Maya made her way through the woods, brushing the hair out of her face as the wind blew in the opposite direction. The leaves rustled as the harsh wind blew through the night sky. Maya tugged at her sweater, trying to warm herself up as chills began to run up and down the length of her spine. The sound of the leaves crunching underneath her feet filled the air as the harsh winds suddenly came to a halt. Maya was too interested in the music that blasted through the headphones that she wore to even hear the noise that was going on around her. A tall, black beast stood behind her, his eyes trained on the small human.
A growl ripped through the air causing Maya to freeze in fear. She pulled out her headphones, terribly scared to turn around. Another loud and deadly growl cut through the air causing Maya's body to tremble in fear. The beast lowered it's head into Maya's neck, inhaling her intoxicating scent. The beast released a howl of pleasure as the scent of sweet strawberries filled its nose.
Something warm and wet came into contact with Maya's neck, causing her to jump in surprise. She turned around and faced the beast, her eyes clouding in fear once again. The beast whimpered and lowered itself onto its stomach, placing its head on top of Maya's feet. Slowly, Maya bent down and ran her fingers through the black, soft fur. She rubbed behind its ears, the beast rubbed it's head against her hand, trying to tell her something.
She sat down on the grass, continuously stroking the animal's fur, satisfying it. It's silver like eyes glowed brightly in the moonlight. Maya spent two hours with the large animal, just petting and playing with it, but she had to leave eventually. Standing up, Maya brushed all the dirt off of her jeans before giving the animal one last pat on the head, she began to walk home. The animal released a series of small whines and whimpers as Maya's scent started to fade. Standing back up the animal padded throughout the forest, quickly arriving in front of a large and elegant house.
The sound of bones cracking filled the air, the beast like animal was now replaced with a human male. Quickly cracking his neck, to help the unwanted pain, he walked into the back of the house which lead to his private room. Quickly rummaging through his draw he threw on some clothes, that consist of black sweatpants and a fitted white shirt. Storming out of the room looking for his right-hand man, Zachary.
"Zac!" Ace's voice bounced off the walls, scaring a few people that he passed. "Zachary!" Ace yelled once again. His mind wasn't in the right place at the moment. The thought of his mate send his mind into overdrive with thoughts of her, he could still faintly smell the sweet strawberries. Just the thought of her made his heart pound against his rib cage.
"Alpha Ace!" A small boy yelled. Ace stopped mid-step, slightly turning his head in the direction of the bubbly voice. A mop of dirty blonde hair came rushing down the halls, trying to get to Ace as fast as his tiny legs would take him, a wide smile showing off his pearly whites. His forest green eyes were narrowed, smiling as well. His tiny, wet and bare feet made a strange noise as they hit the floor repeatedly. His navy blue basketball shorts exposed his pale toothpick-like legs, arms covered by the long white sleeve that he wore.
Ace's serious expression soon turned into a joyful one, a huge smile plastered on his face. "Luke." Ace said, his voice laced with happiness. "And what have I told you about calling me alpha. You have special permission, you can just call me Ace."
Lucas hung his head low, bowing towards his alpha. "Sorry, Ace." His bubbly voice soon turned into a disappointed one, thinking that he upset his favorite person.
Ace sighed and picked up the small boy, lightly tickling his side. Small giggles filled the silent room as Lucas' head fell back, laughing.
Ace smiled and began to walk around the house looking for Lucas' older brother, Zachary. "Ace, who are you looking for?" Lucas' soft voice called out.
Ace head tilted downwards, looking at the small little boy. "Your brother." He said his tone turning that was once carefree and happy was now serious and had a hint of emergency.
Lucas frowned and put his head down. "He's in his room. He isn't feeling very well." A few tears slipped from Lucas' eyes as he began to wiggling in Ace's strong arms. Ace placed him on the floor and allowed him to be alone. Rubbing Luke's hair until it became messy. "He'll be alright, I promise." Ace said, trying to confirm this to himself.
Panic filled Ace's body as he began jogging to Zachary's room, Ace swung the door open, looking for his best friend. "Hey, Ace." A weak voice called out, barely making it above a whisper.
