There were very few things in life that could be considered certain. One of those was that, somewhere, there was a person created specifically for you who would complete your life in all respects.

And Elena had always believed and heard that having a mate would guarantee incredible stability, wonderful happiness, boundless love and inner peace. And the whole mate’s package would also have included the best sleep ever...

Well, that was all wrong!!

Ever since she met her mate, Elena had felt unstable, moody and constantly agitated, with butterflies and other insects eating her stomach.

And, well, totally sleepless. It was a record if she managed to sleep for a few hours every night.

That morning, on her way to breakfast, she felt inside The Walking Dead.

“Morning, my favourite daughter!” Her mum came from behind, squeezing her out. “Mum! I’m your only daughter!” Elena squealed, returning the hug anyway.

Her mum and dad had Elena when they were 16 and 17 respectively. So, the age gap had made them practically like an older brother and sister, sometimes cool ones, other times really annoying. Elena still remembered the stories of her mother crying while studying for college, changing her diapers while doing her Luna’s duties. And she was a human!

Also, there were distant memories of her father who took care of her during his work as Alpha ... A particular memory always managed to make a smile appear on Elena’s face: one day, her dad was on a conference call with all the other Alpha, and, at the same time, he was feeding a baby Elena ... who ended up throwing up at him because he hadn’t cooked the food well enough, so Elena got sick. He was so sad and sorry; Luna Elisa had yelled at him so much.

“Do you have time to help me with some refugees’ issues after school?” Her mother asked her. They were going to the kitchen, holding each other in a lovely embrace.

“What’s the matter?” Elena countered, frowning. Most of the refugees consisted of widows and single mothers with their children. None of them wanted to return to Lord Skull’s pack, for obvious reasons. “As a Luna and an Alpha’s daughter, we have to make sure they feel comfortable. In addition, we have to study a plan to assign them new homes and integrate them into our pack.” Luna Elisa explained while Elena was grabbing ingredients to make a granola fruit’s bowl. She loved to keep healthy habits. It wasn’t easy, especially with Rex and Giulia who were living junk food processors...

“Hey ladies!”

Speaking of the devil.

Rex had just joined them in the kitchen.

“Good Morning Rexilio.” Luna Elisa had just called him by his real name and Elena had almost fallen from her chair by how loud she was laughing. Rex hated that name, but her mother never addressed anyone with nicknames. She was convinced that your name identified yourself, your personality and the magical connections with your past. So, you should have worn it with pride.

Rex did not share that mystical opinion at all, since Rexilio was the name of an old uncle whom, not only he had never met, but who was also killed by a badger, in unfortunate circumstances.

“Morning Luna...” He mumbled with a pout as he was staring daggers at Elena.

“My mum was just informing me about our afternoon duties!” Elena winked at him, still giggling. Whenever possible, she always dragged Rex with her.

“My morning certainly didn’t start well, hey.” Rex muttered among the pancakes. “Did you say something, Rexilio my dear?” My mother questioned him with fake innocence.

“Morning everyone!” Giulia had just entered the kitchen, like a Hollywood star. Her aura of sadness had faded slightly that day.

“Giu, refugee duties today! You are included too.” Rex grinned, trying to drag her in.

“Oh but I’ve already organized myself with Cruci to visit Marco!” She pouted with her doe eyes. “Of course Giulia! You must go!” Luna Elisa cooed, hugging her.

When Alpha Giacomo finally appeared, he went straight to his mate. As he started whispering something in her ear, she giggled like a twenty year old. Elena hoped that they would accept her mate, once she was ready to drop that bomb. Being so into each other should imply that they would respect the identity of any mate chosen for their daughter.

Elena took a moment to observe them: her parents seemed so fresh and rested. Of course they were... since sleeping with your mate had that beneficial effect!

It was so unfair! Elena was seething with green jealousy.

“So sugary!” She mocked them, rolling her eyes.

“Sweetie, one day you will understand… when you find your mate!” Her mother winked at her, oddly. She was not the type to wink.

“She will…” Her dad paused to kiss Luna Elisa’s nose. “After her thirty-fifth birthday, when I let her go out with the boys.” He smirked at Elena, with a strange twinkle in his eyes. It was as if he was making fun of something Elena was unaware of.

“Hush!” Her mother shoved him away... just a few centimetres. “If not, when she finds her mate, she won’t tell us just because of your silly threats.”

Elena almost chocked on a piece of apple.

“She better does. And as long as it’s not from Black Devil, I will have no complaints.” He said casually, taking the newspaper from the counter.

“What?!” Elena blurted out, drawing everyone’s attention.

“I mean...” She corrected herself, gulping nervously. “What would it matter if he came from there, since Moon Goddess would have chosen him for me anyway? And mum is human!” She had defended her cause too quickly that was suspicious.

