21

Thursday was fast approaching, the thought of what was to come sending my hands into bouts of quivering. I was off school, trying to cope with the fear of what might happen to Hayden. Sure, it wasn't definite that the Prophecy would come true, but considering what had already taken place with my marking and the smaller prophecy in my necklace, the odds were pretty high.

"Morning," Hayden whispered beside me. I instantly turned to face him, smiling and taking notice of the colour in his cheeks.

"Morning," I replied. "It's Tuesday," I noted with a sigh. Hayden's hand intertwined with mine under the duvet.

He smiled reassuringly. "Dawn, don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you. Ever."

It's not me I'm worried about.

"Come on, let's get up. I smell bacon," Hayden smiled. I agreed, sighing, and made my way to the bathroom, showering quickly before wrapping myself in a towel and heading to the walk-in-wardrobe. When I stepped out of the bathroom, Hayden was playing with the TV, his back to me.

"Danny is there anything you want me to put on or-" he turned around and cut off when he saw me. I noticed his eyes darken considerably. "Dawn," he started deeply, walking towards me slowly. "That's incredibly unfair."

I frowned, "What is?"

He didn't stop moving towards me until he'd pinned me against the wall, his hands on either side of my head. "You, in nothing but that," he said, his eyes trailing down my body. I blushed intensely and tried to push him away, but he pressed his body firmly against me to keep me still.

"Hayden," I warned in a tight whisper.

He ignored me and pressed his lips to my mark, forcing me to throw my head back and expose my neck further. "Danny, you can't expect me to behave with you looking like this," Hayden murmured. I groaned at how difficult he was being. It was like denying a child a lollypop, only for the child to try to manipulate you into giving them one.

His hands travelled down to my waist and then to my thighs, his fingers fiddling with the bottom of the towel; his eyes shot up to mine, a mischievous glint shining in them.

I felt a tug on my towel and I immediately clung to it tighter. "Hayden!" I scolded. He chuckled and turn his attention to my neck, then began to follow a droplet of water down from my collarbone with his finger. When it was too close to my cleavage, I went to stop him, but he trapped my hand with his free one, my other hand still clutching to my towel. When he reached the curve of my chest, he stopped and looked at me before removing his finger and kissing me softly. He smirked as he pulled away from me, noticing how heavy I was breathing. I scowled at him and stomped to the walk-in, slamming the double doors behind me and leaning against the wall, trying to calm down. Damn hormones!

I looked around at my half of the room, grinning at all the new clothes I still hadn't worn. The beautiful jewellery on the table still made my knees weak. Even after all this time, I couldn't get over the fact that Hayden had done this for me.

Making my way over to the clothes, I picked out a plain royal blue skater skirt and a white off-the-shoulder lacy crop top, before choosing a pair of nude boots with dark block heels and furry collars. At the large table in the middle of the room, I selected a long necklace with a large amber gemstone teardrop pendant, as well as two gold bangles.

After dressing, I applied some brown eyeliner and smoky bronze eyeshadow, making my brown eyes pop. My lips were a simple baby pink.

Stepping out from the closet, I saw Hayden was just stepping out from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. My mouth automatically dropped open and started watering at the God-like sight before me.

"Now you know how it feels," Hayden commented huskily, seeing my gaze.

I couldn't help myself.

My arms snaked around his neck and I used my momentum to press him back against the wall, my lips aggressively capturing his and my legs wrapping around his waist. He moaned happily at my response to his body and I squeezed myself to him tighter.

I froze when I heard a floaty nose as something fell to the floor. Hayden looked shocked for a second before recovering and smirking.

"Honestly, Danny, you just can't keep it in your pants can you?" Hayden smiled. Still confused, I looked down at where my legs were. The towel had fallen off and he was completely naked. Looking away before I could see anything, I sighed at Hayden's suggestive expression.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I released my hold on Hayden and placed two feet on the floor before stepping back from him. He simply stood there confidently and leaned back against the wall. I couldn't stop the fire raging in my cheeks.

"Are you just going to stand there?" I questioned nervously, forcing my eyes to stay on his face.

He shrugged, "You're my mate, Dawn. My body belongs to you."

My eyes grew wide and I couldn't help it. I looked.

Whoa.

"Okay, can you please please get dressed now?" I pleaded.

"Don't like what you see?" Hayden looked hurt.

I shook my head, "Not that. Hormones. I can't control myself if you just prance around naked!"

"And you expect me to control myself when you look like that?" he responded, his gaze darting down my body and darkening with lust.

"Just go get dressed!" I squealed. He laughed and walked past me into the closet, shutting the door behind him. How was I supposed to keep him waiting when I was almost losing control myself?

