9

The next day, I couldn't sit still. Dawn had gone home yesterday after an awkward dinner, and I had spent the night afterwards trying to think of ways to tell my mate what I was.

Mum had been trying to make conversation, but Dad, Ash and I were too deep in thought to focus on talking. Dawn had left worried about my sudden flip in mood, but I had assured her I was fine.

Now, I was anything but fine. If the Prophecy was real, the next half moon was in a month. I marked it on my calendar, scared that things might just get violent when the half moon rolled around. It was hard to think that my ten year old brother could be involved in this.

The prophecy stated that the Bear Shifters would take the females as their brides, but Sydney was only ten and Dawn was sixteen. Those weren't exactly ages suited to marriage. The whole process was weighing me down and boggling my mind. Why would Bear Shifters want werewolves' mates anyway? It wasn't like they were paired up with specific females by fate like we were; they could date whoever they pleased, so why would they want our mates? What was in it for them? It made no sense to my family- nor any werewolf family.

To be honest, the prophecy had only been handed down over the years just in case there was some truth to it. Other than that, Alpha families just laughed at it and joked about it's stupidity. Ugh, it was seriously giving me a headache.

I was expecting Dylan to come over, because he had texted saying he wanted to hang out. I welcomed the company, needing to take my mind off of everything.

When he arrived, I couldn't help the grin that appeared on my face. I'd been so busy trying to win over Dawn, I'd stopped hanging out with my best friend.

We bro hugged, and I slapped his back as I pulled him inside, chuckling as I watched his eleven year old brother Jason sprint upstairs to Ash's room.

"You look like shit," Dylan grinned.

"Coming from you," I growled playfully, leading him upstairs to my room. He immediately crashed on my bed and grabbed a controller, staring at the TV as we battled it out on COD.

After a while, Dylan tossed the controller on the floor and stretched out on the bed, "Dude, I seriously need to go for a run. I haven't shifted in, like, a week," he groaned.

"A week? My wolf would kill me if I didn't let him out at least every other day," I said, shocked.

"Yeah, well, I don't have the separate personality of an animal living inside my head and reminding me when to shift, okay? I just get stiff joints," he said. It was true: Bear Shifters didn't have a bear side living in their minds with them like we did with our wolves, they just willed their bodies to change and they did. Unlike with us having to let our wolves out and have them take control of our bodies, Bear Shifters had full control of when they wanted to shift and what they were doing when they were in bear form. Lucky them, they didn't have all the internal arguments. I just reminded myself that I was still lucky because I had another best friend living in my mind with me, so I would never get lonely. Yeah, it was kind of cool, but also kind of freaky when you think about it.

"You're lucky, man, you've got all these packs and shit. I've just got my house and a park- one which doesn't have a cut off section of forest where I can run freely, you know," he said.

I laughed, "Well don't blame me for your Shifter animal. I'm just grateful that I'm a wolf with my super-speed and privately owned woods."

"Super-speed? Oh, I think we both know who's faster out of the two of us," he challenged.

"You wanna bet?"

"Yeah, I do," he jumped up, racing downstairs and out in the woods, where he quickly stripped and shifted.

I did the same, and, before I knew it, we were racing. I pushed ahead of him, straining my legs but loving the speed. My quick reflexes helped my dodge trees and jump over logs, but Dylan was just as fast. As we were nearing the edge of the forest, I leaned forward and tried to run faster, succeeding when I saw Dylan's brown mass of fur fall slightly behind me. I pulled to a halt at the last tree, where we always ended our races. He joined me after a second, panting through his snout. Since we were a different species, we couldn't talk to each other in our animal forms like I could with my pack mates, but we'd learnt to communicate through our movements. I stood on my hind legs and pawed the air, running in circles when I landed back on the ground to show off to Dylan about winning the race.

He leaned against a tree and snorted out of his nose, showing me that he was annoyed. I laughed internally- he always challenged me to a race, and, more often than not, I won. Afterwards, we ran around the forest, occasionally wrestling and playing around in the dirt.

Suddenly a sweet scent filled my nostrils, making me ears perk up. Dylan noticed my change in attitude and inhaled deeply, his next expression showing me that he also smelt our visitors. Discretely, we crept back to the edge of the forest near my house and shifted, dressing quickly and making sure we didn't look like we'd just been rolling around in the woods. We stepped out of the forest and I noticed Dawn, with Sydney holding her hand, heading towards my front door. Dylan didn't notice them, so I led him around the back of the house and entered through the back door.

As we did so, the doorbell rang; we sprinted through the kitchen to get the door, but Ash and Jason beat us to it.

"Sydney!" Ash cried out as soon as he opened the door.

"Hey Ash, your mum invited Sid for a playdate," Dawn smiled. I walked towards the door, Dylan on my tail. When Dawn noticed me, her smile grew bigger and I couldn't help but smile brightly back at her.

"Jackie called and invited us round, is that okay? I can see you have some friends here, so if we're bothering you, we don't mind going back home," Dawn said.

"No!" Sydney cried, "I want to stay, Danny!" I chuckled at the cute seven year old standing before me.

"Shh, Sydney, don't be rude," Dawn scolded, making me laugh more.

"It's totally fine Danny, you can stay," I teased.

"Don't call me Danny, only Sid can call me that," Dawn glared. "Alright, Sid, you go and play with Ash and his friend. And remember, no kissing boys, okay?" Sydney blushed profusely at her comment and raced upstairs with Ash and Jason. Her attention turned to Dylan and I as she shut the door behind her.

"Sorry for barging in, but Sid was desperate to see Ash and Jackie said it was fine," she apologised again.

