Prologue

Dean’s POV

I am Dean Smith. My father, Mike Smith, just handed me the pack, and I am the new Alpha. I am twenty-three and waiting for Maureen Brown to turn eighteen. She is the beta’s daughter, and I know the Moon Goddess meant for us to be together. The beta, Morris Brown, is turning his title over to his son and my best friend, Martin Brown. Today is Maureen’s birthday, and we are planning a big party for tonight. I will accept her as my mate tonight. Everything is arranged, and I am getting dressed. I have big plans for the Red River pack. I will unite all the smaller packs around us under my pack. Those who do not want to join us will have to fight us. I will have the biggest and strongest pack in America. I walk downstairs as the party is about to start. I can not wait for my mate! I walk to where Maureen and Martin are waiting for me. 

“Hello, honey. Are you ready to become my Luna?” I ask. 

“As ready as ever! I can not wait to be yours forever, baby,” Maureen says. She is a cheerleader and the most beautiful she-wolf in my pack. Tonight when she turns eighteen, she will get her wolf, and I am sure her wolf will be as strong as she is. Someone bumps into me, and I sigh as I see it is her pathetic cousin Tamara. She is working at the party as she is good for nothing. 

“Watch where you are going, you stupid pathetic excuse for a she-wolf!” I shout.

“Sorry, Alpha,” She mumbles and walks away with the dirty glasses in her hand. I can not believe she is the daughter of my father’s first beta, Borris Brown, and his wife, Bianca Brown. They were the best warriors the pack ever had, but they died protecting the pack from a rogue attack. 

“Isn’t it her birthday as well? I remember you and her were born on the same night at the same time. Everyone said that one would be strong and the other weak, as the Moon Goddess can only bless one at a time,” I laugh. 

“Well, it looks like the Moon Goddess blessed me! I am the pretty and strong one,” Maureen says. She is not modest but does not have to be, and her beauty speaks for itself. 

“You are the blessed one, my love,” I say. I look at the young petite girl scrambling away with the dirty dishes trying to stay out of everyone’s way. Pathetic! Her uncle and aunt took in Tamara Brown, but she has always embarrassed them. She can do nothing right and is clumsy. All that counts in her favor is that she is above-average clever. You must have something counting for you if you are ugly and weak. Maureen was born at precisely a minute past midnight. So we will wait until then. At twelve, everyone gathers around the stage, and the weakest wolves stand aside, except for Tamara, who is even too pathetic for the weaklings. She wears a hoody and jeans most of the time. 

It is one minute past twelve, and I wait, but nothing happens. Tamara moans and I look at her, and I smell her! It can not be! She smells like the lilies in the field and rain! It can not be! The Moon Goddess can not be this cruel. I walk over to her, and she looks up. I can see the fear in her eyes as I stand before her. 

“I, Alpha Dean Smith, reject you, Tamara Brown, you pathetic little orphan, as my mate and Luna,” I say. I have plans for this pack, and I first want to eliminate all the pathetic wolves in my pack. I can not believe that the Moon Goddess played such a trick on me by giving me the most pathetic she-wolf in his pack as my mate.

“I, Tamara Brown, accept your rejection, Alpha Dean Smith. I may be a pathetic orphan in your eyes, but my parents gave their lives for your pack,” Tamara says. I am furious! How dare she not beg me to make her stay? 

“Get out! Take the pathetic bunch of wolves with you! I never want to see you again! The Red River pack does not need useless wolves like you!” I shout. I have plans for the Red River pack. I aim to make it the biggest and best pack in America, and I have no place for wolves who can not fight!

Tamara starts walking away, and the other “pathetic wolves” follow her. 

“Why are you following me? You also do not like me! Go your own way,” Tamara says as she walks towards the border of the Red Wood Pack. Is she just going to leave like this? I can not believe she is not begging and crying. Is she as pathetic as we all think?

“Stop! Why are you not begging to stay? Perhaps if you get on your knees and beg me, I will let you and the losers stay,” I say. I want to humiliate her for even thinking she can be my mate. Tamara stops and turns around. I knew it! She is going to beg me to stay. She walks back to me and stops before me. 

“I am tired of you walking all over me! I will not beg to stay! You will regret your actions one day. I may be pathetic and a loser in your eyes as the rest of the wolves you just chased away, but I will not beg you to stay in your pack. Good luck with your plans to make this the strongest pack. Goodbye. Don’t worry. You will never see this pathetic she-wolf again,” Tamara says. Tamara removes her hoodie, and her shining black hair blows in the wind. Her emerald green eyes look into mine, and it feels like she is looking into my soul. I hear some of the wolves take in a deep breath. Tamara Brown is not ugly! She looks like a goddess in the moonlight. She turns around and starts walking away again. 

