‘The moment I see Alyssa, my heart begins to race; I watch her for a while and notice she doesn’t seem sad or depressed. Not the way I have been, every moment I’ve been away from her. She is laughing, and dances with everyone; she even clings to her Dad’s arm, kissing him on his cheek. I don’t understand. Why isn’t she upset or angry at him? Why does she look so happy? I thought there had to be a good explanation.’
‘Alyssa walks over to the food table and plucks some grapes and strawberries from a fruit bowl and eats them. “Alyssa’, I whisper. She stops herself from reaching for another strawberry and looks around. ‘Alyssa’, I whisper again.’
‘She looks around to see me hiding in the garden. Her lips part in shock. She scans her surroundings to see if anyone is watching her, then looks back to me. I gesture for her to walk over to me. She is very hesitant and is debating whether to approach me or not.’
‘She bites her lip and gives me a small nod to say she will come to me. She looks around again and discreetly leaves the hall. My warriors are watching me from their hiding spots, waiting for the signal to shut and seal the doors to set the hall alight.’
‘As soon as Alyssa approaches, I pull her into my chest, and hold her tight. Although I can’t feel the sparks or the bond because of the rejection, I don’t mind. The Moon Goddess gave me her to me, and I knew I would always love her no matter what.’
“Zenith what are you doing here?’ She asks, pushing me away. ‘I’ve come to save you. I’ve come to take you away from here to be my mate and my Luna.’ I smile. Alyssa takes a step back. ‘Zenith … I don’t know what to say … I don’t know how to tell you …’ she says sadly.’
‘You don’t have to thank me, Alyssa. We can be together! Your father will never be able to stop us this way.’ I say, smiling down at her. She looks at me confused. ‘Zenith, I rejected you. We can’t be together. I need you to understand that. I’m to be mated with Alpha Axton from the Justice pack in a few days’ time,’ she says. Angry at her words, I let out a growl. ‘No mate of mine will be mated off to another.’ My wolf is angry, and is trying to shift. My eyes are black from her words.’
‘Zenith, we no longer have the bond. You need to move on for your family’s sake and for your sake. I really like Alpha Axton. My father thinks they will be the next strongest pack. My family want me to mate with him. I also want to be with Alpha Axton,’ she says.’
‘No!’ I say, deeply and firmly. Alyssa flinches and stares into my wolf’s eyes. She steps backwards, and her eyes well. I can sense she is about to run. I signal the warriors to shut and seal the doors. Before she can run, I throw her over my shoulder. ‘You’re coming home with me where you belong!’ I say. Screams erupt from the hall; people bang on the doors in need of escape.’
‘Alyssa screams in horror when she realises what I’m doing. She kicks and punches with all her might until I drop her to the ground. She tries to run to the hall to open one of the doors to free everyone. Grabbing her again, I hold her tightly in my arms. I sit a distance away from the hall, but close enough to feel the heat radiating from the flames. I hold her in my lap and stroke her hair. She cries and screams. I tell her we can be together and I’ll make a new hall for her at Shady Crest.’
‘The screams stop and the hall collapses; smoke billows around us. My father approaches, smiles, and looks down at Alyssa, who is distressed. ‘Welcome to the family sweetheart,’ he says. Alyssa spits at him. He slaps her across the face. I let go of Alyssa and stand. ‘Don’t ever slap my mate!’ I snap at him. He smirks, and looks past my shoulder. Alyssa stands there shaking in anger. ‘You! You killed my father! You murdered my whole pack!’ She screams.’
‘She punches my chest over and over in anger. ‘I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!’ She screams. ‘My father was only trying to protect me from men like your father!’ She yells. ‘I’m not like my father,’ I say, in shock.’
‘You just let my father, and an innocent pack, burn! Children! Mothers! Fathers! Brothers! Sisters! You murdered them all! You are worse than your father!’ She screams; my heart sinks at the truth in her words.’
‘Alyssa. It isn’t meant to be like this,’ I say. ‘I will never be your mate, Zenith. Not now, not ever. You’ve murdered my family and my pack! I’m leaving and I’m going to be with Alpha Axton, whether you like it or not!’ She yells, crying.’
‘She shifts into her wolf and runs to the woods. Her wolf is very large, with pure, white, long fur. Almost the size of an Alpha wolf. Moonstone Crest is the only pack to have pure white wolves; they’re descendants from the Moon Goddess.’
