Between the Two

Chapter 1.

(Unedited)

"Shift."  Luke laughed, pulling his shorts on.

I shifted, and threw on my own pair of shorts and Luke's t-shirt. I looked up at Luke, and laughed. His dirty blonde hair was sticking up everywhere.

He grinned at me, and ran towards me. I squealed when he picked me up by my waist and spun me in the air. He pulled me down into a sweet kiss. After pulling back from each other, I stared into his beautiful green eyes.

"I love you, Royalty." Luke said, his voice a deep whisper. My heart soared at those three little words that I had heard hundreds of times, but never seemed to fail at sending my heart into a frenzy.

"I love you too, Lukus." I smiled, pressing my lips to his again.

***

Later that night after Luke had walked me home, I sat at the dinner table with my family. My mother was setting food on the table, my father was reading something on his phone intently, and my twin brother was texting.

"Hello, my loving family." I laughed, trying to get my families attention. My mother sat in the seat next to my dad, who was seated at the head of the table. My brother was sitting at the other end, and I sat to the right of him, across from my mom.

"Hi honey, how was your day today?" She winked, grabbing the plate of pork chops. She put two on my dad's plate, and one on hers before setting the plate back down in the middle of the table.

"It was great." I replied, piling some food on my plate.

"How about you, Timothy?" My mom asked my twin brother. He was smashing food into his mouth like he hadn't eaten in days. I playfully rolled my eyes at him, while my mother gave him a disapproving look.

"What?" He asked, mouth full.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." My mother scolded him. He chewed his food quickly, and swallowed it.

"Sorry, mom." He apologized, taking a sip of his water. "But my day was okay, boring mostly." He shrugged, picking up his fork and eating a little slower this time.

I laughed at him and began to eat myself. The table grew quiet until my father finally put his phone down and began to eat.

"So, how do you two feel about your birthdays tomorrow?" My dad asked. My heart stopped for a brief moment at his words. Timothy and I's eighteenth birthday is tomorrow, and I wasn't ready for it.

My eighteenth birthday meant that I find out if Luke is my mate. Luke is my boyfriend of a year, and someone I love and care for deeply. If I find out that he isn't my mate, it will destroy me.

How will I go on to find my mate, knowing that my boyfriend isn't it? How could I leave my boyfriend for my mate? A mate bond is unbelievably strong, and makes you feel love and lust for someone you may not know at all.

But I do know and love Luke, and I pray to the moon goddess that he is my mate.

"Royalty? Earth to Royalty." My father's voice echoes, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"I'm sorry, yes daddy?" I answer, looking at him. My father's face was stern looking. Dark circles were under his eyes from lack of sleep due to taking care of pack business.

My father is the Beta of our pack, and he is always super busy taking care of everyone and everything. Our pack is one of the bigger ones in America, and my father is a great beta to the Alpha. My dad helps the alpha with a lot of his business, and is more like a second Alpha than a beta.