Ariel's POV

Today was a very sad day for me.

It was the anniversary of my father’s death.

After showering, I grabbed my plain, black dress and pulled it on.

I was going to go out to visit his grave to pay my respects and place some new flowers on his grave.

I grabbed my black purse and the bouquet of flowers that I had bought the day before then walked out of my room.

As I passed my cousin, Demi Johnson’s room on the second floor, the door opened and she walked out.

“Where do you think you're going, Ariel Johnson?” Demi asked me in an obnoxious tone of voice.

I stopped and turned around as I answered her, “Today is the anniversary of my father's death, so I'm going out to visit his grave to say some prayers to him.”

“But today is my birthday and I'm having a party. You have to attend my birthday party!” She insisted as she stomped her foot like a little child.

“I’m sorry, Demi, but I can't attend your birthday party.” I replied and then turned around to walk away, but she quickly stretched her hand out in front of me, blocking my way.

Her eyes flashed amber, showing that her wolf was on the surface as she growled at me, “I said, ‘you have to attend my birthday party’ and you will!”

My eyes glowed amber too as my wolf rose to the surface and I growled back at her, “No, I won't!”

I was a powerful she-wolf who was a warrior in our pack and I didn't like being challenged. If she wanted to fight, I would give her a fight!

Moreover, I was stronger than her since my father was Alpha, but because I was a she-wolf, I couldn't take on the title of Alpha, so it was passed to my father's close friend, Alpha Ryan.

Presently, Demi’s ears perked up as she heard the sound of people.

Suddenly, she fell down and rolled down the stairs to the first floor.

I rushed down the stairs to see that she had drawn the attention of our two male friends, Morgan Andrews and Nate Hawkins.

Demi cried crocodile tears as she held her injured arm and asked me, “How can you push me, Ariel?”

“What? I didn't! I was just -” I tried to defend myself, but Morgan interrupted me.

“How can you do this to your own flesh and blood?!”

Nate nodded as he blamed me too, “You shouldn't have pushed her! Now, you've gotten her injured!”

“You've really changed, Ariel!” Morgan exclaimed as his brows raised in surprise.

Nate nodded with a frown on his brows as he added, “And you didn't change for the better, you changed for the worse!”

Morgan and Nate each grabbed Demi's arm and helped her up.

Morgan wiped her tears away as he said in a comforting voice, “Don't worry, you'll heal soon enough.”

“But will I heal fast enough?” She asked as a pitiful expression appeared on her face.

“She's right, Morgan. We need to get her to the pack hospital.” Nate said as he continued delicately holding Demi's arm.

“Yeah, you're right. Let's go.” Morgan replied as he held Demi's other arm again.

They rushed to take Demi to the pack hospital and I realized that they had completely forgotten that today was the anniversary of my father’s death.

Just then, my cell phone vibrated. It was my mother calling.

I picked up the call, “Hey, Mom!”

“Hey, honey. How are you?” She asked, sounding pleased to be talking with me.

“I'm good, Mom. What about you?” I asked her.

She coughed as she answered me, “Not so good. I've been admitted into our pack hospital ‘cause I'm sick.”

My heart clenched with worry and I rushed out, “What kind of illness is it? What did the doctor say? Are you going to be alright?”

She chuckled lightly and replied, “Calm down. I'm going to be just fine. The doctor said that I have leukemia and that I don't have very long to live.”

I gasped as tears brimmed in my eyes, but I blinked them back. I couldn't let myself break down, I had to be strong for my mother.

So I drew in a deep breath and let it out to calm myself down. My voice was steady as I replied, “Oh my God, Mom! I'm so sorry that this is happening to you. I wish it would just go away!”

“Don't worry about me, Ariel. Like I said, I'm going to be fine.” My mother comforted me and I felt better about the situation.

She was really wonderful. She was the one that had a terminal illness, yet she was comforting me.

“Can you visit me as soon as possible?” She asked as her voice sounded weaker.

“Yeah, of course.” I answered her in a soft voice.

“I want to see you get married before I pass away, so I've arranged a date for you.” My mother said, surprising me.

I didn't know what to say for a while as I thought about her words.

After a moment, I replied, “Alright, Mom.”

