I tapped my pencil on the paper on my desk in annoyance and frustration. My brow furrowed and I rubbed my nose bridge closing my eyes and sighing out very heavily. 'How am I supposed to focus under these fucked up conditions?' I thought to myself in complete and udder annoyance as hormones and God knows what else was flooding my nostrils. Not only was it mating season but everyone was reaching that "oh-so-delightful" part of their life where their wolves released their pheromones into the air to attract a mate. Well, that is everyone except me. Why does it have to always be me? Why am I always the late bloomer to everything? I stared down at my paper and began chewing the side of my bottom lip. My eyes lay fixated on the question at hand and I began to relax my gaze. There was only like 5 questions left and then I'm golden. No more test and I can go home after just-

"Sera?" The voice rang out loud and clear right next to me and it snapped me out of my thoughts making me almost fall out of my chair. My bright golden eyes fixated on the teacher hovering over me. Her deep red eyes looking at me with confusion and concern. "Sweetheart, didn't you hear me calling you?" Mrs. Romero was always so intimidating due to her appearance and she just had this aura about her yet she really was one of the most tenderhearted wolves you would ever meet. I stared blankly up at her and blinked, "huh? No, I-I… I didn't.." I stammered over my words a bit grabbing at my paper and she carefully took it from my hand. "Testing time is over dear…"

I sat there staring as she took the paper from my hand and walked back up to the front setting it in the basket. As she did this, I was able to really pay attention to my surroundings and I realized I was alone. I was the only one in the classroom with Mrs. Romero. I pressed my back to the back of my chair and let out a long, exasperated breath. Reaching behind me, I pulled my long white hair over my left shoulder and began to play with it and twist it still getting my bearings. I spent so much time in my own head I never even noticed I wasted all of my time thinking about shit I can't even control. 'Mate…' I thought to myself. 'What is that like…to have a mate…to have… that rush of absorbing there scent…" I took a deep breath through my nose and a rush of warmth filled me and I smiled bright. Mrs. Romero had the window open and the Hyacinths outside were making the entire room fill with their beautiful aromatic sweetness.

"Alright, Mrs. Hartt. I think it's about time you start heading home now before it gets too late and your mother calls the school wondering where her pup has gotten off to." She crossed her arms at me and smirked, "and that means go STRAIGHT home! Not go dillydallying around beforehand!" I sighed heavily and grabbed my bag, "Sure thing, under one condition-" She began waving her hands in the air "No, no, I don't want to hear that. No conditions, especially for you, young miss." I playfully rolled my eyes and shrugged, "fine, straight home with no conditions!" She smiled warmly at me and sat at her desk looking over all of the tests. I tossed my bag over my shoulder and walked out of the room and down the hall.

Once I was outside the doors of the school, I sucked in all that warm spring weekend air and stretched, "Spring break is at my fingertips!! I can FEEEEL it!!" I felt a hard finger stab into my outstretched belly and I jolted forwards. "AH!! YO!!" I yelled glaring over to my black-haired dude friend. He smiled a toothy smile at me and leaned down to meet my gaze, "Yo, wassup shorty? Do something about it if you're mad, dork." I swatted at him completely missing as he dodged my hand. He chuckled at me and placed his large hand on my head giving me soft pats. "You still up for going to the skate park today? There's gonna be this whole shebang going on apparently and you still gotta get changed." I pouted and kicked a rock while staring at my feet, "nah.. can't do it, sorry."

He widened his gaze and furrowed his brow at me, "what? Why? What happened?" I looked up at him with the biggest and most pitiful puppy dog eyes I could possibly muster. "Mrs. Romero said I gotta go straight home today. Aw boo…" He squinted at me and smacked me in the face with his beanie, "WOOOOW okay you, dork!!" I laughed and snatched his beanie away from him and putting it on after. My gaze met his and I shoved his shoulder playfully, "Yeah, I will see ya there. Remember, 6 o'clock sharp." He snapped his fingers at me and winked before hopping on his skateboard and riding off towards the park. I watched as he went and shook my head before heading towards my house with the biggest smile in the world. "Aaron.. you're such a weirdo."

