He was fourteen when he first felt butterflies in his stomach. He never told anyone about it, and he certainly wasn’t proud of it. Not that he was ashamed, but he knew his parents wouldn’t understand, and Angie would just make fun of him. There was no one else to talk to about it. Angie was his closest friend, and with his attitude toward the pack and his shyness, it was hard to find more.

It was the twelfth of March.

When he woke up that day, everything seemed normal. The weather was windy, but it was just another spring day in North Hallson. In fact, it was the perfect day for a long run in the wolf’s body. With that thought in his mind, Evan got up and quickly dressed. He hadn’t shifted in two weeks, and his body trembled at the thought of it. When he ran, his thoughts disappeared, replaced by the baser instincts of a predator. And that was just what he needed now.

He grabbed a black jacket from a nearby chair for later and headed downstairs. On the way, he heard his mother moving around in the kitchen, but he didn’t care. All he could think about was the woods behind their house. At least something went right in Evan's life. What could be better for the young wolf than his own place, where he could shift whenever he wanted? It was kind of ironic that he’d waited weeks to do it.

Quickly, he ducked into the bushes and began to strip. It was routine by now, and he couldn’t care less about feeling exposed. It didn’t take long before his body grew fur, his legs turned into paws, and his senses sharpened. Evan was his true self now—a predator. A happy predator, to be specific.

He took off running, gaining speed with each step. Faster and faster, until his house was nothing but a blur behind him. You see, happiness had a smell. And that smell was wild air—the scent of the forest, the sound of a nearby stream, the chirping of birds. It all made him feel like the happiest person in the world. In a world where his mother’s screams were replaced by silence, where the rumors about his cousin disappeared, and where Evan could finally find peace.

He ran and ran until, suddenly, something happened. His surroundings shifted. At first, he didn’t understand it, but then it hit him. It wasn’t his viewpoint he was seeing. He was looking at a forest similar to the one he was currently in. His vision was sharper, more focused, which meant his mate must also be in his wolf form. He was running, but then a rabbit crossed his path and stopped. Evan waited for his next move. He expected him to scare the poor animal, or worse, eat it raw, but none of that happened. Instead, his mate lowered his head and nudged the rabbit with his nose. The rabbit was petrified with fear, so the big bad wolf licked him playfully. And just like that, his vision ended.

Evan couldn't believe it had happened again. He and his mate were in the same situation once again. He could no longer say it was just a coincidence.

Thoughts swirled in his mind. He couldn’t stop thinking about how gentle and kind this wolf was. He wanted to punch himself in the face as soon as the thought crossed his mind. Gentle? Kind? He couldn’t think of his mate that way. His mate was supposed to be this disgusting footballer, a jock, whose only goal was to be popular and boyish. He couldn’t picture him as nice or friendly—that was too close to something resembling a possible love object. And as he promised, his mate would never be a guy. Screw the butterflies, screw the soulmates. He knew that such a thing would never be acceptable in his family. Even if his mate was a wolf. Why should he get a better fate than Riley?