Chapter 3

"I was right," he finally said after we shared a very passionate kiss. We'd just transformed back into our human forms and the very first thing that we did was embrace and kiss for we just confirmed that we were indeed mates. The mating bond that was formed between us was intense and vivid. My senses were suddenly heightened and Darren's scent was all over me in a sensual and engulfing way. It was as if there was an invisible haze covering my body. I could also hear his heartbeat loudly, and his voice affected me in a way that I have never felt before. "I knew it was you." I could not hide my happiness. "I am really your mate, Darren. It still surprised me," I whispered, although I had kind of expected this. I already had a hunch that I might actually be Darren's true mate since he seemed to have not matched with any other werewolf despite him being an early shifter. An early shifter is someone who wolfs out early in their life; in Darren's case, when he was thirteen. Normally, a werewolf wolfs out by fifteen up to seventeen. Eighteen was already considered late, but some even had to wait until nineteen. Some of them didn't even wolf out at all, so the fact that I did made me the happiest right then. "I had also wanted it to be you," Darren whispered back and caressed the back of my head. "What about the marking?" I asked because he still had to mark me as his mate. "Would you have to do it now?" "I think it's best that we do it in a proper ceremony," he replied. "My father has told me that once I find my true mate, we will do the marking in a special ceremony, as I am the son of the alpha. And I agree because that way, everyone will finally treat you better. I'm so happy, Milena. I could not wait to tell my parents about you. Hopefully they approve of you as my mate, but even if they don't, they no longer have a choice but to accept you." I nodded. Although I was still a little bit nervous at the idea that we still have to get his parents' approval just for the formality, I relied on the fact that no one could stop someone from becoming the true mate of their partner. As long as I was Darren's mate, I should be okay. All I had to do was be patient until the marking ceremony. Marking me would also change my life. As the next alpha's mate I will be in a good position in the pack. At least there would be less prejudice against me after that ceremony. But to be honest I really didn't care about the ceremony. I just wanted to celebrate this momentous event with Darren. So when he invited me for a romantic date later, I immediately said yes. We went to the beach, which was a one hour drive from where our pack lived. We took a dip and just enjoyed the sand and the water until we got tired. Being with Darren for a whole day in this coastal town was a wish come true because here we didn't even have to hide. No one was going to judge us being together, so we walked, ate, and toured the place with our love out in the open. We had our dinner by sunset, so I was all smiles while Darren and I held hands all of the time. We couldn't get enough of each other. We stayed in a motel later because we planned on returning back to our pack the day after. Of course, I was nervous because this was the first time that we would ever share a room. Back in our pack this would have been impossible. But there we were. After taking turns taking baths we made out on the bed and then one thing led to another. I could hear our wolves growling passionately in unison like they had been starving for this moment to come. Everywhere Darren kissed me, it was like a fire had been lit. And then when I opened my eyes, I found out that we were both undressed already. It was both our first time but it wasn't as awkward as I thought it would have been. Darren was very gentle with me; he would always ask me if it was okay doing it, if I liked what he was doing. It was touching that he was concerned about me, but I told him that I wanted to do it too. Holding hands, my body was on fire and my head was spinning while my heart was beating in my chest like a drum. It was both painful and good, and my wolf growled with pleasure inside of me. I woke up the next day excited about our return to the pack, but we were just about to leave when one of Darren's friends arrived to meet us. His name was Ryle. It seemed like Ryle knew that Darren was with me in this place. Ryle told us that he was ordered by Darren's father to find him since there was an important meeting that was going to happen between our pack and another one. This other pack seemed very important with the way Ryle was telling us about it, so Darren needed to go home as soon as possible. "Milena, you stay here first. Extend your stay here and go back home tomorrow," Darren told me while he and Ryle exchanged looks. "But why? We can go back together." "I don't think that's a good idea for us right now," said Darren. "This meeting... I think I know who we are about to meet up with, so we have just to announce our relationship after this meeting. If they see us arrive together, that might cause some trouble. Especially for you, Milena. Besides, I don't want our ceremony to be overshadowed by that meeting. We have to let it pass first." "Alright, if you say so," I said and hugged him before he left with Ryle. I went back to the motel to book a room again for another night. The whole night was boring and I couldn't sleep for some reason, but the next day I also woke up early and left by taking a bus. I arrived at our pack past nine in the morning, and I quickly noticed that there were a lot of unfamiliar cars parked by the town hall just beside Darren's house. I could also hear voices from there, but I ignored whatever was happening and went back to Uncle Finn's house. No one was home though, so that made me wonder. Since I was too tired to be bothered, I just went to sleep. I woke up because I was hungry, but Devon, Uncle Finn's and Aunt Julia's son, knocked on my room asking me if I didn't want to be at the town hall right now because I was still sleeping. He was clearly trying to bully me. He says that there is a ceremony for Darren right now. Judging from Devon's words, it sounded like Darren hadn't told everyone about us yet, so I bolted from my bed, took a look at myself in the mirror and when I thought that I looked decent enough, went to the town hall where the court of the pack was being held. It was indeed a ceremony. I saw Darren in the middle of the circle that the pack had formed, just like in any other ceremony. But this time, someone was standing next to her. It was a woman I had never seen before, but before I could even take another step towards them Aunt Julia had found me and grabbed me by the arm. "Where the hell have you been, Milena? You were supposed to help me with the preparations for this celebration! But you went missing for what, more than a day already?" "C-Celebration? What celebration?" I asked, my heart beating fast. Aunt Julia rolled her eyes at me. "It's Darren's marking ceremony for his mate, of course! His father just announced it! It's big news because his mate is the daughter of the alpha of that other pack!"