I remembered when my father had entrusted me to the care of the Andrews and Hawkins families after my mother left.

It was a sunny day when my father took me to the Andrews and Hawkins house where he had said, “My wife has left us and my daughter needs someone to take care of her, but I'm too busy with work.”

“You don't need to worry about anything. We'll take good care of Ariel!” Morgan had said to my father.

“Yes, we will!” Nate added as he grinned at us.

I felt welcomed and soon warmed up to them.

The Andrews and Hawkins families were among the families with the strongest werewolf bloodline which made them very powerful, and they were also strong warriors in our pack.

Due to my congenital heart condition, Morgan and Nate always took good care of me.

There was a time when a girl at school, Brittany, mocked me for not having a mother by saying, “You wouldn't know how sleepovers work since you don't have a mother to tell you how it works, so I can't invite you to my sleepover tonight.”

Morgan was quick to defend me as he growled at her, “At least she knows how math works unlike you!”

Nate growled at her too as he added, “And she wouldn't want to go to your sleepover anyway since you're an airhead!”

I felt delighted and thanked them for standing up for me.

As we grew older, Morgan became a lawyer and Nate became a doctor.

Nate became a doctor because he wanted to perform surgery on me someday and cure me of my heart condition.

However, after my father's death, Demi appeared and everything changed.

I walked out of the house and took a taxi to the graveyard.

As I entered the graveyard, I rushed to my father's grave and placed a bouquet of flowers on top of his grave.

“May you keep resting in peace.” I said my prayers then added, “Goodbye, father.”

I have decided to leave this painful place and let the three of them be.

I pulled out my phone and set a countdown for my own departure.

After reminiscing, I decided to hand over my father's studios before leaving.

I walked around the studio and touched the items as a way of saying goodbye to it and to my father.

Suddenly, I heard a mindlink which pulled my attention away from the studio.

“Hey, Ariel. Can you bring me some clean clothes to the pack hospital?” Demi asked me in an irritated voice like she really hated me and didn't want to talk to me.

Well, she didn't have to anymore since I was leaving. If she thought that she hated me then I hated her cunning self more.

“No. You acted like I pushed you and even accused me of pushing you!” I exclaimed in my head as anger bubbled inside my heart.

“How can you refuse to do what I say?!” She yelled in her irritating voice.

“Stop mindlinking me because I'll never bring you anything after the stunt that you pulled!” I yelled back.

“Fine!” She yelled and then stayed quiet.

“You made the right choice, Ariel.” My wolf, Quinn, encouraged me in my head.

“I know.” I replied as I sighed.

“Since you're feeling down, why don't we go for a run?” Quinn suggested in a soft voice.

My lips stretched into a smile at the thought of going for a run in wolf form and I replied, “Sure, let's go.”

“Awesome!” She exclaimed, the excitement evident in her voice.

I walked out of the studio and then walked over to the woods beside it and started walking through it.

After a few steps, I stopped and hung my purse around my neck then started shifting into my wolf form.

I didn't need to take off my clothes as our clothes stayed on when we shift into our wolf form, but it turns invisible and so after shifting back to our human form, it appears back on our body.

I didn't know how that worked, but it was just how it was.

After I was done shifting into my wolf form, I started running through the woods.

I knew these woods like the back of my hand since my father and I used to run through them before he passed away.

Running in wolf form was important to us, werewolves, and it was special as we became stronger whenever we ran. So I felt amazing as I ran.

I could feel the wind blowing through my fur.

“Are you feeling better now?” Quinn asked me in my head.

“Yes! It feels so good to run!” I exclaimed as I ran faster.

I howled as I felt overwhelmed with excitement.

After running for what felt like hours, I shifted back to my human form and decided to go back to the house.

So I took a taxi back home.

As I walked into the house, I was about to walk upstairs to my room to start packing when the front door opened and I turned around to see who was about to walk in.

Morgan and Nate walked into the house.

They frowned as soon as they saw me and walked up to me.

“How can you refuse to bring a change of clothes to the pack hospital for Demi?” Morgan asked in a cold voice.

Nate gave me a cold look as he asked in an equally cold voice, “Yeah, how cruel can you be?”

