauren.” Jada said and then added, “She’s so incomparably beautiful. Beautiful as always, just like you."
I rolled my eyes at her for comparing me to the Goddess.
I am Bianca Lauren Blaze, the only child of Alex Blaze, the former Alpha king. But my new pack members know me as Lauren Hackman.
My life has always been a series of battles, but these battles have made me stronger. So yes, I am a warrior in my pack.
At the age of thirteen, I was considered one of the best fighters in my pack because, at that young age, I was able to take down men who had trained for years and were considered the best.
The Moon Goddess has blessed me with strength. Well, some people are afraid of that.
While some people admire me, and others hate me for reasons I don't know.
I'm eighteen. Everyone in my pack believes I'm wolfless. That's why they hate me.
Well, that's what my parents led them to believe anyway. Why? Because my adopted parents want the pack to believe I'm too vulnerable to the killer who killed my real parents.
Every werewolf is supposed to shift at the age of sixteen but since no one has ever seen my wolf, they made them believe I have no wolf.
They say I am the most beautiful girl in my pack, yet some people treat me like a plague except for my family, some warriors, my two friends, and the alpha.
People who don't have wolves or have weaker wolves are considered lower ranks in every pack, despite the teasing, and bullying.
I didn't let it get me down.
I believed in myself, and I know I am strong even without a wolf.
Walking through the beautiful flowers on my way to the pack house.
"Mate is here," Jada said.
"Jada stop imagining things. Our mate is nowhere near this pack."
"We don't even need him now so what do you care if he is around or not?" I asked her.
"Are you sure, we don't need mate?" she asked.
"Lauren, have you forgotten how you always imagine him between your legs, but you claim you don't need him? "
I didn't answer her because I knew I was guilty.
My mind drifted to the mate bond and the story about it.
Some people in my age have already found their mates but the funny part of it is that I am not even looking forward to meeting my mate any time soon.
But I do wonder what my mate looked like. I feel lonely sometimes and I sometimes wish he was around me, yet I don't want to meet him soon.
I was lost in my thought when I heard Sienna the wannabe Luna say, "What brings her Majesty, the wolfless bitch to the pack house?"
Sienna, the pack whore, and also the girlfriend of Griffin, our future Alpha, said.
I looked back to check if she was talking to someone else.
"Stop pretending you don't know. You are the one I am talking to, Lauren."
"Oh sorry your majesty the pack whore! I didn't know you were talking to me." I said to her.
"How dare you call me the pack whore!" She sneered.
Sienna has always been bitter towards me, right from grade five.
She always competed with me in everything both school and home, but I always beat her to it effortlessly.
I don't know why she is so obsessed with me. When the Alpha named me the best female fighter of the pack, she said bluntly to the hearing of everyone that I didn't deserve it.
The Alpha punished her by washing dishes and mopping the floor of the pack house for a week and this even fueled her hatred for me.
I tried walking past Sienna and her friends, but they blocked my path.
"What the hell do you want?" I asked them.
"What are you doing here, Lauren?"
"Lauren, let me show this girl a lesson." Jada said to me.
"No Jada, not now, this is not the time let's just ignore this girl."
My wolf threatened to take control, so I left to avoid blowing my cover. She's a ruthless creature and I don't want her to do anything that we will regret later.
I said calmly, “I don't owe any of you an explanation. This pack house is a place for all pack members and every pack member is welcomed here.”
“Get lost before I do something I will regret later.” I told the girls, “Let me pass.”
But Sienna challenged me. I had to walk ahead, causing her to tumble.
People always underestimate me because of my small frame.
Sienna wailed, but she brought it upon herself. She had brought it upon herself.
I laughed, drawing the attention of others in the pack house.
Sienna's action made it funnier. Griffin, the Alpha's son, rushed over, asking what happened.
"She pushed me," She said first, pretending to be hurt.
Griffin pointed a finger at accusingly, "You. You wolfless bitch, why do you hate Sienna so much?"
Griffin foolishly asked me and continued, "Apologize to her, you wolfless bitch!"
His words triggered my wolf, and I tried to calm her down, but it was too late. I attempted to walk away, but Griffin rushed towards me, stopping me in my tracks.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, raising his hand to slap me.
