1

CHAPTER ONE.

CATANIA’s POV.

I have been gazing at the elegant red dress on my bed for more than thirty minutes now with so much glee in my heart that I can hardly contain it.

Today is the day!

Today is my eighteenth birthday and to think that is not enough, it is the day of the ceremony where my wolf will be activated and I will be able to live like a normal full born werewolf.

I am so excited.

I pick up the dress from my bed and walk over to my mirror stand when I place it before me and imagine how perfect it's going to be once I put it on. Since no one seems to be excited about my birthday, I have taken it upon myself to stay happy and positive, because I know that after this ceremony, once my wolf will be awakened, things will change for the better.

That I believe.

Now, you must be wondering what I mean, but not to worry, you will soon find out and once you do, you will understand why I have such high hopes for this night.

The sound of my room door opening snaps me out of my thoughts and I do a hundred and eighty degree turn to see who just got in without even bothering to knock. Once I see my sister, Mia, I swallow the words that were about to escape my mouth and close it.

Mia is not a very civil person and I can bet my life that she feels hostility towards me.

She is definitely here to say something that will ruin my mood. That's her special talent.

"Mia" I call as I gently place the gown on the bed and look back at her. She is giving me her typical disgusted look and I'm not alarmed at all. All I want is for her to spew her ridicules and leave.

"I can see you are very excited for this day"

"Yes, I am" I reply, trying to be as complacent as I can be. I turned eighteen today, so it was about time I learned to talk to her without feeling anxious or deterred.

"Why? If I may ask?"

"Well, because… because I'm a year older. Also because tonight my wolf will be awakened and I will live like a full born werewolf henceforth."

"Hmmm"

"Yeah"

"Are you sure that's all?" She asks, giving me a dubious look and I bow down my head and play with my fingers.

That's not all.

Once werewolves turn eighteen, they find their mates, their better halves.

I hope that tonight, at the ceremony, I find my mate so he can take me away from this house, away from my adoptive parents and sister who do not like me even one bit!

"I have asked you a question Catania and it will do us both good if you'd answer me right away and don't even think of lying to me!" She threatens and I look up at her with my heart banging hard in my chest.

"We.. well… I…" I stutter nervously and she chuckles in travesty as she rolls her eyes. "I also hope to find my mate at the ceremony" I blurt out nervously and I can see a villainous smile spread across her lips as she takes two steps closer to me.

"So you would like to find your mate at the ceremony, what for?"

"Well, every werewolf has a destined mate. I just hope to find mine so…so…"

"So you two can get married and live happily ever after?" She cuts me off.

There's travesty drooling from her words, but I chose to ignore her.

"Poor thing. I didn't find my mate on my eighteenth birthday, even now that I'm twenty two years-old, I still haven't found him. What makes you think that you will find yours today? You low life?" She asks, aggravated.

I swallow dryly as I take a step backwards to spare myself from the heat radiating from her gaze.

I don't even know why she is angry.

Is it wrong for me to want to find my mate?

"But… but… we don't have the same lives, Mia."

"Of course we don't, my life is way better than yours, that's why you will never find a mate before I do. Get that into your thick skull!" She orders and I quietly nod my head. "Stupid girl! The dress you have to wear doesn't even look eye-catching. Only a blind guy will notice you and I doubt if there's any blind guy in this pack. That is to say that no one will notice you. You will not find your mate, so deal with it!" She storms out of my bedroom.

I heave out a heavy sigh of relief and tiredly slump in my bed.

Drained!

I am emotionally, physically and psychologically drained right now.

Mia has never ever been friendly to me, neither have her parents.

From the stories I've heard, my adoptive father, Mr. Roland Collins, picked me up in the woods when I was still a baby. He and his wife decided to adopt me, but they never treated me like their daughter.

There's this clear distinction between Mia and I.

What dumbfounds me the most is that they don't maltreat me, they give me everything I need, but they don't love me or consider me their child.

Most of the time, I don't know how to feel about the situation.

Dear mate, please show up at the ceremony and take me away with you.

I make that silent prayer in my heart and take up my dress from the bed. I place it before me and look into the mirror one more time.

Mia is a liar!

My dress looks eye-catching and my mate will definitely be enthralled when he sees me. She's just jealous!

From now till I find my mate, I'm going to have to protect my positive energy from her bad aura. I'm not going to let her make me feel like I don't deserve a mate, because I do and I will find him!

******************************************

"Father, what about Catania? I hope she is not driving with us!" I hear Mia speak from the living room.

I'm descending the staircase, all dressed up and ready for the ceremony. It is to take place at the Alpha's castle in two hours time and all the members of the pack will be there.

