Sunny Pov.

Coming onto another pack’s land without permission was like starting a war.

But Marcus surprised everyone by kneeling down in front of my dad.

“I dare because I love her more than anything,” he said, showing real emotion.

He asked my dad to let him marry me and promised to treat me as an equal and keep me safe.

My dad looked ready to say no. I quickly spoke up before things got worse.

“I accept Alpha Marcus, but only if he agrees to my conditions,” I said, showing I was making my own choice.

This was very different from usual pack rules where the Alpha decides for the daughter.

Marcus looked up, hopeful.

“Anything for you, Sunny,” he said.

“I promise you, I will wait until you turn eighteen before any ceremony or romance. And I will stop all violence, unless it’s for defense. I will rule more peacefully.”

Marcus stood up slowly and took my hands.

“I promise to keep these conditions, Sunny. No romance until you’re eighteen, no violence unless needed. I will honor you and your wishes.”

My heart was beating faster than normal. I didn't imagine, not even one percent, that Juan would come to me that fast.

I thought he had made his decision already and decided to be with his family—his son and his first luna, Zena.

I didn't think even once when I accepted Marcus to be my mate. All I was thinking was that I should run as fast as I could and get away from my love, Juan.

Maybe Marcus was too good to me, maybe he wasn't—it wasn't about choosing options. My heart craved Juan, and even if Juan was the worst alpha in the world, my heart wanted him.

But unfortunately, Juan wasn't the worst—he was the best ever.

I walked slowly downstairs. Juan's scent didn't leave my nose. Maybe that's why I didn't think he was closer to me than I could imagine.

Once my eyes landed on Marcus, who was waiting eagerly for me, my heart signaled that Juan was somewhere nearby.

I moved my eyes slowly, searching for him, and yes! I saw him—angry, jealous, shocked—staring only at me.

Marcus knelt down, saying his sweetest loving and caring words. But this didn't make a strand of my hair move. Marcus's words didn't change me at all.

I cleared my throat. I was nervous. But I made what I thought was the right move back then.

I linked my arms with Marcus and walked side by side with him. After all, I wasn't planning to lie to him or fool him. It wasn't a game. It was fate's decision.

Marcus knew I was in love and was the real mate to Juan, but he loved me despite all of this. He did his best to win me by force or by being tender. He wasn't looking for a sex slave but for my love, and he promised me he would be a good alpha.

Whether I believed him or not didn't matter. But I thought it would be good for everyone. I was at peace in my wolf form. Every pack would be happy and live peacefully if I mated with Marcus. So why not?

But once I drew a weak smile, trying to fake and pretend how happy and pleased I was by this mating and engagement, Juan pulled me into a strong, long-lasting kiss in front of everyone, as if there was no one around us. As if blood rushed back into my heart. As if I was dead and came back to my senses.

If you're in love, you should be selfish. Sacrifice, but not your true love. The pain of pushing your love away is killing pain, and there's no cure for such pain except coming back to your mate.

And that's what I felt. I kissed Juan back, not caring about the wars that might start anywhere. Not caring if it ended badly, not giving a damn if we broke the bond after that.

Marcus broke the kiss between me and Juan and groaned, "You promised me, Sunny. You promised me that you would be mine and forget about him."

Juan pulled me to his side. My father was there too. No one would dare touch me. But I had to sort out the complicated situation by myself. I stepped closer to Marcus, cupped his cheeks, and gently said, "You promised me happiness too. Why don't you give me freedom and let me be with Juan, then? You know that my heart belongs to him."

Marcus's eyes welled with tears. He inhaled deeply and nodded. "Okay, okay—but remember that I will be waiting for you. Forever. Remember that." Marcus pulled me into a tight hug and wiped his tears.

Then he rushed out of his own castle.

I sighed in relief.

Juan pulled my hand, but I stopped him. "We can't be together. You have a son and a luna." The real fact broke my heart. The words came out of my mouth frozen. It hurt my tongue. But I wanted to face him and myself.

Juan looked back to my dad. "Alpha Nathan, please allow me to have your daughter now. Away. Please."

My dad blurted out, "Just take care of her." He patted my cheeks and said to me, "Go with Juan. I trust him."

Juan lifted me in his arms and walked hurriedly out of the castle, placed me gently in his car, and then drove as fast as he could. I didn't ask him anything. I wanted to see what was in his mind. It was already complicated. Insanely weird.