‘I’m angry, and I chase after her. ‘I will find you Alyssa and you will be my mate! Or you can choose to die!’ I yell, before shifting into my wolf. Her wolf is faster than mine; I can’t catch her. I let out a long, loud, heartbroken howl, and return to the warriors and to my father, who I’m furious with. It was his idea to kill the entire pack. I should not have listened to him. My Dad laughs; I’m growling and snapping at him.’
‘Wanting justice, I challenge him. The warriors gasp, knowing a challenge is a fight to the death. My Dad accepts the challenge and shifts into his wolf. Being Alpha, he is larger than my wolf, but his age is his weakness and my advantage.’
‘Lunging at my father, we roll, taking swipes at each other and biting into our flesh as soon as there is opportunity to do so; blood splatters onto the warriors as they watch on. With my jaw on my father’s throat, I spend no time at all ripping his head off.’
‘I immediately grow larger and come into my power; letting out a loud howl to announce myself as the new Alpha. I have many wounds, and my ear has been bitten off. I shift back into human form, with my ear mostly gone. I return to the pack house as the new Alpha.’
‘My search for Alyssa and her pack spans months and then years. In the meantime, I accept Alice as my chosen mate. She has a crush on me. We eventually have a daughter Vanessa, and two twin sons: James, followed by John.’
‘I’m a ruthless Alpha, and often lose my temper. I never stop searching for Alyssa. Years later, I find out the Justice pack has been wiped out, with only the Luna, Alyssa, escaping. She is with child, carrying Alpha Axton’s baby. After being in two packs that were both wiped out, she wants to live in the civilised world; she can’t bear the thought of raising her baby in the werewolf lifestyle.’
‘She moves to the city, where she meets a human who falls deeply in love with her. They buy a house together near the woods. She loves nature, and being a wolf, she shifts secretly, and goes for runs in the woods. Her human lover doesn’t know what she and the baby truly are. He loves her so much, her daughter knows only him as her Dad. She wants her daughter to have a wolf-free life for as long as possible; to protect her from the danger and ruthlessness of it all. Once her daughter turns eighteen, shifting into a wolf is inevitable. Alyssa has every intention of telling her about her wolf DNA, just before her eighteenth birthday.’
‘When her daughter is around seven, and my sons not much older, I find out where they’re living; the house emits sweet giggles. In the woods I hear Alyssa’s voice. ‘Come on Astrid, darling. It’s your turn to find me!’ Although I can’t see you, I know you’re hiding somewhere. Sniffing around, I catch your scent. Maybe if I growl, I can scare you into moving, and it works. I knew chasing you would make her come out. ‘It’s me you want’, she yells. She knew it was me; she knew I would never stop looking for her.’
‘I run toward her and lunge at her; my teeth sink into her neck while I shake her around like a ragdoll, and the colour fades from her face, and she becomes lifeless. Once I know she is dead, I consider killing you, up in the tree, too, until I hear the gunshots. I have achieved my goal; killing your mother for leaving me for Alpha Axton.’
‘I decide to keep an eye on you over the years. I know your stepfather isn’t treating you well. It makes me happy knowing it would have made your mother miserable.’
‘My pack run differently from other packs. I don’t want to go along with the whole fated-mate shindig. I decide to match people with mates who increase the strength of the pack. Vanessa, pretending to be a victim, is sent to Shadow Crest, with the mission to mark and mate Ryker; one of the strongest Alphas around, besides myself. Alice is stubborn though, and doesn’t want to leave Vanessa. So, I send them both, and keep in contact with them daily. Alice spends the odd night here, with Shadow Crest none-the-wiser.’
‘Knowing you are of Moonstone Crest and Justice DNA, means you are a very strong wolf with rare genes, and most likely a pure white wolf, who would breed strong pups with my son. Amelia is an Alpha’s daughter too, who with a dowry, was gladly handed over to be mated with John.’
‘Love no longer matters. It doesn’t matter if the Moon Goddess gives you a mate or not. There is always a chance you’ll be rejected, and left for someone else, regardless of how strong the bond is! I learned, power is stronger than love, that night.’
‘That’s what I taught my pack: it’s less heart-breaking to choose a mate who will benefit you and the pack. A fated mate’s rejection is gut-wrenching.’
‘My kids agree. I killed the boys’ fated mates; they were weak Omegas. Can you believe that? Omegas matched to future Alphas! I killed Vanessa’s mate too; he was the weakest wolf I had ever seen: more mutt than wolf. And now, here you are, the day before your eighteenth birthday, about to be marked, and mated with my eldest son. How did it go? Oh, yes. ‘Welcome to the family sweetheart.’