“Well, that was interesting. Why would the Moon Goddess give you the pathetic one as a mate?” Maureen asks. 

“Well, I rejected her. I can make you my mate, and we can all forget what just happened,” I say. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Tamara shifting. I turn to see how pathetic her wolf looks, but to my surprise and everyone looking, her wolf is pure black and strong. I am stunned. It can not be! The big black wolf runs into the woods and disappears out of our sight. 

“I must be dreaming. It can not be! Did Tamara shift into a black wolf? Only Alphas have black wolves,” Martin says. 

“It must be the moonlight. Maybe the brown of her wolf reflected black,” I say. I turn back to Moreen, who does not look as beautiful as she did before. Why are the long black hair and green eyes of Tamara haunting me? With her long blond hair and blue eyes, Maureen does not look as beautiful as Tamara, and she does not have the same goddess-like look as Tamara. I shake my head. Tamara is a weakling and not worthy of any of my thoughts. She is gone with the other weaker wolves of our pack. She will not be back, and I can forget about her now. Maureen looks at me and smiles, but I see something is wrong. 

“Shift!” Zeron, my wolf, commands her. As the Alpha, everyone must listen to me when I demand they do something. 

“I cannot shift. I do not have a wolf. Why can’t I feel my wolf? Something is wrong!” Maureen says. 

”So I left my mate for somebody that does not even have a wolf. How can this be? Who are you, and why don’t you have a wolf?” I ask.

”I don't know what is going on. And you know me. Dean, I am Maureen. Maureen, the woman that you have always loved. Why can't you just see that it is still me, even if I don't have a wolf,” Maureen cries.

”No, Maureen, I don't know you. I thought you were somebody I could be with for the rest of my life. Now I know that I cannot be with you. I cannot be with a Luna, that does not have a wolf. I am pissed off that you are not the one that is strong. How can you even think I will be with somebody weaker than the woman I just chased away? I chased away my true mate. For someone like you? And who do you think you are to tell me that I must love you? I don't have to do anything. I am the Alpha. My pack will be stronger without you. And I cannot be with you. Be with somebody that is a weakling. Get lost. If I did not respect your mother and father, I would have changed it out of my pack," I say. I walk away and go to my study. 

I'm furious, and I can feel my wolf is also angry. She cannot be our mate. There is no way I can have a mate that does not have a wolf. My pack will be very disappointed. I chased away a powerful Luna. I have to get her back. But how? Where will I find her? I bet she will never even talk to me again. She had already told me that she would not see me again. Or rather, that I will never have to see the pathetic wolf again. What have I done? What will I tell my parents? Maureen was not who I thought she would be. She seems like an impostor. Only imposters don't have wolves in a wolf pack. I have to talk to Maureen's mother and father. They must know why she doesn't have a wolf. Maybe she's a late bloomer. I don't know what to think. I don't know what to say. I am dumbstruck. Everything went wrong. Tonight was supposed to be my night. How can this be? Why can't I get what I wanted? I wanted my Luna. 

Perhaps the moon goddess is trying to tell me something. Am I too proud and egoistic? I thought I would have the strongest pack in the world. How can I have the strongest pack in the world if I don't have a Luna? Tamara is out there somewhere. I don't know where she is. What if something happens to her? What if she runs into rogues? How could I just let her out of my life? The Moon Goddess chose her for me. Maybe I should go and look for her. I am too proud. I cannot admit that I was wrong. I am the alpha of the Red River pack. I cannot beg a pathetic little wolf to take me back. I am Dean Smith, the Alpha of the Red River back.

”We were stupid. We were proud, and we were wrong. We should go and look for our mate. She's out there all alone by herself, with a bunch of pathetic little wolves that cannot protect her," Zeron says. 

”We cannot go after her, and she will never accept us again. Yes, we messed up, but we can find another mate. Even a stronger mate. Someone worthy of us. Maybe the Brown family is the problem. They don't have strong enough females for us. The she-wolf is not our mate. I refuse to take a pathetic little wolf as my mate just because I think she is better than the one I wanted," I say. 

"You're being stubborn. You know, we will never find another mate like her. You have seen her, and she looked like a goddess. Her black hair and emerald green eyes will forever be in your mind. Why don't you stop being an asshole and go and fetch your mate?" Zeron says. 

I cannot get myself to go after her. Tamara is out of my life. I have to move on, and I have to find another mate. This is all wrong. I know I've messed up, and I should have waited until Maureen showed me her wolf. 

Then again, how can I ever forget Tamara? She looked so beautiful under the moonlight tonight, and I knew she was my Luna. But I turned her away. I chased the way, my precious love. I know the Moon Goddess is going to be very angry with me. My mate that was supposed to help me lead to this pack is gone. And it's all my fault.