Chapter 18

Roy was driving home from after a long day at the office. He was completely stressed out and was in great need of a long shower and his bed. That was all he needed at the moment. But was that all he really needed? His thoughts wandered back to the murmurings he heard earlier today. Flashback "After all these years, he still hasn t found his mate." A woman murmured to her friend as Roy walked out of the pack house. "I mean… why is he still mateless? It s not like he lost her at some point or something." The woman continued. "I think he s cursed." The other woman replied. If Roy wasn t already used to those kind of comments, he would have reacted to what he just heard. "Yeah, I think you re right… Alpha Hugh of the White Moon pack got rejected by his mate many years ago. I guess the curse runs in the family." The woman concluded as he got to his car. End Of Flashback Roy couldn t get his thoughts off that conversation. His pack members all have their own conclusions as to why he was still mateless and he was slowly beginning to believe them. Maybe he was actually cursed, because nobody and nothing could explain why he still hasn t found his mate after patiently waiting and searching for her. He had searched amongst his pack members and even gone as far as searching for his mate in other packs, but has found nothing, causing him to give up all hopes of finding her. He guess he was bound to be mateless, which is why he had already made a decision within himself to name Peter, his beta, Elijah s five year old son the alpha of the blue moon pack when he comes of age, since he himself wouldn t have an heir to become the alpha. Roy s thoughts suddenly travelled to Hugh, the alpha of the white moon pack, who was also his cousin, just like Elijah, his beta. Hugh got rejected by his mate over two decades ago because she fell in love with a human. He never recovered from that incident, as it turned him into the merciless alpha that he is today. How could a werewolf abandon her mate, whom the moon goddess has blessed her with for a total stranger? He thought the mate bond was supposed to make it hard for them to be away from each other for too long? It was rarely possible for any werewolf to last long, away from their mate without completely losing their sanity. Sooner or later, Hugh is going to lose it completely. This made Roy wonder the kind of physical and emotional pain Hugh must be going through. He felt sorry for him, even though both packs haven t been on the best terms for years now. Roy climbed out of his car, when he arrived home. Staring at his house, he imagined a beautiful breathtaking woman walk out of the house to welcome him home with a kiss, while his two pups would run to him, both trying to outrun the other to be the first to give him a welcome hug. He smiled at the fantasy. This wasn t the first time he had imagined this sort of thing. He has held on to those images for years now, but in the end it was nothing more than a fantasy. He let out a disappointed sigh before walking into his house. # Kimberly, Amber and Britney all went to the lake to have a bath. They had a little chit chat while bathing. Kimberly couldn t believe that she was having her bath in a lake. It was weird to her at first, but as the seconds went by, she started to get comfortable. "I think I m enjoying this." She commented. "Are you kidding! It s freaking awesome! To be away from your responsibilities and have some time to yourself, without being judged or watched." Amber said. "I guess you re now glad you joined us?" Britney asked with a smile. "What?! She never wanted to come?" Amber questioned, sounding really surprised. Kimberly guessed Amber wasn t aware of her initial refusal to join them on this camping trip. "Yeah… Simon mentioned that you weren t comfortable being out here. Are there any reasons for that?" Britney curiously asked. Kimberly internally groaned, she feared this sort of conversation would come up. How was she supposed to tell them that she had refused to join them on this trip because she was forbidden by her dad to be out here. "I was only scared, that s all." She lied with a nervous smile and a shrug. "I m glad you didn t miss out on all the fun… don t you just love nature." Amber exclaimed, gesturing to the woods. They got ready to leave, when they were done at the lake, except Kimberly, who decided to stay a little longer. "You sure, you ll be okay staying out here alone? Britney asked with concern. "Yeah, I ll be fine." "If you say so." "Girls, I m really anxious to know what Leo s surprise is. He told me he has a surprise for me. I can t get my mind off it, I hope it s something amazing." Amber nervously rambled while getting dressed. "Relax, okay. It ll be worth it." Kimberly said, trying to make Amber feel better. "Thanks K. See you later." With that both women left Kimberly to be by herself. Once they were gone, Kimberly felt more relaxed. She needed an alone time to enjoy the serenity. Amber was right, it is really peaceful out here and being surrounded by nature wasn t a bad thing after all. Kimberly was still in thoughts, when she heard a faint rustle. "Who s there?" she asked but got no response. "Okay Kim, don t freak out. It s just the wind." She muttered to herself as she was beginning to feel on edge. Taking a deep breath, she tried to relax again so as to ease her nerves. The sound of the trees rustling once more made Kimberly jerk up. She looked around to see if someone was there. "Ian quit joking around. It s not funny." She nervously said, raising her voice a little to get her message across. The rustling instead became louder, causing her to get frightened. She hurriedly got out of the lake and started putting on her clothes. She didn t want to spend any more second here, after realizing that it wasn t Ian playing a prank. What if, it s some wild animal? Oh God! She needs to get out of here really quick, she thought to herself before noticing that her shirt was missing. "This can t be. I left it here." She said in fear and confusion. Then suddenly, she felt a swift movement some distance away, causing her to let out a screeching scream.