Chapter 1a

EDEN POV

“We can always turn around, you know? All you need is to say the word and we will go back to baking pies and cakes in our shop.” The voice came out smoother than cotton, comforting, considering the kind of dilemma I was in. I very much wished I would take her up on her word and do as she suggested but that meant putting everyone’s lives on the line, everyone… including the people who looked at me like I was some kind of a redeemer.

My smile came out forced, and so was the breath that followed.

“You know I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have the choice. There is no other way.” I responded before staring out the milky clouds below the metal craft.

“That’s what he says. But you know there is a way out. There is always a way” Serena, my waiting maid, bodyguard, and one the most powerful warriors of Crescent Island Pack, argued as she dropped in front of me, a concerned look on her face. I wanted to believe her, desperately so. Because I was dying for a way out of this. But the two of us that THIS was the only way to save the pack. To save my people!

I can’t say I was infatuated with the idea of being sent away with a red ribbon like a prized cow for auction.

I wouldn't lie and say I never thought of disappearing: run to the farthest lands where nobody knew Eden Noles, the Crescent Island Pack, or the dreadful night that birthed this same day. But the odds were against me; as they always were.

It was either my life or the remaining fraction of the Old and mighty Crescent Island Pack.

"Miss Noles?” My musing was intercepted by the soft voice of the stewardess. I looked up to find her towering above me in a neat maroon suit, her hair jelled to perfection on her side. I probably looked like a mess in my plain black T-shirt and denim shorts, but I didn't care. My mind was way too occupied to even think of a proper outfit. “We will be arriving at Heathrow Airport in about an hour. The weather is exceptionally nice, with no signs of rain," she informed me, and I responded with a single nod.

I was not in the mood for any kind of conversation. I just wanted to arrive in Ashford and be done with the whole thing.

The stewardess excused herself with an unmistakable sway of her hips, and the voice in my head scoffed.

I refocused my attention on an array of milky clouds hanging in the space above the surface of the earth. Not long after, I found myself wondering if the memory of my existence would be left hanging like the clouds, or if it would perish after the rain and the rainbow shall bathe the sky with its glory!

Will my people miss me?

Will they think of me and smile, hearts filled with adoration for the sacrifice I made?

"Eden?” Serene’s smooth voice captured my attention, yanking me back to the present.

"Hmm?”

“You’ve been staring out at the clouds for a long time. We miss you.” She joked before reaching out to graze my hand softly, and I responded with a heavy sigh.

Graning my neck, I stared behind me at the big seats facing each other, and bulky forms occupying the seats, then faced Serena again with a glint in my eyes.

“What did you find on Riftan?" I asked instead, and she chuckled knowingly. The being in my head stirred awake. Serena shifted in her seat and handed me her phone. Black eyes and long jet-black hair stirred back at me. Some strange feeling soared through me when staring into the eyes of my husband!

Husband? The word left a bitter taste in my mouth.

"Riftan Kalif Hawk, the eldest child of Mikhail Hawk and Daisy Hawk, he became the Alpha of Blood Moon pack at 16...."

“Is that even allowed?" I was compelled to ask. Nobody in this World can be an alpha at that age.

"His pack was attacked when he was young, murdering all of his pack members, including his father. The source of the attack remains unknown, but rumor has it that Daisy was the lover of the Vampire King before she mated with Mikhail. The Vampire King held a grudge for a very long time and after joining The Order Of The Red Rose, he planted dirt on Mikhael to seek revenge.” she added a simple casual shrug.

“By the Vampire king, you mean THEE VAMPIRE KING?”

“Yepp.” She responded shifting slightly in her seat, adding a dramatic pop to the ‘p’ before continuing. “The one and only Raynor Osmond.”

A soft curse fled through my lips, and it was my turn to shift in my seat, but very uncomfortably.

“Daisy was Mikhael’s mate though, wasn’t she?” My eyes refused to look anywhere else other than the black orbs that contained the enigma far greater than the moonlit night.

“Yes. But Vampires give zero shit about mates and bonds. When they take a liking to someone, they either change them to become sired to them. That way they are bound together for eternity.”

“Shit!” there was nothing more I'd say. The Order Of The Red Rose was bad news. And being in its bad books meant nothing but perish. Now that was one thing, but having RAYNOR OSMOND as an enemy was a free-way ticket to hell.

“His beta is Kylek Rebus, his gamma, Chase Jacobs; he has only one sibling who miraculously survived the attack, Kylie Hawk. She's two years older than you and is her brother's favorite thing to ever exist. Although they don’t share blood" another curse rumbled out of me, but I was too shocked to voice it out.

“You mean?”

“Kylie was adopted. By Riftan himself. He led people to believe that it was his parents who adopted her before the attack. The timings and age don’t quite match with his story but he doesn’t seem to care.” She explained with a nonchalant shrug, and I found myself biting on the tip of my thumb.

What was all this mystery I was sensing around this man?

"Anything else?" I already had doubts about my dear husband, but for the sake of the lives I left home, I'd sit through all of this.

