Chapter 1

A Week Before The Wedding

The sun peeked through my curtains and mercilessly glared at me, making me scrunch up my nose. I felt around for my cell phone and grabbed it, peeling my eyes open to look at the time.

6:57am.

The day had begun.

I stripped and slipped into my workout clothes and made my way through my house, headed for the gym. The portrait of Andre, my best friend, smiled at me. After a series of accidents, and one to many people-popsicles, we’d figured out that my powers were most out of control before I had my morning two-hour workout. I loved doing abs above everything else, but I danced for cardio.

Today was going to be a lot longer than two hours. There was tension in the air. Everyone could tell from how silent it was. A few months before, an elder from the Photia pack contacted me and told me about a contract that my parents signed.

He requested that I come to the Alpha’s house to discuss the terms and implications of the contract but asked that keep my powers at bay. Everyone knew me.

I had what you call a solo pack. It consisted of three people. Me, myself, and I.

Oh, and Andre.

Andre was the wolf that found me the day that I ran away from my old pack. He was four years older than me. Apparently, he had the resources since his father had died not too long prior, but he was a nerd in school, so he didn’t have any friends.

At first, he was reluctant to help me, so he says, but then he noticed that I had automatically masked my scent so I couldn’t be traced by anyone. Ever.

I keep telling Andre that I followed him that day because he had an inviting aura, but truthfully, that day, I didn’t care if Andre was a cold-blooded killer or not.

I didn’t care if I died or not.

Andre helped me with everything. From my exercising to my eating… he turned me into a literal goddess. When we realized I had powers, Andre wasn’t surprised. He looked like he had been expecting it. He trained me to control them, how to activate and amplify them, he was basically my savior.

Then he died.

After only a year of knowing him, the one person that cared about me died. So, sue me if I was bitter.

A good three hours later, I was done with my workout. I had a shower, brushed my teeth, and found a dress to wear. It was red and fitting, with a high slit that started at my thigh. Since I was taking the car Andre bought for me for my first birthday with him, I wasn’t worried about my clothes. The pack was about an hour from the house, so I left immediately after making breakfast I wasn’t going to eat. This was my life.

Lonely.

As I drove through the woods, memories of Andre training me washed by.

“It’s a ball of fire, Evelyn, not cookie dough! Roll it harder!”

Before I knew it, I was in front of the Alpha’s house. I had to take a moment to breathe deeply, as I tried to keep my emotions in check, as Andre always told me,

Powerful emotions= Powerful reactions.

My feet got out of the car first, then the rest of my body. It was quite chilly, even though the air was still. The people in front of the house stopped and stared at me, probably wondering who I was. A heavy dose of déjà vu washed over me. The last time I stood in front of this house, or was even in close proximity to this pack, I was a scrawny, incompetent loser.

I was Evelyn.

Now, Phoenix stood proud. Without fear. Because I had super senses, I could hear the whispers if the people as the made way for me to walk into the house after I shut the door to my car.

“Who is this?” I heard a girl mutter in distaste. “And why is she walking into our Aloha’s house like it belongs to her?”

Funny how technically, I did.

I climbed up the stairs, swaying my hips gently. I could literally feel the drool rolling off the lips if some of the guys. Exactly what I needed. When I got to the too floor, I walked past the corridors. The same corridors I’d walked through when my whole life was changed.

The house was exactly the same as I’d remembered, and I heard voices in the study, so I went there.

Immediately I walked into the study, jaws dropped. Eyes stared back at me, mirroring confusion and wonder. Sitting front of me were three people:

Elder Markus, my father’s closest friend and an elder in the pack, Ajax, my good for nothing older brother, and finally…. Xavier.

My mate.

Elder Markus sat behind the table, and there were three seats in front of him. Ajax and Xavier occupied two, so I was left with the last one, in between both of them.

Their eyes followed me as I walked over to the chair and sat down, crossing my legs.

I looked Elder Markus directly in the eyes and finally broke the silence. “So what’s this about a contract I hear of?”

“Evelyn?” His voice was quiet and full of wonder, giving me the idea that I’d fulfilled my the first step to my mission.

“It’s Eve now, actually.” I smiled at him, moving to plop down on the seat between the two most important people in my mission. “Can we make this quick? I have somewhere I need to be.” I glanced at my watch with a faux frustrated expression.

“Um… of course… Eve.” He awkwardly cleared his throat. Ajax and Xavier are simply staring at me with weird expressions. I needed a proper reaction. Elder Markus opened a drawer and pulled out a thick stack of papers, dumping them on the table before us.

I leaned in, reading the bottom part where the signatures were.

And there it was, my father’s signature.

I could still recognize it from all the years I’d spent snooping through his office papers.

“So… what does all this mean?” I looked up from the papers, noticing how the Elder kept fidgeting in his seat. Ajax and Xavier snapped out of their frozen state and leaned in too, but they didn’t utter a word to me.

