The Mate I Rejected

The Dream

Hailey's POV

I am in the forest like I have been so many times before but this time it feels different, it also looks different, well not so much, it's just that the place is filled with so much mist, but only goes just above my knees, I can't see the ground but one thing is for sure, something doesn't feel right. I hear a crackle behind me, like someone just stepped on a broken tree branch, I turn around and I see my father.

" Pa? " I said to him but he doesn't respond, instead he turns around and walk away from me.

" Pa!" I called out to him but he just kept on walking away from me. I tried to run after him but my feet are stuck in the mud, I try to wiggle my way out of the mud but then it's like I am sinking into the ground, like I am stuck in quick sand. I could feel my heart beating faster and my dad, he keeps on walking away from me.

" Help! Somebody help me!" I yelled out from the top of my lungs but no one is coming for me.

" Hailey ... Hailey..." I heard my father's voice and I started to open my eyes.

" Wake up baby, you are having a bad dream." My father said. I saw his face and I reached out and hugged him.

" Oh dad..." I said and started to cry.

" What's wrong?" My dad asked me.

" I had that dream again..." I said to him. This is the third time I have had nightmares about my father leaving me suck in the mud.

" It's just a dream baby, I am not going anywhere. " He said and hugged me tightly.

" Pa this one felt different." I said to him.

" It is just a dream baby girl, calm down." He said.

My father has always been calm, even when he knows that something is wrong but I know better than to ignore my dreams. My father has always said that the only people who's dreams means something are witches and not werewolves. In theory that is the truth but my dreams are different, from a young age my dreams have always haunted me because they always meant something.

I still remember when my mother was sick and I had a dream about her being with my grandmother and great grandmother, both of which I have never met but seen the pictures, I told my mother about my dream and she told me that it was just a dream but a few days later she passed away, the same way I had a dream about Justin, one of the guys in the pack being stuck in a dark place, a few months later he fell into an old well. Those are only but a few examples.

" Don't you think that we should talk to Shiela?" I asked him.

You see witches and werewolves don't get along but not as much as we despise other creatures. This is why every Luna or Alpha has a witch in the pack and we have Shiela, I will be honest and tell you that I don't know how long she has been around but I know that she is very very old. Shiela is said to be the most powerful witch of her kind because she is a spell maker, that means that she can make and form her own spells My father said that power like that hasn't been around for a long long time, not only that but Shiela has the third eye, this means that she can see the future.

My father might be the Alpha of this pack but he is also a man who does things his own way and for some reason, he doesn't really care much about Sheila and her powers. After she failed to see my mother's death coming, he has turned his back on her.

" No, you stay away from that woman you hear me?" he said to me. He was a bit harsh and seemed a bit angry. " She is nothing but a fraud. " He said and stalked out of my room.

I got out of bed and went into the bathroom, I had a shower with my father's words running in my head. I mean Sheila is an old woman, very old and most importantly, she is alone. Ever since my mother died, the pack has just about turned their back on her. To be honest, I am just about fed up with the way that everyone has been treating her. I went downstairs and found a note on the table.

" Gone for a while to meet up with the Moon Alpha. " The note said.

He was talking about his old friend now arch rival. I don't know where it began but I know that they have been trying to take over the woods for decades now. The Alpha has challenged my father a few times and lost all the time. The rules are clear, he would have to kill my father in a battle in order to take over the pack. I don't know why my father hasn't killed him already, he is ruthless and I can't even begin to tell you all the horrible things he has done in his reign of terror.

He is not a good man, he is not honest or noble. I don't even know why he would bother go to him when he knows perfectly well that it won't help, he won't release the members of the pack that he claims where trespassing in his lands. We all know not to go anywhere near his land and so I don't understand how they could have ended up there. I put the note back on the table and I went outside. I was supposed to be in training but I decided to go somewhere.

My family has always rules these lands, my father is the just about the only Alpha from his bloodline who doesn't have a male heir. Without a male heir of his own, I am going to be the first female Alpha of the Crescent Pack and so my father knew that I would have to be strong, stronger than any male werewolf in the pack so he trained me harder than all of them, I was definitely stronger and bigger but I was still a woman, this means that I would have to have a mate, that way I can have a successor.

My biggest concern is that my birthday is coming soon and when that happens, everything is going to change for me. Right now I have no idea what that means and a part of me is scared of the unknown. I don't know what changes are coming but I have faith that Sheila will tell me, I need her to look into my future, I need to know what's coming for me.

" Hailey wait up for me. " Mason called out for me.

" Not now Mason, I'll see you later." I said and walked on.

Mason is my friend, I also know that he likes us to be more than that. He is a great guy who comes from a good family but I just don't see myself being with him in that way, right now I just want to focus on my training. To be honest, I don't think that there is a guy in my pack that I would like to be with, especially since I know that I can take any of them and win but then again things are different with us werewolves.

For one, you can't exactly choose who your mate is going to be, it happens naturally and you have no control over it. We call that imprinting and I am starting to think that it might never happen for me. This happens only once in a lifetime for any werewolve, once you imprint on someone, it is forever. I am starting to doubt if it happens that way, at my age, I should have atleast felt something for someone, maybe Sheila can tell me.

