Chapter 1

Ava

Another day begins in my intense work routine. I get up and in a short time I’m already running my parents' companies.

Since they died in that senseless accident, I’ve had to take over all our finances. I would very much like to ask our family for help, since they are a strong and united clan, but probably they do not even know of my existence, apart from that I would displease my father, who never wanted me to look for them.

I could say that my existence is the result of one of the most beautiful love stories I’ve met and that I’m very happy to have been conceived in this context, but that’s not how I feel.

My father was an Alpha who would be next in line to take control of the Valgerd Pack. He needed to get a Luna as soon as possible and thus consolidate a strong leadership, but that was not how it happened, because a few days before the hunt, he met my mother and fell in love.

My mother was the sweetest, strongest person I’d ever met in my life. She was able to lay down her life for me and my father. She was the kind of woman who cheered up the whole environment and, together with my father, built an empire in the construction business.

Everything could be perfect, but it had one detail: she was a human.

For a powerful Alpha like my father, being with a human was a sign of disgrace and knowing the family I had, I knew it was only a matter of time before they hunted my mother and killed her, so he didn’t think twice and fled across the country. We lived in a neutral city, where wolves who abandoned their packs, humans, and even some witches lived peacefully among themselves. We were a united and happy family and in a way, we lived in peace.

When they died in that car accident, I realized that being alone was my destiny, since I can’t go back to my family because I’m half human, and I can’t get involved with anyone either. That way, work is what I have left and do it with all my heart.

I was still involved in my nostalgia when the door to my office opened and my secretary handed me a stack of documents to analyze and thus fill out the rest of my morning. It was for the best. At least I had something quiet to occupy myself with, since my only friend would come at the end of the day to make me go to a party with her and as I had rejected the other invitations, I knew I would not be able to dodge this time.

When my shift was ending, I felt a familiar presence approaching, even though I was not completely wolf, I still had some instincts that I knew I had inherited from my father. Anyway, that was a secret, nobody knew that hidden part of my story.

I was right and then Emily’s high-pitched, high-pitched voice echoed through my living room, saying,

“Don’t you dare say no to me!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said ironically.

“Miss Ava, if you don’t come to the party with me, consider yourself my ex-friend.”

Emily’s face was so angry, I couldn’t help but laugh. It really was one of the few things that made my day.

“Don’t worry, I’ll go with you, but don’t get your hopes up because I don’t want to be with anyone.”

“I can’t believe you’re going to keep this defensive posture. You know, Henry has a beautiful friend who…”

I didn’t let my friend finish talking and interrupted her, because she was always trying to push me some guy, but that was definitely not in my plans.

When we left the company, we went to my house to get ready for this party, which I only went to please my friend. Emily was in love, and she wanted to please her date, so she spent hours getting ready. As for me, I didn’t care how people would see me, so keeping me clean and comfortable was already a great size.

When we finally went to the party, which was full of rich people and snobs, I felt like leaving, but seeing the sparkle in my friend’s eyes when she found Henry made all that hassle of being in public worth it.

While they were talking, Emily introduced me to a friend of Henry and I confess that the subject was interesting, but soon realized that he wanted something with me and for the first time, I could not resist, but when he touched me and approached for a kiss, I felt a great revulsion. It felt like my body was going to explode with that man’s touch, and I couldn’t do anything but apologize and walk away.

I was already home when Emily called me asking where I was, and I said I felt a little tired and went to rest. I definitely didn’t want my friend to be upset about my behavior.

A week went by from the disastrous party I went to with Emily, and I still couldn’t get out of my head the way I felt when I was touched by that man. I was up for it, a little fun, as much as it was without commitment, would not fall ill, but the way I felt compelled to reject it made me curious. It’s not because of the man I don’t even remember the name of, he’s totally insignificant in this story. The question was how my body came to life and rejected it. It seemed that it was not me, that there was someone else with me and that took over my conscience and actions. But it wasn’t a bad thing, I felt comfortable with that presence. Anyway, it seemed like I was going to go crazy with that story and I needed to concentrate, because I would have an important business dinner later, where we would close a millionaire contract and everything had to be perfect.

I left the company with one of my lawyers and my assistant and went to the hotel restaurant where my future clients were. I was really excited about this, which would be one of the biggest contracts my company would ever close. When we arrived, we were met by Mr. Caleb’s legal team, who wanted to review the contracts before presenting them to the boss. Although I thought I would meet their CEO for a conversation, I thought it was normal for them to triage before finally moving on to the boss.

Everything was going very well and their staff seemed to agree with almost everything we proposed, the problem was that I was feeling a little dizzy. I was sensing a smell that was disturbing me. It was something like mint and honey, I could not discern for sure, but it seemed that the aroma was shaking all my structures. I needed to get closer to where he was coming from, it was as if my life depended on it…

When my presence was no longer important in the meeting, I asked permission and said that I needed to make a call and in an almost irrational way, I started, as if instinctively, following that smell.

When I regained consciousness, I was on the fifth floor of the hotel, facing the door of a room, which emanated that essence in a torrentially strong way. I was about to go crazy, I needed to see what was beyond that door that was messing with my whole being, but I was afraid and was about to give up when the door opens before me and a male figure appears. At that moment, my heart was racing, and I could hardly hold on to my legs that insisted on faltering.

I was about to apologize and run away, but that presence I felt last week came back, but instead of pulling me away from that man, it didn’t let me get away from him, as if my lungs depended on him to breathe. I was getting weak and my vision blurred. The man stood still, looking at me with some surprise, when a voice appeared in my mind, taking over my being:

“MATE!”

Our eyes were still fixed on each other. I felt paralyzed with everything that was happening. The strong woman I always forced myself to be, disappeared completely and when that man asked me with his firm voice what I was doing there, I heard again the restless voice in my mind:

“MATE!"

After that, I had no more strength and blacked out.