I got home and tossed my bag on the loveseat. My mom was in the kitchen making what definitely smelled like her world-famous chocolate chip cookies and my dad was out back working on one of his masterful projects as usual. "Mooooommm, I'm homeeeee!" I sang as I hobbled to my room to change and grab my skateboard. My mom stopped what she was doing and walked over to the kitchen sink to wash some dough residue off of her fingers, "Seraphina, make sure you clean up before heading out! Especially your stomach!" I stopped and looked down at my stomach. Sure enough there was some weird blue dot on my stomach that looked kinda like some ink. "BRUH! AARON YOU JERKFACE!" He took full advantage of me wearing a crop top and he got me. I finished changing into a white crop top, plaid opened up button up shirt, and ripped jean shorts with my gnarly checkered converse shoes.

I ran through the kitchen with a different bag and my skateboard, "Mom can I have some??" She turned around with a little bag of cookies and smiled plopping them in my hands. "I already knew, you be safe and get home by 10 or I will come get you." I shuddered at the thought of my mom coming to get me and carrying me home like a newborn pup. She winked at me and kissed my forehead, "I mean it, now get going and have a good time. And stay away from those boys!" I smiled putting the bag in my mouth and said very muffled, "I won't" before dipping out of the doorway and heading to the park.

Upon arrival, I was already pleased by the rad turnout. There were dozens of people here, the big bulb lights were strung around giving a nice dim but well-lit area, there was some great music playing, tables with snacks and drinks as far as the eye could see and cookout food. I scanned the whole party area until my gaze finally landed on Aaron. "Yo!" I yelled as I started making my way over to him. He was standing there chatting with some guy I had actually only seen around the park a handful of times which honestly was not much considering I am a skate park regular. I put my hand up waving to him before freezing in my tracks. I stared blankly feeling my heart sink. My eyes fixed on my best friend ever since I was 5 years old, lip locked with that guy and my whole world crumbling into a bottomless pit of pain.

What was happening right now? Why do I feel like this? Who is this guy he's kissing? Why wouldn't he tell me about him? Did he not trust me? I opened my mouth and the cookie bag hit the pavement at my feet. Aaron turned his gaze over to where the sound came from and froze. Our eyes locked and neither of us said a word.

"Ah- Hey! Sera!" Aaron awkwardly smiled and started lightly jogging over to me while the boy he was sucking faces with stared me down very hard. He was shorter than Aaron but a bit taller than me. What would that be, like, 5'9" I think? His hair was grey with black roots and his eyes were a piercing blue. Aaron finally made it over to me and picked up the bag of cookies and placed them in my hands. "Yo! Don't go around dropping stuff, ya goof. Let's go hang out! I've been waiting for you." His voice seemed much more insincere than he usually sounded and it was so off-putting. "Aaron.." I whispered half-heartedly. He looked back at me and blinked, "what's up?"

I scoffed. What's up? That's it? I glared at him hard and my eyes started glowing, "What's up? Is that all you have to respond with?" He stared at me very blankly and blinked, "What are you on about? Is something wrong?" I stared back at him now very angry and frustrated, "Do you not trust me? You were just sucking on some guy's face and act like nothing just happened?" He furrowed his brow at me and scoffed, "I don't trust you? Of course, I trust you! But what goes on with my romantic life is kind of personal and I don't really like discussing it. Is that so wrong?" He didn't seem really angry but more somber.

I sighed heavily and rubbed my face with one hand and the looked at him. "I am just going to be blunt here and honestly it's a bit embarrassing but-" He put his hand up and cut me off, "Yeah, yeah. Let me guess, you're homophobic aren't you?" I froze and stared at him completely wide-eyed. Tears slowly began forming in my eyes and I could do nothing to stop them. My heart fell into the pit of my stomach and I grabbed my chest clenching my shirt in my hand. "You… You think I wouldn't support you and you really think I'm homophobic…?" He squinted at me and his mouth gaped slightly like he was confused.

I threw my hands up and laughed hard and loud, loud enough it attracted attention from other attendees and I bit my bottom lip hard in frustration. I glared hard at his confused face and threw the cookies at him. The guy he was kissing ran over and got in between us, "HEY! I don't know what's going on but that is quite enough." I laughed again getting angrier and angrier. "Yeah? Well you're right. You DON'T know what's going on. And honestly? FUCK YOU. Fuck BOTH of you! I would have supported you no matter what! I would have! No matter how much it hurt me. I'm not homophobic, Aaron." He blinked at me and began running his hand through his hair. I could tell he felt bad. "Then why are you acting like this..?" He stammered softly.

Tears fell from my eyes and I gripped the rim of my shorts, shaking from the flooding emotions in my heart. "Because I loved you." After those words left my lips, his eyes went wide and everyone went quiet. I snatched the cookie bag from the ground, ripped his beanie off my head and threw it at the both of them. I turned and ran straight towards my house. I couldn't do this. It hurt enough seeing my best friend with someone else but felt like hiding it from me too? Then calling me homophobic? Why would even assume something so horrible!

