A Mate of Convenience SAMPLE ONLY

1 Matured

Twins. A single fertilized egg that splits into two separate beings, within the womb into either identical or nonidentical persons; unless you're a werewolf. Then the identicalness stops on the outside. Only the original retains the ability to shift while the other remains a human with shifter traits. The moon's gift, the magical ability to shift was not something cloned in the womb.

Even though I was delivered second, I was the one with the wolf soul.

Noella and I grew up close but the entire family put more effort into her life. She was the human living among wolves and felt excluded because of it. As she wasn't officially a werewolf, she could not be part of the pack and therefore was kept out of everything wolf-related.

She was everything a wolf was. She even smelt like a wolf but lacked the ability to shift. Because of this, the pack classified her as a human, even though she was a lot more than a human.

At eleven years old, I learned how to phase into paws. With that, I was allowed to partake in runs with the other youths. Doing this made me honestly feel as if I had two lives. Up until then, Noella didn't withdraw or show anything else but support for me. She and I were best friends. Of course, now that I could shift, I had new friends who wanted to explore our newfound abilities.

Wolves are social creatures. We moved as a pack when venturing into the woods. Learning how to navigate on paws was mandatory. The alpha decreed that all pups learn survival skills upon learning how to shift.

"Lystra, can I come?" Noella would ask at first hoping I would break the alpha's orders on allowing her to accompany us on runs.

Excluding her was for her own safety. This was to prevent her from getting hurt in the event humans were out in the woods. If humans saw a girl among wolves, it would lead to bullets aimed at the wolves. Humans were so gun-happy where we lived. They didn't know of our existence but were mindful of the large wolf population in the forest. The mayor, our Alpha, had outlawed the shooting of wolves, however, humans would often argue that they believed the wolves were a danger and therefore had to shoot. All of his orders were for our safety. This included mandatory shifting and running with my peers. It wasn't my choice to leave Noella behind.

I always tried to make it up to her by spending every other minute of my life with her. That was until we were fifteen and Jordan Tudor became our friend. Like me, he was a wolf but he was a year older. We clicked so well but he would gravitate towards Noella more. Her personality made everyone love her.

She was the human who lived in the moment. She loved breaking the rules. Sneaking off with Jordan at night became her norm. I didn't snitch mostly because my parents knew what she was doing. They allowed her so much leeway growing up, all because she was human. They coddled her, even when she was acting out.

"She's human and we have to make her life comfortable Lystra. She and her boyfriend can do as they please." Mum argued the first time Noella snuck out. She was only fourteen at the time.

The logic behind mum's argument was that Noella was a human and had no mate to wait for. Therefore, she would be judged differently from me. I was the one with a mate out there, unlike Noella. In my parents' eyes, I was the juvenile as I was still not mature enough to sense my mate. That only happened at around age sixteen or older for a werewolf. In Noella's case, she was a human; and humans in our state could consent at age fourteen.

I should have spoken up then...

When we were fifteen, for the first time, Noella didn't care to spend time with me. She had her own friends and of course, Jordan, to keep her occupied. I started feeling the signs of rejection then but didn't know it. How does one really note the signs?