"Of course not darling!" My father's masculine voice follows and I just shake my head as I keep descending.

"There's no way I'm sitting in the same car with that…" My mother stops on her words when she turns around and sees me descending the staircase. I shoot her a tiny smile as I walk on, but that smile is short lived because both Mia and our father turn to look at me as well. Having three pairs of judgemental eyes staring daggers at me as I descend a flight of stairs with a pair of five inch heels on is not an easy situation to be in, I'm amazed at the fact that I haven't tripped over yet.

I tear my gaze from them and plaster my eyes on the stairs as I walk on with my heart throbbing hard in my chest.

When I get down to the living room, they are still looking at me with shocked expressions plastered on their faces.

Mia looks like she wants to shred my body into pieces.

"Hello" I greet quietly, with a smile on, but nobody replies. There's a long moment of pin dropping silence as we all take turns in staring at one another.

"You are walking!" My father finally breaks the silence and exits the living room. Both my mother and sister, Mia, follow suit, leaving me all alone like the outcast I am.

I heave out a heavy sigh of frustration as I take off my heels.

Since I will be walking, I need to wear something comfortable, else I'll be crippled by the time I arrive at the castle.

I hope…

I sincerely hope that I find my mate tonight.

My happiness, my sanity, my future depends on him.

"Nothing will turn out right for you tonight, get ready for the war that lies ahead"

A voice speaks from nowhere and I look around to see who it but I don't see anyone. Right now my heart is palpating hard in my chest and I can barely breath.

Who is that and what does he want from me?

"You will not find your mate!" The voice speaks again and this time around, a loud hysterical laugh follows his words. I turn left and right in fear, but I still don't see anyone.

The entire living room becomes quiet again and I hastily rush out before the voice can sound again.

I know that's just my subconscious mind trying to scare me. No one can make me lose hope for this day. I am going to find my mate.

But… what if… just what if this voice is for real?

———————————————————————————————————————————-

It takes me almost an hour to arrive at the castle and I'm confident that I am the last guest to arrive. Even the guards were shocked and I believe my disheveled state got them more confused.

I have the worst family anyone could ever wish for.

As I walk across the well cut lawn that leads to the banquet hall, I admire the blooming flowers at the corners of the lawn and in the green carpet grass. There are lights all over the yard, lighting up the entire surrounding and making it look very beautiful.

If I didn't have anything important to do there, I would have stayed out here instead. The solitude out here is way more conducive than the pretence and competition going on in there between wealthy families.

One of the reasons why I hate ceremonies like this.

Wealthy families often come to show off their wealth and gossip about each other and I hate it!

When I arrive at the door leading to the banquet hall, I take off the leader slippers I have on and put on my black sandals heels. If I dare go into that hall with my slippers, I will be crucified!

The ballroom is just like I had expected. Enormous, beautifully decorated and jam packed with people of different classes. The women are chatting in small groups and I can bet that they are busy telling each other how much their clothes, shoes and jewellery cost.

As I push through the crowd, I try to spot my parents and when I do, I immediately walk over to them. Not that they need me, but I just want to let them know that I have arrived, even though I now look awful.

"Ewe! What is that stench?" Mia cries holding her nostrils as she turns to face me, causing the people around to look at me as well.

"You reek of perspiration and dry leaves, look at how disheveled your hair is. Your dress is a mess!" She rants with a disgusted look on and the other girls around start laughing at me.

I feel a painful lump form in my throat as tears sting in my eyes. Mia always does this.

"I… I… had to walk all the way here, remember?" I try to defend myself.

"All the more reason why you should stay far away from me and my parents. In this very shabby state of yours, it'll take a miracle for any guy to notice you. Even if you find your mate, I can bet my life he is going to reject you! Such an ugly bonehead!" She lashes out and I look at our parents, hoping that they'll say something, but when I realise that they won't, I quickly turn around and force my way through people, targeting the door.

I want to go far from Mia and my parents.

Sometimes I wonder why they adopted me if they never planned to love and treat me like their daughter. Don't get me mistaken, I'm happy that I grew up with a family. I mean, my adoptive parents are rich and I grew up as a rich kid, but their disdain for me has never gone unnoticed.

There has always been a clear difference in the way they treat Mia and I.

Most times, I chose not to think about it, but I break down every-time Mia rubs it in my face.

She is actually very cruel and I wish I never see her again. I wish I could just run away and never come back.

Oh how I wish I could find my mate during this ceremony. My life will change for the better if that happens.

I wipe the tears that have been streaming down from my eyes and try to keep my breath steady. No matter how many times I promise myself not to cry over this issue, I still fail in the end and cry.

I cry because it hurts and I wish things would get better.