"What's going on with you?" Ace asked, worried.
Zachary's sandy blonde hair was messy, looking as if he ran his finger through it about a million time already. Dark purple bags were under his bright green eyes, which seemed to have lost their spark. A frown overtook his full, plump lips, that were now a pale pink and extremely dry, his cheeks sunken in making him appear as if her dead.
Zac released a bitter laugh before his face twisted with a mixture of sadness and disgust. "My mate rejected me, and on top of that," Zac paused, swallowing the pain that entered his body at the words that were about to escape his lips, "she mated with someone else already."
A silent tear escaped Ace's eye. He knew what this meant. Zac was dying, or at least his wolf was. That could cause weeks worth of pain and permanent damage to the body. "Zac…" Ace whispered, his voice cracking with pain.
"Hm?" Zac hummed out, allowing Ace to know that he had heard him.
"I found my mate."
Silence filled the air before Zac shot up and stared at Ace with wide eyes. "WHAT?!" Zac yelled, his pain somehow, someway, replaced with excitement and curiosity. "Who is she? What pack is she in? How old is she?" Zac threw questions at Ace, suddenly interested in mates. Mates is a shorter term for a soulmate, werewolves are given mates by the moon goddess. The Moon Goddess is worshiped by werewolves, they treasure her, she's the god of wolves.
Ace lowered his head, a frown talking over his features. "I don't really know who she is. She's human, I meet her in my wolf form. She was scared at first but after a couple of minutes, she started to ease up and pet me. She's beautiful, but I don't know if I am ever going to meet her again."
Zac threw the blankets off of him and stood up, a look of determination crossed over his face. "We are going to find her." His voice was hard and confident as if he knew that they were truly going to find her.
Ace stood up, placing his hand on Zac's shoulder, stopping him. "Zac, you need to rest."
Zac lightly pushed Ace out of the way, grabbing a shirt from his closet. Before he put the shirt on he shot Ace a knowing look. "I don't. You never know I could always meet someone new and have them become my mate. I know that may not happen, but you never know, if I meet someone new, maybe I'll become stronger. Not only as a wolf but also as an individual." Zac said shrugging, before slipping the shirt over his arms and down his torso.
"Fine," Ace agreed, "only if we go in our wolf form."
Zac nodded happily as they made their way outside. The minute that they stepped out the front door, the sound of bones cracking ripped straight through the air. Ace's wolf was a midnight black with glowing silver eyes, he was a large wolf that stood roughly at six feet, on all four legs. While Zac had an all white wolf with the tip of its left ear and his back right paw was black, with bright green eyes, he was about half a foot shorter than Ace. "Wait! Ace! Zac! Can I come?" Lucas' small voice filled the cold air. Zac eyed his little brother, debating whether he should allow him to come or not.
Lucas' bones snapped and started to go in different directions, soon becoming another wolf. His would be very small compared to Ace's and Zac's wolf, not over three and a half feet yet, but he still had time to grow. Grey fur with hints of white and black covered its body, and it's bright yellow eyes shining brightly in the night. The three wolves ran through the woods, looking for one thing and one thing only, Maya.
A loud knock echoed through Maya's house. Maya happily skipped to her front door, opening it, revealing her best friend Charlie. Charlie wasn't tall for a male, he was five foot, seven inches. His chocolate brown eyes shined brightly when Maya came into his line of vision. Some of his dirty blonde hair fell on his forehead, covering bits and pieces of his eyes. His hoodie hugged his body showing off how much he had actually worked out. His strong arms wrapped tightly around Maya's waist, lifting her off of the ground. "Maya!" Charlie's outburst made Maya's smile grow wider. "I missed you."
Maya giggled at Charlie's small outburst causing him to pout. She didn't miss the opportunity to pinch his cheeks. Charlie blushed and slapped Maya's hand away. "Want to take a walk?" Maya nodded her head and quickly grabbed her sweater, tossing it over her head. Maya reached for Charlie's hand, holding it tightly. Charlie followed closely behind Maya, his heart was beating at a rapid pace as he looked down at their intertwined fingers. The leaves began to flow with the wind, causing the different colored leaves to fall on the two.
