Rose awoke from her nightmare sweating and breathing heavily. A small weight rested on her chest. She looked down to see TJ's small head resting on her sternum. He was fast asleep. Thankfully she hadn't woken him up. One of his tiny feet was sticking out of from underneath the blankets. Taking a deep breath she smiled down at her son before moving the blanket to cover his foot. She pressed a kiss into his head and pulled the boy closer to her. TJ had a special way of making Rose's fear disappear.

She'd been having the same nightmare every night for two years and it was usually only TJ who could make her feel better. Rose glanced over at her alarm clock and saw that it was time to get up anyway. She shifted a bit and carefully moved out from under TJ's cuddle. The boy rolled over in his sleep to take up the warm spot she'd just left. Rose walked into the small bathroom and flicked the light on. Staring at her reflection in the tiny mirror Rose took in he wavy brown hair and big green eyes. Purple bags surrounded her eyes, coloring her otherwise pale skin. She raised her arms above her head she stretched out her back feeling satisfied when it popped and cracked. Rose quickly brushed her teeth and pulled her hair into a pony tail. She padded back into the living room where her son remained curled up. She changed quickly into her work uniform.

She'd just finished buttoning the last button on her top when a loud knock resonated through the room, effectively waking up TJ with a jolt. He looked grumpily around the room, obviously upset that he'd been woken. Rose walked quickly over to TJ and picked him up. She rested him against her hip as he buried his head into the crook of her neck. She opened the door slowly and sighed in relief when she saw her best friend, Anne, standing there grinning like a mad man. Rose was always on edge that He would show up again one day and destroy everything she'd spent two long years rebuilding.

"Happy birthday!" Anne chirped and pulled Rose and TJ into a tight hug. 

"Shh!" Rose hissed and pulled her into the apartment before shutting the door. "I don't want everyone to know it's my birthday."

"Why not?! Your eighteenth birthday is a big deal! We should be celebrating!" Anne cried as she flopped down onto the pull out bed in exsaperation. Rose glanced at TJ and saw that he'd fallen back asleep just as quickly as he'd been woken up. Rose put him back in his room before she returned to her best friend.

"You know why. I'm already looked down on here because I had TJ without my mate. Being eighteen only reminds people that my scent should become apparent to my mate so he can find me easier. Anything that reminds people of my mate is bad," Rose explained with a sigh. She sat down next to Anne and rested her head on her shoulder.

"Would it really be that bad if you found him? He's your mate, I'm sure he'll forgive you. You're his other half," Anne answered as she pet the tired girls hair.

"Just because you had your fairytale come true doesn't mean that it will come true for me." Rose had been in the Wolfsbane Pack for a little over six months when Anne's mate had come forward as the pack Beta, John. In a matter of days Anne had been swept from being a servant to one of the mose pampered women in the pack. If she and Rose hadn't had an instant connection Anne would have forgotten all about the new pregnant servant girl. Rose was happy that it had worked out so well for Anne. John was a great guy and if the way he was around TJ was anything to go by, he'd be an amazing father.

"I'm not trying to start a fight with you, Rose. I was just pointing something out. Besides I already talked to Marie and she said you could take the day off to spend your birthday with your son. So come on I've got a whole amazing day planned out," Ann said pushing herself off the lumpy bed.

"You know that I can't. We have some Alpha coming to visit and I have to get his room together, not to mention I'm head server for the dinner tonight held in his honor. Today's really not a good idea."

"Marie said she'd cover his room as long as I promised to have you back for the dinner. That I couldn't get us out of. I have to attend as well, so you won't be alone."

"There's a difference between attending and serving, Anne."

"Can you please just have fun for once?" Anne said, sagging in defeat. Anne knew that Rose thought of herself as someone who didn't deserve any pleasure in life because of TJ, not to say that Rose would trade TJ for the world. Anne had never seen a mother and son so close. She often hoped that she and her pups would be as half as close as Rose and TJ were.

"Sorry. I know you're just trying to help," Rose said, suddenly feeling bad for her behavior. A side effect of constantly being reminded that she was nothing but a whore was Rose's tendency to punish herself.  Anne was right she should be celebrating. With a final sigh Rose looked up at her expectant best friend. "What do you have planned today, then?"

"If I told you it'd ruin the surprise! Now go get out of your work uniform. I'm going to go get TJ up," Anne said suddenly full of energy. She bounded off towards TJ's room. Rose smiled and giggled at her best friend before changing into some dark wash jeans and a forest green shirt. She was lacing up her boots when Anne came out of TJ's room with a fully dressed, albeit sleepy looking TJ. Anne left the pair to finish getting ready and pull her car up.

"Happy birthday, Mama," He mumbled as he crawled into her lap. Rose wrapped her arms tightly around the toddler and kissed his head.

"Thank you, baby. Now let's go see what Aunt Anne has planned for us."

Thank you for reading the first chapter! This is my first story on Wattpad so any comments are helpful. Please comment and let me know what you liked, disliked, etc. Please comment and vote! :)