Reunion with Her Alpha (Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance) by Joanna Wilson

 
    Reunion with Her Alpha
     
    Mila slowly flipped through her photo album. She was bored out of her mind. It was a Friday night and she had absolutely nowhere to go and nothing to do. Turning the pages slowly, her breath caught at the photo on the bottom of the page. It was one she always had trouble looking at.
     
    It was of her and Marty. She closed her eyes as memories came rushing back as they always did.
     
    Marty was her best friend in the entire world. And if she were being honest with herself, her first love as well. They grew up next door neighbors and were as thick as thieves. The neighborhood called the two of the m M&M. You never saw one without the other.
     
    She remembered the day he left like it was yesterday. It was the summer they turned sixteen. A summer of changes. She started seeing Marty in a different light that summer. His shoulders had filled out that year and for the first time, Mila noticed just how cute his eyes were. Slowly, she found herself staring at him. At first a look that lingered for an extra second but the more she stared, the more she dreamed until one day she found herself staring his lips, wishing he would kiss her. He smiled whenever he caught her staring but other than that, he never seemed to notice.
     
    On the day he left, she had been calling him all day. She even texted him a few time yet he didn't answer. Growing impatient, she grabbed her bag and left, telling her mom that she was going next door to Marty’s.
     
    As she walked, she hummed a tune that was a favorite of theirs. Marty always said that Mila had a wonderful singing voice so sang around him as much as possible.
     
    Mila was of average height with long thick brown hair and green eyes. Her full lips curled into the dimples in each cheek. She thought her face was pretty enough and Marty once told her it was beautiful. But that was it and nothing more.
     
    In Mila's opinion, her only drawback was her weight. She had packed on some pounds, bringing a fullness to her rounded hips. Her thighs were thicker than usual and her breast jutted out far past where they used to be.
     
    Pretty? Definitely. But beautiful? Mila never brought herself to even entertain the notion.
     
    As Mila reach the front lawn of Marty’s house, she stopped and looked again. Something was wrong. She didn’t know exactly what, but something wasn’t quite right about the way the house looked.
     
    She opened the gate and walked up to the front door, peering into the window and feeling her heart drop away to nothing. Where curtains used to block wandering eyes from looking inside the house, there was only naked glass. The porch swing that she and Marty had swung in for hours late at night was gone. Panic rising in her throat, Mila tried the door knob and found it unlocked.
     
    When the door swung open, Mila felt a part of herself wither away.
     
    Gone. Everything was gone. Furniture, the pictures that hung on almost every inch of the wall. All gone. But what hurt Mila the most was Marty. Her best friend. Gone. He didn’t even say goodbye, didn’t even let her know that he was leaving. They had spoken on the phone the night before. Talked about a little bit of everything and nothing all at the same time, and yet he didn’t feel this was important enough to let her know.
     
    Memories of that summer so many years ago brought tears to her eyes, and Mila reached up to wipe away the salty trails even before she realized she was crying. Slamming the photo book closed, she got up and sat by her computer.
     
    She put her headphones on and started playing the piece of music that she had been writing to. Over the last few years people began taking notice of her voice. Now she found herself writing demos and sending them to talent scouts.
     
    She glanced up at her calendar. Only eight more days till her 19th birthday. She couldn’t wait. Maybe Charles had something big planned for her. Who knew.
     
    Charles. Just saying his name lifted her