My Human Mate

I was pulled out of my peaceful sleep in my very cozy bed by a constant beeping sound.

 

God... It was annoying.

 

I pulled my blankets over my head and snuggled deep into my mattress, in an attempt to drift into my sweet slumber, in the hope of shutting out that constant, irritating machine sound. 

 

Does waking up to the sound of birds and rays of sunlight exist only in fantasies?

 

I have always questioned humanity. Why on earth would they invent an annoying thing like an alarm clock, which wakes you up in the most irritating way possible by blaring right at your face when you were busy enjoying your serene morning sleep?

 

I opened my tired eyes slowly to see the angry red letters flashing 07:00 AM at me. 

 

 Gosh! I was late.

 

"Bella, get your butt out of your bed right now, or you better close your door before I do something we both might regret," a voice yelled from downstairs.

 

"I'm up. I'm up", I yelled back groaning.

 

I hated Monday mornings, and I hated it when people wished me good morning on Monday. Good and Monday could never be in the same statement. Never.

 

I was a heavy sleeper. Not a I-wake-after-a-few-calls heavy sleeper. But an I-won't-even-flinch-if-a-lightning-struck-a-few-inch-away-from-me heavy sleeper. I fall into that category of people who can sleep for more than 12 hours straight and still wake up tired and fall sleep again because of the tiredness.

 

I hit the alarm on its head to shut it up. Stretching my joints, I stayed in the bed facing the ceiling. Warm rays of sunlight seeped into the room through the small openings on the window curtain, lightening the room with its warm glory. 

 

Why couldn't there be a week with only six days in it, without Mondays? 

 

Well, then you would start hating Tuesdays.

 

I snorted at my subconscious.

 

No words could explain how frustrating it was to get up from your bed, in which you have spent your entire weekend, binge-watching Netflix and eating whatever that was edible in your home... to go to school. 

 

"Ugh", I jumped out of my bed, making my way to the bathroom, all the while muttering all the colorful curses under the sun about my lazy and not-so-sorry ass. 

 

After brushing my teeth and taking a good warm shower, I wrapped myself with a towel and walked to my closet.

 

Changing into a pullover and blue jeans, I brushed my brunette hair, which reached my waist into a ponytail, and applied a very little lip gloss and mascara. After taking a last satisfying look at the girl staring back at me in the mirror, I ran down, grabbing my backpack for my morning breakfast.

 

WAIT... Where were my manners? Did I introduce myself? I'm sorry. I am Bella Jennifer Hunt.

 

I was born and bred in Wood Springs, a small city in Washington. Wood Springs is nothing special. Just a place with always cloudy, gloomy weather, which, most of the time, mirrored my mood. The roads were always wet, but it was a dream place for trekkers and adventurers. Just not for me.

 

I was 20 and 5'6". Brunette with a tint of red here and there and a pair of crystal blue eyes, which could never maintain eye contact with a cute guy for some unknown reason. 

 

Everything was fine. Again 'was'. Life has its own way of telling us that every good thing must come to an end. In my case... the said end came a little early. Even before I had the chance to taste the amazing flavors of my life.

 

My parents died in a car crash when I was seven. My life turned topsy-turvy after that. An incident that scarred my entire existence on this planet. Growing up in an orphanage for eleven years in the very town you grew up with your parents was not a piece of cake. 

 

I moved out of the orphanage once I was 18, and a kind girl from the same orphanage as I was, Nora, took me in with her. I found a job in the local library and was able to pay my share of rent, and sometimes, if possible, I would also pay for groceries. I found a normal routine again, and here I was, running late for school...

 

"Ah. Thank you for blessing my morning with your gracious presence, Miss Lazy Goose", my roommate and sister-by-choice, Nora, glared at me, pushing a bowl of cereal towards me. 

 

I grinned back blowing a kiss at her. She turned around, shaking her head, smiling, and resuming whatever she was doing before I came in. 

 

And we were just like that.

 

"Don't forget to lock the door. Love you", she placed a kiss on my forehead and walked out, grabbing her things from the counter.

 

Nora was a financial consultant at a private company. Her company demanded her presence almost all the time, sometimes even on weekends. Even with all those untimely work calls and tiring schedule, she somehow managed to maintain a happy aura around her, which was heavily contagious. 

