Mine

Prologue They say that a person could take so much before they break and standing in the cafeteria of my high school watching the hordes of happy people chatting and talking around me just like it was an ordinary day. Unfortunately for me,  I was wound up so tightly that I felt like I would physically break in half before the day was over. Roosevelt High School was a small school in the remote, secluded town of Julian in California, and to the untrained eye, it was as normal as they come. You had your jocks, cheerleaders, stones, geeks, all the other cliques that come with the typical high school experience. Then you had my friends and me. Most kids at school thought we belonged to a cult or a hippy commune because there was a group of twenty or so of us that lived in a community together out in the rural outskirts of town, and I guess it was easier letting them think that then to know what we were. I moved through the line for food, just going through the motions and trying not to draw attention to myself. I piled my tray high with food, not because I felt like I would be able to eat it with my stomach in knots, but because I knew most of the people I knew expected it and didn't want to raise suspicions. Once the lunch lady swiped my meal card, I walked over to my regular table and sat between my two best friends Christopher and Alexis. I felt Lexie's arms wrap around my shoulder as she pulled me in for a hug while I stabbed at my fruit salad, willing myself to eat something. "Caydence Adams, what's with you girl? Normally you are finished before all of us." That was me, Caydence Adams. I was just your average, seventeen-year-old girl. 5'10, slim build with bright auburn hair that reached halfway down my back and bright green eyes Oh, did I mention I was a werewolf? No? I suppose I wasn't a typical high school girl. Before you freak out, I don't turn into a beast every full moon and go on a killing rampage. If I am honest here, I have never actually shifted before. A werewolf's wolf does not awaken until they reach their eighteenth birthday day. Until then, we are just like any other human, just a little faster and stronger. Once we become an adult, our wolf draws on the power of the first full moon after our birthday, and it's then that our strength and speed increase substantially. We also inherit the ability, increased hearing, increased smell, healing, and shift into our wolf form whenever we chose to. We lived in secret from humans in communities with other wolves in what we call a pack. My pack was called the Red River pack, we owned acres of property on the outskirts of town but could attend the standard high school, so I had some semblance of a normal life. I shrugged, putting a bit of melon in my mouth, chewing on it before swallowing and cringing as it hit my hollow stomach. "Just not feeling it today Lex." I felt a nudge in my ribs to my left and turned just in time to see Chris pushing a chocolate cupcake towards me. Those didn't usually last long in our cafeteria, but Chris always managed to score one for me because he knew they were my favourite. Even in my current uneasy state, I couldn't help but give him a warm smile before peeling back the wrapper and taking a large bite; chocolate was my one weakness. "Thanks Chris, you always look after me." Alexis was the eldest child of the Alpha of our pack. The alpha was our leader and was not someone you messed with if you could help it. Lexie was the complete opposite of her father and was a ray of sunshine in my otherwise dull life. She was a goddess on two legs, a leggy 6'0 with a model figure, long blonde hair, pouty lips, and deep blue eyes. She and I had been best friends for as long as I could remember. My father was beta of the pack, which meant he was second in charge, so it made sense that we were close. They were always together managing our pack, which meant that we were generally always together. She had already had her eighteenth birthday last month, so she was lucky her father had allowed her to stay in school. Usually, when a she-wolf hits their eighteenth birthday in our pack, it meant it was time for them to get a mate and once they were mated, that was it for them. It was our version of a stay-at-home wife. We all grew up understanding that the moon goddess Selene, had selected our mates from the moment we were born, but the Alpha repeatedly drummed into us that those mates made us weak, made our pack weak. He demanded something different. In our pack, we mated to make our pack stronger. He told us that this was common practice amongst all the packs. It was rumoured that you do anything for your true mate, even die for them. The only person our Alpha wanted his pack to die for was him. Christopher was a different story; he was the son of a top warrior, so it was predestined that he would be the same and had been training to fulfil that role since he was old enough to walk and talk. That meant that he was very built for an eighteen-year-old. He towered over me, standing at a whopping 6'4, with a heavily muscular build, spikey jet-black hair, and warm brown eyes. He was a chick magnet at school and in the pack, but unfortunately for the girls at school, he batted for the other team. The same could not be said for the she-wolves at home, homosexuality was forbidden. The Alpha didn't care if you were gay and demanded you mate for the benefit of the pack, which meant that as soon as our Alpha found a beneficial match for him, he’d have no choice but to make with a female. I listened quietly as Lexie and Chris talked about random things while I pushed the food around my plate and listened quietly before zoning out, scared that if I joined in, I would give myself away. Chris clicked his fingers in front of my face, "Earth to Cadi? Come back to us, Cadi." I tried to give him a reassuring smile, but I think it came out more like a grimace, "I'm going to head to the library before class guys, I need to grab a few books. Lex, can you please tell my dad I have detention tonight after school and won't be home until late." "Again!" She exclaimed, "you know he's going be pissed." I stood up, picking up my tray and rolling my eyes at her, "when is he not? See you two tonight."  