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CHAPTER TWO

CATANIA’S POV.

Alpha Chase addresses us all and soon announces for all the youths who turned eighteen years old this year to come forward. This day is our day, our wolves will be awakened. Some of us will find our mates, others won't, but I pray I fall in the category of werewolves who will find their mates.

A cold silent breeze blows across the hall as our pack witch, Rivera gracefully walks into the hall. She is the one to call out our wolves. This is our pack tradition.

All the butterflies rise haphazardly in my stomach when she stands before us. We are roughly fifty in number, both male and female werewolves and I'm certain each and every one of them are just as excited for this as I am.

I can see it on their faces.

Like… who wouldn't want to live like a full werewolf. All the crazy things we can do in our wolf forms and above all, the fact that we finally get to find our mates.

Ahhh… I can't wait.

"Our creator and Moon Goodness…" She begins to recite as she holds up the clay pot in her hand to the sky. The wind becomes colder and stronger and I silently curse myself for wearing such a tiny gown.

She begins her incantations and we all just stay quiet, looking at her totally lost, but hoping that the moment finally comes when she activates our wolves.

When she's done with her incantations, she lowers the clay pot and instantly, the atmosphere becomes still again, but still cold because of her presence. She then opens her eyes and looks at us one after the other.

"Today, you all will become full fleshed werewolves because your wolves will be activated. Everything about you will change. Your speed will quadruple, eyesight will be a lot better in the dark, hearing senses will be heightened and your healing ability will be awaked as well …but, the wolf side also comes with hunger and you will have to hunt. You all will be taught how to go about that. Life doesn't get easy after this. Living as a full fleshed werewolf comes with its challenges and you will have to face them one way or the other. The wolves of the Crystal moon pack are not weak, nor are they troublesome, so you all are reminded to respect pack rules and regulations. I could go on and on about the instructions, but we don't have all day. Now, what I need for you all to do is close your eyes. The moment I apply this powder on your foreheads, your wolves will be awakened" She explains and immediately, I close my eyes and patiently wait for my turn to come.

Moments later, I hear a loud scream from one of us and I instantly open my eyes to see what's going on. It's a young boy in the line on whom powder has already been applied.

His bones are cracking and reforming and his eyes are turning yellow. His wolf has been activated and it's trying to take over him for the first time. Another girl joins him as the same thing starts happening to her.

Soon, the entire hall is filled with screams and howls and the sound of bones crackling. I quickly shut my eyes once more as I wait for the witch to arrive at my spot.

My entire body is trembling and my heart is beating so fast that I'm scared that it might hop out of my body. I'm excited and nervous all together.

Cold chills run down my spine when the witch steps before me. I heave out a heavy breath as she rubs the powder on my face. I clench my fists and squeeze my eyes and lips as I wait for my wolf to take over me, but nothing happens. The next person beside me soon screams, causing me to tremble and open my eyes. I watch in horror as his fingers and feet transform, together with his eyes, but nothing is happening to me.

I close my eyes one more time to focus so my reaction can take place, but nothing happens.

Several minutes pass and everyone else is now stable, but nothing has happened to me. Everyone is looking at me in shock.

Even I am shocked.

I can't feel my wolf.

I can't feel anything.

I'm just the same way I was before all this began.

Right now I'm so worried that I feel like bursting into tears.

Why don't I have a wolf?

"What is your name?" The witch asks as she approaches me.

"Catania… Catania Gabriella Collins" I reply with a tiny voice and she carefully scrutinizes my face.

I hope she spots out what is wrong with me and fixes it.

As we both stand there, saying nothing to each other, the sound of werewolf growls suddenly fills the atmosphere.

I turn behind to look and I see that some male werewolves are growling and looking at me with their eye colours changing. Fear takes over me as I rush behind the witch.

The other pack members scream as they make way for the Werewolves to pass through and approach me. One of them suddenly grabs me by the waist and I cry as I wiggle myself from his hold.

What is going on?

