The months continued to speed by rapidly. As she crept closer to sixteen, she began to sense a presence in her mind, like an itching sensation that she couldn’t reach to scratch, and knew instinctively that it was her wolf lurking in the background, waiting for her time to come forward.  Her wolf was most noticeable when she was training with Alpha Lorenzo.  He had come to train with her once a month for the last two years, and they were always her favourite sessions. If she was being honest, she didn’t exactly work hard when the Alpha came. He always went easy on her if she complained, but it meant they got to talk and joke. Although she would never admit it to anyone but Sadie, she was fairly sure she was developing a schoolgirl crush on him. Arla wasn’t

The six friends sat in the living room in Lydia’s cottage, playing a board game, while Sadie read one of Arla’s werewolf textbooks for the five hundredth time. She let out a long, dramatic sigh, causing the rest of them to look in her direction, noticing the wistful look on her face. “Uh, are you ok, Sadie?” asked Sebastian, a little warily. “What? Oh, yeah, sorry,” she replied. “I just get caught up in the romance every time I read about werewolf mates.” “Is it different from the way witches choose partners?” questioned Sebastian. He’d never really taken much interest in Arla’s background before. “Oh, yes! Very different,” replied Sadie, eager to share her knowledge. “Werewolves don’t get to choose their mates.” “What?”

The walk to the car was a lot less scary than the one she’d taken three years prior. Being able to light the way with magic certainly helped. “You going to tell me what’s wrong?” asked Drew with a nudge to her arm after their initial chatter had died down. “I can tell it’s more than just feeling sad about leaving.” She wondered how he always knew when there was something wrong. “Victor...” was all she got out before her voice cracked and she began to blubber. “You’ll still be able to see lover boy,” he replied. He knew that as much as Lorenzo hated the idea of her being with him - hell, Drew hated the idea just as much - neither of them would stop her from living her life. “I don’t want to,” she replied, wiping her eyes

Arla reached the training hall in the nick of time and took her place on the mats just as the head warriors made their way to the centre of the room. The training hall was a huge indoor space across the road from the packhouse.  At the far end there was a gym with weight stations and exercise equipment, next to that was an indoor basketball court, and at the opposite end, where Arla was now standing, was a large open area where the floor was covered with soft black gym mats.  The first half of the training session would take place in human form inside the hall, and the second half would be conducted in wolf form in the large training yard outside. Arla spotted Chloe on the opposite side of the room, and both girls had to stifle a squeal of happiness as the gruff-looking warriors began speaking. Arla had

Arla’s face lit up with a smile so wide it hurt her cheeks, and she followed after Alpha Lorenzo quickly. They entered the tree line and walked for around fifteen minutes until they came to a small, secluded clearing.  “This is where I shifted for the first time,” said Lorenzo, looking around with fondness. “I still come here when I need to think sometimes.” He wandered over to a tree and checked a hole in the trunk where he kept spare clothes, making sure there was something suitable for Arla to wear when she shifted back to human form afterwards. “Can you ask Maeve if she’s ready to give it a try?” he asked. “I’m ready. I’ll take good care of you, Arla,” replied Maeve. “She’s good to go,” Arla informed him, sudden