“She asked you to bring her just a change of clothes and you're acting like she asked for something impossible to do.” Nate continued scolding me as he shook his head in disapproval.

“Yeah, and it's not like she asked you for an insane amount of money!” Morgan yelled as he stomped his foot in anger.

I sighed as I rubbed my temple in frustration, “I said I'm not bringing her anything or running her little errands!”

“You wouldn't even bring her a change of clothes. How can you be so rude?” Morgan asked as he frowned at me.

She was the rude one!

How did they not see it?

They were so blinded by her web of lies and pretty face that they couldn't see just how cunning she was.

Feeling irritated, I growled at them and my wolf started rising to the surface – it was the second time that day.

My hazel eyes flashed amber as my teeth extended into sharp wolf teeth and fangs.

I was so frustrated with them that my wolf rose to the surface and I wanted to fight them back for trying to fight with me, but I restrained my wolf.

I breathed in deeply and slowly then let it out as I tried to calm myself down. In a few seconds, I calmed down and my teeth returned to normal.

I took off my diamond bracelet.

It was a birthday gift that they had given me on my eighteenth birthday and it was a gift that the two had carefully searched the city to find in my favorite style.

When they saw me take it off, Morgan and Nate felt that something was off.

So Morgan’s eyes widened in surprise as he asked me, “Why are you taking your bracelet off?”

“We tried so hard to find that exact style, don't you like it anymore?” Nate asked as he raised his brows in question.

I nodded as I replied, “This style no longer suits me.”

“Why don't we buy you a new one?” Morgan suggested as a worried frown fell on his brows.

“Maybe that's what you would prefer.” Nate added as he also looked worried.

“There's no need for that.” I muttered as I placed the bracelet in his hand.

I turned around and walked upstairs to get to my room.

I was going to pack so that I can get ready to leave because I couldn't wait to leave.

After I packed my things, my eyes were filled with tears. If they knew I was leaving in ten days, would they regret their actions?

Morgan and Nate were walking down the hallway and walked by my room when Morgan spoke up.

“Ariel hadn't given Demi a birthday gift yesterday!”

I heard him exclaim with my heightened werewolf hearing.

Nate sounded close as he replied, “I just realized it too! How wouldn't she give her own cousin a gift on her birthday?”

“I don't know, but I bet these items would be perfect as Ariel’s present to Demi.” Morgan suggested as he opened the door to my room and pointed at my closet.

“Yeah, you're right.” Nate agreed as he walked into my room.

Morgan walked in too and went straight for the closet, and Nate did the same.

“Hey! You can't just walk in here and take my things!” I yelled as I stood up from my bed.

“Well, Demi deserves a gift and we're going to take it to her whether you like it or not!” Nate yelled back.

Together, they pulled the door of the closet open.

Surprise showed on both of their faces as they realized that there wasn't a piece of clothing in my closet.

They both turned to me and their lips parted as if they were about to ask me why my closet was empty, but Nate's phone started ringing.

He pulled it out of his pants pocket and glanced at the screen.

His lips tugged up into a smile and he answered the call, “Demi! Are you feeling better now?”

I could hear her clearly with my heightened werewolf hearing as she replied to him, “Not so good. The doctor wants to draw my blood to test for any other ailments. I'm scared! Can you guys come back? I need you here.”

“Yes, we can come back right now.” He confirmed as his smile dropped and worry showed on his face.

She hung up the call and he pushed his phone back into his pants pocket.

He glanced at Morgan as he said, “We need to go to the pack hospital right now.”

“I know, I heard her.” Morgan replied as he looked just as worried.

They didn't spare me a glance as they walked out of my room to get to the pack hospital for Demi’s sake.

Later that day, I was at my father's studio, talking with my father's close friend and our Alpha, Ryan, when he did something so marvelous.

“Ariel, I want to give you the Diamond Jade as a gift from me to you.” Alpha Ryan said as he smiled at me.

The Diamond Jade was a piece of jewelry and one of my father's best designs.

I was so surprised, yet pleased to be receiving this gift.

“It's an honor to accept this gift, Alpha Ryan.” I replied as I smiled back at him.

The next day, Demi was discharged from the pack hospital and helped me pick up the jewelry from the courier.

She walked into the house and made her way towards me to hand it to me.