After he dressed simply in jeans and a striped shirt, we headed downstairs to where Jackie was serving up breakfast: bacon, eggs, and pancakes. Yum.

"What are you kids up to today, then?" Jackie asked cheerfully.

Hayden replied without missing a beat. "Well, I was going to lock Dawn up in our room with me all day and see what happens, but judging by her expression, that's out of the question...so I think I'll just train instead."

Gravity had never had more of an affect on my jaw. "Hayden!" I exclaimed. Jackie started laughing uncontrollably before noticing my scowl and sobering up. She walked around the back of Hayden and hit him on his head.

"Honestly, son, learn some manners," she ordered sternly, but I saw her secret grin. "Well, if Hayden's going to be training, do you want to come into the Pack Village with me today, Dawn?"

My face lit up. The Pack Village! "Of course! That'd be great!" I beamed. Jackie clapped her hands happily and stood behind me while I ate, brushing my hair with her fingers and chatting happily to us. I couldn't help feeling warm and fuzzy at her affection; it must've be nice for her to have a daughter as well as her two sons.

Hayden stood up after he finished his breakfast and placed his plate in the dishwasher. "I'm going to start training," he announced, earning a smile and a nod from me. He kissed my forehead as he left the kitchen and jogged into the garden, pulling his shirt off. My eyes never left him as I watched him strip to his underwear outside and disappear behind a tree. When he came out again, he was a beautiful black wolf. Jackie laughed at my dreamy expression and loaded my empty plate in the dishwasher.

"Right, should we head out?" Jackie asked.

I nodded, "Yep, I just need to run upstairs, I'll be down in a minute."

Dashing into my room, I quickly brushed my teeth and grabbed a beautiful brown handbag from the walk-in. Downstairs, Jackie noticed my bag and grinned. "I see you like your new stuff," she laughed.

"It's all so beautiful!" I exclaimed.

"Well I'm glad I still have some fashion sense," Jackie cheered as we exited the house and began walking down a long path through the woods.

"You picked out all of that stuff?! Jackie you are amazing!" I complimented.

"Oh, you don't need to tell me, I know," she said in a nasally voice, pretending to be an obnoxious teenager. We both burst into giggles.

"Oh. My. Gosh." My eyebrows shot up when the trees cleared and a huge clearing appeared. Stylish wooden, brick and stone houses appeared, all of them sporting massive windows and flowery gardens. "This is the Pack Village?" I questioned. Jackie nodded and laughed at my reaction. Wow!

A girl ran past us and it took me a minute to register who it was. "Indie!" I called out excitedly. Indie stopped and turned around before running over and hugged me.

"I can't believe I didn't notice you," she giggled.

"What are you doing off school?" I questioned.

"Training— pretty much the whole village is training if they are fit enough."

"I didn't know everyone was training..." I didn't realise this was such a huge thing.

"We need to be prepared for the worst," Indie explained. I was suddenly ten times more anxious.

Indie and Jackie showed me around the village and introduced me to their friends. I noticed the pack school which Indie had mentioned that her twin went to. It was a large building, and I could see a class of kids sitting inside through a window.

As I was being introduced to some of the smaller children, a man— around thirty —came sauntering up to us.

"Hi there," he grinned, cocking his head at me. "When did you join this pack?"

"I've been here for a few weeks now," I replied, standing up to my full height.

"Really? I'm sure I would have noticed a beauty like you," he smirked.

I folded my arms over my chest and raised an eyebrow. "First of all, I'm sixteen, pervert. Secondly, as soon as the Alpha's son turns eighteen- in a year- I'm going to be your Luna. So I suggest you step away and go and find you mate," I stated, noticing his mark. He looked a little taken aback, then angry, then apologetic.

"Of course, I'm so sorry Luna," he stuttered, then disappeared. I heard a soft clapping behind me and turned to see Hayden standing with Indie and Jackie.

"That's my girl," he praised, wrapping his arms around my waist. He leaned into my ear, "You are going to be an amazing Luna." I couldn't help but light up. It was nice to be reassured about what I was about to become, especially when I was only human.

"Okay you two, enough with the PDA," Indie laughed, pulling us apart. "Go train, dumbass," Indie ordered Hayden. As his Beta and close friend, she could disrespect him. Aside from Hayden's family and me, she was the only Shifter in the village who could.

I kissed my mate on the cheek before he left, and resumed my conversation with a young pack member named Leah, who was telling me about what she drew for her mummy.

I really liked being part of Wolf Shifter life. I was growing to love it more and more each day.