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Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“No, this is not the beginning of a new chapter in life; it’s the beginning of a new book.”

C. JoyBell

According to my friend, Ava, there is only one true way to deal with a breakup: by drowning your sorrows with wine and Lifetime movies. I wasn’t sure if there was any real truth to that, but after three glasses of wine, I certainly didn’t feel so tight-lipped about the topic.

“Do you think I’m cold?” I asked her as we lounged on my ugly plaid couch, each equipped with full glasses of wine.

“Of course not,” she said, rolling her eyes. Not only was she my most loyal friend, but Ava was also the prettiest. Granted, my list of friends was pathetically short…but she still could’ve passed for a supermodel. Platinum blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a jawline that could’ve cut glass. I might’ve been the one named Elsa, but she certainly had the looks to match the name.

By comparison, I had muddy blonde hair just dark enough that most people argued it was brown. It was thin and straight, and I had to constantly use volume shampoo just to make sure it wasn’t stringy. My cheeks had never lost their baby-fat, and my brown eyes were unremarkable. Just like my height – I wasn’t tall enough to be considered leggy or slender, and not short enough to be tiny or petite. Just average.

“Listen to me, Elsie,” Ava said, turning down the volume on the movie neither of us were really paying attention to. “Aiden was a loser. You deserve better.” She took another sip of wine before adding, “And you’re not an ice queen or whatever the hell he called you. If you ask me, he said those things because he was upset he got caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to, and had to take it out on you.”

“But it’s not just Aidan,” I protested, “Everyone always tells me that I’m too standoffish or cold or logical, especially the people I date…as short as that list may be. Usually they’re nicer about it than Aidan was, but there’s no denying it. I’m an ice queen.”

Ava’s sharp blue eyes stared at me for a moment before she suddenly perked up, reaching into her purse to rummage around. “You know what you need, Elsie?”

“Hm?”

“You just need some super hot Alpha male who’s not going to be intimidated by your tough exterior.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, yeah? Can I buy one of those at the store?”

With a victorious smile, she pulled a worn paperback out of her back. “Actually,” she said, thrusting the book at me, “You can buy one at the store, but you don’t need to. I already bought one, and now, you can enjoy reading all about him.”

I stared down at the paperback with raised eyebrows. The cover was of a gorgeous redhead being embraced by a muscled, shirtless brunette. Behind them, the background was a full moon as well as two wolves embracing: a pure white one and a larger gray one.

“What is this?” I asked skeptically.

Ava’s smile had already turned to a sly smirk. “It’s my new book,” she told me, “I got it at the bookstore a week ago, and it’s amazing…it’s a werewolf romance. And before you tell me you’re not into that, I think you’ll find this one is very relatable.”

“I’m going to relate to a book about people who turn into wolves?”

“Don’t write it off just yet,” she replied, pointing at the woman on the cover, “That’s the main character, Scarlett. She’s an omega who’s been mistreated by her pack, and once she turns eighteen, she discovers that her mate is the Alpha’s son, Asher. Except –” She paused for dramatic effect. “Asher rejects her…but little does he know, Scarlett is really a pure white wolf, the first one seen in centuries. She’s heartbroken, but eventually, she comes into her power and Asher sees that, wants her back, and the two live happily ever after.”

When she saw the skeptical look on my face, Ava sighed, “Come on. I know it’s not your usual genre, but you should give it a chance. You’re questioning your worth right now…just like Scarlett. I think it’ll be good for you to read it. It might have an impact on you.”

I highly doubted that I’d enjoy it as much as Ava told me I would, but after another glass of wine in my system, I sighed and flipped to the first page.

Little did I know just how much Ava was right. The book would have an impact on my life – just not in a way that either of us could have ever predicted.

📖📖📖

I thought I’d only read the first couple of chapters to satisfy Ava that I’d given her new favorite book a shot, but two hours later, I was finishing the last chapter…and far more annoyed than I’d been when I started.

Ava, who’d vanished into the kitchen at some point during those two hours to bake a cake, re-entered the living room just as I was slamming the book closed. She held a freshly-iced chocolate cake in her hands – my favorite.

“Well?” She asked with a hopeful smile, “Did you like it? Scarlett and Asher are so cute once they get back together, right?”

“Cute?” I scoffed, “I’m not sure that word applies here.”

She furrowed her eyebrows, setting the cake down on the coffee table. “What do you mean?”

“Okay, first of all,” I said, “That Asher guy you’re swooning over is a total jerk.”

“Well, maybe at first,” she shrugged, “But then he gets better.”

“That Asher dude bullies Scarlett for her entire life, constantly telling her how ugly and weak she is,” I started, “And then he rejects her. It’s only when he realizes she’s some super powerful white wolf that he changes his tune. Even then, his apology is half-assed and Scarlett just accepts it and takes him back! You say they’re cute – I say she deserved better than some overgrown bully.”

“They’re mates,” she argued, “The point is to see how much they’ve overcome and grown.”

“Well, personally, I think Scarlett should’ve been mated to that…” I paused, the name on the tip of my tongue. “Ezra? No, Enzo. Alpha Enzo. Scarlett should’ve been mates with Alpha Enzo.”

Ava’s eyes widened. “Alpha Enzo? He’s supposed to be the villain in the story!”

“I mean, the way he’s described, he sounds pretty hot.”

“He tried to kill Scarlett and Asher so he could take over their pack lands,” Ava scoffed.

“Well, I like a man with ambition,” I shrugged, which made Ava roll her eyes again.

I wasn’t lying just to rile Ava up – that Alpha Enzo character had been the only tolerable one in the book. While Scarlett spent hundreds of pages agonizing over a guy who didn’t treat her right, Alpha Enzo had been taking over the werewolf world.

Literally.

His character was the Alpha of the Dark Moon pack, the largest pack in the world, and his reputation for being the most ruthless, strongest Alpha around preceded him. Scarlett and Asher had barely been able to defeat him, and it was only after Scarlett seduced Enzo’s beta, Cain, into betraying him. The beta had injected him with liquid wolfsbane, which made him unable to shift…and much easier for Scarlett to take down.

I supposed it was a happy ending for the main characters, even if it felt like a cheap way for them to win. Had it not been for Scarlett and Asher’s scheme, Enzo probably would’ve been victorious.

And that would’ve been more interesting to read.

“Alright,” Ava said, snatching the book from my hands, “It’s established that you have terrible taste in books and fictional men.” She opened her mouth to say something else, but as she did, her eyes lit up and she pointed at the window. “Hey, look! A shooting star. You’ve got to wish for something.”

“Am I allowed to wish for something bad?”

“Well, you’re not allowed to wish for Aiden to go bald by the time he’s twenty-five,” she said, and then she smirked, “Because that’s what I wished for.”

I chuckled, “Well…in that case, I’ll guess I’ll have to settle for my second wish.”

“What’s that?”

“The ability to smack some sense into that Scarlett character from your book,” I told her.

“You’re insufferable,” Ava said, but she was already slicing up two pieces of chocolate cake for us to eat.

I didn’t give any thought to my wish for the rest of the night. I’d wished on plenty of shooting stars in my life, and I couldn’t recall if any of them had ever come true.

Had I known how that harmless wish would do to me, maybe I would’ve never done it. Maybe I would’ve never picked up Ava’s book at all.

But it was too late for ‘maybes’ now. I didn’t know it then, but I’d get my wish…quite literally.

I was in for the biggest plot twist of my life – I just didn’t know it yet.

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