I ran non-stop until I got to my front porch and fell to my knees sobbing on the doorstep. He was my only friend. He was the only one who was there for me when my father lost his throne as the Alpha of the pack. I was ridiculed and my reputation destroyed. I fell in love with him and I wish I hadn't. "I feel so fucking stupid… How could I even think he would ever love me anyway?" A pair of footsteps rushed to the door from inside the house and the door swung open. It was my dad. He stared down at me completely shocked to see me home so early. "Rosey?" He said softly and picked me up in his arms hugging me tight. My middle name is Rose and ever since I was small, my dad always called me that little pet name. "What happened? Why are you crying?"

I sobbed into his shoulder and held on tight to him not saying a word. He rubbed his cheek softly on the top of my head before looking up at the sound of running feet coming towards us. It was Aaron. He ran up onto the steps of the porch panting hard. "Aaron?" my dad said. "What happened?" As soon as that name left my dad's lips, I turned my gaze over to look at Aaron who was standing there on the steps, panting hard and looking at me with eyes full of worry. "Leave. I don't want to see you here." I growled with my golden eyes glowing in fury. He held his hand up still panting a bit and shook his head, "No… it was a misunderstanding and I am so sorry for assuming you were against those kinds of relationships." I turned my head around and buried it into my dad's large buff chest. My dad was massive and had alpha blood in his veins. His hair was snow white and eyes bright red. He was a very large man standing at 6'8" and a completely ripped body covered in battle scars.

My dad blinked and sighed softly, "Rosey.. He said it was a misunderstanding. You both have been such good friends for years. Do you really want to throw that away all because of a misunderstanding?" I clenched tighter to my dad and I bit my lip. The answer was honestly no. I didn't want to lose that friendship. I softly released my death grip on my dad and he carefully placed me down. I looked at my feet and parted my lips to speak but before I could say a thing, Aaron wrapped his arms around me and held me tight petting my hair. "I am so sorry. I never knew how you felt and my behavior was insensitive. Please, forgive me.." I was frozen in the moment. His warmth was so comforting and his scent was so rustic but sweet. It was intoxicating. I pressed my cheek against his chest and closed my eyes. "It's okay, but also understand I support you in whatever you choose."

My dad scratched the back of his head and let out a big sigh, "Well as long as that's cleared up, I will go back to taking care of your mother." He winked at us and Aaron and I grimaced simultaneously. "Dad, what the fuck.." He chuckled and closed the door leaving us there on the porch. I heard a soft rustle in the bushes and peeked around Aaron to see that guy emerging from the bushes. He dusted off the leaves and bit of twig on him blushing a bit. "Uh, hi." He said shyly. Now that I could get a good look at him, he really did look and seem so sweet. I offered a smile and extended my hand to him. "Hi, let's start over. My name is Seraphina but you can call me Sera. What's your name?"

He carefully took my hand in his and I noticed immediately how soft and tender his hands were. "Hello, my name is Malakai Ledger. I am actually a Junior over at WinterMoon Academy. I'm not part of the pack here but I really wanted to get to know our neighboring pack and happened to run into Aaron here and well….you know… one thing lead to another…" He looked down at his feet blushing and Aaron smiled at him warmly. "Yeah, yeah, she gets it, dork." I sat back and watched as they conversated and I gave a very half-hearted smile. Wasn't meant to be I guess but that's okay. I furrowed my brow in confusion when a scent rushed into my nostrils and I coughed hard. They both looked at me and ran over to me, "Sera? What's wrong?" Aaron patted my back trying to help.

I rubbed my nose hard and sneezed, "I have no idea but a really funky and….spicy smell hit my nose? Is spicy the right term..?" It was odd and I had never smelled anything like it. It definitely was not food. I noticed Malakai staring at me with a possessed type of creepy stare. It was extremely sinister. I stared back and after a moment, his gaze broke and softened. "Are you okay though? It seemed like it really choked you bad.." He sounded extremely concerned and so soft. I nodded, "Yeah… uh.. I'm good. Did you guys want to go back to the event?" They looked at each other and exchanged a look before looking back at me. "Yeah, sure."

We started heading back and they were ahead of me holding hands and enjoying their conversation. The smell was lingering but wasn't as strong now. Whatever it was, it wasn't good. But for now, I'll pay it no mind.

