Chapter 1

Maliyah

His dark brown eyes held a deadly promise.

My mate Alonso was going to kill me.

A loud snarl emanated through the room as he bolted through the double doors of my bedroom. He’d shifted into his form, a black wolf with ivory teeth between its jaw, saliva dripping from its lips.

He looked at me dead red and knocked me out of breath. Before I knew it, Alonso was about to tackle me like a beast who’d found his prey.

“W-why? Alonso, I’m your m-mate,” my voice trembled as I pleaded for an explanation why.

The sharp tip of his claws glided on my skin.

“Oh, my dear Maliyah,” he cooed and then leaned, his hot breath brushing on my face. His claws tapped on the side of my right eye, “I want this. I want your ability,”

My chest heaved heavily. Alonso stepped back, painfully slow before he turned and came at me.

My scream muffled and faded as I sat up from bed, soaked in my own sweat. I immediately turned to my bedroom door which are still closed and no Alonso in sight.

My breathing only resumed when I realized what it really was. And I wish I could say it was just a bad dream.

But it wasn’t.

It was a vision. A fragment of the future.

And in that future, my own mate was going to kill me. And I knew, I had to get out.

Something eerie lingered in the air. As I blinked and collected my wits, my vision continues to flash. And it was weighing on my chest like an anchor. Like at this second, Alonso could be standing right outside my door.

I wasn’t going to catch a wink of sleep, I just knew it. Not when my anxiety ran and traced through every vein in my body.

I pulled out a box from under my bed—something that contained memories of my mother. Something to calm me down. A reminder of who I was before I was this.

Being different in the pack made you dangerous. Being a woman in the pack made you unreliable.

As luck would have it, I am both.

Normal werewolves didn’t have one blue eye and one green eye. In fact, they weren’t even supposed to change colors when you shifted. I’ve got normal deep brown human eyes, but whenever I shifted, they turned blue and green. And that was threatening to them. The other members thought it was a curse.

It hadn’t been easy, being spoken about behind my back or sometimes blatantly in front of me, about how cursed I am. My father was one of the people to believe that I was.

But it was hard for me to believe I was a threat to Alonso or anyone in the pack for the matter. I wasn’t regarded as a strong she-wolf and I rarely ever ran with the pack.

I didn’t want to be left alone at the Midmoon Manor or be surrounded by the pack. I’d always kept myself busy and worked most of the day at Coco’s Diner.

It was better that way, to be honest. I didn’t want Alonso to find out soon that we were mated. Not until I’ve found a way to get out of the danger I’m currently in.

If it were up to me, I’d continue living in the bungalow my dad and I had lived in with my mother. It was a humble space but I’d shared a lot of good memories with my mother living in it.

A pang of bitterness hit me when her death crept under my skin. It hadn’t been long ago since her death. But the entire year she’d been gone was starting to feel like a decade closing.

And my father’s coping mechanism was making it feel even longer. Argan Lovegood lost all the good in his system when my mother passed. And I’ve got marks on my body as proof.

If only it were possible to abandon him. But now that I’m mated to Alonso Knightlock—the alpha of the Midmoon—I knew it was impossible to escape and start anew.

Alonso was Argan’s ideal mate for me. If I remembered correctly, Argan had said Alonso was my only way out of this misery.

Even if he meant my death.

“Good job today, Lia,” my boss, Fitz, said as I set down the last tray I’d cleaned off. My shift at Coco’s Diner was finally over.

“Thanks, Fitz. Any luck on the extra shifts?” I bit my lip, hopeful.

He chuckled in resignation. I’d been bothering him for a while about it. Just so I could stay out of the manor longer. Besides, if I were to slave my life away, I’d rather slave for a person I liked and I liked Fitz and his family enough.

“Janine told me I’ve had you working too hard,” he said. Well, his wife Janine wasn’t wrong. But I loved working. It was a form of escape.

“She loved the way I organized the kitchen,”

“Yes, she did indeed.” He sighed and then looked at me one last time. “Fine, I’ll give you Tuesday and Thursday.”

“Thank you, Fitz!”

“You better tell Janine you begged for the extra hours,”

“I will,” I nodded, “after she gives you hell, maybe,” and then I shrugged. Fitz laughed at my comment and basically shooed me away from the place.