I run to my parents for help but they all pull away from me like I am an outcast

"Mum! Dad, please help me. Please" I cry in agony but none of them come to my rescue, I turn around and notice that the male werewolves are still growling and walking towards me. It feels like there's something on me that's attracting them to me. They all seem to be obsessed with me and it's so frightening.

"Guards! Hold them down!" The Alpha's mighty voice commands and immediately, a group of guards come sprawling in and in less than no time, they hold down the growling men in order to stop them from coming close to me, but the maniacs keep howling and trying to break free.

I stand there stunned to the core, utterly and completely thunderstruck.

Confused and frightened as well.

What just happened?

First, my wolf was not activated like the others and now, some strange male werewolves want to rip me apart.

What exactly is going on?

"Come with me" A voice calls out and when I turn to look, I'm happy to see Alpha Chase standing before me with his palm stretched out to me just like he did a few hours ago.

I wish I could reminisce about that scene for a short while, but for now, I need to get away from here. Without any hesitation, I take his hand and he leads me out of the ball room, away from the growling men who want to rip me apart and away from my parents who want nothing to do with me.

Alpha Chase pulls me along the long hallway which has got barred doors on opposite sites, caring less about the fact that I'm stumbling behind him. His footsteps are long and fast and I can hardly catch-up. I'm an athletic girl, but this is too much for me.

He has my wrist wrapped up in his big palms and it hurts like hell. Why is he using so much force on me? Did I do something wrong?

Is he mad at me?

And most importantly, why has he brought me to the dungeon?

"Alpha Chase" I call out in pain , hoping that he will stop and let go of my wrist that is about to be cut off from my body. He doesn't stop though, he keeps walking on, paying a deaf ear to my wincing and stumbling.

When we get to one of the barred doors, he forcefully pushes it open and urges me to get into it, but I don't bulge.

I stay on the spot, shocked. Wondering what I've done for him to cage me up.

"I … I… I don't understand. Why have you brought me here?" I ask worried and Alpha chase's deadly gaze intensifies, making fear spike up within me. Without uttering another word, I quietly step into the dungeon and he immediately locks up the barred doors with a big key. "Alpha Chase '' I can softly as I break into tears.

I really wish he would explain to me what's going on because right now, I am beyond confused. I don't like the silent treatment he's giving me.

"Catania" He finally calls and I look at him with hope filled in my eyes.

"Yes, Alpha"

"I didn't bring you here because you did something wrong, I'm just trying to protect you" He starts to explain but I only get more confused. I can see frustration written all over his body as he walks helter-skelter before the cell door, ruffling his thick blonde hair with his big palms.

"I don't understand you, Alpha Chase" I speak out in fear.

"I'm trying to protect you from those men out there!" He explains further and I understand where he is driving, but I still don't understand why the men were so attracted to me. They seemed to be obsessed and just the thought of how they were growling and walking towards me sends chills down my spine.

What do I have in me that got them obsessed?

"Alpha Chase, please, I would like to know what is going on. First, my wolf was not activated and now strange men seem to be obsessed with me. Is there something wrong?"

"Yes Catania, there's a big problem that needs to be sorted out immediately." He confirms and I swallow dryly and look up at him with sorrow embedded in my eyes. My ears suddenly get all itchy and my palms are so moist right now that one would think I soaked them in water, but it's just perspiration.

"What …what do… what do you mean by that?" I ask with a shaky voice. I'm trying to be strong for myself, but the things Alpha Chase is telling me are too much to handle.

Alpha Chase gives me a hard stare, probably thinking of how to explain the issue better to me, before coming close to the cell door.

"Your wolf was not activated and just a few minutes later, a few male werewolves were crazily attracted to you. They would have ripped you apart if I hadn't taken you away. Those werewolves who were attracted to you were widowed and unmated werewolves"

"Widowed as in werewolves who have lost their mates?"

"Yes! And werewolves who haven't mated yet!" He adds and I cover my mouth and my palms to curb the scream that's about to escape from it.

"Having those categories of men attracted to you can only mean one thing, Catania"

"And what's that?"

