Her Fate

LUCY

“Lucy!” A voice calls, “Last time I’m telling you! Your breakfast is going to get cold!”

I groan loudly in response and shove my head underneath my pillows. The silk sheets are just too comfortable.

“Lu, come on, Mom is going to kill you at this rate.” I hear Derrick’s voice through my bedroom door. “Dad is getting mad, too. You know we can’t eat without you.”

“I’m coming. I’m coming.” I breathe heavily. “Let me get my robe on.”

Derrick’s footsteps fade down the stairs as I reluctantly rise out of bed. I yawn loudly and stretch for a moment. My queen-size bed is a trap for those who hate the mornings.

I grab my robe from my desk chair and slip it over my shoulders. My bunny slippers welcome my cold feet with ease.

Once downstairs, I take my usual seat to my father’s right side and smack my head on the table. The cool surface helps me cool down for a bit.

“You okay, Princess?” My father puts his palm on my forehead. “You’re burning up.”

“She’s on the week before her birthday, Dean.” My mother smiles.“Sixteenth to be precise,”she says.

“Is your wolf knocking already?” my father asks sarcastically. “You can’t be that old already.”

I stick my tongue out slightly before my mother sits a plate of biscuits and gravy in front of me. The smell fills my nose and I dig in with nothing but my hands.

“Yep.” Derrick laughs and says, “Your wolf is literally on the surface.”

“Shut up,” I growl, and try to wipe my hands and mouth with a hand towel. Derrick winces at me.

“Lucy, honey.” My mother puts a hand on mine with a knowing expression on her face. I raise an eyebrow.

“I knew you’d be an Alpha.” My father smiles proudly. “I’m proud, Lucy.”

“What are you talking about?” I ask puzzled. “I just told him to shut up and— Ohhhh…”

Without knowing it, I ordered my brother to shut up with the power of an Alpha behind my words. Hence why he winced.

“I’m sorry, Derrick,” I say, “I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay, squirt.” My brother smirks. “Practice on me so no one else will have to bow.”

“Nonsense, as an Alpha, she has the right to make anyone bow to her. Such is my daughter. Princess, come home straight after school.”

My father begins to eat. “With your wolf being so close to shifting, I’d like you to be home as much as possible.”

Knowing my father, he’s torn up about my sixteenth birthday just like any other normal father would be. But me running across my mate would be a troubling thing. There are traditions to uphold in this pack.

And having a mate without power or status is not one of them.

***

“Be careful, you two!” my mother shouts out the front door, before shutting it as Derrick pulls out of the driveway.

I pull the sun visor down and check my hair one last time. My black hair reaches just below my shoulders. I decided to style it half up half down today.

I hate the brown eyes I inherited from my mother. My father was blessed with striking green eyes with hints of blue here and there.

I chose a pair of workout shorts and hoodie paired with a pair of sneakers for my outfit today. The weather is foggy but is supposed to clear up by noon.

Derrick has his hair back in a man bun today. His outfit is a simple T-shirt and dark pair of jeans with biker boots. His black hair sets off his off-colored, brown eyes well.

My brother blasts “Eternally Yours” by Motionless In White as we turn into the road leading into the school. We nod our heads to the beat. I even sing a line or two.

Derrick and I are fairly close as the age gap between us is barely two years. He’s a senior while I’m a sophomore. We joke about how he should’ve been born second with his lack of responsibility compared to me.

Derrick pulls into the school parking lot and rolls his windows up. The engine shuts off and I let out a heavy sigh.

“Are you sure you want to go today?” Derrick asks. “Your wolf can spring up at any moment.”

“It’s an all-wolf school, Derrick,” I reply. “If I shift in the middle of a lesson, there will be someone there to help me.”

A knock comes from my window. I look up to a pair of blue eyes staring down at me.

“Moranna!” I open the door to my best friend.

“It’s about time you two got here.” Moranna laughs. “I was about to go looking for you.”

She and my brother exchange looks. I roll my eyes and get out of the car.

“Bye, Derrick.” I shut the door and pull Moranna towards the school.

“Lu, I’m sorry.”

“Moranna, you think he’s your mate,” I say. “You still have a few months before you turn sixteen. Until then, you’re my friend. Not his lovesick pup.”

Unlike packs on the other end of the country, we wolves on the West Coast shift at sixteen rather than eighteen. Our need for a mate made more than apparent, sooner rather than later.

Moranna twists her blonde hair nervously. She wears her casual, pink spring dress and pair of wedges.

“Speaking of wolves,”— Moranna nudges me— “have you gotten your wolf’s name yet?”

“My dreams are coming to me in freaking waves.” I sigh. “My wolf is here and there, but nothing yet.”

Moranna and I make our way to our homeroom, our seats are next to each other. We sit and I catch a glimpse of a few unmated males looking my way.

I growl. The males bow in submission and turn to the front of the room.

“Damn.” Moranna laughs. “Good thing I’m the next Beta Female. I would be sick from that much Alpha energy,” she says.

I break my concentration from the males and groan, “I seriously hate this. I made Derrick bow this morning without even knowing I was an Alpha.”

“Your dad is the Alpha, Lucy.” Moranna pulls out her binder and pats my back. “It was bound to happen. Especially since you’re the last of their heirs and Derrick has never shown any signs of having the gene.”

I smile weakly and pull my binder out as well. This is going to be a long week.