I stalked back and bumped onto someone from behind. The minimal force caught my breath as my eyes locked across the room and what was once a diner counter became flashing images of Alonso’s bleeding claws hovering over me.

I could hear myself whimper underneath him, begging.

“My sweet Maliyah,” Alonso’s wicked voice echoed. The vision briefly turned dark and when it resumed, Alonso is in his human form—bare and bloody across me, “Let me put you out of your misery. Your gift is better off being used by a more powerful creature,”

“No,” I whimpered. “No!”

My vision blurred and faded into smoke in my head. The cloud that hovered over my sight floated off and I was back into reality again. Fitz was looking at me like he’d just witnessed a car crash.

“Are you okay?” The man behind me asked.

“Yes, I’m so sorry,” I responded a little too quickly and made my way to the door. I waved back to Fitz and shook it off and smiled before making my way back to the manor.

The Midmoon Manor’s gates were open.

A party? Nobody was having their birthday today nor was someone a newborn.

When I walked past the gates, Argan already had a drink in had because ever since my mother’s death, when did he not have a drink in his hand?

I sighed as his eyes immediately found mine. He walked towards me in zig zags. The closer he got, the more he reeked of alcohol. A lousy smile plastered across his face.

“Ah, my favorite cursed child,” he slurred. “How dare you be late,”

“Late for what?” I asked but he only hissed and spat before he chugged on his alcohol again.

“Stupid child,” he said. “Tonight’s the Alpha Assembly and Alonso is hosting. So you better not embarrass your pack,”

“Huh, you’re telling me,” I told myself internally.

Argan had more chances of stumbling among the Alphas in the manor and making a mess. But I was going to be an embarrassment if they saw me shift and looked into my eyes.

I’d never want to make a scene though. Alonso has never met me yet and I know it’d be a mistake if today of all days would be the time for it.

“Go upstairs and get dressed. Alonso will be looking for you and you better be on your best behavior,” Argan warned, “Don’t embarrass your Alpha in front of Dimitri,”

Air knocked out of my lungs as soon as I heard the name.

Dimitri Dacre. A rare white wolf with piercing brown eyes was considered to be cursed as well. My gut was convinced he was what I’d needed as a way out.

My scalp prickled as I finished dressing up for the occasion.

When I looked into the mirror, my visions came in flashing again. And this time I felt pain in my gut, as though I was physically manifesting it. And that only meant one thing.

My death was going to come soon.

And I was about to do something stupid.

I stalked through the dark halls of the manor and looked for Dimitri. And looking for him might lead to an even earlier death, I believed. Or it could save me.

He could save me.

As soon as I walked to the entrance, I was stunned by the odor that lingered in the room. Because of course, what would it smell like if you put a bunch of all-male Alphas in one room?

Toxic masculinity and crowned egos.

A small circle of she-wolves formed themselves in the corner as I’m sure their Alphas had brought them to show off. I wonder how many of them actually liked being here?

How many of them are about to be killed by their mate?

Alonso’s stench lingered under my nose. A wave of panic coursed through my veins. I could already hear his—well our—pack making their entrance. Midmooners would always let you know they were in the room. They liked the attention. They craved it.

I started to take small steps back and hide behind the nearest door I could find. I held onto the crystal my mother had given me before she died. And I gripped it like silent, desperate prayer.

I peeked into the small crack of the door and watched as Alonso made his way through the crowd, conversing decently with the others. I almost jolted when his eyes found the door that stood before me.

I watched as his dark brows deepened, frowning. An unamused Alonso was not to be messed with.

My eyes widened when he started to excuse himself and made his way for the door. The thumping in my chest turned into roaring thuds.

This was it.

I was going to die.

He was a few steps to the door and my death. My head was already in shambles—was I going to fight or just let him kill me? I’d been too late to save myself.

“Alonso,” a thick velvet voice called. A new scent lingered under my nose.

“Ah, Dimitri,” Alonso’s voice was laced with amusement. “I had no idea you were going to entertain my invitation,”

“It was difficult to ignore the fifth time you’ve bothered to send me one,” I bit my lower lip to stop the amusement boiling inside of me.

Dimitri Dacre. Alpha of the Bloodsky Pack. The only person who’d turned down Alonso four times before showing up.

And possibly the man who could save me.