Fated To Three Alphas

Ella’s POV Tomorrow was the biggest and perhaps most important day of my life. I would be turning eighteen. Reaching that age for a werewolf like me meant some major changes were about to hit me hard. Like for starters, I would shift for the first time at midnight. I couldn’t say I wasn’t a little scared of that, even though my parents had talked me through so much about it and told me that it would be the most amazing thing ever. At that moment though, even my shift didn’t seem important. Only he did. I was seated on the second row of class and he was seated a few desks away on my right side. I could hear the muffled voices of Miss Monroe as she continued teaching at the front of the class but I had kind of switched off for a minute. This was becoming a routine… drooling over him. It was so unlike me to not be paying attention in class, but in the last few weeks since I started noticing him, it was like he had put this spell on me. A gentle smile was shaping itself on my face as I admired his shoulder-length brown hair. Zane Hunter was the golden boy of our school. He was the kind of guy that every girl dreamed of having, and I honestly couldn’t believe I had joined the club. As if his dashing looks and his killer physique weren’t enough, he was our Alpha’s son, meant to ascend to Alpha title in a few days when he turned twenty-one. I wasn’t always infatuated by him though. In fact, only a few weeks earlier I avoided him like the plague, just like I avoided pretty much everybody else. You see, I wasn’t the most popular person in school. I was the exact opposite. I loved books more than people and everyone just designated me the school nerd. I didn’t like to go to parties or school dances, neither did I really enjoy dressing up for anything. I didn’t like sports much either, the only thing that ever really excited me was tackling the toughest math problem and finally figuring it out. I would get such a thrill from that, and I was really great at Math. I was actually okay with being weird at school. I kinda liked that everyone just ignored me, it gave me space to just be myself. Up until I started having the biggest crush on Zane. I couldn’t handle myself whenever I saw him at school. It was like my whole world was starting to turn around. I started following fashion trends on socials and tried dressing up. I even changed my hair a couple times hoping that Zane would notice me. But he never did. He always seemed preoccupied with football and his girlfriend, Bianca, the most popular girl in school and the head cheerleader. My efforts to look different and gain Zane’s attention only made people make more fun of me than they already did, so I decided to abort that mission when I realized it wasn’t going to work. I resigned myself to the fact that I could never have him. Not in a million years. And so I was left with not much but to fantasize about having him, like I was doing now at class. “Ella, would you like to give this one a try?” Miss Monroe suddenly called me, shaking me out of my thoughts. There was a math problem on the board and everyone was looking at me. Our math teacher always called on me when no one else lifted their hand to solve the problem, and today I got particularly excited because I knew Zane was watching. Maybe just maybe, figuring out the equation would impress him. I got to it immediately. It wasn’t hard. Not really. I was done in a few seconds and I could see the smile on Miss Monroe’s face. I turned to see if Zane was impressed but no one even seemed to be looking at me anymore. The whole class was murmuring about and Zane had turned around in his chair to face backwards at his friends. My heart dropped, why couldn’t he ever notice me. “Nerd!” I had heard people calling me that so many times that it had even stopped irritating me. I just shrugged it off and continued walking out of school headed to the pack house. My little attempt today had been a disaster but I really wasn’t that fazed by it. I knew tomorrow was my birthday, and so I had something to look forward to. My parents knew that I didn’t like parties much but they always found a way of making me feel special on my birthday. I loved them dearly for that. I arrived home to find Mom already preparing supper. “Hey honey,” she said, “Are you excited?” “Excited about what?” I asked her, a little confused. “About shifting tonight,” “Oh… that,” I said. I had totally forgotten about it. I had gotten so swept away by Zane at school that I hadn't given my first shift much thought. I didn’t know how I could ever get myself to stop wanting something that was so clearly impossible. “I’m telling you, it’s going to be amazing,” Mom continued. “Don’t you mean painful Mom?” I said, smiling slightly at her. “Yes, there’ll be some pain dear. But the moment after you’ve shifted, you’ll feel stronger than you have ever felt. And don’t worry about anything, your Dad and I will be there with you every step of the way, okay?” “Okay,” I said, glancing into her eyes. I was a little scared about shifting. I knew it would probably be as painful as hell while my bones cracked and I changed, but hearing Mom say that she’d be there made me know that it would all be just fine. “Yes dear, every step of the way,” Dad suddenly said, standing in front of me and gently wrapping his arm around Mom’s shoulder. My Mom and Dad were such love birds. Seeing the way they complemented each other always made me wish for my own true mate. The one person who would accept me for who I am. I really admired how much they loved each other. And now finally, I was in a few hours going to shift, and my wolf would show me the way to my fated mate. I didn’t know exactly how I felt about that. I was both a little excited about finding them, and a little scared about how it would all turn out. My parents and I had the nice meal that Mom had prepared. She had made my favorite dish, baked feta pasta. I loved how she prepared it, but tonight I was a little distracted. Thoughts of what my life would look like after tonight kept eating at me all along dinner time. My parents talked me through my shifting some more. They told me not to fight the pain of shifting but to accept and let it pass through me. It felt so scary as they explained to me what would happen, but knowing that they would be there helped calm me down. Midnight finally came, and I was out in the woods with Mom and Dad. The sky was clear and the moon was full, glaring down at me from up there. It looked beautiful. The woods were so chilly as I stripped naked to avoid ripping my clothes apart. Then the hour came and my bones started breaking. The pain was excruciating. I fell to the ground as my back bent itself and my bones shifted in my body. My eyesight sharpened and my hearing got super enhanced that I could hear the smallest sound of rustling leaves in the forest. The next thing I knew, I was a wolf. I stared down at my paws and saw pure white fur covering me all over. I looked up and listened, and just as Mom had said, that moment was really glorious. I felt stronger than I had ever felt before. My body felt light and unburdened. I looked up at the moon in the sky and howled. My parents laughed joyfully from where they were standing a short distance away. I took one glance at them and then took off running. I felt like I was on top of the world as I sprinted across the woods free. I had suddenly found a new favorite thing to do now. When morning came, I was so excited about having finally met my wolf. I had named her Snow last night because of how white her fur was. Mom told me that white wolves were very rare in our community and that they were as mythical as Lycans. I had never felt more special than I did. Literally nothing could bring me down. I was literally skipping on my way to school. Today was my birthday and I had this amazing feeling that it was going to be the best yet. While I was opening my locker in the school hallway, I suddenly caught a whiff of a familiar scent in the air. The scent was mouthwatering, and it seemed to be pulling me so strongly I couldn’t get a handle on myself. I had no idea what it was, but it felt familiar. Like I knew it from somewhere, except that this time it was a little different. I took a deeper breath in, closing my eyes to savor its fragrance. I found myself so entranced that I just had to follow it. I quickly closed my locker, holding my books in my hand and I started following the sweet mysterious scent. I turned a corner on the hallway, passing by some boys and that’s when I suddenly saw him. My heart was racing out of my chest the moment I realized what was happening. Zane was standing there and the scent was clearly coming from him. He turned and looked at me, making my heart pound even faster in my chest.