Chapter 1
The sky wept washing all of us with her tears.
Her tears flowed through our feet, carrying the blood of my pack members.
I loved silence. Not this one.
“No volunteers?” Our alpha’s voice cut through the deathly silence.
He was standing on the huge stage in front of us. The stage was built to call off the names of the winners. A few hours ago, everyone would have been thrilled to be called to the stage, but now, they were desperately hoping to avoid it, praying to the moon goddess.
Alpha looked paled, and tiny compared to the warriors who stood beside him.
I wished to see a Lycan one day. But not like this.
They look a hundred times scarier and powerful than I ever imagined.
No one even dared to look into their eyes. We didn't even dare to stand up in front of them. Everyone was on the ground, holding their loved ones and family close, clinging to dear life.
No one wanted to let go of their precious daughter, sister, or mate.
I saw my mate on the stage, holding my stepsister dearly.
Once again, I was waiting to feel that overwhelming ache in my heart upon seeing them.
But I felt nothing. Not a single feeling or ache. They must have all gone with her.
Nothing can surprise me now. Even this emptiness.
“I volunteer!” My voice cut through the heavy pitch-black air.
Everyone turned their head to see who was crazy enough to volunteer. As soon as they realized it was me, the atmosphere lightened with a faint release of tension.
Yes, no one was going to lose their daughter, sister, or mate today!
I lost everyone dear to me, and I was not going to stand by and let the same thing happen to anyone else.
9 hours earlier…
I hated sunny days. Not because I was a disgusting vampire. But something about sunny days made me irritated.
Maybe it was this overwhelming sunlight. Why has it had to be this bright?
Or maybe because it didn’t let me sleep? I wanted to fall asleep, so I could celebrate my birthday with my wolf, Amora.
Since my false attempt of trying to fall asleep failed. I opened my eyes. Everything around me was so blue.
A chilly wind came inside the tent and showered my hot burning skin. It smelled like fresh grass. The open wide view of flowers and bushes in front of me was breathtaking.
For a moment I regretted not bringing my drawing kit with me. Then again, I didn’t want to lose it. Since there was no place inside the open tent where I could hide and draw, I was afraid of getting caught by my stepsister, who might throw away my paint kit again.
It was so hard to buy new paintings. I had to work 6 months after school as a nanny just to buy my new brush set. I couldn’t risk my hard work again.
I sketched the scene in my mind so that when I went back to my tree house, I could draw it on a canvas. No one could disturb me there.
It could be just a silly, wasteful hobby as everyone said. But that was my everything.
Our tent was one of the tents among hundreds of tents that belonged to our pack members, lying steadily on the grass hill.
It was our hunting festival. As a tradition, all pack members gathered here to catch prey to pay respect to our moon goddess’s powers which she bestowed upon us werewolves.
Silver rabbits were the most popular prey among the boys in my class. I heard them talking about how fast and magical they are. They could even be invisible for a certain period which made it even harder to catch them.
The boys probably thought that every girl loved to receive silver rabbit prey. But not me, I loved them when they were alive and free.
On the other hand, girls were talking about who would get the most silver rabbits this year. And I was sure it would be Layla, my stepsister.
She was very popular among our pack members, especially after our Alpha’s son, Hunter announced that she would become our future Luna.
He wasn’t even his mate! I didn’t get it! Why?
Why am I mad? Because he is mine! Only mine!”
Slap!
I slapped my cheeks with both of my hands.
Get it together, Skye! I had to wait. Wait until my first shift.
Maybe after that, Hunter will accept us.
But even with my wolf, I wondered whether or not he would like to keep me as a mate.
What if I simply wasn’t his type?
I wasn’t as beautiful as Lyla, nor did I have as powerful combat skills as her.
And would I ever be able to make a good Luna?
I didn’t think so. I hated fighting.
All I could do was holed up in my room and live inside an imaginary world I created myself.
A Luna must be someone powerful and elegant, and who could protect their pack without anyone else forcing them to do so.
But me?
I was too selfish for that.
I once even thought of running away from my pack and living in a human kingdom. And I still do.
Maybe if I couldn’t shift today. I could ask Amora if we could go and live in one of the human kingdoms. There we could learn and draw as much as we can. I heard that they even have schools for their young ones to study art. How fascinating is that!
While I was daydreaming about a day I could leave my pack, Lyla trained hard to be a strong warrior. I hate to admit but Hunter’s choice wasn’t all irrational. Lyla had it all. All that I didn’t have.
Talking about Layla, I could see her playing with other girls a few yards away from me in her wolf form. Yes, she already got her wolf when we were 12. I was six years behind her.
It’s not like anyone cares, even if I got one.
No one even knew the fact that I could talk to my wolf in my dreams. I didn’t tell them. Why would I? They would think that I was lying anyway.
