Chapter 0001

Raven

The day I realized that my assistant Dani was copying my entire life on social media, I couldn’t have been more disgusted.

My name is Raven. I am a werewolf model, and a perfume brand entrepreneur. Dani was not just my assistant, but also my best friend—which was a rare thing in the world of fame and riches.

Or so I thought. But when I saw those pictures on her I*******m… When I saw her holding my stuff that had gone missing, posing with my designer bags and clothes and even my fucking laptop like she had bought it all herself…

I guess I didn’t know her as well as I thought I did.

“If she was struggling with money, she could have just told you,” my inner wolf growled under my breath as I stormed up the front steps to my house. “She didn’t have to steal from us.”

The house that we shared was a lavish two-story overlooking the ocean, complete with marble floors, tall columns, and sprawling gardens surrounding a crystal-clear saltwater pool out back. I’d paid for it all myself, of course, but Dani lived with me. As my full-time assistant, I needed her nearby to give me a hand, and besides… It was nice living with my friend.

But right now I wished I’d never given her a key to my home.

There has to be some sort of explanation for this, I thought as I ascended the steps to the second floor. Dani wouldn’t intentionally steal from me and pretend that my things were her own.

Then again… I’d been looking for my missing things for almost two weeks now. And what was even more messed up was that she’d helped me look for them while she apparently had them in her possession the entire time.

“Dani?” I called out as I climbed the curving marble stairway. “Dani, we need to talk.”

There was no answer; but it was a big house, after all. I made my way down the hallway, popping my head into Dani’s room, but she wasn’t there.

Frowning, I kept moving down the hallway—and froze when I heard voices coming from inside my bedroom.

I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but I could hear two voices. Nathan’s—my boyfriend’s—voice mixed with Dani’s.

Nathan and I were the ‘golden couple’ of the year, the type of celebrity couple whose mere presence in an interview or an ad campaign was enough to make sales skyrocket.

My shoulders slumped a little with relief. Good; maybe Nathan saw the posts before I did and was talking to her about it.

“There you are,” I said as I swung the door open. “Dani, we need to—”

My hand dropped to my side as I saw the scene before me.

Dani hadn’t just stolen my material possessions. She had stolen… my home. My bed. My man.

“Dani… Nathan…” Their names came out small, choked, like a shard of glass was lodged in my throat. I could hardly speak, could only stand there while they…

While they lay tangled up together beneath my sheets.

“Oh. Raven.” Nathan sat up, running a hand through his sandy hair.

Dani, blushing, quickly gathered the sheets to her bare chest. My eyes were fixed on her, but she wouldn’t look at me.

“What is this?” I finally croaked out.

Languidly, as if he were nothing more than a cat waking up from a nap, Nathan stood—fully nude—and strode across the room to pluck his boxers out of a pile of pantyhose and high heels.

My high heels.

“What does it look like?” he asked.

“Why?” was all I managed. I turned to Dani and repeated, “Why?” but she still would not meet my gaze. Coward.

Nathan simply shrugged. “What, is this a big deal to you or something?”

“A big deal?” I let my fangs drop as I turned to face him, my claws extending somewhat. I could feel my eyes glow too, a telltale sign of a Werewolf’s fury. “We’re together, Nathan. And you’re fucking my assistant?”

To my horror, he seemed totally unfazed by my anger. “I don’t know about you, Raven, but I was only ever in this for the business side of things. I thought we were on the same page about that.” He tugged his jeans on as if he were simply getting ready for work—something I’d watched him do a hundred times now.

The business side of things.

I knew what he was referring to. Our relationship did boost our brand sales. But I still loved him, and while we hadn’t completely marked each other yet, I was sure it was only because we were addicted to our careers and not just to our mateship.

“But I thought—”

“Oh, Raven…” Nathan turned to me with an unsympathetic look in those brown eyes that I thought I loved. “Come on, honey. You’ve always been naive, but this? You know how this business works. Everything is transactional.”

I thought I might be sick. Turning to Dani, I ground out, “And you—Dani, you’re my best friend…”

“I let you live in my home,” I growled. “I bought you things, took you out for expensive dinners… We were supposed to leave for vacation together tomorrow morning!”

Dani finally looked at me. There was no remorse in her eyes. None.

I was heartbroken.

After that, I’d kicked both of them out on the curb before they’d even had a chance to explain themselves further. Nathan actually had the gall to mention something about dividing up my successful perfume company in the event of the breakup, which of course I refused.

It was my company—a company that I’d worked damn hard for. He could claim that his face in my advertisements was what made it famous all he wanted, but it just wasn’t true.

And besides, I wouldn’t let those two bastards take one more thing from me.

…

“Are you sure you want to fly today, Raven? The forecast calls for a storm.”

I hefted my final bag into the helicopter and turned to face the pilot, placing both hands on my hips. “A little rain won’t stop me from going on vacation,” I said as I flipped a lock of white-blonde hair over my shoulder.

After what happened to me yesterday, after my boyfriend and my best friend hooked up in my bed, I couldn’t stay home right now.

I just needed to recharge for a few weeks and then I’d be back to normal, that was all.

We flew in silence for some time, watching as the afternoon sky grew darker and darker. Gray storm clouds roiled in the sky off to the east, but I hardly paid them any mind, too exhausted to even keep my eyes open.

“Raven. Raven! That’s strange! Our course is tilting toward the Lycan kingdom.”

I snapped my eyes open from my half-asleep state to find the wind howling ominously around us, those gray storm clouds practically engulfing us. Still, I’d flown a million times before in all kinds of conditions; I wasn’t worried.

“The Lycan kingdom? Is that where you want me to go on vacation? They never let any tourists in. I could be the first,” I joked.

I was proud to be a werewolf. Our country was free, open and peaceful; we loved surfing the web, fresh technology, business, and of course, vacations. And the Lycan Empire next door? All the werewolves scorned it. It was a closed off kingdom, a bunch of primitives living a hellish life of war. At least that was what I saw on TV.

“I’m being serious!” the pilot called over the din. “The wind is too strong to keep going—hold on tight, it’s gonna be a bumpy landing!”

Nodding with my heart in my throat, I tightened my seatbelt and gripped the edge of the seat. The helicopter began to descend, deafening wind howling from all directions. The helicopter shuddered and banked, and I heard the pilot curse as he tried to right it again.

No, no, no…. If I die now, I’m coming back to haunt that bastard

Nathan!