 

I ate my daily cereal with a glass of orange juice and washed the dishes. Locking the door behind me, I walked to my school. 

 

I loved to walk, especially in the morning, because one...I couldn't afford a car or a cab, and two, I loved observing people. Different types of people with different situations and different mindsets, all looking forward to the day. Waving at random small toddlers became my favorite thing. 

 

And about my school.... though most of the classes were boring, sucking up whatever stamina that was left in me, I survived them with the help of my two saviors and best friends: Alice and Jimmy. 

 

It was just the three of us, always hanging out together, laughing at inside jokes, and judging people together. 

 

But most of my childhood days were consumed by a boy, Aden! 

 

He was the only one to sit with me at dinner on my first night at the orphanage. He was the one who shared his books and toys with me, who sat with me in the backyard and told me stories about stars. He was the one who took little poor me from the dark pit I was in after my parent's death. He was the one who left Wood Springs when I was fourteen without a word, and later I was told that he was somewhere in Australia, adopted. 

 

There is a saying that things that are good, things that we adore and hold close to our heart, won't stay long. Every time I let someone into life, every time I get close to them... I always lose them. I lost someone very important to me, again. 

 

Alice and Jimmy were my school friends. They were my armor. They stayed with me through my highs and lows. Always showed up with bags of snacks and shoulders to cry on in times of need. 

 

They were there to make me smile. They made me feel happy. They made me love myself, and most of all, they made me believe that there was a world beyond the wall I built around myself.

 

They were like bright-white sunshine through a small crevice at the end of a dark den, which gave me the most needed thing of my life: the hope to continue my path, no matter how hard and cruel it was. 

 

I always had two strong pairs of hands to lift me up whenever I fell down. 

 

Alice used to say this thing her mom used to tell her: "When you lose the last string of hope that kept you bound to this world, and when you start to feel far away from everything, wait. Patiently. There might be someone; there will be someone looking for the exact same thing you were looking for... and that's when miracles happen".

 

And that was the reason why I woke up every morning, looking for a meaning. A miracle that would change everything.

 

I had a family of my own, and it was snatched from me. But I found family again in the people I call my friends.

 

I owe them big time for everything they have done for me and continue to do. 

 

They mean everything to me. My everything.

Whatever the reason might be... even if the countries on the other part of the world have started to go down into the earth like they show in some movies... even if a meteor was nearing earth which could make mankind extinct, my college management wouldn't declare a holiday.

I stepped into the college, dragging myself through the long lobby. Why didn't they just build classes near the entrance? In that way, we didn't have to be late for class even if we reached campus on time.

Shouldering through a mass of college students, who were deaf with their headphones and blind with their cell phones on a Monday morning, who wouldn't budge even if you knock them down with a bulldozer, will suck up all the energy you got with your cereal breakfast.

After a few bumps with shoulders and stamps on my foot, I finally reached my locker. Shoving my jacket into the locker, I grabbed the books required for today's schedule of agony.

“Good morning!”

I heard her before even I saw her. Alice Lowell! The only good morning I look forward to. I turned around to the petite blonde with the prettiest pair of green eyes I have ever seen.

We tend to meet different types of people. Alice was a type of girl who could magically turn the worst moment into a happy one. She always roamed around with a brilliant smile that could light up a whole town and heart of gold. She was a thousand rays of sunshine bottled up in a 5’4” figure.

Even though she was a little more skinny than I was, the hug she gave me literally crushed a couple of my ribs.

“Hey”, she smiled leaning against the locker next to mine and flashing her dimples. Damn girl...

The best thing about Alice was her dimples. I always envy her for that. And when her smile became a full blown laughter, she here became a thin line and her dimples, it reached all the way up to her cheeks. It always reminded me of my mom.

And honestly, I was a sucker for dimples.

It has always been my favorite thing to goof around her, do random things and crack silly jokes to make her laugh and watch her laughing.

“It was only a weekend, Alice”, I said smiling back.

“I know. But I missed you”, she shrugged.

“Yeah well I missed you-”, my sentence was cut-off in the middle and was caged by a pair of strong arms and was given another tight hug, this time crushing a couple more.

The fact that a hug was given to comfort someone and not to choke and fracture them never entered their thick skulls.

I wasn’t complaining though. Their hugs never failed to make my day.