I was stressed, but I wanted Juan.

He finally stopped the car and turned off the lights. There was no one around. He looked at me and cupped my cheeks. "Sunny, be my luna."

I narrowed my eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

"You have a luna," I pointed out.

He hungrily took my lips, moaning and sucking deeper, and said between his breaths, "Be my luna. Please. Let's get mated secretly for now."

His words offended me!

I pushed him away. "Secretly? As a second choice? As a mistress? Me?"

He shook his head, kissing my hands. "No, I mean real mates. Accept me as your mate now. And we can announce it later."

My head was spinning. I couldn't think. I closed my eyes and breathed sharply, trying to resist him. Trying to get rid of his love. But I couldn't. I had belonged to him forever. I was still 16, after all.

He licked my neck, as if his wolf took control over him. Once I said, "I do accept you as my mate," he attacked my neck, leaving his mark. He marked me as his.

I was surprised because I thought he would ask me for more. I whined in pain. He pulled back and smiled. "Now you are mine. I will do this every week."

He pressed his head to my neck, kissing everywhere, sniffing my scent as if he missed me a lot. But I wanted more. Maybe I couldn't accept being second. Maybe I couldn't accept sharing him with Zena.

I whispered in his ear, making his heart stop beating for seconds: "Take my virginity now."

 Juan's POV.

I only wanted to mark her, to make her mine. But she shocked me with her words: "Take my virginity now."

I pulled back slowly, feeling as if I heard it wrong. I cleared my throat, looking into her eyes. "What now?"

She bit her lips shyly, which assured me I heard her words right. I trembled a bit and looked around me. "Now and here? In the forest?"

She raised her eyebrows at me. "No one is here. So why not? I accepted you."

I teased, joking, "You accepted me a long time ago. It's not the first time, actually."

"I know I'm ugly and my body is—" she was saying, looking away from my eyes.

I tilted her head with my fingers. "Ugly? I could lick your whole body now to prove to you how much I love you."

"Then let's do it," she said, more excited.

I rubbed my face and slammed my back against my seat. "Are you sure? I mean, it's painful. And I shouldn't do it in the car and—"

She teased, scoffing, "Too many excuses."

I raised my eyebrow. "What happened to you all of a sudden? Are you in heat now?"

She shrugged and pouted. "Maybe."

I shook my head, grinning. "No, you're only sixteen. You can't be."

Suddenly, she blew out a long, deep breath and said firmly, emphasizing her words: "I said take me now or leave me forever. I seriously can't let you go and touch Zena. I love you, and it hurts so much."

I pushed her seat back and leaned over her. "Are you sure?"

She stuttered, "Mmm, I don't know."

I leaned down to her face and showered her face with warm kisses, taking her hand in mine. "We can do it when you turn eighteen," I suggested.

She hummed, "But you will do it with Zena until then." She sobbed with an angry voice.

I chuckled. "Never. I promise you."

She widened her eyes in disbelief. "Really?"

I nodded. "Yes, really."

She smiled. "Okay, I'm going back to school then. And I'll see you in twenty-four months."

I gasped, almost screaming, "What?!"

Sunny's POV.

Of course, not to the same school. I meant real college. I wanted to study hard this time. But I also wanted to give him a hint that I had waited for him for ten years, and he should wait for me another two years.

He wasn't ready to take my virginity and make me his forever yet, even though he loved me. And I guess I wasn't ready either, because I had lost my self-esteem. Yes, the bruises that covered my body made me feel like a beast. I wanted to go out there to fix myself before being with him.

And it was a good test for our love. Even so, I was very certain that I would never love another alpha or another man but Juan. But what about him and his luna and his son?

He needed a lot of time to live with them until he would be able to decide. My life was full of obstacles, after all. I was still unsure why vampires and Marcus wanted me so much! Yes, it was something weird.

I looked at him lovingly, adoring his features for a while before saying, "We really should say goodbye."

He blinked, looking broken. "You can't leave me now."

I patted his cheek. "I must leave, but I'm not leaving you. Because you're in my heart, my soul. It's just for two years. I am going to live on campus in London. It's for college. And I will come back later to you."

He raised his eyebrow. "With humans?"

I nodded with a smile. "Yes, with them. Isn't that better?"

