The Soldier's Begining

03 The First Mate

One week! I had one week till I turned 18 and mom was obsessing. She was so excited for my birthday. She hoped that I found my mate right away and that I got a good mate. She and Sophie were going through my yearbook looking at all the boys, saying which ones they thought were a good match for me. I rolled my eyes every time they pointed one out to me.

“How do you know it’s going to be someone in my class?”

“Well we don’t, but it is more than likely.” My mother said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Aren’t you excited Jessie?” Sophie asked.

“I like to keep my expectations low so that I won’t be disappointed.”

“That sounds so sad.” Sophie said, looking down.

“Not really if things turn out good then great if not, well I wasn’t expecting much anyway.”

“That really does sound sad.” Mom said.

“Come on guys, I live with less disappointment.”

“I guess it doesn’t sound so bad, but honestly you should be excited about finding your mate. It’s one of the best things in life.”

“I know you’re right Soph but with the majority of guys in my class being absolute jerks I’m not excited at the prospect of my mate being one of them.”

“I understand your feelings about it, but you never know they might surprise you.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it.” I laughed.

Just then Jamie walked in holding a very fussy looking Dylan in his arms.

“Baby he just won’t sleep. I’ve tried everything.”

Sophie just laughed and held out her arms, Jamie passed their son to her. Dylan snuggled into her chest, closed his eyes and fell asleep all within a few minutes. Jamie looked shocked and appalled.

“How do you do that?” He whispered.

“I guess he just wanted his momma.” She laughed quietly as she stood and took him upstairs to nap in his own bed.

“Well at least my daughter sleeps for me.” He sat at the table and pouted like a little kid.

“Well at least you’ve got that bro.” I laughed at him as he shrugged in agreement.

“Oh Jess your birthday is next week! You excited for the big one eight?”

“Why does everyone ask me that? It’s just another birthday.”

“But it’s not. This is the birthday where your wolf awakens and you find your mate. You have to be a little excited about that.”

“Excited about getting my wolf, yes. Finding my mate not as much. Like 95% of the guys in my class suck.”

“I understand, but you know we’re all here for you baby.” Mom reached across the table and took my hand.

“I know. I promise I’ll keep an open mind.”

“That’s all I ask sweetheart.”

1 Week Later

Midnight came and I woke up out of a dead sleep. Something felt… different. I had these weird feelings floating around in my head and it was kind of freaking me out. So I threw the blanket off of me and walked to my parents room. I was sure to put my ear by the door to see if I could hear any noises. I made the mistake of just walking into their room a few years back and let’s just say I saw a side of my parents I wish I hadn’t. Hearing nothing but silence I quietly opened the door and walked to my mom’s side of the bed. I reached out and shook her as gently as I could.

“Mom.” I whispered she didn’t respond. So I shook her one more time. “Mom.”

She opened her eyes quickly and sat up slightly. When she saw it was only me she laid back down and looked very tired. She looked at the clock then at me. “Do you know what times it is?”

“Yes. I’m sorry for waking you but I feel weird.”

“Weird how baby?” Her eyes were closed. She was awake but couldn’t keep her eyes open.

“I have these feelings and they’re not mine. I don’t know what to do.”

Mom’s eyes shot open, she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. This woke my dad up. He rolled over and looked at us.

“What’s going on Mi Amors?” Dad was half asleep.

At this point mom was off the bed and wrapping in a tight hug. “Our baby got her wolf!” Mom said in hushed excitement. It wasn’t a good idea to shout in the middle of the night with two sleeping toddlers.

The next thing I knew my dad was out of bed and hugging me too. After a minute or two they let me go. Mom held me at arms length and examined me with joy on her face.

“Momma, what about these feelings?” I asked about ready to cry.

“What exactly are the feelings?”

“I don’t know there are so many different ones.”

“Come here and sit down baby.” I sat on my parents bed. My mom sat on my right and wrapped her arm around my shoulders. My dad sat on my left and took my hand. “I’m not surprised you have so many feelings swirling around in your head, but your wolf just awakened and she’s probably confused. You should close your eyes and take a deep breath. Try to reach out to her and reassure her everything is fine.”

I did what my mom said. I closed my eyes and took a deep cleansing breath. I focused my mind on calm thoughts. I even tried to speak to my wolf.

I know this is all new but everything is ok. Silence but I did feel a calming sensation in the back of my mind.

Can you tell me your name? Silence again and sadness flowed through me.

I take that as a no. Well I’m sure we’ll figure out how to communicate with each other. I felt happiness and what felt like understanding, and then I felt nothing which I think meant that she went to sleep. I opened my eyes and looked at my mom with a smile.

