The Savelli Family

It couldn’t be....

Sofie’s POV

After Sam left I decided to busy myself with some school work, trying to ease my mind of the witch’s forewords of my future. But after ten minutes I gave up, Zala would not leave me alone, the words that had made me anxious had made her giddy. She was endlessly pacing in my mind, her caramel fur almost a blur and her words stuck together as she spoke too fast for comprehension. I sighed leaning back in my chair ‘can you please calm down?’ I groaned. She took a deep breath, obviously annoyed at my attitude ‘Sofie, we are going to find mate tonight and you haven’t even started getting ready. We need to look our best, be at our best’. I thought about arguing with her, the witch had said soon but that didn’t necessarily mean tonight. But I quickly decided against arguing with an already agitated wolf.‘If I start getting ready will you stop with the bloody pacing?!’ I asked her and although she was still aggravated by my lack of enthusiasm for this evening she sat and nodded. I looked at the clock and found we still had three hours left I sighed before asking her ‘how about a run first?’. Now that was something she never said no to and as she nodded I could see she was already in a better mood.

Usually I would have linked one of my brothers, Louisa or Jamie to come with me but not today... today I just needed the silence, the sound of the forrest as my paws beat the earth. As we danced our way through the trees we came upon our favourite clearing. It was where the wild flowers grew freely, surrounded by trees but open sky above. Zala laid down in the dewy grass and stretched out, enjoying the rays of sun warmly soaking her fur. We laid for a while before the sun began to set behind the trees, its warmth beginning to dwindle. But when we stood, now concentrating on her surroundings Zala growled, we were no longer alone. She stood defensively as we carefully searched the tree line for the unknown scent. The scent was delicious but we kept our concentration.... just.

We spotted movement in the trees to our right and growled, turning to face the threat. We harden our resolve as we raised the hairs on our back, standing taller as we glared towards the delicious scent. We could see the wolf’s shadow in the trees.... it was huge... beyond huge. Our resolve buckled as we took a hesitant step back. I was a good fighter but also knew when the battle was lost, and knew immediately we were no match for the gigantic wolf before us. I took a deep breath and then popped back to my room.

I shifted back and immediately went to have a shower, trying to calm my nerves. I knew I should tell my parents... my brothers but I didn’t want to hear the lectures about using my powers in the presence of a wolf. I turned the water hotter as I washed the shampoo from my hair, allowing the water to sooth my tense muscles. Zala wanted to go back, to inhale that delicious scent and find its owner. ‘No’ I told her firmly ‘I, unlike you, value our life just a little’. She whimpered softly before I sighed trying to appease with her ‘plus we have to get ready for tonight, mate might be there’. Her temperament quickly changed from disappointment back to her overly excited giddiness from earlier. But before she could start her pacing I warned ‘sit down or I will go in my pyjamas’. She heaved a heavy sigh but sat none the less.

After an hour of prepping and preening I was finally ready. I looked back in the mirror one final time, my black hair in loose curls down my back, looking even darker against my white dress. My dress was white lace, full length with a slit up one side to my mid thigh. It had a white ribbon belt around my waist, pulling it in to shape my figure and a v neck line to show a hint of cleavage. I took a deep breath before walking out to join my awaiting family. My mum raced towards me, hugging me tightly she whispered “you look beautiful Sofie”. I nodded as she leaned back replying quietly “Thanks mum”. I then looked to my dad and brothers before they each pulled a little box from their pockets. I tilted my head as my brow furrowed in confusion before I remember.... it’s my birthday. I hugged Sam first and then he handed me the box. I repeated this with my brothers then dad before stepping back to open their gifts. Each box contained part of a matching set, earrings, a ring, a necklace and a bracelet. I took off the jewellery I was wearing and replaced it with the beautiful diamond set my family had just given me. I loved them all but my favourite was definitely the drop earrings. I thanked each of them before my mum cleared her throat to regain my attention. She held another larger box as I sighed smiling, “you have already given me enough”. She said nothing smiling gladly as she handed me the box. I opened it but was surprised by what I found. I looked up confused, making sure this was in fact for me. She smirked “it’s for your protection”. I looked back down at the delicate looking garter holster and the small silver blade it held inside. “Thanks” I said still confused as to why they would give this to me. Siro stepped forward placing his hand on my shoulder “we know we can’t be around all the time but want to ensure you are safe. We want you to wear this all the time, without exception. Especially with the vampires becoming more cunning by the day”. They hadn’t spoken much to me about the vampires before, only telling me to link one of them immediately if I were to catch the slightest scent of one. But as I looked down at the small knife before me I now understood how dire the situation must have been becoming, there would be war soon. I took the garter out of the box before slipping it on to my leg. I slid in the small knife and draped my dress back over it, to my surprise it wasn’t at all annoying to wear, feeling like it was made to mould against my thigh. My mum kissed my cheek softly “please wear it”. I nodded back to them all when she stepped away from me as I promised “I will.... everyday”. They all smiled to me before I interlocked my arm with Sams and we went down to join the party now beginning below us. We were greeted by the Alpha and Luna before quickly finding our seats, sneaking some chairs over so Jamie, Louisa and their parents could also sit with us.

After dinner we gathered outside, ready to welcome our returning Alpha. Three black cars approached and when they slid to a stop ahead of us I could feel Zala’s giddiness. I sighed ‘we have met him before Zala, he isn’t our mate’. ‘We were children then.... things might be different now’ she replied hopefully. Being a Gamma wolf she couldn’t help but be drawn to power, I on the other hand remembered who we were, our secret. A low ranking wolf as a mate wouldn’t bring us power but it would help keep our secret safe. The door opened and the young Alphas current she-wolf stepped out, you could tell who she was to him by his scent near dripping off her. His scent however was f**king delicious, I was nearly blinded by it just coming off of her before he too stepped out. He was tall now around 6”5, his dark brown hair messily pushed back as if he had run his hands through it one too many times and his body.... his toned muscles were kept little secret under the buttoned up shirt that pressed tightly against them. I didn’t realised I was staring at him before our eyes met, him staring intently back at me. I was quickly entrapped in his beautiful sky blue gaze, his deep tan skin making his blue eyes shine more than I thought possible. ‘Mate! Mate! Mate!’ Zala began howling happily. That’s when I realised... his scent was the one from the clearing earlier..... it couldn’t be.