The black wolf ran around trees, jumping over large branches, and under some. Ace and Zac ended up splitting up, searching in different areas. A sweet, yet similar, a scent of strawberries filled Ace's nose. He started to move his four legs faster and faster until he was running in the direction of her scent. Ace released a low a deafening growl as he eyed the male that stood next to Maya. Maya's eyes widened as she stared at the large black wolf, recognizing it as the one that she had seen earlier. Becoming still Maya's eyes followed every movement that Ace took towards Charlie. A small smirk tugged at Charlie's lips, eyes twinkling in amusement as he watched the wolf take another threatening step forward. Ace's growl cut through the air like a sharp knife.
Maya's body began to visibly tremble in fear as Ace's wolf took a small and daring step forward. His chest hung close to the ground, while his rear end was placed in the air, getting ready to attack.
"Maya?" Charlie's soft voice knocked her out of the small trance that she was in. She turned her head towards him, nodding her head slightly, letting him know that she had heard him. "Are you okay?" He asked, his voice laced with many emotions that Maya couldn't recognize only one.
Maya's face immediately dropped as the words left Charlie's lips, she nudged her head towards Ace. "Right, dumb question." Charlie said scratching the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Maya." Charlie called out to her, his voice wavering. "Please don't hate me." He said his voice suddenly becoming soft and almost as low as a whisper.
Maya tilted her head to the left a confused look that crossed over her face. The sounds of bones cracking and clothes tearing filled the air. Maya vision started to become blurry as tears began to brim her eyes as the sight in front of her. Charlie was now replaced with a large white wolf. It's glowing greens eyes stared at Maya as she stood there, frozen in place.
The tears began to fall one by one, soon turning into a waterfall. She wanted to scream, yell, and just crawl up into a ball. Her best friend, who she knew for more than half of her life, was no longer a human, but instead was a hairy beast, with claws and razor-sharp teeth.
Ace began to walk closer and closer to Charlie. Maya's legs began to move on their own and before Maya knew what she was doing she was standing in front of Charlie with her arms wide open, trying her hardest to protect him. Sitting down, Charlie nuzzled his snout into Maya's neck, showing how grateful he was for her. Tears were stilling flowing down her face. Ace wanted to hold Maya in his arms so badly, tell her that it was okay, that he wasn't going to hurt her. Ace lowered himself completely onto his stomach, releasing small whimpers.
Maya pushed Charlie's wolf forward forcing him to move. Ace whines and whimpers became much louder with every step that Maya took. Looking back every now and then, Maya lowered her eyes on the ground. Once Maya was completely out of his sight and he couldn't smell her anymore he released a threatening growl.
Maya finally reached her house, Charlie thudding behind her. Maya held her hand up telling him to wait. Quickly running into her house, Maya ran to grabbed Charlie some spare clothes that he had left at her house a while ago. Maya released a shaky sigh as she walked out her front door, placing his clothes on the porch, then leaving him alone.
Waiting a couple of minutes Charlie walked into Maya's house, the sound of his wet feet colliding with the floor made Maya turn her head. "Maya, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. I- I just didn't want you to hate me, I didn't want you to leave me." Charlie's voice began to shake with every word that he spoke.
Maya wouldn't turn towards him, she couldn't bring herself to look at him. She just didn't know what to do at this point. "Maya, please, don't shut me out. Please, just- Maya, I need you." He whispered, tears lining the rims of his eyes. "Maya, please, I love you." Charlie said immediately slapping his hand over his mouth.
Maya snapped her head towards him, her eyes wide and mouth slightly opened. Charlie moved his hand from his mouth and took small steps towards Maya, eyeing every move she made. He kneeled down in front of her, cupping her face, pulling it closer to him, softly. "Maya." Charlie whispered his cool and minty breath fanning over Maya's face.
Maya hummed in response, not once breaking eye contact. "I'm in love with you." Was all he said before softly placing his lips over hers.