“I think we came to an understanding. She can’t talk to me but I can feel her feelings so we’ll figure out how to communicate.”

Mom let out a loud short laugh. “Your brother has the exact opposite. He could hear his wolf but he could feel him. It will be interesting to see how Jace’s wolf is.” My mom kissed the top of my head. “Do you feel better now?”

“Yes, I’m sorry for waking you.”

“Don’t be hija, your mother and I are more than happy to help you with any problem, but this is something to celebrate. We will do that after you get done with school today.”

“Ok papi.” I kissed my dad’s cheek.

“Now go get some sleep before school.” My mom said standing up.

I kissed both my parents and went back to my room. I got to sleep in this morning since it was my birthday. I was excused from morning training. My uncle thought birthdays were very important especially for the younger generation of the pack so anyone 18 and under was excused from training on their birthday.

6 AM rolled around and my alarm blared at me. I felt exhausted, as one should when you wake up in the middle of the night. I so badly wanted to hit the snooze button and roll over, but I knew that was going to do me no good. So instead I went into my closet, picked out some clothes and went to the bathroom for a shower.

The shower really helped wake me up. I dried myself and dressed in the jeans and long sleeve black shirt I picked out. I brushed out my hair but did nothing with it. I planned to ask mom to braid it at breakfast.

I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen where I was met with my entire family shouting "happy birthday". Devin ran to me and handed me a drawing he made of our family and it was really good, his stick figures have improved. I got hugs from everyone. Nico came to have breakfast with us. He said uncle Tobey wanted to come too but he had Alpha business to take care of. I sat at the table and asked mom to braid my hair. While she was working on it Nico started up a conversation.

"So, I was thinking that I'd take Jace to school today."

"You don't have to do that I don't mind. It's not like we're not going to the same place."

"Yeah, but it's your birthday so I thought it might be nice for you to enjoy the drive by yourself today." Then he got quiet and leaned in close. "Plus if you meet your mate today you won't have your little brother cramping your style." He smirked and wiggled his eyebrows. That earned him a smack from my mom.

"There will be none of that talk at the breakfast table young man."

"I'm sorry aunt Diane, I was only making a joke."

"Joke or not there are young children present, keep your mouth clean."

"Yes ma'am." Nico went back to eating and mom finished my hair.

I finished my breakfast, grabbed my books and headed to my car. Nico was right, the drive was really enjoyable by myself. I parked my car, threw my bag over my shoulder and headed into the building. It was just another normal day, at least it was until I entered the main hallway and I smelled it. Hickory and pine, an odd combination but yet still alluring.

I followed the scent two hallways down to a set of lockers at the other end of the school and I saw him. His sandy brown hair and brilliant blue eyes, my heart dropped to my stomach. Of all the people you could have paired me with it had to be Ryan. He hadn't seen me and I was about to walk away before he noticed me. Luck of course was not on my side today. Before I could take a single step, Ryan sniffed the air and then out of nowhere he locked eyes with me.

He looked shocked and then his face changed, I couldn't quite read the expression. He closed his eyes and sniffed the air one more time before he made his way over to me.

"Mate." That was all he said.

I just stood there thinking, here it comes, the rejection, the pain and then the getting on with my life. Ryan lifted his hand and I flinched a bit thinking he was going to slap me like he had in the past. Only he didn't strike me, rather he gently placed his hand on the side of my face. I felt the sparks, it felt like eating pop rocks only on the side of my face. It felt good. Then out of nowhere Ryan leaned forward and kissed me. I heard several gasps and my eyes were wide with shock. The kiss was short and when Ryan pulled away he pressed his forehead against mine.

"Forgive me."

"For what?" My voice was almost breathless.

"For all the years I was awful to you. I-I don't know what I was thinking. I regret it all and I hope you can forgive me. You're my mate, can we start over?"

He sounded so sincere and there were tears in his eyes. A part of me told me to run and not believe a word he said, but my family all told me to keep an open mind. So here goes nothing.

"It might take a little while but I think I can. You are my mate after all, so if you're willing to put it behind us then so am I."

He smiled and kissed me again. "Walk you to class?"

"I'd like that."

He took my hand in his and we walked past his friends whose jaws were still on the floor.

Lunch time came and Ryan met me by my locker. He took my hand in his and walked me to the lunch line. All around us there were people with shocked looks on their faces. Everyone was pointing and whispering, but I ignored them. We got our lunch and Ryan led me to the table he shared with his friends. I usually ate my lunch under the big oak tree in the courtyard. This was a welcomed change.

