Aurora, who occupied the thoughts of her family, was sitting in Maya's car heading to school. The two friends began to catch each other up on the happenings in their lives.
"Okay, are you going to continue to pretend that I can't smell you?" Aurora asked as they pulled into the parking lot of their high school.
"Really, you can smell me?" Maya froze in shock before giving Aurora a wary side eye.
"Um Yeah. I'm a full bloodied alpha female wolf, remember? I'm pretty sure my entire family expect Cherise could smell it." Aurora noticed the way Maya looked at her in horror and immediately knew something was off.
"Maya, what's wrong?" Aurora frowned and pulled Maya's hands off the steering wheel. "You're really scaring me."
"It's just," Maya started but paused and bit her lip with a helpless look on her face. "I'm pregnant."
"Yeah, I deduced that." Aurora smiled softly at Maya as she firmly kept their hands together. "I'm not judging or anything. I'm betting you two had a fun accident. Plus, you did say you have a pull with this guy. So the possibility of you being mates is really high."
"But it wasn't an accident. I didn't accidentally get pregnant, Rory." Maya whispered lowly, Aurora barely caught her words and looked at Maya, completely stunned.
"Are you saying that even though you two aren't sure, you still did this?" Aurora asked carefully, and Maya nodded.
"You know what it's like, Rory, You are never sure until you come of age," Maya mumbled. "I'm so scared. When I open the door, is he going to be my mate or not?"
Aurora folded her lips and stayed silent. She could feel the panic coming off Maya. And the fear, this didn't just involve Maya and the guy she's with. It could be blown up in everybody's faces and get the council involved. Which was the last thing anybody would want.
"You have been keeping this guy away from me, however the scent of the pup is familiar. Maya, is this guy Alaric?" Aurora asked and Maya slowly nodded.
Aurora felt a pang in the pit of her stomach, her head felt light for a split second, and a bad feeling washed over her like a wave.
Her hands began to tremble on Maya's and Maya noticed her abnormality immediately.
"Rory?" Maya called out to Aurora.
Aurora knew her best friend was looking for her support and needed her right now, so she pulled Maya into a tight hug.
"We are going to get out of this car and everything is going to be fine. Alaric is going to be your mate and everything is going to be fine." Aurora told Maya firmly.
Maya could not see Aurora's face, therefore could not know how much she didn't even believe her own words.
Aurora's wolf was pacing in circles in her mind while howling. It only made Aurora certain something was very off. She was desperate for nothing to go wrong. So she tried her best to fix her expression and reign in all the troubling emotions she was having right now.
Pulling back from the hug, Aurora smiled gently at Maya and gave her a reassuring smile.
If only Maya had paid more attention. If only she could see the panic in Aurora's dark green eyes.
Maya breathed in deeply before grabbing her bag from the back seat, not noticing Aurora's attention was stolen by two boys standing in front of a jeep opposite their parked car.
Alaric Lynx and Jace Maddox, The future heir to the pack, the other his future right-hand man, his beta. Both boys looked as if picked out from a magazine catalog. Alaric the golden boy with his golden locks and tan bronze skin, and Jace with his black hair and sharp jawline.
Everyone would stare, how could they not? People were naturally drawn to beautiful things. And in their society, every girl dreamed of being with a handsome mate to be with. If his position was high, then that was even better.
And for the pack's two eligible young wolves who did not have any mates yet, they drew attention everywhere they went. Aurora knew it all too well, she also wished for that at one point.
But as she locked eyes with Alaric, the world around her faded. She could only now hear white noise. She couldn't see anything but him. That alone made her stomach drop to her feet.
That sick feeling of nausea came up. She did not need to open the door and smell him to know. With this one glance, it was clear as day.
Alaric Lynx was her mate.
'Daddy....' Aurora whimpered through the mind link she had with her father.
Anderson, who was sitting at the dining table, eating with Renee, Aiden, and Aiden's mate Cherise paused.
The slight smile on his face was quickly wiped, and he shot up from his seat, causing the chair he was sitting on to fall over.
Everyone looked to Anderson in question, but he paid them no mind and rushed out the door mid-transformation, throwing the door off its hinges.
Aiden, seeing his father's reaction, deduced what happened in a second and shifted into his wolf form spot, and leaped forward, sending the food and cups on the table flying.
All the color drained from Renee's face as she saw how her mate and son rushed out in a flurry. Glancing at Cherise, whose face was as pale as hers. They both shifted and rushed out. Praying they made it in time, so they could stop the shitshow that was going to happen.
