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my hand up. I backed towards the tree line, knowing I needed to run. The adrenaline and surge of emotions in my body were too much for me to handle. I heard them calling my name, but I didn’t stop, didn’t even look over my shoulder.
    I ran for hours, letting my inner wolf out and relishing in the freedom. When I returned back to the camp there was a commotion in the common area. I could sense the strong emotions from each member of the pack, and knew that whatever I was about to find out would change everything.
    I slowly walked towards the circle of pack members, the males eyeing me up and down, but not making any advances. “What’s going on?” I whispered to Lena, one of the youngest females in the pack. Murmurs surrounded me, but it was hard to decipher what everyone was saying.
    “Two more members of the pack have found their mate.” Her voice was animated as she stood on her toes to try and see over the throng of people.
    I mimicked her motions, trying to see who the two lucky wolves were. “Do you know who they are?” As soon as the words left my lips realisation dawned on me. I slowly turned towards her, but Lena had no idea of the horror that coursed through me. My heart slowly started to break.
    “Chase and Xavier.”
    I closed my eyes as pain assaulted me. I could have broken down and cried right then. I knew something had been off, knew that even though my fantasy had come true, my dream of being with them wouldn’t. Lena turned and looked at me with a furrowed brow.
    “Is everything okay, Ophelia?” I nodded and forced a smile. “Isn’t it wonderful? I’m so jealous.”
    I swallowed the thick lump that crawled up my throat. “So who is it?”
    “No one knows. They announced the good news, but then took off.” Lena turned towards me with animated eyes and grabbed my hands. “I wonder if it’s a human or a wolf? I am so excited.”
    Lena was much too young to really understand the full impact of what this meant. When a Luecross found their mate, all others were secondary on their list of priorities, and all other females were nonexistent, which meant I needed to toughen up and move on. There would be no more daydreaming about Chase and Xavier, no more wondering if something more could happen between us. When a male finally realised who his mate was, nothing else mattered.
    I didn’t stay and wait to hear the rest of the gossip, just turned towards my cabin with a heavy heart.
    “Ophelia?”
    I turned around, plastering an unaffected expression on my face as I stared at Graham. His auburn hair was dishevelled and his face was flushed. I could tell he had been for a run, could smell the adrenaline pumping through his body. I stared into his bright green eyes, trying to make myself realise I needed to start thinking about other males. I couldn’t lust after Chase and Xavier any longer, especially when they brought their mate to live with the pack.
    “I…Well…I just wanted to know if maybe you would like to have dinner tomorrow night?”
    I absorbed what he said, actually smiling at the sweetness of his invitation. I knew he wanted to have me in the most basic of ways, and it was only nature urging him forward, but I was surprised he would try and court me first instead of just blatantly offering to fuck me. I hesitated and I saw the disappointment flash through his eyes.
    “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bothered you again.”
    He turned to leave and I held my hand out. “No, wait.” He stopped and turned to face me. “I would actually love to have dinner with you.” His smile could have lit up the whole camp, which in turn made me grin.
    “Great. How about tomorrow night? Seven? I’ll even cook.”
    I could hear the excitement in his voice and couldn’t help it when the same emotion pumped through me. Even if nothing happened tomorrow night sexually, I knew it would be memorable. “That sounds really nice, Graham. I’ll meet you at your cabin then.” We said our goodbyes and I