All of Ryan's friends apologized to me throughout the morning. I decided to forgive them and now we were talking and laughing like we were the best of friends.

After lunch Ryan walked me to my locker. He leaned on the locker next and watched me gather my books. "So what are you doing after school?"

"My parents are having a get together at our house to celebrate my birthday. It's mostly just family. You're welcome to join."

"That sounds nice. Meet you at your place?"

"Sounds great." He gave me a short kiss and walked me to class.

The rest of the day went by quickly. I didn't get harassed, called names or had paper thrown at my head while I was trying to concentrate. I never knew high school could be like this. The last bell of the day rang as I was placing my books in my bag. I did my usual thing and headed to my locker. Ryan was waiting for me. I never thought I would actually be happy to see him.

He gave me a smile I never saw before, mostly because he's never smiled at me before. This is going to take some getting used to but I think I could actually grow to love him. I mean we are mates after all, that's what we're supposed to do.

"Hey how were your last few classes?" I asked. I really didn't know what else to say.

"Boring, but that's nothing new. How were yours?"

"Quite pleasant." I grabbed what I needed for homework and loaded my bag.

"Yeah? What made them so pleasant?" Ryan grabbed my bag and threw it over his shoulder. We made our way to the parking lot as we talked.

"No one bothered me. I was able to concentrate. It was nice."

"Well I'm happy to hear you had a good afternoon."

Ryan walked me to my car and waited for me to fish my keys out of my pocket. Once my door was unlocked he tossed my bag inside. He then proceeded to open the driver's door for me.

"I'm not going to leave just yet. I have to text Jace. I'm not sure if I'm the one taking him home or not."

"Do you normally drive him?"

"Yeah, but Nico brought him to school today. It was his gift to me."

"His gift?"

"Yes, a peaceful drive to school." I made it sound as dramatic as possible and Ryan laughing told me I succeeded. Just then my phone went off. It was Jace telling me Nico was giving him a ride home. "Well the peaceful journey continues."

“I take it Nico’s taking Jace home.”

“Yep.”

Ryan smirked at me as he walked to me. He leaned in close, trapping me against the side of my car. "So we have a few minutes alone?" I just simply nodded my head, I seemed to have lost my voice. Ryan pressed his lips against mine in a kiss that stole my breath. He had me wrapped around his finger, but I still had my walls up and I wasn't fully ready to trust him yet. Ryan pulled away and just looked at me for a second or two.

“So should we go?”

It took me a second to register what he said. “Ye-yeah”

I was breathless and lost in the mate bond. Ryan smirked at me, he could tell that I was falling fast. I shook my head and smiled at him. “I’ll meet you at the house.” With that I got into my car.

As I drove I shook my head and got myself centered. As good as this mate bond felt I needed to be cautious, this is Ryan I’m dealing with. He’s tormented me for so many years both emotionally and physically. If I let myself slip things could end up disastrous.

I was thinking so much that I wasn't paying attention and I didn't realize that I was in my driveway until I put my car in park. I sighed as I got out of my car. I wasn't sure about this mating, but my family did say I should keep an open mind. I was brought out of my thoughts by the sound of a car coming up my drive. I looked over to see Ryan's making his way up my drive. He parked his car next to mine and got out. I was still feeling uneasy when he came to stand in front of me. He had a worried look on his face.

"What's wrong?" He placed his hands on my arms and gently trailed his fingers up to my shoulders.

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the tingles. "Nothing, I'm just overthinking everything."

Ryan laughed and kissed my forehead. "That sounds like you."

He's not wrong, I over analyze everything. I smiled and opened my eyes. "We should get inside before they come looking for me."

Ryan nodded his head and took my hand in his. We made our way up the stairs. I opened the door and we stepped in. You could hear a pin drop in that room. As soon as Ryan and I walked into the room everyone went silent and there was no shortage of shocked looks.

Jamie was the first to recover. He made his way towards us. "Hey guys." I've never heard my brother sound so awkward. I dropped Ryan's hand and hugged Jamie. "Hey Ryan, do you think I could steal my sister for a few minutes?"

"Of course." Ryan smiled and Jamie's smile changed.

"Cool I'll have her back in a bit." Jamie turned to me. "Jess, kitchen please."

I followed him into the kitchen where Jace, Nico and my parents were waiting for me. My mom had a worried look on her face, she wrapped me in a hug the second I walked through the door.

“Are you alright honey?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know maybe because you came walking into the house holding hands with demon spawn out there.” Jace said rather loudly.