A low growl shook me up and brought me back to the real world.
Beside Lyla and her friends, my stepmother rested peacefully on a mat in the ground. Four servants stayed behind her serving tea.
I saw the stepmother stroking Layla's shiny brown fur while Layla rested against her lap. The sun was too bright I averted my gaze while lying down on my back.
Suddenly, a fur ball crashed into my face. I caught it immediately and sat back up.
A silver rabbit!
It looked at me with its cute golden eyes as her silver fur danced along the light wind.
Why can’t it hide itself?
It must have used all its ability. Which means one thing. Someone is chasing it!
I immediately hid it under my frock just before I heard someone approaching me behind.
“Did a silver rabbit come inside?” I recognized his deep voice. How can I not recognize my future alpha’s voice?
Hunter was standing behind the open back door of the hut, staring at me with his sky-blue eyes. His blonde hair was shining brightly reflecting the sunlight.
“N-no, sir”
His face filled with disappointment.
“Tch! You should have courted someone strong if you are this greedy to keep a cheap silver rabbit.”
Blood rushed down my cheeks as I watched him disappear into the woods behind our tent.
He knew I was hiding the rabbit!
And then I realized what he said.
“Find some to court?” I felt my nails digging into my palms hurting my skin, but today, that pain couldn’t distract me from the pain that tore my inside.
“How could I?” How could he say to his mate to find another man?
I should have backed off the moment he said that he didn’t want us. But no, here we are still hoping one day he will come to us!
That was all Hunter’s fault! He never officially rejected me. So, my wolf always said in my dreams that he would accept us one day.
If he rejected us, we could have finally move away.
Yet again, it will hurt Amora so bad! I heard that rejection causes more pain to the wolf, and some people even lost their wolf after getting rejected by their mate.
So never mind! I didn’t want to lose her too. Amora and her happiness were important to me more than everything else.
And most of all, Hunter was our fated mate. So, we belong together.
Later, I released the silver rabbit into the woods. After looking back at me few seconds, it disappeared into the thin air.
It had to survive until dark fell. In the night, the grand ceremony would be held. The thought of lots of food, chatter and dancing around fire pits excited me. Then again, I would rather stay inside the tent and sleep than go out there just to face my classmates who made my stomach upset with their stupid jokes.
So, I laid down to sleep.
Suddenly, I was in a grass field, sky was black. A large full moon shined brightly, surrounded by thousands of stars. And there I saw the most beautiful thing. A silver wolf. My Amora.
“Happy 18th birthday, Skye!” She ran to me while jumping up and down and licked my cheek.
I hugged Amora tightly. She was so warm. I could feel my tears wetting her fluffy fur coat. It was my first birthday wish for today.
“Thank you for being with me!” I was so thankful to the moon goddess for giving me Amora.
“So, what do you want this birthday?” Amora asked me.
I smiled while leaning against her back. “Your company is everything I want!”
“No, what do you really want?”
“You will not be able to give it to me. It’s just silly…”
“I will decide that!”
Her question made me wonder, what I really wanted.
“A huge tree house with lots of art supplies? We could drink hot chocolate while rolling inside a cozy blanket on stormy days. The room will smell like paint and rain.”
“Can't we just build a room for your art, on the ground level? I am not a good tree climber.” Her tone made me laugh so hard.
“Actually, Skye, I was expecting you to bring up our mate when I asked that question. Because when our mate accepts us, we can finally be happy. And you know what, I might not be able to grant your wishes. But our mate definitely could!”
“He acts like he doesn’t even know us; do you think he will grant those? I would be really grateful if he doesn’t reject us.”
Amora stood up immediately, making me jump in surprise.
“Reject? He will never. I could promise.”
I smiled at her protectiveness towards our mate.
“I hope you will take responsibility for your words” I joked to tease her more.
“Yes, definitely. You can tell me after he accepts us today.” Amora said puffing up her chest.
And I suddenly shook with realization.
“Are we going to shift today?”
“Yep. That’s why you felt sleepy all day.”
“Well, how do I know!” My school never taught me about the first shift.
It was a sensitive topic which one's family had the responsibility of teaching their children.
“We are in the middle of the shifting! You will start to shift physically the moment you wake up from this dream.”
I could see her excitement through the way she moved around jumping.
“I always felt like some power holding me behind, suddenly today, that power disappeared.”
“Today will be your happiest day! I promise!”
Yay! I must feel happy.
I was finally going to shift! But something was stuck in my thoughts.
And I felt guilty not to feel happy and all excited about this news. Something feels uncomfortable. Something felt scary. What if?
“What if I am not ready yet?”
I looked straight into Amora’s yellow eyes. They didn’t wave for a second.
“I believe you are”