He shook his head. "It's safer but not better. Because you're going to leave me for TWO FUCKING YEARS." Juan lost his temper and shouted his last words.

I startled a bit and moved my neck closer. "Then mark me as much as you want to."

Damn! He gritted his teeth and attacked my neck like a vampire, gazing at my neck and pressing his teeth deeply. "Yes, I must."

But suddenly, noises and footsteps became very close. I trembled. "Juan. Did you hear that?"

He sniffed. "No."

I was sure I heard something... then the window of the car smashed. Juan jumped back into his driver's seat to drive. But my door was opened by force as if it had exploded from a bomb.

I was pulled out. Juan jumped to fight, but there were a lot of vampires this time. One of them threatened, "She's ours."

Juan started to shift, growling, "She's mine."

But there were too many. He wouldn't come out safe from that fight. He might die in the end. I couldn't let him lose his life for my sake.

"Juan. Stop," I said to him confidently.

Juan turned his head, confused. "What are you saying? I am ready to die for you."

I quickly said, "And I don't want you to die. Not now."

Suddenly, I heard a lot of noises this time. It was familiar to my ears. His scent hit my nose too. "Marcus."

Marcus thundered, "Let her go now, or I will make sure to send all of you to your graves."

I turned my head when I felt the vampire who was tightening his grip around my neck releasing me somehow.

They left after spotting how many werewolves were around...

I sighed in relief. Juan pulled me to his chest. "Sunny, are you alright?"

I inhaled and exhaled, trying to breathe normally. "Yes, I think I am."

Juan asked Marcus rudely, "Why are you here? Don't even think of taking her from me."

But I blurted out, "Thank you, Marcus, for saving us. And I apologize for Alpha Juan's attitude."

Marcus stepped closer, and his men followed him. "It's okay, Sunny."

Then he stopped much closer to Juan. "Well, I love her, can't deny it. I really want you dead. But I am here because I found something I don't think anyone knew about, not even Sunny herself."

Juan and I widened our eyes and asked Marcus in unison, "What is it?"

Marcus snapped his finger at one of his men, who handed him a letter. Then he handed it to me. "Read this, Sunny. Isn't that your handwriting? I believe you were too young when you wrote this."

I worriedly snatched the letter and sniffed it before reading. "Yes, it's my scent too."

Then I started reading loudly. My eyes popped out with every word. The date was five years ago, which meant I was only eleven years old... "Alpha Juan, I am here alone in that scary school. I am in the basement. Vampires are treating me awfully. Last night one of them said he is the prince, and he bit me hard. I thought I was dead. But then I woke up feeling better and stronger. But my body changed a bit. There was no blood, which means he didn't turn me into a vampire. But I'm scared."

I looked at Marcus. "But if they turned me, then why is my body growing up?"

I wondered. Juan replied confidently, "They didn't turn you. They want to."

"Why?" I gasped, still confused.

Marcus handed me another file. It looked more like diaries. "Here, Juan. You need to read this. It's from the vampire prince himself. His diaries. We found it in one of the caves."

Juan started reading. I guess there was only one line: "Once Sunny turns eighteen, I will make her mine forever and turn her into my vampire queen. Because she's more powerful than any other creature."

"What the fuck does that mean?" Juan yelled angrily.

Marcus shrugged, rubbing his chin. "I don't know, actually. Why and when? I don't know. But all I know is that at the beginning, I was chasing Sunny for the same reason. Because she's more powerful than any other creature, according to the vampires' words. But later I loved her. Anyway, I thought you both should know."

Juan pulled me to his chest and kissed my forehead. "No, no one is going to take Sunny from me. I don't care if she's powerful or not. I want her."

Marcus interrupted us—obviously he didn't like watching us hugging and kissing and touching. "So, let's take you both out of here safely first. I will always be there to help on her 18th birthday."

But I immediately said, "Then I really should go to college now. Among humans, I would be safe."

Juan screamed loudly and possessively, "No, not alone. I am coming with you then."

"But—"

"We will live together or die together. I promise you, Sunny," he whispered in my ear. His words meant the world to me. But as much as I doubted that we could live together for the next two years, I was equally sure we might really die together.

And I had to accept because I was scared. I was only 16. I was young and lost and couldn't understand why I was wanted by everyone like this.