“Well, you see…” He trailed off, adjusting his chair a bit so he was facing me directly. “Nineteen years ago, there was a massive attack on the Photia pack. The Alpha at the time,” He glanced at Xavier. “Your father, Alpha Joshua, decided that we needed… extra forces.” He took a sip from the cup of water on the table and continued. “So he got in contact with a witch, Zelda. Zelda was the most powerful witch of her kind, and Alpha Joshua asked her to concoct a spell that would weed out all the spies in the area.” The story started to sound very familiar to me. “One of them, was a wolf in our pack,” He looked at me warily. “His beta, Cole. That’s-”

“My father.” I whispered.

“Yes, your father.”

“Our father, you mean?” Ajax piped up.

Elder Markus started to look uncomfortable. “Actually… no. Just Evely- Eve’s father.”

My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. Ajax and I weren’t related? But Ajax and Elena were twins, so… my siblings weren’t my siblings?

“What are you saying?” Ajax gritted out.

Elder Markus sighed. “Zelda and Cole fell in love, when she was supposed to have executed him in the woods. So she hid him. But a few months later, the Alpha found out. He knew that he couldn’t punish Zelda, so they came to a conclusion. He would spare Cole. But only if he and Zelda produced an heir. A combination of their powers. Zelda wasn’t just a witch though. She had all kind of genes in her. From every single magical creature that exists. Except one.”

“A werewolf.” I finished for him.

“So Zelda and Cole took the deal. The only problem was that they had to give their child to the pack, and never come back. Six months later, they had a baby girl.” He looked at me. “You, Eve.”

“Wait, what?!” Ajax got up from his seat, anger evident in his tone. “So she’s a-”

“Multi-hybrid, yes. That’s where your powers come from.”

“P-Powers?” Ajax stammered. “What powers?”

Elder Markus simply ignored him and continued the story. “The thing is, their daughter was more powerful than all the creatures, even individually. The werewolf genes were like a piece of the puzzle that amplified her powers. Every time she cried, there would be massive storms that shook the walls of all buildings within a fifty-mile range. She was exactly what the Alpha had ordered.”

“So what happened to them?”

“When it was time, the Alpha came by with some warriors to collect the baby. But Zelda and Cole weren’t ready to give away their baby. The Alpha threatened to kill Cole, so Zelda gave away the baby.”

“So she gave me up for good sex.” I nodded my head, clenching my jaw.

Elder Markus gave me a sad smile. “Witches like Zelda are so powerful that they hardly ever find love. So when they do, they are desperate to keep it. It wasn’t her fault, Eve.”

“Yeah, sure.” I said and bit my tongue. Just another person who didn’t want me.

“Alpha Jonathan ordered Zelda to wipe all memories of the infant’s past life, and cease all contact with her daughter. She agreed, but then Cole ran away. So she placed another spell on her baby. She said that her daughter’s powers would be untamed, for a year after her eighteenth birthday.”

“But I turned eighteen a few days ago.” I said.

“That brings me to the main reason you’re here. The only way you will be able to control the darkness, is to be with your mate.”

There was silence for a prolonged time, and I knew Elder Markus thought I was thinking about it. But I wasn’t. it wasn’t even up for consideration.

“No way in hell.”

“Eve-”

“Nope.” I got up, placing my palms on the table. I leaned in for an intimidating effect. “Not happening.”

“But you could destroy the Photia pack! You’re our only hope!” He cried out. I felt my anger rise, but I wasn’t in control.

“The hell did the Photia pack ever do for me?!” My eyes were tingling, burning in fact. “Eight years. I spent eight years in this god-forsaken hell hole. No way am I coming back.”

“Eve, you need to calm down-”

I needed them hurt. I wanted them in the same pain that I was, and for some reason I didn’t care about the consequences. The latch on the window behind Elder Markus broke open and wind started to gush into the room.

“Where were all of you when I would sleep on the floor of the kitchen?”

“Evelyn!” Ajax cried out. “Calm down.”

Laughter bubbled up my throat. It was cruel. It was wicked.

“Xavier!” I heard Elder Markus yell. The ground was vibrating beneath me, and I could see the walls start to crumble. “Xavier, calm her down!”

“Oh yeas Xavier, calm me down” I smiled, turning to face Xavier who had a determined expression on his face. “I dare you.”

He looked me in the eyes. “Evelyn, calm down.”

The ground vibrated harder and the winds howled in anger.

All his fault. A voice in my head whispered to me. It’s all his fault.

“This is all your fault.” I felt the anger in me increase. “It’s all your fault.” Thinking about it, I realized that killing him wouldn’t do me justice. I wouldn't get the closure I needed, and the plan wouldn't work. Losing control was a lot easier than gaining it back, so it took me a while to reel it all back in.

Breathe, Evelyn. Breathe. Andre's voice filled my mind. You just have to breathe.

The screams stopped. Then it was silent. Three of them stared at me with slightly open mouths, but I knew it wasn't the first time they'd seen super powers. They just hadn't seen them in me. “So, Elder Markus…” I started, trying to normalize the situation again. “What exactly happens to the pack if I don’t stay with my sorry excuse of a mate?” I batted my eyelashes.

“Uh…” He looked around nervously. “The pack will start to burn down.”

I smiled widely, looking into his eyes and seeing mine turn red. “Then let it all burn.”