Chapter 1
Before the dawn light could ascend over the hills of the valley and forest that covered the pack lands, I was working with the rest of the omegas, getting breakfast prepared for the rest of the pack. The aroma of bacon, sausages, pancakes, eggs, and biscuits filled the house, beckoning the pack members to enjoy the fruits of our labor, waking them from their deep slumber. We moved around the kitchen in sync, preparing the meal that we’d be too tired to enjoy ourselves when it was all over, the pitter-patter of feet against the white linoleum floor sounded like rhythmic music.
I was squeezing oranges before I heard the rumbling of footsteps coming down the stairs. I hadn’t even noticed it was almost time for school. I checked my phone to see I only had twenty minutes. My heart began pounding in my chest as I realized what that meant: They were coming.
“Isa?” The older woman, whom I adored dearly, hummed her response. “I have to get ready for school. Is there anything else you need from me before I go get ready?”
“No, Honey. I can handle the rest. Just make sure you’re not late and take this with you.” Isa handed me a plastic container filled with pancakes and bacon then returned to chopping veggies for lunch.
“Thanks, Isa.” I pecked her on the cheek, earning a wide grin and shooing from the older woman, before scurrying out of the kitchen to get ready for school. I used the back stairs case that was often used by the omegas to avoid disrupting breakfast for the rest of the pack. I hurried down the hall of the second floor hoping to get ready and leave unnoticed.
I wasn’t eager for school or anything and it’s not like I had many friends, and my grades were average at best. I was trying to leave before the devil’s spawn caught up to me and decided to ruin my day before it got started.
Sawyer and Daniel Craven. The bane of my existence. I hated them with every fiber of my being. They were the Alpha and Luna’s beloved identical twins that greatly reflected their parents which wasn’t saying much seeing that they were horrible people as well. They doted on their sons and gave them everything they wanted; cars, clothes, etc. Trust me. It’s not jealousy. I could care less about the amount of money they had. It was what they used the money for that bothered me the most. Money buys you power and popularity, especially for high school boys. They were assholes who treated low-ranking wolves like shit and used the warriors to do their dirty work.
The Alpha and Luna dismissed their behavior as ‘boys will be boys’...most of the time. They weren’t just boys. They were wolves. They were the future Alphas of this pack and the lack of compassion for their pack members was horrifying. They were nothing but some power-driven bullies just like their parents.
I made it to my room unscathed. My room was smaller than the other wolves that lived here. I was told it was because the room was the last one available and that I should be grateful to them for moving me in there at all. I knew the real reason behind it. Luna Tetra had a grudge against my family for as long as I could remember. She didn’t like the genuine respect my family received from the rest of the pack. The pack gave the Luna respect out of fear, tossing around her rank to obtain gossip. It was despicable.
The Alpha and Luna didn’t have a loving nature even toward their sons. In the public eye, yes. They provided the best for them. Behind closed doors, around the “less than” Omegas, their father abused them, and their mother’s silence about was deafening. We knew better than to say anything to the rest of the pack about it or we’d face that wrath. He claimed to have loved his sons yet he beat them, so I knew he’d be willing to kill us if he thought it was necessary.
I quickly grabbed a pair of loose distressed jeans, a black t-shirt, and some black combat boots, throwing them on my body as I hopped around the room, grabbing books to shove into my book bag, avoiding falling and smashing my face against the floor. My goal was to leave before the twins did. Who knows what they would do to make my life miserable today? I grabbed my backpack and took the back stairs out of the house and began my long walk to school, breakfast in hand.
“Fina!” The faint sound of my name echoed across the valley. I searched my peripheral vision, coming to the conclusion that I had imagined it. “Fina!” came my name a little louder followed by the patter of feet against the wet sidewalk from when it had rained the night before. I looked behind me to see Charlotte racing against the pavement to catch up to me. Charlotte was my best friend, my only friend. She’s been there for me even after my parents died a couple of years ago and I tried to disconnect from the world. She went out of her way to continue to make my birthdays feel special as my parents had when they were alive. She was my rock.
My birthdays drilled into me that they were closer to the day that I find my mate and life companion. Charlotte bought me a cupcake a couple of months ago for my eighteenth birthday along with a bracelet that matched the necklace my mom left for me. She was one of two people that truly cared about me in this pack, aside from Isa, and she made sure I felt loved.
When she finally caught up to me, she was breathing heavily as if she had asthma. “I” deep breath “was calling” deep breath “you” deep breath.
I chuckled while pulling out my earbud to show her why it was so hard to hear her. I towered her by a few inches, so she had to glare up at me.
“Well...That’s dangerous.”
“It’s soothing.” I popped the top off my contained breakfast while we walked, shoving a piece of pancake in my mouth, offering some to Charlotte who gladly popped a crispy piece of bacon in her mouth.
“You should go to college to be a chef. You’re really good at it.”
“Isa helps me.”
“Even better. She is an amazing cook and if she taught you, mmm.” She rolled her eyes orgasmically.
“Sure. That’s if Alpha Raoul Craven blesses me with that opportunity,” I said with a tone that if it had been anyone else around, I would have had to answer the Alpha.
“Yeah. Well, we have maybe a month left of school. I say send in a proposal to travel to look for your mate that way he can’t deny it, or he’d have to face the council,” Charlotte suggested.
After a moment of contemplating the pros and cons, I responded, “Not a bad idea. I mean, I’ve been on the lookout since my birthday with no luck. I mean, it’s been three months. But I couldn’t think of leaving you here.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. Plus, I might do the same so I can find my mate as well. Take a chance and have fun while you’re doing it.”
“I’m going to miss you if I do decide to do this. You’re like a sister to me. I mean, who’s going to push me to do things like this, to take chances.”
“Oh! How will you live without me?” She put her hand on her forehead in a dramatic display then feigned a fainting spell before giggling. I rolled my eyes at her.
We walked in silence for a while, breathing in the misty air caused by the retreating storm. The roar of an engine revved fiercely behind us followed by a splash of freezing cold water that coated me, Charlotte, and my breakfast. Once I saw the back of the black sports car, I knew it was them. The twins were whooping and hollering out the window at our humiliation, then speeding off without a care or any consequences.
“Son of a bitch!” Charlotte yelled, with her arms outstretched in an effort to not wet the front of her clothes. We were now soaked from head to toe with puddle water that the twins thought it would be funny to drive through at the very moment we were walking past it. I fucking hated those twins. “Well, it’s too late to turn back now and we can’t miss Mr. Aaron’s test today.”
I groaned in frustration. She was right. I had my test first period, so I was shit out of luck. We shook what we could off and continued to walk, accepting defeat.
“Just to think that once those imbeciles turn eighteen in a month, they’re going to be over the entire pack. We don’t stand a chance.”
“Speak for yourself. I’m finding my mate and getting the hell out of dodge before they get us all killed,” Charlotte declared causing an outburst of giggles.