The event ended up being a lot more enjoyable than I ever even anticipated considering the fiasco that transpired. Everyone ended up having a really good time. The majority of the evening, Aaron and Malakai ensured I was not left out or treated like a third wheel by any means. We spent every second together and I can honestly say I really enjoyed myself. They both walked me home afterwards and I ended up getting some decent sleep that night. I wasn't really feeling a million times better as of yet but I was kind of forcing myself to cope with the fact that Aaron wasn't into me, but gay even. It was alright, not like I had a shot with him anyways. At this point, I should be used to disappointments.

---Three months later---

I walked outside in my new blue crop top and my white jean shorts taking a nice deep breath of summer air. It was that wonderful time of year where the sun is at the right peak and the weather was perfect to go to the beach. We, being the LunarSun wolf pack, we had the closest community next to the beach and I could not be happier! I had to wear a shit ton of sunscreen but that's fine. I'm used to being pale. I had an entire bag with me that was filled to the brim with six cans of Banana Boat and a bunch of drinks and snacks. I tossed my new gradient rainbow towel over my shoulder and plopped my butt down on the bottom step of the porch waiting on Aaron and Malakai to show up.

They both seemed to be happy and enjoying themselves these past few months. They were all about one another and never seemed to leave me out if I was around which was super nice however I am extremely concerned they do that out of pity. I huffed in frustrated. 'They don't need to pity me, I'm fine on my own,' I thought to myself. I was snapped out of my thoughts at the sound of a chirp from my pocket. I reached inside and pulled out my new edition Tamagotchi that Malakai gave me as a gift recently. It was beeping at me saying it was hungry. I smiled at it softly and started feeding it, "well at least I have you, little guy."

"Yo! You ready to go?" Aaron was waving and yelling to me from the street and Malakai was right beside him giving me a very warm smile. I ran over to them with my stuff and Malakai looked at the Tamagotchi in my hand. "Oh! Are you enjoying it? I have such a hard time with those and my poor little friends end up dying. I figured you would have better luck with those things." He laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head looking a bit embarrassed at his statement. I laughed a little and showed him my screen. "Yeah, I have been keeping him on me at all times. I wouldn't want the little one to die on me! He sure is a lot of work. Like… a lot. But it keeps me busy."

Aaron squinted at me and scoffed, "I had one of those things, they aren't that bad. They updated them to where you can leave them for two whole days without food and-" Malakai cut him off waving his arms, "No, no… This one I got for her requires constant attention. You don't want to let it starve which could happen after three hours. Hers is different, trust me." Aaron stared at him and raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Oh, okay. Where did you get one like that?" Malakai blushed and looked at his feet. "Well, I have had this version for a while now but never started it up and wanted someone else to have it since mine always die. I thought it would be a nice gift for Seraphina since I am sucky at those little games." Aaron gave a very amused smile and laughed a bit, "Well that was sweet of you. I'm sure she has been taking extra good care of her friend." Malakai's face lit up and he beamed happily at both of us, "I'm glad! The one I got for her has a super long lifespan too where it never dies unless you stop taking care of it."

I stared down at my Tamagotchi and noticed there was a little pause button on the bottom right. I never noticed it before so I decided to press it and nothing happened. "The heck?" They both looked at me and Malakai watched what I was doing, "Oh, yeah with that older edition, the pause buttons were defective. But what's cool is eventually the little guy will talk to you. They carry some neat conversations with you too at times." I shrugged and stuff it back in my pocket, "Alright, well enough of that. I'm ready for that beach!" They both smiled and nodded in agreement so we proceeded to the beach. The sun on my face was so warm and welcoming, extremely satisfying.

After arriving at the beach, I fluffed out my towel and laid it on the sand. Aaron set up his towel next to mine and Malakai followed suit with his next to Aaron. Aaron got a beach umbrella set up above us to give us some shade and I ran towards the rocky area. I was psyched to find some new rocks, maybe even a starfish or sea glass. I stepped into the water wearing my crocs and squatted and began digging around. There were so many little rocks and shell bits but nothing really of interest. "Find anything cool?" Said a voice behind me. I turned my head to see a black-haired girl sitting on one of the medium rocks staring at me curiously. She had a killer body and was very dainty looking. Very small and short frame. Was she in middle school?

