Kade
Surprise swept me off my feet as I stared at Amelia’s face. Her words threw me off balance.
Mate?
I think I needed one. One who was paired with me by the Moon goddess. One who could understand and share my feelings, pains, and happiness. The one I would love to call mine, forever.
But I think the Moon goddess hated me for depriving me of a mate when I turned eighteen. I could still remember the night of my birthday party and the Moonball ceremony where I had practically sniffed the hell out of the unmated females, but none sent my wolf into a state of frenzy with her scent, not even nearly.
Was it my nose? Was my sense of smell not activated?
It had to be my nose.
I had kept my hope alive, hoping my nineteenth birthday would be different, but the Moon goddess crushed my feelings again, making my expectations dash against the hard rock of pain and bitterness.
How could I not find my mate out of thousands of people in attendance?
Who was she?
Where was she hiding?
What was stopping her from getting from me?
Had she noticed me and pretended that I didn’t exist? Or was she finding it difficult to sniff me out?
Disappointment cloaked me like a garment when I clocked twenty and still suffered the same fate. Now, I was sure the Moon goddess really despised. She made me sip her bitter hatred.
But what offence had I committed that is hindering me from meeting the love of my life?
I remembered shutting myself off from my family, even from my favourite little sister, Amelia, and building a wall around me. To add insult to injury, all my friends found their mate at eighteen, leaving me mateless at twenty, the thought made me drown in the bottomless abyss of depression.
Could she be dead?
Was that the reason I hadn’t found her?
“I know what you are thinking. She is not dead, she is just waiting, waiting for the right time,” Amelia chipped in between my thoughts, pulling me out of my reverie. Her words were a replica of what she told me when I was depressed.
“It’s been two years and isn’t the wait not enough? When is the right time?” I found myself asking impatiently. Raising my voice was what I never did, especially to Amelia, but the thought of not finding my mate made me get angry unnecessarily.
Maybe the right time was when I was old with grey hair. Or when I was dead.
“Take your mind off it. Don’t worry, you will see her when you least expect,” With those words, I shoved the thought about finding my mate aside and buried myself with work, even if there wasn’t much work to do.
“Take it,” She brought it closer to me, a few inches to my face.
Grabbing the fragile dandelion in my large hand, I stared at it in confusion, “What am I supposed to do with it and how is it supposed to make my wishes come true?” I asked, twirling the stem around.
“Don’t do that,” She cautioned, “You will make the seeds fall,”
“Yes ma’am,” I giggled, admiring her bossy attitude.
“Legend has it that when you wish on a dandelion by blowing one puff of air, your wishes will come true,” She explained, smiling proudly.
Great!
How would some dumb plant grant my wishes?
“Do it,” She half-yelled, urging me to blow the puffballs.
Fuck.
“Just for today,” I said, scolding myself for playing a dumb game.
Just for Amelia’s sake. I didn’t want her tantrums.
I lifted the plant close to my mouth and my eyes shut.
“Only one puff, Kade,” Amelia warned, making me groan inwardly.
Gathering as many breaths as could fit into my mouth, I blew off the puffballs in one breath of air, watching the satisfaction on Amelia’s face.
“Bravo!” She clapped, “Did you make a wish?”
Fuck!
“Did you?” Her breath hitched at the realization, “oh, no,”
A bright smile replaced the shocked expression on my face, “Got you. I made a wish,”
A thrill of relief washed upon her face as her hand rubbed her chest, “You scared me, Kade. So tell me. What did you wish for?”
“I thought wishes are supposed to be secret,”
Her small lips pouted, “Just tell me, I am your sister,”
A weary sigh escaped my lips, “Fine. I wished to find my mate,”
A smile spread across Amelia’s face, “And you will find her,”
I will.
A chilling sensation ran through me when Amelia blew the dandelion seeds with a puff of air, but not all would come off.
“What is happening? Why won’t they come off?” A worried look replaced her smile, making her voice tremble.
Tears trickled down her eyes when she blew more dandelion seeds, hoping for a change but she was met with none.
“This can’t be happening. I just want all of us to find our mates and live happily,” She said, choking on her tears.
She wished about finding her mate.
“Calm down, Amelia,” My hands pat her shoulder to pacify her but I jerked when she turned to me, almost crashing on the floor.
“What the fuck, Amelia, what did you do to yourself?” I screamed in shock, watching a ferocious-looking Amelia with blood dripping from her face.
“What did you do to me?” Her cold voice sent a chilling sensation down my spine. A feeling of dread crept from the pit of my stomach.
That was not Amelia. That was a monster!
“You promised to protect me,” She lashed at me, making me glued on a spot, “But you didn’t,”
“It wasn’t my fault, I tried but it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t mean to leave you,” I pleaded, landing on my feet and crawling away from her but she charged toward me.
“You liar! You selfish piece of shit! You left me to rot in the wing and saved yourself,” A deafening scream left her mouth as she dug her claws into my throat, threatening to rip it apart.
“This is not real. You are not real. You are not Amelia. Get off me,” I struggled, but my strength was no match for hers as she pinned me down, burying her sharp canines in my neck.
I woke up with a startle, and a loud gasp escaped my lips. Panting hard, I sat up, staring at my room with my hand on my neck.
Fuck!
It started again.
The memories mixed with Amelia’s nightmare.
This time, it was so real.
Taking a deep relaxing breath to calm my nerves, a loud scream tore from the interiors of the house, leaving me shaking with fear.
No!
The voice was so familiar.
Just like… no!
The scream of agony mixed with pain, drove me crazy.
I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you, Amelia.