Page 4 of Finding Love with the Fae King

Tulip gripped Alec’s hand tightly and shook her head no. My heart was crushed at the thought of my best and only friend being gone from my life.

“You mean you are moving there?”

Tulip bowed, and a stray tear dripped down my cheek.

“That is why it was so important for you to be there, to know where I was, because I didn’t want to disappear and leave you with no idea where I went.”

I choked back a sob and put my hands on my face.

Rose came over, hugged me, and pulled me to her chest. “You will always have us, baby Melina. We will be here.” She looked down at me, but my heart was already broken. I have lost my best friend.

“Why are you staying?” My voice cracked.

“Alec is to be the new Delta in a few years. It is a higher position in the pack. He can’t leave. Werewolf mates go live where whichever mate has the highest position.”

Letting out a shaky breath, I pulled my legs up to my body, not caring if I got my muddy shoes on their furniture. I lost my best friend to her mate, and she made all the decisions without me. Maybe I was more invested in this friendship than she was.

“I think I need to be alone now. When do we leave?”

Tulip glanced at me with sad eyes as I stood up and wiped a few pieces of invisible dirt from my jeans.

“Tomorrow afternoon. Will you be there?” Tulip stood up and grabbed my hand again.

Looking at it, I didn’t feel the same warmth of a friend I had pictured throughout our childhood. I told her everything about me, my fears, my hopes, and my dreams. Granted, it wasn’t a lot, but it still meant a lot to me. Now she was telling me she was a werewolf, could never tell me about it, and now she had found her mate, whom she dropped everything for and was planning on living in a faraway place I may never visit. As far as I was concerned, my friendship with her was cracked like a fine piece of old china.

Could I be the friend she wanted during her important moment? Even though I did not understand the whole mating ceremony, the true traditions of werewolves, I would be a sucky friend if I denied watching “the happiest moment of her life” and seeing her off into a new one with her mate.

“Yes, I’ll be there,” I whispered.

Tulip hugged me, and I hugged her back. When I let go, I gave Alec a death glare, held up two fingers, and pointed to my eyes and back to his. He gave out a laugh. Trying to be a good person, I held out my hand to shake his, and he shook it gladly. He gave me a smile and brought me to him to give me a hug. I was taken aback at the sudden engulfed hug by a complete stranger that was marrying my best friend after only a week of dating.

“Thank you,” he whispered in my ear.

Stepping back, I left out the side door of the living room back to my cabin. It was a good fifteen-minute walk. It was close to winter, and the leaves had fallen off the trees, so my footsteps caused constant crackling beneath my feet. My hands were stuck in my pockets because I didn’t think ahead, and now the tips were freezing. The jacket hung loosely around my body while I kept my eyes straight ahead. I didn’t want to look at all the homes around the territory. I didn’t want to watch kids play fighting and wrestling like they always had as I grew up here. Now it all had a different meaning to it.

They were training to be something lethal.

They were werewolves.

Taking my tenth enormous sigh of the day, my small cabin came into view. It wasn’t much. It was a small one-bedroom with a kitchen, living room, and one bathroom. My parents had sold our previous house and gave me and Rose the money. Rose always thought of me being mature enough to handle finances, but I let her hold on to the extra, just in case. The cabin had been empty. Now I wondered if it was meant for some lonely wolf that couldn’t find their mate.

Holy sad story.

Stomping up the small steps, I heard something rustling in the bushes. Normally, things like that wouldn’t bother me. I’d lived here seven years and was never scared of anything. Now finding out there are other creatures out there, I wasn’t so sure anymore. Stepping back down the steps, I looked in the bushes to see bright yellow eyes staring back at me.

My breath hitched, only for me to calm down a bit and put my hand on my chest. “I know you guys are werewolves now, whoever you are. Stop being a creep.” Walking backward and fully turning around to get back in the cabin, I unlocked the door and slammed it.

Stripping my jacket off and stoking the fire with the iron, I heard a knock at the door.Probably that dang wolf.I stomped to the door and opened it abruptly to see none other than the bane of my existence. Esteban.

Chapter Three

Melina

Estebanwashot,Imean on fire. That being said, he was also a player. He could get into any girl’s pants at our high school. The popular girls, the athletic ones, drama nerds, and even the socially awkward butterflies. The one pair of pants he did not get into, the one skirt he could not lift, was mine.

I was part of the awkward social butterfly’s club. I knew how to have fun with a small group of friends, but not great with sizable crowds. I stuck to Tulip and her crowd, which are now known as the werewolves.

Now that I knew I did better socializing with wolves as friends also meant that I just didn’t get along with my own kind.Major sigh right here.

---