I picked up some flowers on the way to Sheila's house, what I didn't expect was to see her sitting outside on her porch, it has been years since anyone has seen her sitting there but then again, no one has been to this parts of the woods to see her in years, I hope that she doesn't send me away, I would understand if she did, I also turned my back on her like everyone else after my mother died. She saw me coming and smiled.

I was a few feet away from her but I could tell that she had gained a few wrinkles over the last few years since I last saw her. I walked to her and she stood up slowly. It was clear that the years have taken a toll on her and we haven't made it easy on her.

" Hailey, is that you dear?' she asked me.

" Yes, it is me. " I said to her. I walked up to her and she held out her hand for me. I took her hand and she squeezed my hand.

" I knew you would come, the dreams never lie. " She said with a smile.

It was a surprise that she waited for me because I didn't tell her that I was coming, infact I only thought about it in the morning. I mean my father has always said that I should stay away from her.

" Well I suppose that means that I am welcomed. " I said to her.

" You are always welcomed here, come sit down, I'll get us some tea. " She said with a smile.

"You know what? I have a better idea, you sit here and I will make us the tea. " I said to her.

" Even better. " She said with a smile and took a seat.

I haven't been in her house in years but when I went inside, I saw that everything was still the same, I hoped that she still kept the kitchen the same way too. I went to the kitchen and saw that she still kept things the same way, down to the hot coal stove. I took her kettle and filled it with water. It was then that I saw a picture of Sheila, she was with someone who looked exactly like me, she looks like me but I know for a fact that it is not me. How can it be? The picture looks old very very old.

" Is everything alright dear?" Sheila said from behind me and scared me a bit, this was not expected in the least, I thought that she was still sitting outside.

" Hmm, yes everything is fine it's just that picture, I don't think that I have ever seen before. " I said and pointed at the picture.

" That is your great, great, great grandmother Lisa Bennett, we used to be such good friends." She said with a smile.

" Oh, I suppose it explains why I look so much like her." I said with a smile.

" She was a great witch, very powerful too." Sheila said.

" Impossible, werewolves cannot be witches, that is unheard of. " I said to Sheila, my father has always told me that I come from a long line of werewolves so this cannot be true.

" There is still so much that you don't know, I must say that I am disappointed in our Alpha, I thought that he might have told you the news by now, I guess I was wrong." Sheila said.

" What truth? My father and I talk about everything, he would have told me if there was anything to say." I said to her.

" I doubt that... but it is not my truth to tell... how is that tea coming along?" she said with a smile and sat down.

" Can you not treat me like I am five years old?" I said to her.

" Tell me about your dream, what did you see?" she asked me. I was surprised, how did she know that I came here because of the dream I had.

" I saw my father, it was like I was losing him, like he was going away for good." I said to her. I was worried.

" There is no easy way to tell you this but you will lose your father, I have seen his path and before you ask, no you can't stop it, it is his destiny, it is written in stone, the same way your destiny has been written." Sheila said. She was being cryptic but clear.

" No, what if you are making a mistake?what if you are wrong?" I said her.

" Child I wish I was wrong but his path is clear, the Alpha won't be around for long." She said. It was a hard pill to swallow.

" What about my birthday? what's going to happen?" I asked her.

" The beginning of the rest of your life, on your birthday, everything is going to change for you and my child, it is not going to be easy for you but I know that you are strong, just like your mother was,you will be okay. " she said. " Go home, your destiny awaits you " Shiela said.

" No, you have to tell me more, please tell me more. " I said.

" Go home child." She said.

I had no choice but to do as she asked me to do. I walked out of the her house. I needed to think about all of the things that Shiela told me, it was a lot and right now, I needed to be alone. I didn't go home, instead I went to the sacred waters. It is said that this waterfall has all our secrets in it, I don't know how true all of that is, all that I know is that I have been coming here since I was a little girl. It's kind of like my little hide out when I need to be alone.

The weather was so warm. The thing I love the most is that it is surrounded by trees, I think I understand why they say it has magic waters, everything thing here was peaceful, the water was clear and to top it off, it was off limits so I knew that no one would find me here. I got undressed and made my way into the water. I just floated on my back as I busk in the sun. I then a crackling sound like someone just stepped into a dry leaf.

" Who's there?" I said but no one said anything. I looked around and I didn't see anyone. I couldn't see anyone but somehow I knew that someone was out there.

" Whoever you are, you don't want to mess with me. " I said.

" Hmmm, brave words for a girl who is all alone in a place she has no business being in." A strong and deep male voice came. Then I heard footsteps and then I saw him.

" Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?" I asked him.

" The question is who are you?" He asked me. I didn't even know the guy but he was already getting on my last nerve. I hate it when someone answers a question with a question.

" Fine don't tell me, turn around." I said to to him.

" Why?" He asked me.

" Because I want to get out of the water." I said. There was no doubt that he was a werewolf just like me, I am not sure which pack he comes from, but his face seems a little familiar.

" Fine..." He said and turned around. I made my way out of the water and I got dressed as quickly as I possibly could. " Are you done?" He asked me.

" Yes " I said as tied my wet hair into a messy bun. He turned around.

" I'm Ashton by the way." He said and offered me his hand.

" Yeah No... good-bye Ashton." I said and walked away.

" So you are not even going to tell me who you are ?" he asked me.

" Bye." I said as I made my way out of the forest. I don't have time for guys, especially ones like the guy I met, he is clearly a play boy.