I pulled back to regain my breath and turned to come face-to-chest with James Marrok, aka Jimmy.

Alice and Jimmy knew each other before they knew me. I met them during my third grade when I changed schools after my parent's death. We have been together since then.

With a height of 6'2”, he stood towering over me. The first thing you notice, when you see Jimmy for the first time, is his hazel eyes. A perfect mixture of hazel and gold which swirled every time you have a closer look and long, dark eyelashes which he did not deserve.

Why do even boys have lashes like that? It wasn’t not like they were going to use it like we girls.

For a 21 year old, he was pretty muscular. Add that to the dangerous combination of always tousled brunette hair and perfect pair of hazel eyes, he never failed to turn a few heads wherever he went and charm the life out of people. But, his tricks worked neither on Alice nor me.

And should never forget to mention his filter less mouth. It was as if he lacked connection between his brain and mouth. He never thought twice before speaking and ended up with one or two bruises from Alice. Like today.

Jimmy said something about Alice's choice of outfit for today, not in a good way, which he should never have done and that, obviously, made Alice angry. And when Alice and angry were in the same sentence, you run and never look back. He didn’t.

Never question a woman’s fashion sense, you moron.

I could see fumes coming out of her nose and ears as she walked towards him and smacked the back of his head, hard.

“Aw. Easy girl “, he jumped back, rubbing the sore area.

If it was for an outsider, a girl like Alice with 5'4” and a skinny body throwing such a hit on grownup but not so 'grown up' guys would look unnatural. But not for me. NO. Actually, they should be. After all, they were werewolves!

Wait. What? Did I say werewolves? Funny. I think I've gone nuts. They don't exist, right. Right?

I mean…we’ve read about them in stories and heard about the legends, but to say that they exist among us? Yes, that’s exactly what I was saying. They did exist. I've never believed that those fantasy creatures existed until I met them.

I’ve known about them ever since I knew them. At first, I thought it was some detailed prank, but eventually I came to know that that wasn’t the case. It took me more than a year to come to terms with the fact that my friends were supernatural creatures. And trust me, I didn’t take it easily. I mean.. C'mon. No one was going to believe that something they have seen only in books and novels existed in real life.

I never told anyone about this, not even Nora and I was determined to take it with me to the grave. They trusted me with a secret that could put their lives in danger and carrying such a secret around it did nothing but strengthen our friendship.

It amazed me very much when I came to know about their world. I started thinking that every person I see might be a werewolf.

They told me a few werewolf things, like their Moon goddess, how they shift when they turn 18 or 16 in case of an Alpha and their shifting process, how they get an inner wolf when they shift, their positions in the pack like Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Pack warriors etc., And of course, the mates.

I've always been fascinated about this mate thing. A mate is actually someone their moon goddess chooses for a person with whom they are destined to live forever. They are bound to live together.. love each other and die together. If one among them died or got rejected, it will leave the same or similar impact on the other one.

Alice and Jimmy belonged to The Dark Red Moon Pack which is the only pack in Wood Springs and the biggest pack in the USA.

They both shifted a year ago. Alice found her mate during her 18th birthday. I haven't met her mate yet but she told me that his name was John and that he was the Beta of her pack. That made her beta-female. Second in command. She would make an amazing and perfect Beta female.

Jimmy hasn't found his mate. He was third in command of his pack, a Gamma. Usually, those who held ranks in a pack tend to find their mates quicker than other members of the pack. He used to say that his mate must be dead which earned him a slap and punch from me and Alice.

And as for me, I never was in a serious relationship. I have dated few guys but nothing lasted more than a few months. Something has always held me back. Maybe the fear of another heartbreak. After everything I've lost, I was afraid of letting people into my life. I didn't get attached to people that easily. I took time. A lot of it. And once I let them in, I could never leave them. Because when they chose to walk out of your life, it would hurt like hell and tear down every last string of hope you had.

Compared to the human world, finding mates and getting to live them seemed easy. Once you find your other half, you could not walk away. You could not hurt them. Because, you would feel their pain and that reduced a lot of trouble and hurting.

I wanted someone who I could love endlessly and be loved back. A person who would never leave me no matter how hard life gets. Someone who would stand under the pouring rain with me and enjoy it. Someone you can't imagine being without, a person you believe was worth sticking with and fighting for.