Catching Genesis

Chapter I

Worst Birthday Ever

"Happy birthday!!!" They chorus as soon as I step into the kitchen.

Mom is beaming, carrying a stack of pancakes dripping with maple syrup to the breakfast table. A single candle is burning right on top of it. Dad is already sitting at the table, smiling wide.

"Hyaaaahhhh!!!" I hear my sister yells as she bounds down the stairs behind me.

I huff the candle out before she even reaches the bottom of the stairs.

"Genesis! Damn it!!!" she yells in frustration.

"Autumn Harmony Fairchild! Language!" Mom admonishes her.

I flash my sister a victorious grin before I turn back around and give mom and dad an angelic, innocent smile.

My sister Autumn is two years younger than I am. Last week was her birthday, and I blew out the candle on her special birthday pancakes. I knew she would try to seek revenge. Unfortunately for her, I came downstairs early today, and just like that, I've foiled her evil plan of revenge.

Mom disappears into the living room and I give my sister another mischievous grin. She takes her seat beside me at the breakfast table and scowls at me.

Not only are our birthdays close together, Autumn and I look almost the same. Sometimes people thought that we were twins. From our light hazel eyes to our red hair. The only difference is that Autumn's face is a little bit rounder than mine and my red hair is a darker red, closer to Auburn, while Autumn is more of a strawberry blond. I'm also a bit taller than she is. I'm 5'11" which is just a little over the average height of most she-wolves, and Autumn is 5'9".

"Happy Birthday, by the way," says Autumn "Are you excited yet?"

"Excited about going to school on my birthday?" I ask back, sharing my stack of pancakes with her. Mom gave me too much.

"No, silly! About possibly meeting your mate today!" she replies, looking at me as if I've lost my marbles.

"I don't know...I'd be more excited if I don't have to be stuck in school the whole day on my birthday." I am, but I'm not going to admit that to her.

Yeah, we're the regular werewolf family, and as werewolves, we get the gift to sense out our mate as soon as we turn eighteen. That means for me, sometime during lunchtime today, if my mate is already eighteen and he's living somewhere around here.

"I had to go to school on my birthday too," she reminds me. "I can't wait to turn 18 so I can meet my mate already." She sighs. "Oh, I bet he's so hot. Hotter than your mate. The hottest guy in the whole pack."

"My baby girl might be meeting her mate today!" mom exclaims as she comes back from the living room where she hid my birthday gift. She places my gift on the table and says, "You're excited, right?"

I'm going to be asked this question over and over again today, it seems.

"No, she's not. She's not going to let any boys near her until she's at least 40," announces dad.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes at both of them as I rip open the wrapper. I already knew what's inside. It's a new airbrush paint set and mediums. I'd been giving obvious hints about wanting it for months.

"Thanks, mom, dad! I can't wait to try it out." I give them both a hug.

Actually, I am very excited about meeting my mate. I can feel my wolf, Ezra, being restless and excited the whole night.

My Ezra is excited, which makes me even more excited. That's why I'm all dressed up today. Well okay, so I'm dressed the same way I always dressed for school every day. Jeans and t-shirt. Nothing special, but yeah, I am very excited about possibly meeting my mate today. Not that I would ever admit that to my parents. Goddess, no! That would be so embarrassing.

Autumn and I walk to school. It's just a 15-minute walk. The weather is mild and I always enjoy the short walk.

When we get to school, Autumn heads off to where her friends are waiting, while I stroll inside to where my friends usually hang out.

Penny, Reese, and River are hanging out by our lockers as usual. Reese and River are mates. Penny hasn't turned 18, so she hasn't found her mate yet.

"Happy birthday, girl!" yells Penny as soon as she spots me, drawing the attention of most other students loitering the hallway.

She pulls me into a hug and soon after, Reese and River do the same.

"You're going to have to wait until after school for your gift," says Reese excitedly.

"You're going to be 18! Finally. Are you excited?" asks Penny.

"I don't know. I think I'm a bit nervous," I admit.

"Yeah, I'd probably be nervous too, meeting our mates for the first time...but it's exciting too!" shrieks Penny, clapping her hands excitedly.

"Don't be nervous, Genesis. It'll be okay," soothes Reese.

"It's better than okay. It's the best thing that's ever happened to me," says River, wrapping his arms around Reese.

"Awww...isn't he sweet?" coos Reese with that look in her eyes as she stares up at River. "Anyway, we'll see you losers at lunch!" she says as River pulls her away.

"Later, bish!" says Penny. I just give them a little wave before I start digging my locker for my books.

"Boy, I wish we can mate with one of those hotties." she suddenly whispers as she stares dreamily over my shoulder.

I turn around to the sight of three male lycans walking down the hallway. They are so tall, about 6'5 or more.

You see, lycans are different than us regular werewolves. For one thing, they are known to be the direct descendants of the moon goddess, so they are treated like the nobility in the werewolf world. In fact, our king is a lycan.

Second, they are bigger, faster, fiercer, smarter, stronger and more powerful than any werewolves, even the alphas. They are like killing machines when provoked. You don't want to mess with them.

Third, in their human form, they are better looking and more attractive than us regular werewolves who are considered to be better looking than most humans...like way more. So, lycans are god-like smoking hot.

Fourth, they don't have to belong to a pack. They can travel anywhere alone and not be considered a rogue.

And fifth, they don't have mates chosen for them by the moon goddess like us regular werewolves. They get to choose their own mates, either another lycans, regular werewolves or even humans they're attracted to. They would form a bond, much like a werewolf's mate bond, or even stronger if they're both attracted to each other, to begin with. Once, I heard a story about a lycan who took an already mated she-wolf, leaving her mate broken since there's nothing anybody could do about it.

There are only three male and two female lycans in our school of over six hundred students. Only 10 percent out of those six hundred students are humans. All the teachers and the administration of this school are werewolves too.

The three lycans who are heading this way right now are Lazarus, Caspian, and Constantine. The female lycans who are not around right now are Serena and Milan. I haven't seen those two around for a few days now. They are, of course, drop-dead gorgeous.

I think Serena is mated to Lazarus, and Milan may or may not mated to Caspian. There are rumors that those three boys are closely related to our ruling king, but we don't know for sure. There's not much else that we know about the lycans in our school. Not even their last names. They keep to themselves and pay no attention to us mere werewolves and humans. That makes them so mysterious and much more attractive to the female population here.