Her parents stared at her with two equally indecipherable faces. How they managed to do it, she’d never know.

“Have you found your mate and is he from Black Devil?” Her father asked with a poker face. “Or she! We would love him or her anyway, sweetie!!” Her mother winked at her, receiving an exasperated face from Elena.

“N-no, I haven’t found him.” Elena murmured, looking at her nails with too much interest.

“So there’s no problem!” Her dad shrugged and took a sip from his cup. “Now get ready for school. Maybe your mate is there, waiting for you.”

If her father had known how close his statement had been to reality, he would probably have sent her to study in another state, that same day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her mate was never at school and Elena did not expect that things would have gone differently that day.

When Elena, Rex and Giulia got out of the car, all eyes were on them, as usual.

And, as usual, Rex was complaining about some girl while both Elena and Giulia assured him that it was his fault that the girl had certain expectations.

Elena’s heart skipped a beat when she smelled the most amazing scent in the universe.

She spotted him right away.

He was there, on the opposite side of the parking lot, near the main entrance. A group of fans was around him and his Gamma. With his arms crossed and his back resting on a truck as if he were the owner of the world, Mirko was chatting with nonchalant. Elena’s cheeks flushed red at the memory of last night, when they spent time in the woods. Before leaving, he had told her that they would have met again very soon. She had never imagined that it would have been so soon...

Their eyes locked instantly, and Elena found that his were full of longing and desire. He was so freaking hot. It was as if the Moon Goddess had thrown him into a pool of sexiness after creating him. She blushed profusely and hid behind Rex. Quickly checked her face on her phone screen, just in case a piece of fruit was stuck on her face.

She swore she heard him chuckle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When lunchtime came, Elena and co. met in front of the drink stand. “I’m so tired of Ginger.” Rex wined behind Elena.

“What did she do this time?”

Each of them had grabbed a couple of sandwiches and some side dishes. Because of their intense daily training, they needed a lot of energy.

“She filled my locker with so many muffins that could last me for a whole week and-” He was interrupted by a flying devil.

“You have muffins! And why didn’t you tell me, you dog?!” Giulia tackled him and almost made him fall. Chuckling at the sight of Giulia on Rex’s back as she pulled on his ears, Elena was about to add a comment when her eyes met a familiar pair of eyes.

Riccardo was smiling widely and waving at them. He was sitting in an empty table with some girls staring at him from the tables around. Girls who were completely ignored.

“Oh! Look who’s there! Dog Number 2!” Rex joked, patting Elena on the shoulder.

“Who’s Dog Number One?” Giulia investigated as she bit one of Rex’s sandwiches, getting a snarl in return.

“Berculi, that crazy wolf.” Rex had never liked Herculi, especially after he almost attacked Elena herself.

“Herculi is a werewolf just like you, Fatty!” Elena retorted.

“I have never been able to meet him! I’d like to see how it looks!” Giulia exclaimed with curiosity filling her eyes.

“Dog Number 2 is fatty, not me!” Rex snapped, jabbing his finger at Elena, who giggled and nudged him.

“Hey Riccardo!” Giulia greeted the Crystal Wolf Alpha’s son, when they had arrived at his table.

“What do we owe this honour to, man?” Rex inquired before diving into his pile of sandwiches. “I was passing by with my dad and I thought I’d stop by to visit you guys.” He explained, staring at Elena with a certain glint in his eyes. And she was totally unaware of it.

“Oh! That’s nice, Ricky!” Elena responded. Too busy devouring her second sandwich, the young beauty didn’t notice how Riccardo had moved to sit next to her.

The group of friends was eating, laughing and joking about small matters, without paying the slightest attention to their surroundings. The harmless Riccardo got closer and closer to Elena. First, he made sure that their knees touched, second he leaned his elbow on her shoulder, very casually, and then, he draped his arm over the back of her chair.

Elena was the only blind there. Everyone else knew that Riccardo had always had a crush on her, since they had been dating for a short time, when they were younger. The following declaration of ‘break up’ and 'let’s remain friends' had been decided by Elena, who had understood that he totally agreed with her.

When the air electrified and a tickling sensation spread on the back of Elena’s neck, she instantly understood who had just entered the cafeteria. The girl made the mistake of looking at him.... Mirko stood there, with Gamma Rolando, and looked beyond angry, with his dark blue eyes filled with resentment and a murderous fury...

Oh-oh!

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Up to episode 24 already available on Patreon for you to read!! 

https://www.patreon.com/ladytrex

Next chapter on Tapas will be released next Monday!!

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Also available on Patreon exclusive bonus episodes ”When Mirko was matelss and had his needs“, ”When Marco and Rex were single and went to a party” & ”Elena and Mirko met in the woods” and much more.

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Thanks for reading my book as always! :D Love you all!!