'We have a situation at the high school. All high ranking wolves, please head there.' Renee linked the park warriors through their special channel.
Jason, the beta, frowned. What could warrant this request, he thought and imagine connected to the private link Renee.
'What's happening over by the school?'
'Maya Francis is pregnant with Alaric's baby. I suspect my daughter is Alaric's mate.'
Any displeasure Jason had about this sudden call for reinforcements out to the school was washed away instantly.
"Fucking hell!" Jason stood up and cursed.
The alpha Kent looked at Jason with a questioning gaze. He, too, heard the message. However, by just looking at the ugly look on Jason's face, he knew it was bad.
"How bad is it?" Kent asked, placing the paperwork down.
Jason took a deep breath and repeated what Renee told him to Kent.
"Fuck!" Kent cursed loudly before standing up and opening the window and leaping out, landing on all fours in his wolf form he rushed in the direction of the school with Jason hot on his heels.
*****
"Aurora?" Maya called out to Aurora, who was sitting in the car staring forward as if she had seen something terrifying.
Maya followed her gaze and saw Alaric and Jace.
When she saw Alaric, she got excited and popped the car door open. That unconscious movement made the scents move into the car and their scents leaked outside.
Maya's eyes moved from Alaric and landed on Jace who had already looked in her direction as he caught her scent. Her wolf howled and yipped. All the hair on Maya's body stood on end.
Jace Maddox was her mate. Not Alaric.
Quickly, Maya shifted her gaze to Alaric, who was looking back at her with horror.
The worse possible scenario happened, The bag in Alaric's hand fell to the black pitch as he let out a growl.
All the chatting and laughter in the parking lot came to a screeching halt. Alaric dropped to his knees, his pain visible to everyone. Jace who stood at the side was excited, his mate was right there. But Alaric's growl pulled him from his happiness.
As he watched his best friend drop to his knees and double over in pain. Jace glanced at his mate once again before he glanced at Aurora. His body shook and he denied it immediately.
"No, Alaric." Jace looked at the crescent fallen, Alaric, and said. His voice was shaky as he tried to control his shaking body.
"I'm... I'm so… so… so sorry, Jace." Alaric sunk lower as if he was begging Jace but in reality even though he was sorry to his best friend. The person he felt sorry for the most was his mate.
Maya, who was shocked to her core, looked at Aurora. No emotion can be seen on Aurora's face. Only numbness.
Aurora said nothing, she simply opened the door, dumping her bag and lunch on the floor and stepping on it.
She bumped into the door as she blankly started moving forward before making a turn and moving away from the others.
Alaric watched how his mate moved listlessly, and how his best friend could only stare blankly ahead. Slowly he rose to his feet, he wanted to follow Aurora, to explain, to beg her. But as he tried to take that step, Maya exited the car and shouted Aurora's name. Breathing in, Alaric could smell the pup growing inside of Maya.
It was overly obvious to any regular wolves, but to wolves of his high standing, it was obvious he could smell it.
Alaric looked to Maya, who was running to catch Aurora, before turning his gaze to Jace.
Jace was staring at him intently, his iris rapidly flickering from dark brown to completely black before shifting to yellow. Jace was fighting his wolf right now. Alaric knew if he made a move right now, the balance would be broken.
"Don't touch her!" Alaric shouted to Maya, but it was too late, Maya's hand was already placed on Aurora's shoulder. Causing the surrounding silence in the parking lot to shift.
"Get away!" Alaric launched in the girls' direction, but as he passed Jace, he was stopped.
Jace stretched his hand out and grabbed Alaric's arm, causing him to come to a stop as Jace's grip was frighteningly strong.
At the same time, Maya's scream broke through the parking lot. She was flung backward, almost to the spot where Alaric and Jace were standing.
"Grrrrrr...." rumbled throughout the parking lot from two different persons. Panic ensued among the lingering pack of teens. As the emergence of two powerful auras swirled and encompassed them all.
"Kill!" Aurora, or the one in control was an out of control Ren, her wolf, crouched down and snarled.
Alaric shakily looked back to Jace who was smiling at him cynically.
"Where are you going, alpha boy?" Jace's wolf Jut mockingly jeered as he tightened his body and swung Alaric into the park jeep.
The teachers and staff in the school rushed out in a panic. The situation had turned from bad to worse.