"He founded Blood Moon Logistics when he was 19, after rebuilding his pack and making it as strong as it is today. Nothing less than perfection for the Arab smut. His taste is peculiar in cars, million-pound suits, plenty of vacation houses, parties, and yachts. And oh, he has a very fine record of humanoid bed warmers."

"Bed warmers '' I arched a brow at her, the two words souring my mouth.

“His reputation is healthy among ladies. Word has it he never lacks the attention of anything that wears a dress and has a vagina between the legs." that shouldn't have shocked me. He can't have all of that and not have a parade of women lining outside his bedroom.

“So he uses high-end hookers?” that wasn't entirely a question. I already knew the answer.

“Bed warmers, as he likes to call them." Serena corrected, and I shook my head in mock disbelief. "And he likes them blonde." now that was top-tier.

Marrying someone you knew almost nothing about was one thing. But marrying a man-whore of an Alpha was something entirely apart. And I was really not looking forward to the whole thing.

“So let me get this straight; my soon-to-be husband and Alpha is a notorious man-whore, cruel to the bone, has an uncertain relationship with a she-wolf he calls ‘sister’ and is in cahoots with both The Order of The Red Rose and the Vampire King?”

“Pretty much, yes,” Serena responded with a glint in her eye.

I slouched into my seat and couldn’t help but think “YAY ME!”

With a defeated sigh, I nodded and handed her phone back before continuing my stare out of the window. Ethan, the new Alpha of Crescent Island pack and very unfortunately, my brother- suddenly appeared in my peripheral view, yanking my thoughts back to reality. I chanced a look at him to find a hearty smile on his face and a very proud look.

"Are you ready to meet your husband?" The word made me grimace,

"If by husband and you mean a cold-blooded son of a bitch who changes whores more than I change a tampon and would rather spend the rest of his life whoring his ass around with anything that wears a skirt instead of settling down like a true, honorable Alpha, then yes. Yes, brother, I am so ready to meet him. And oh, he’s enemies with The Order, can you believe that?" My smile was sinuous and his shoulders stumped.

"Eden..." I raised a hand to shush him.

"I know. This is for the sake of the pack.” I brought my hands to my front, and Ethan ran a hand through his jet-black hair.

"What would you have done if you were me? Huh? Sending you to Riftan was the toughest decision I've ever had to make since I sat on my father's throne. If there was any other way...”

"But there's always another way, Ethan. You know that."

"And what would it be?" an angry growl accompanied his words, and the being in my head whimpered with submission! I looked down at my feet and swallowed audibly. Ethan maybe my brother, but he was one of the strongest alphas to ever exist, and he deserved the respect of many!

"I couldn't just sit by and wait for the rogues to come. You know what they did. To Papa, to mom, to everyone. I have to protect the Crescent Island Pack and as cold as it may sound, only by sacrificing you can I do that." a lone tear drizzled down my eye, and I angrily wiped it off.

“Look…” He dropped to his crunches by my side and caught hold of my hand, then started massaging it. An old habit.

“I hate Riftan. He’s a world-class asshole as you have labeled him and I totally agree with you. But he promised to take care of you, Ed. He knows everything about you and..”

“Everything?” I almost jumped out of my seat with vigor as the word slipped out of me.

“Ethan? What did you say to Riftan?”

“Everything he needed to know” His answer came out low, but the goldfish glint in his eye told me everything it was he was hiding.

Anger boiled hot and low in my veins, and small tremors rippled from my skin. My fists clenched and teeth gnashed as I stared at the only thing containing a piece of my DNA, and wished he didn’t so I could rip his head off...

“How could you??” Tears poured down hot from my face, my body rippling with every intense wave of pure fury.

“Eden, he had to know.”

“BUT THAT WASN’T YOUR STORY TO TELL!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, so loud that I felt like the jet just shook.

“Were you expecting me to lie to him? Claim that you have a wolf when you don’t?” His words felt like a sledgehammer lodged right in my chest. Dry heaves wretched my body as they wanted out, and I wanted nothing more than to vanish into thin air.

I made a mistake by glancing around, only to find eyes… everywhere I looked… eyes were nowhere but on the lame princess of Crescent Island Pack.

The one with no wolf…

“I have a wolf…” I said in a low, trembling voice. “I hear her speak inside of me every single day I lay awake…”

“Eden, we both know…” his hand shot out to clasp my waist, but I yanked it so hard that I slapped the hard surface of the jet window behind me.

“One day, Ethan, you and everyone who has ever looked down on me will regret it. I will shift, and when I do, everyone will see the most beautiful wolf the Mood Goddess has ever created. Now, leave.” I pointed to the small round table where he had slouched with his peers earlier before he decided to come and sour my mood even further.

“Ed, listen…”

“I would like to spend the rest of the flight undisturbed." I deadpanned as I dropped into my seat, my eyes laying on Serena for a second before refocusing on the clouds outside the jet. A defeated sigh came from above me before heavy footfalls against the carpet resounded.

Indignation leaked into my stream when a form sitting opposite me made no move to leave.

"Alone!" it came out harsher than I intended, but I needed to spend the last remaining hours in peace. Serena left without a word, and guilt sliced away inside of me before I shoved it into the deepest pits of oblivion.

So much for a peaceful flight to the world of the unknown!