“He’s my mate.”

“What!?” Everyone’s jaws dropped.

“When did you find this out?” Nico asked.

“This morning when I got to school.”

“And you're going through with this mating?" Jamie asked.

"He apologized for everything."

"And you believed him!?" Nico shouted.

"Wasn't it just last week you all were telling me to keep an open mind? I'm not 100% certain about this mating, but I'm willing to give it a try. Ryan has been completely different towards me today. Maybe the mate bond has changed him."

"Well I for one don't trust him, but if you're willing to give him a shot I will too." Jamie said.

"I'm willing to accept your mating as long as you're happy, baby girl." Mom said. She held me close and stroked my hair.

"Ok, ok I guess we should go play nice." Jamie said. No one argues with mom.

We rejoined the party and I had a blast. Everything was terrific, the food, the music and the company. It was especially fun watching my family awkwardly interact with Ryan. By the end of the night I was happy I accepted the mate bond.

2 months later

Everything is fantastic! Ryan has been the perfect mate. He's kind, thoughtful and very affectionate. His friends have been very open to me as well, we've even all hung out together a few times after school.

Winter break was just around the corner and Ryan was begging to spend more time together. School ended for the semester on Wednesday, it's currently Monday.

"Can I see you this weekend?" Ryan asked, almost pouting.

"Maybe, let me see." I pulled out my weekly planner to see what everyone's plans were. "This weekend is a no go but Monday looks promising. Jamie is spending a few days with Sophie's family. Jace is going skiing with some of his friends and it looks like my parents are going to a cattle auction. So the house is all mine."

"Sounds perfect."

"Great, then it's a date."

The week passed rather quickly. We celebrated Christmas like we did every year. I got a chance to hang out with Nico and my uncle. I had a blast, there was nothing better than spending time with my family.

I woke up this morning feeling nervous, not only because I was having a boy here when my parents weren't home, but also because I knew what was going to happen during that time.

My brothers were gone by the time I made my way downstairs. My parents on the other hand were just finishing up getting ready to leave. I helped my parents out to their car and waved to them as they left.

I ran around my house making sure everything was clean and in order. The next order of business was to make sure my room was spotless. I was right in the middle of making my bed when I heard the doorbell. I quickly threw my covers on my bed and ran downstairs. I took a deep breath before I opened the door.

"Hey." Leaned on the doorway trying to look as relaxed as possible.

Ryan gave me that sweet smile that made my knees week. "Hey." Ryan stepped into the house and looked around a bit. "Anyone home?"

"No, no one is going to be here for hours."

"Perfect."

He smiled and took my hand and led me upstairs. I'm guessing he followed my scent to my room. We stepped inside and sat on the bed. I rubbed my arms nervously. Then Ryan stood and motioned for me to stand.

"Take your clothes off."

"O-ok"

I did what he asked and it wasn't long before I was standing naked in front of him. I felt a bit shy and wanted to cover myself but I stopped myself. He was my mate. I didn't have to hide anything from him. Ryan looked me over head to toe

"Not bad." Ryan shrugged his shoulders

Not bad? Wasn't he supposed to tell me I'm beautiful? I shook my head, this was Ryan he just had his own way of completing. I just stood there waiting for Ryan to undress or tell me what to do.

"Lay on the bed." I did as instructed and laid on my bed. Ryan undid his pants and climbed on the bed. "Spread your legs." Again I did as instructed.

Ryan laid on top of me and I felt him line himself up with my entrance. I placed my hands on his shoulders. Ryan removed my hands and pinned me on the bed. Ryan then roughly entered me. It hurt and I cried out, that didn't stop Ryan. I begged him to stop, but he didn't. It was like he couldn't even hear me. He was moving very fast and it wasn't long before he let out a loud grunt and stilled for a second.

The next thing I knew he pulled out of me, got off the bed and pulled his pants up. He left without looking back. I laid there for a few seconds before I curled up into a ball and cried. I laid there for about two hours before I decided to finally get up.

I went to sit up and there was a sharp pain between my legs. I winced and stood up. I looked back at my bed and there was a blood stain on my blanket. Not wanting to walk through the house naked, I went and took a shower. I went and removed all of my bedding to wash it. I had to move slowly since the pain was so bad.

I had my bedding washed and my bed made by the time my parents got home. I needed to lay down and heal, but I didn't want my parents to know what happened so I told them that I wasn't feeling well.

I spent the rest of my Christmas vacation in bed. I cried myself to sleep every night and Ryan wasn't replying to my messages or answering my calls I was going to find out what was going on as soon as school started back up.