Marsai POV:

I frowned in displeasure as I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I almost couldn't recognize the breathtaking girl who was staring back at me. She was beautiful, confident, and oozing with sexual appeal.

“… Girl, you are having the best 18th birthday ever!” I heard someone shriek behind me, I didn't have to look back to know it was Elena. My best friend's twin sister.

For a split second, I thought she was about to bring up another one of her ridiculous ideas for my birthday party until I saw her gawking at my dress with a mischievous look on her face.

“That dress is a bomb!” She whistled, nodding her head as she further examined the black gown I was putting on. It was a corset gown with a split by the side.

I tugged the corset to adjust the cup, but I still couldn't shake off the anxiety that my breasts could spill out at any time. “It’s too revealing, I'm not a prostitute.” I sighed, administering my displeasure with the expensive black gown that my father had delivered from the vampire land.

“What if that's what the Alpha wants everyone to see?” She replied, pulling my door close as she strolled inside the room, joining Leah and me.

Surprised, I lifted an eyebrow before I let out a soft chuckle. “My father? No, I don’t think so.” I shook my head and turned my back to look at her, knowing I didn't sound convincing.

Since the preparation of my 18th birthday party, she has been hitting on the idea that my father, Alpha Brayden, was intending to turn my birthday party into a hook-up party because of my lack of a mate.

“Can’t you see Marsai, that's why he invited everyone. Even the crumbs of the pack also got invitations to your party. God forbid, one of them will turn out to be your mate.” She wrinkled her face in displeasure as if she could already envision how my life would be with a pauper.

“There's nothing wrong with having an omega as a mate, they have the gentlest hearts,” I replied almost immediately before impatiently tugging the zip of my dress. I despise the fact that Elena couldn't see past her judgmental impression of the omegas.

In a split second, I felt my best friend moving behind me to help me with it.

“Thank you, Leah.” I beamed at her with gratitude spilling all over my face before muttering, “Can you please tell your sister that there's more to being an Alpha, Delta, or Beta’s mate? Sometimes you really have to find who can love you more than an entire pack.”

“There’s also nothing wrong with an Alpha putting his pack first. You are an Alpha’s daughter, how can you not want one for yourself.”? Elena shook her head at me as if I were being ridiculous, but I still stood on my point.

“When there's love, there's no title. It's just two bodies of one soul,” I countered, staring at the mirror with a wistful expression on my face.

It was my eighteenth birthday today, and I hadn’t been emotionally or sexually attracted to anyone yet. Seeing and hearing tales from she-wolves in the pack about how they found their mates before 18 gave me a sense of hopelessness.

Ever since I was a pup, I've always wished and prayed to the moon goddess to bestow onto me a better man than my father. A man who will love me, cherish me, respect me and make me the center of his whole world.

I didn’t know if he will be an Alpha, Beta, Delta, or maybe an Omega, but whosoever he is, I will love and cherish him as much as he does to me.

“What if it's a woman,” I heard Leah’s gentle voice behind me for the first time since Elena got into the room, and I wrinkled my brows confused.

“No, it can’t be.” I shook my head, dismissing the thought from my mind. I didn’t know why it sounded unscrupulous coming from my best friend because we both knew that I'd also never felt any attraction toward a fellow she-wolf.

“But, what-

“Whoever they are, let’s just hope it's not an Omega because they are too weak.” Elena rolled her eyes in disgust, interrupting her twin sister, and I was suddenly curious about what Leah was about to say.

“Leah, why did you think-

“I'm done with the zip, I have to grab a drink.” Leah and I synchronously spoke to each other and I gave her a brief awkward smile.

“Yeah sure, and tell my mum I will be down in a few minutes,” I said to her, covering up the embarrassment because I couldn't believe I was about to ask my best friend why she thinks my mate might be a girl.

I slowly breathed out when I heard my door slam shut. I quickly pulled off the dress, folded it, and kept it at the edge of my bed.

Undoubtedly, I knew I will be wearing the dress tonight, portraying myself as a mateless she-wolf. Just so I could snatch myself a male Alpha that would make me his Luna because my father finally decided to play daddy for once in my entire life.

Hilarious isn't it.

I felt my eyes prickled with tears and I quickly sniffed them back into my head because the last person I would like to show my emotional side to was Elena, and she was still sitting on my bed.

My entire body shivered as I felt the cold winter wind hit my uncovered skin, and I quickly found an evening dress to put on before joining Elena on the bed.

“I'm going to the pack house, but I will be back for your birthday party.” Elena announced the moment I sat on my bed. “I heard the neighboring pack just crowned a new Alpha. I want to go and get all the juicy news about him.” She smirked, rolling her eyes with pure adoration on her face.

As expected, she didn’t dawdle for a reply before bolting out of my room.

That's Elena.

She was the youngest of the Aegenwulf twins, her sister, Leah was my best friend and we've been friends since we could talk. Ronald Aegenwulf, the former Beta of our pack, was their father, and shortly after his death, the position was given to his only son. Elena and Leah’s older brother. Rudolph Aegenwulf.

He was a young werewolf when he became my father’s Beta, still green in the ear. Regardless, he took great care of his teenage sisters combined with his new role as the pack’s Beta.

Rudolph is a good Beta, and everyone could testify to that but whenever I see him, I always felt like there was more to him than just being a good Beta. My instinctive feelings couldn't help but notice his excessiveness but my father would rather ignore all that and focus only on his merits.

Staring out of the window, I gaze at the beautiful moon shining brightly in the sky. It was another full moon without my mate beside me.

I wrapped my hands around my waist for a while, staring at the full moon until I felt the urgent need to run in the woods. It was as if the night was calling for me and I didn't hesitate for a second before rushing out of my room.

“Marsai, the party is about to start. Why are you not dressed yet?” My mother blurted in surprise the moment she saw me running off the stairs.

Instead of replying to her, I snatched one of the freshly made cupcakes in front of her and stuffed it in my mouth. “Going for a run. I will be back soon,” I gave her a peck on both of her cheeks before waving at Leah, who was helping my mother with the flour mixture.

She smiled at me and I returned her smile before undressing and shifting right in front of them. I grunted softly when my bones started shifting and aligning, I was supposed to be used to it after gaining my wolf form earlier than other she-wolves but I rarely shift nor let my wolf take control because I was scared that my father would discover that my wolf was weaker than Elena and Leah’s wolf.

The instant my wolf balanced on her paws, I sprinted out of the room without a second thought. No words could describe the sense of relief I felt the moment the cold winter wind brushed against my furs. I knew it was undoubtedly what I needed to ease my loneliness and also my misconception about every damn thing.

The colder I felt, the deeper I dug my paws into the earth and ran. I ran until I felt a fracture in my hind leg before slowing down. Heaving slow breaths, I shook off the snow on my fur when my nose suddenly caught a smell.

I quickly looked around the forest to see if there were any other werewolves present but I couldn't see any. I tried to remind myself that I am in my father's domain and that we've never had to deal with rogues because of our excellent security.

And also my father’s rigid rule of killing any rogue that bridges the border but the smell became clearer and denser.

My instincts told me to sprint back to the packhouse immediately, but my curiosity got the best of me, and I continued tracing the smell with my nose until it got to a point where it was the only smell that filled the air.

I stared at the thick forest filled with snow before me and cautiously looked around but I still couldn't find any life aside from myself and the tiny crickets that were buzzing in my ears.

‘Maybe, I should just head back home. My birthday party would have started.’ I muttered to myself and was about to turn around when something caught my attention.