Unforeseen Bonds

Chapter 1

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP.

I jolt awake at the sound of the alarm going off. Groaning, I roll over and turn off that awful sound. Guess I better get up if I don’t want to be late for school. Dragging myself out of my nice warm bed, I go to the bathroom to shower. After spending a good ten minutes under scalding hot water, I dry myself off and stand i front of closet trying to decide what to wear. I settle on a pair of black skinny jeans, nude crop top, and a pair of black ballet flats. Normally I don’t wear much makeup, for some reason today i decide to throw a little eye shadow, mascara, and eye liner on. I finish the look a nude matte lipstick. Stuffing last nights homework into my backpack, I run downstairs hoping to eat some breakfast before heading out.

Downstairs I find my mother and my brother sitting at the kitchen island eating. Brooke must still be upstairs sleeping, lucky little girl. Oh how I wish I could be 4 years old and not have to be getting up at the crack of dawn for school. I check the clock to make sure I have time to sit and eat only to realize that it is already 7:20. "Shit Danny we need to go or we are going to be late!"

"Watch your mouth Josephine," my mother says to me. I hate when she calls my by my full name. Everyone else calls me Jo and I prefer it that way. "Good morning dear, did you sleep well last night?" she asks.

"Sorry mom, good morning to you too", I say as I lean down and kiss her cheek. "I slept pretty good" I tell her. But its a lie. I did not sleep okay. I had the dream again. The same one that has been haunting me for months. Running through the forest while its pitch black out, then tripping and falling, then seeing a pair of bright silvery blue eyes. After that I always wake up.

"I see dad has already left for work. We are going to be late if we don't get going, come on Danny". Danny is only 11 months younger than me so we are in the same grade and I always drive us to school. I grabbed a pancake and a slice of bacon to eat in the car and yelled as I ran out the door, "Bye mom, love you!"

"Love you too sweetheart, have a great day! Oh and don't forget that Jace and his parents are coming over for dinner tonight!" she called as Danny was shutting the door.

Great, I had totally forgotten they were coming tonight. Jace was my boyfriend, or I guess I should say fiancé, since our parents have arranged a marriage for us. It was extremely rare for a wolf to find their true mate these days. Because our numbers have grown so significantly and everyone is scattered in different packs all over the country, the chances of one finding their true mate are slim. In the last year, only two of our pack member have found their mate. Our parents decided arrange our mating so that we could join our two packs.

Jace lives in the next county over, and is the son of Ryan Langston, the Alpha of the Banes Creek pack. My father, Connor Johnson, is Alpha of the Moon Valley pack. Which means that I am next line to take over my pack.

For decades, our two packs were at war, constantly fighting over territory. When my grandfather died and my father became Alpha, he had had enough of the fighting. He proposed a truce to Alpha Langston, that his son, who was to become Alpha when the time came, marry his daughter who was also to become Alpha, or should I say Luna, and unite the two packs. Both Jace and I were only 9 years old at the time and really had no say in it. But since it was super rare to find a true mate anyway we were okay with it. Our fathers signed the treaty, bringing peace between our warring packs.

Ever since then, Jace and I have been together. Starting out as friends, we spent a lot of our time together. Learning everything we could about each other, and over time, that friendship grew to love. We haven't mated yet, and we haven’t marked each other. We decided to wait till our mating ceremony. Actually its more me wanting to wait. Jace has been pushing the issue a little it, but he is respecting my decision.

"Hey Jo, you happen to do last nights chemistry homework?" Danny asked me on the way to school.

"Yes Danny I did. I always do. Let me guess, you didn't do yours did you?"

"I did most of it Jo. I was having a really hard time with questions 23-30 of the second assignment. I ended up falling asleep before finishing it. Do you think I can look over yours and use some of the answers? Mr. Lang will give me an F if I don't have this finished and will tell Coach Scott that I can't play any baseball until my grade comes up."

I sigh. "Sure. You have until we pull into the parking lot at school to look at mine and write what you can." I know how hard of a time he has been having in chemistry, I usually try to help him out and study with him but I have been so exhausted lately. Not sleeping because of the dream has really been hurting me. Baseball is Danny’s life and I don't want him to be benched because I was too tired to work with him.

"I really hope that since it is Friday the old man will take pity on us and not assign anything for over the weekend."

"I agree, I don't want to spend all weekend helping you with your homework. I have plans with Mel and a few of the girls from Banes Creek."

"I don't know why you hang out with them. They hate us and only hang out with you to try and raise their status within the pack."

"They don't all hate us. Some still hold onto grudges from before the treaty and just don't want to let go. Once Jace and I have our mating ceremony, our packs will unite and they will see that we only want peace."

"Sure, whatever you say Jo.”

"Times up. Please put mine back in my bag before you run off so I don't end up forgetting it," I told him as I pulled into my parking spot. He did and before I even shut the car off he was out the door.