I quickly set the tray outside my door, making sure to leave the silverware as the girls had showed me. They had dropped me off at the room and left to retire to their own, promising they would be back before sunset. I ate the food Natalie had prepared, almost crying at how good it tasted. Even my wolf had been excited by the large portion of duck she had given me, and I sat back on my bed, my stomach full and satisfied for the first time in my life.

“That was the best,” I sighed aloud, unable to help the contentment washing over me. I was lucky to get scraps in my old house, and most of the time Damien was the one who made sure I didn’t starve, sneaking me what food he could during the day. I had to admit, it was sounding more and more tempting just to stay at the mansion. Free food and a room much larger than the corner that had once been mine, and Alora even promised that if I stayed, we would go with the head servants to get clothes. Clothes that were actually mine!

‘We’re not safe here,’ my wolf insisted, and I sighed, allowing myself to fall back on the mattress.

“Why not?” I asked out loud, pouting at his insistence to run away. “There’s another wolf here, and clearly the vampires don’t mind them.”

‘We are being hunted,’ he reminded me, and I groaned as I rolled over, burying my face into the sheets. ‘The pack has not given up and we have not shifted.’

“I know that!” I groaned, sitting up as I noticed my room faced the lake. The sun was much higher now and I walked back over to the window, looking into the lit lawn. I could see the vegetable and herb garden Alora had mentioned next to the house, and I even thought I saw Natalie walking among the plants, checking on what was ready to harvest. I turned my gaze away and gasped as I noticed the small flower garden on the other side, complete with a white gazebo in its center. It almost looked as if someone was sitting in it, and I squinted to try and get a better look.

It seemed to be a man, and he was carefully decorating the gazebo, placing flowers in the various holes in the gates. He paused, almost as if he felt my gaze on him, and he turned to look toward my window. I almost immediately started to pull away, but my body froze as he looked to the glass, as if another force had wrapped me in its embrace. My wolf was suddenly interested in the person I was staring at, and he stirred inside me as I stared wordlessly.

‘Mate,’ he whined, and my heart pounded as I watched the man lower his hand with the flower in it. Mate?! He turned to face my window, as if he couldn’t quite make out why I was staring at him. ‘Mate!’

“Yeah, I heard you the first time!” I whispered quietly, and I was finally freed from the spell, able to back away from the window and I closed the curtains. I nearly collapsed back on my bed as I stared at the blocked portal, my heart pounding in my chest. Because of the distortions in the glass, I hadn’t gotten a good look at him, but his hair… it was a rich, dark brown. Not that it really helped me, brown was a pretty common hair color, and I was certain he hadn’t gotten a good look at me either.

‘Mate.’ My wolf insisted and I scoffed, moving further into the bed as I threw back the sheets. I quickly buried myself under them, even pulling them over my head as he paced in my mind.

“Weren’t you the one all for ‘we need to leave now’ a few seconds ago?” I complained, but I knew it wasn’t really his fault. After all, who or where our mate was wasn’t something we had much control over.

From what I understood, every wolf was born with a fated mate, although whether or not you ever met them was up to chance. Sometimes it would be someone you knew, other times they were strangers from another pack and sometimes, they were human. No one really understood how the connection worked, but it was impossible for it to manifest before the twenty-first birthday, when the wolf would finally be freed, and one could shift.

“Happy fucking birthday to me,” I moaned under the sheets, pulling them around me more. I’m not sure there were any circumstances where I would have been happy to find my fated mate, considering I was convinced I wouldn’t have one. After all, I was an unwanted pup, an accident that couldn't even be born right; how could I be fated to belong to anyone? I was sure whoever the man was had plenty of other options beside me, so why settle for a wolf his family didn’t even want?

‘We have a mate,’ my wolf repeated, and I sighed heavily, finally peaking my head out of the covers. It was getting too hot and stale under there anyway. ‘You should be happy.’

“I’m something,” I muttered, glancing back to the closed window. I frowned as I considered looking out of it again, wondering if the man would still be there. “Besides, I haven’t shifted yet, so he can’t mark me. It doesn’t change anything.”

‘We–’

“Are still gonna do what’s best for us, mate or not.” I insisted, crossing my arms as I pouted in the giant bed. My wolf was displeased, but I knew he wouldn’t really fight me. Our thoughts were really only separate until we shifted and considering our mate was here in the mansion, I was now reluctant to take that step. The pull and connection would feel more solid to me then, and I didn’t know if I would be able to resist the desire that had changed my wolf’s mind in an instant. “We’ll convince this Viktor to let us stay and research what we can about the human kingdom. If it seems promising, we'll ask to be taken there. If it looks like the pack is coming for us, then…

“Then we’ll shift, and we’ll run.” I finished, nodding as if to seal my plan. Going to the human kingdom was my best option from what I could tell, as no pack would be welcoming to a rogue wolf. There was a good chance I could hide what I was among humans, or at least find some that didn’t care. I knew some wolves had human mates, and considering wolf prejudice against anyone who wasn’t a wolf, usually meant they had to leave their pack behind for their mate.

‘Mate,’ he whined one last time and I closed my eyes as I tried to relax into the pillows beneath me. His longing and disappointment made me want to give into him, and I glanced back at the window. My chest ached to see the man again and that alone was enough for me to fight it. My entire life had been controlled by others and I didn’t care if this connection was fated by the Goddess.

I was done being someone else’s plaything.