"Dawn, it's fine, come on, we were just hanging out," I assured. I looked at Dylan, to see that he couldn't take his eyes off of Dawn. She blushed under his intense gaze, obviously noticing his interest in her. I growled unintentionally to warn Dylan away from my mate, but he didn't seem to hear me.

"I'm Dylan, this idiot's best friend," he said, offering his hand out to Dawn as a goofy gesture.

She took it and laughed as they shook hands exaggeratedly, "Dawn, this idiot's other best friend," she said, gesturing to me. My eyes narrowed at their contact.

I gently grabbed Dawn's wrist and led her and Dylan into the kitchen.

"Want a drink, Dawn?" I offered. She laughed and bumped me with her hip, going to the cupboard and taking out a glass.

"I practically live here, Hayden, you don't need to offer," she said, filling her glass up at the tap and taking a sip. Dylan's eyes were still fixed on her. Growing increasingly agitated at his expression, I clutched his arm and dragged him out of the room, telling Dawn that we just needed to get something from the living room. She shrugged and turned to face the windows, smiling into the sunlight.

In the living room, I let go of Dylan's arm and he frowned at me in confusion.

"What the hell, man?" he complained.

"Why are you staring at her like that?" I demanded.

"Because she's hot," he grinned. I actually wanted to punch my best friend.

"Stay away from her," I growled lowly, my canines slipping through my lips.

Realisation etched itself into Dylan's face. "That's her isn't it? Your mate." I nodded, my eyes narrowed. "I'm sorry, Denny, I didn't know."

Just then, I heard her coming our way.

"Is everything okay, Hayden?" she asked innocently. Quick as a flash, I grabbed Ash's football that he had left lying around.

"Yeah, just getting this. Want to play?"

She grinned, "Sure, but I'm going to kick both your asses."

"We'll see about that," I chuckled.

>>

Well, she didn't kick our asses but she was a damn good player. I was actually surprised at how skilled she was.

After putting the ball away and sitting down on a kitchen stool, I grabbed us some lemonade out of the fridge and poured out three glasses. I couldn't help the attraction I felt towards Dawn as I watched a droplet of sweat run down her face. She noticed my gaze and smiled at me, making me smile back.

"Dawn, you're pretty awesome at football," Dylan praised.

"Yeah, I know," she replied, flipping her hair exaggeratedly. We both laughed.

All of a sudden, we heard a shout from upstairs and raced into the hall to see Jason and Ash glaring at each other on the landing, Ash holding Sydney behind his back.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Ash is grilling me for no reason!" Jason defended.

"Jason wouldn't leave Sydney alone!" Ash shouted.

Dawn stepped forward, "What do you mean he won't leave her alone?" she demanded.

"He won't stop staring at her and trying to hold her hand!" Ash replied.

"I'm just being nice!" Jason yelled back. I ran up the stairs and pulled Ash and Jason away from each other just as they were squaring up to one another.

"That's enough!" I growled, my Alpha nature emerging. Both boys cowered slightly under my glare.

"Jason, I'm sorry but I think it's best if you go home. I'm sorry Dylan, but I think that's the best thing to do," I commanded. Dylan nodded understandingly whilst Jason stormed out of the front door and started down the path to the main road.

Dawn ran up the stairs to see if Sydney was okay, Ash checking with Sydney himself.

Dylan gestured to speak to me outside as he was leaving.

"I'm sorry about Jason," he apologised.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sorry I'm making you guys leave."

He brushed it off with a wave of his hand. "Nah, it's fine. I would've done the same thing. I just hope our little brothers make up."

"I'm sure they will. See you soon," I said, and he left after waving goodbye to Dawn, who was standing at the door. I didn't miss his glance at her chest; he was my best friend, though, and a teenage boy, after all, so I decided to let it slide. This time.

When I went back inside, Sydney and Ash were in the living room trying to build a makeshift 'jungle' with pillows and stuffed animals, so I took Dawn up to my room. Inside, she leaned against the closed door and looked apologetic as I sat down on my bed.

"Oh my gosh, Hayden, I'm so sorry. If we hadn't shown up, Ashton and Jason wouldn't have had that argument and you wouldn't have had to make Jason and Dylan leave. I always make such a mess, don't I?" she told me.

I frowned, "Hey, this isn't your fault. It's fine, they argue all the time. And now we can hang out alone."

"Yeah but you hang out with me almost every day! I can tell you don't see Dylan very often and I just barged in on you guys and messed up everything. I'm such a bloody burden..." she insisted, burying her face in her hands. I stood up and walked over to her, lifting her chin up gently.

"Hey," I said quietly, "it's not your fault. It's okay, Dawn, I don't mind. Honestly." I leaned down and kissed her cheek, which immediately made her blush and shut up, biting her lip. I chuckled and pulled her into a hug while she laughed, her giggling muffled as she tucked her head into my chest.

I heard her mumble something, and pulled away.

"Hmm?" I asked, smiling down at her cute expression.

"You should ask Caitlyn on a date. I know she likes you. And take her Reese's Pieces— she loves those. She's my best friend and I want to see her happy. Promise me you will?"

I was shocked, to say the least. But I could see the hope in her eyes, the loyalty to her friend. And I couldn't bear to say no to her beautiful face.

"I... I, um... I promise," I sighed. I was not happy about it— not at all —but I would do anything to make Dawn happy.

"Thank you," she murmured, never breaking eye contact. Then she blushed, hummed quietly, and looked away. After a few minutes of silence, she smiled sheepishly back up at me. "You know, I like building pillow jungles, too."

I threw my head back and laughed deeply. "Then let's go get some more stuffed animals."