"It gives you the identity of a "stealer"

"Stealer?" I repeat as I jerk myself backwards to carefully scrutinise his face, just maybe I will understand what he's talking about just by looking at him. "What the hell is a stealer?"

"A stealer is an unmated She-wolf whose scent attracts windowed and unmated werewolves to herself."

"What?" I ask aghast.

"I believe you heard me well. You have become of age and now, you have the ability to release pheromones in order to attract your mate, but that pheromone is also capable of attracting widowed and unmated werewolves to you and only until you mate with one of them will they all stop being obsessed with you"

"What? No! I cannot mate with a widowed werewolf!" I deny in disgust.

"Of course you can't, that's why you need to find your mate sooner or later. Catania, I know you must be wondering why I brought you in here, I'm just trying to protect you from those men. I have seen what widowed werewolves do to "stealers''. I don't want the same fate to fall upon you, that's why I have brought you here."

He explains with so much sincerity and my heart swells up with emotions, but deep down, I'm still confused, sad and afraid of what the future holds for me. My wolf has not been awakened and because of that, finding my mate will be such a difficult task. How am I going to get through this?

"Alpha, my wolf has not been awakened, so that means I can't find my mate on my own unless he smells me and knows, how then am I going to get through this?" I ask worried and he smiles.

I don't get why he is smiling because nothing is funny.

"And that is another problem. The fact that you don't have a wolf could likely mean that you don't have a mate!"

"Don't say that!" I cry. "Please don't say that"

"I am serious Catania, this is a big deal. I am your Alpha and I would never lie to you about issues like this"

"No!" I deny in tears as I violently shake my head. "I can't not have a mate. My life cannot end like this. Those widowed werewolves will always be on my tail wherever I go. I don't want that to happen. Alpha Chase …" I call as I pass my hands through the spaces between the barred door and hold his big right hand in both my hands. "Please Alpha, just mate with me. I promise I won't let anyone know, I will keep my mouth shut. All I want is for you to covet me so that those men will no longer be obsessed with me. Please mate with me" I beg in tears, but my heart sinks into my stomach when Alpha Chase withdraws from my hold and takes a step backwards.

I know he is disappointed in me. I am literally begging him to have sex with me, but I don't seem to have a choice. This is beyond my control and I choose him because he hasn't found his mate yet as well.

Also, he just said I might not have a mate because of the absence of my wolf. I can take that, but I cannot take the fact that I have to live my entire life hiding from men who want to rip my body apart.

"No! How can you even think of such a thing?"

"Alpha I'm sorry, I'm just very desperate right" I say within severe sobs. My entire face is drenched in tears and all the veins on my forehead are protruding out.

This is worse than the treatment I get from my parents.

"I cannot mate with you Catania. I haven't found my mate yet and I am patiently waiting for her. Besides, if I dare to mate with you, that means I have to marry you whether I like it or not. I can't let that happen. You are a stealer, an unworthy being, a rejected werewolf. You are not worthy of being my lifetime partner or the Luna of this pack!" Alpha Chase spits out with a firm tone and I can feel the bitterness in his words. I look up at his face with pain in my heart.

His words are cruel and demoralising. His eyes hold no sense of remorse, all I can see in them is disgust.

Even the way he looks at me now is not the way he looked at me back at the garden. I can bet my life that he loathes me.

The pain!

The pain in my heart is excruciating and I wish I could just end my life right now. This is not how my birthday was supposed to turn out.

I was supposed to find and mate and live happily ever after with him, not to become some symbol of rejection.

Sweet Moon goddess, what did I do to deserve this?

"To keep the pack in a calm state, you will have to stay in this dungeon to prevent the werewolves from perceiving your pheromone. I will figure out what to do with you later" then he turns around and walks away, not even sparing me a single glance.

This is a man I used to love and fantasise about. Countless times, I have wished for him to be my mate because I thought him to be kind and softhearted, but after all what he just said and how he has treated me for the past thirty minutes, my opinions about him have changed and I curse all the times I stayed all-night fantasising about him.

He is a cruel man.

Selfish too and I hate the fact that he is my Alpha.

I hate him!