When I said 'when was my father not pissed', it was true. It was like he had been angry and annoyed with me since the day I was born. Firstly, for the sole fact, I was a girl and not a boy who could inherit his position when it was time for him to retire, secondly because my mother died giving birth to me, which meant that I ruined his chances of producing another heir. Whilst the pack didn't believe in true mates, second chances were not allowed either. You got one mate and one mate only. So, from the day I was born, nothing I ever did was good enough for him. If it weren't for my friends supporting me and the Omegas' of our pack helping to raise me, I think I would have ended my life a long time ago. My lip trembled as I walked away from them, knowing that it was most likely going to be the last time that I saw my best friends. It took all of my willpower not to go back to them, hug them both and never let go. Instead, I dumped my entire tray of food in the bin and went to leave the cafeteria, but I didn't get far when I felt a presence behind me. Suddenly a strong arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me against their body. I cringed as I felt the person's warm breath tickling my ear, "hello gorgeous, where are you off to in such a hurry?" If I hadn't had already felt like vomiting certainly did now that he was touching me. The boy behind me was Adam Price, Lexie's twin brother, younger by four minutes, but as our pack would never be passed down to a female, he was the future Alpha. Given that he was Alexis' twin, they shared the same vibrant blonde hair and blue eyes, but while he was bigger than me, he was smaller than Chris, which pissed him to no end. Alphas were supposed to be the biggest and strongest in our pack, but at 6'1 and a slimmer, slight build, I had never seen him beat Chris in a sparring match. I wriggled from his grasp and turned towards him, trying to keep my heartbeat calm. Since he was already eighteen and had transformed into his wolf, he already had the super hearing that came along with it. He would pick up on any slight increase in my heart rate and would be able to tell something wasn't right. "Hey Adam, just heading to the library before the next class. I need some books to finish an assignment due tomorrow." I explained, trying to keep my breathing steady. It wasn't a complete lie, I did have an assignment tomorrow, and I should be going to the library to get the books to finish it. He smirked down at me, reaching out to brush his thumb along my cheek. I had to use all my strength not to pull back from him, he was the future alpha of the pack, and although his touch repulsed me, I couldn't let him know, not when I was so close to completing my goal. "I don't know why you're bothering Caydence, you turn eighteen in a month, and then you're all mine", He reminded me. Not that I needed reminding, I thought about it every minute of every day. When Adam turned eighteen, his father announced that he would be stepping down as alpha as soon as Adam was mated and had produced an heir. That's when he dropped the bomb on the entire pack that I would be his mate. As a child of a beta, female or not, I received the strength of the beta bloodline and therefore was a perfect match for an alpha. Our match would produce strong pups that would only strengthen our pack further. My whole life shattered that day, whilst Alexis was able to keep going to school until her father determined whether her match was in the pack or whether he was from another pack and could use her to form an alliance. Unfortunately for me, Adam had made it clear that as soon as I reached my birthday, that was it for me, no more school, no more leaving the pack, my life as I knew it was over. I heard rumours throughout the years of Adam's behaviour. In simple terms, he was a man-w***e. He screwed girls left, right, and centre, whether they were human girls from the school or unmated she-wolves from the pack. What scared me the most were the rumours that he wasn't the type of guy that would take no for an answer. He nearly got suspended from school when he was accused of s****l assault by a human student, but it got swept under the rug. Adam could continue at school, and the poor girl just disappeared. There were whispers about it at home too, but it was kept quiet once again as no one wanted to make accusations against the next Alpha. The closer I got to my birthday, the more dread I felt. As soon as I turned eighteen, my life was essentially over, and my father wasn't any help. He was thrilled about the union; it was the one thing I could do in this life that would please him. I backed away slowly, "I've got to go. I'll see you later." I didn't wait for him to answer before I spun around and left the cafeteria, running to my locker and grabbed the bag I stuffed in there this morning, swapping it for my mobile phone, and heading to the library. I would hide there until the end of the lunch period just in case he decided to check on me. As I hid in the stacks trying to find comfort in the smell of the old books, my skin was still crawling from his touch. As much as I wanted to take a long, hot shower and scrub my skin raw, I knew I had precious time. I waited for the bell to signal the end of lunch and watched the clock as the minutes dragged by slowly. After giving enough time for all the students to have moved on to their next class, I practically ran to the office and handed over a note signed by my father excusing me for the rest of the day. The only good thing about having a father who was indifferent to you was that he ignored what he was signing for school, and I managed to slip a forged doctor's appointment letter under his nose for him to sign. I had been planning this day ever since the Alpha made his announcement. I didn't have any classes with any of the pack members this afternoon, and with my supposed detention this afternoon, I had about four hours to get as far away from this town as I could. I left the school grounds and ran to the bus stop, making it with only a few minutes to spare before the next bus out of town. There were three routes out of town, which meant I would be a little harder to track down, especially since I left false routes hidden in my room for people to find out. Once I made it to a larger town with a train station, I could go anywhere I chose. The reality was that I needed to leave before I turned eighteen. Whilst I was underage, I was harder to track. I hadn't sworn allegiance to the pack and accepted the mind link which happened on the first full moon after I shifted and, as such, could still go against my Alpha's orders. I also still smelled like an average human, which made me harder to track by scent. I collapsed on an empty seat on the bus as it pulled away from the stop and breathed in a deep breath for what felt like the first time today. I hated not telling my friends what I had planned, but they were safer left in the dark. As they were both of age, they could not lie to the Alpha, and he would have killed them if they helped me run. I couldn't let them die for me. One day, if I made it, I would find a way to let them know that I was okay. I travelled for over a day, two state lines, constantly swapping transportation between buses, trains, and even a ferry before I felt comfortable enough to stop and ended up in a small town called North Bend in Washington. The money I had been able to steal from my father was running out, and I knew if I didn't stop and find a job soon, I would not make it much further. I booked a room at the cheapest motel I could find with the fake id I got from one of the kids at school declaring that I was over the age of eighteen and named Harper Reynolds, but I only had enough funds to book a week's stay. Opening the door to my motel room felt like freedom, it wasn't a five-star room and only contained a twin bed, bar fridge, old tv, ceiling fan, and closet-sized bathroom, but it felt more like home than I had ever felt in my room at my actual home. I knew by now my pack would be searching for me, but all I could do was hope that I had gone far enough away that they would never find me. After a much-needed hot shower, I curled up in bed that first night and slept better than I had in a very long time.