I shook my head and shrugged, "Nothing yet. Sorry if I came into your spot, I didn't notice you. I'm sorry." She blinked and stared at me with a very empathetic expression, "No, I was just sun-bathing. Please, proceed. You are totally fine with what you're doing. Show me something cool if you find anything. I would love to be a part of your hunt," she said warmly with a light chuckle. I winked at her and kept hunting around, "hell yeah, man. You got it." Aaron and Malakai made their way over to me and Malakai looked at the girl on the rock, "Oh, Lillian, it's so good to see you. I didn't know you would be here today. How are you feeling?" She nodded at him, "Likewise, and I'm good, just catching some early summer rays to get some color to my skin." Malakai looked at Aaron and motioned his hand in Lillian's direction, "This is Lillian Song, the soon-to-be Alpha's mate of the WinterMoon pack."

My eyes widened and I turned to face her, "Oh, I apologize for not realizing sooner. I should have known that already from your scent. Please accept my forgiveness. My name is Seraphina Hartt." She furrowed her brow at me very confused at my formality. "You are the daughter of the previous Alpha, is that right? You have no reason to apologize. I see you as an equal to me. Also, I am wearing a lot of tanning oil so I would not have expected you to be able to catch the scent anyhow." I blushed and looked at my hands. I sure didn't feel like an equal to her. My dad was challenged for the throne and hierarchy where he clearly lost. He was bested by someone much stronger and unfortunately more politically manipulative. I never blamed my dad for losing his position. He was never good at debates.

Lillian got up and plopped into the sand before walking over to me and digging around in the pebbles. She pulled out a green stone and squinted at it. "Aha… I thought so." She rose to her feet and outstretched her hand to me with the green stone in her hand. My eyes widened in full on glee. "Whoa! That's a remarkable piece of sea glass! How did you spot it so well?" She placed it in my hand and giggled, "I like doing this stuff too but I noticed it sticking out from the shell bits when the water ran over it. You keep this piece as a token of our newfound friendship. I would love to get to know you more, Ms. Hartt" I blushed deeply and smiled a bit. "Wow, thanks… That's so sweet of you. I would love to be friends!" She lit up and pulled out this very pink phone, "Can I add you to my contacts? I would love to hang sometime."

Well of course I agreed. I have never had a female friend before and I was NOT passing up this opportunity. We exchanged numbers and spent our time together hunting for other super cool rocks, shells and sea glass for the rest of the evening. Aaron and Malakai were off doing their own thing but I noticed Aaron looking over at me quite a lot throughout the entire day and something about it felt really off. He was always caring and protective over me but it was literally just another female wolf and I hitting it off. Was he jealous of my new friendship or something?

After the day came to a close, Lillian and I dug through our findings and split the treasure pile halfway. I got so many new pieces of sea glass, gorgeous shells and some really neat new rocks. My eyes glimmered as I stared amongst all the wonderful treasures and I stuffed them into my pocket like the little goblin I was. Lillian stretched and smiled taking in a deep breath. "Ah… He's here." I furrowed my brow in confusion and turned around to see a very large and tall male walking our way. My eyes went wide as I checked him out. His hair looked like Malakai's where the root was jet black and the rest was a gorgeous silver, his eyes a deep piercing blue and his jawline was to die for. My heart thudded against my chest and I almost felt weakened by his mere presence. Who the hell is this man? Was he our age? I couldn't tell.

He gripped Lillian's waist and pulled her to him from behind her kissing her neck softly before making his way to me and looking down at me. He was overwhelming and his scent was intoxicating. I could barely breathe without choking up. It was truly a divine scent and I blushed very hard looking away. I felt a rush over my body and I began feeling extremely hot. 'What the hell is wrong with me?' I thought to myself. He smiled down at me, "Well hello there. My name is Mason. Mason Williams. I'm the soon-to-be Alpha of WinterMoon. A pleasure to meet one of Lillian's friends." His voice was warm and welcoming but his scent was and mere presence was intimidating and extreme. I couldn't speak. It was too much. He leaned down and whispered softly next to my ear, "I'm taking Lily home with me now, you be safe going home, Ms. Hart." With that, they took their leave and I fell to my knees taking a very deep breath of fresh ocean air and Aaron bolted over to me. "Mason.. His name…..was Mason…" I was still in shock from the flood of emotions and pressure that tore through my body.

Aaron approached and went down to grab my to help me to my feet but paused and began sniffing the air. "What the hell.." I nodded and closed my eyes. He could probably smell that strong alpha pheromone and I was about to explain until him and I locked eyes. "Sera…you're emitting pheromones.." We stared at each other and his face flushed bright pink. I was….emitting pheromones?