Chapter 1

"Abby! I need you down here ASAP!" That's my mom waking me up before she leaves for work. She is a doctor in the pack hospital and usually has to wake me up at ungodly hours before she leaves. I groan as I get out out of bed and stretch my sore muscles from training with my dad last night. I walk downstairs giggling. I reach the bottom and my mom smiles as she raises her eyebrows, "Care to share?" I start laughing even harder as I reply. "I was finally able to knock dad on his ass last night! I wish you could've seen the look on his face!"

Mom laughs and shakes her head, "I'm sure he was a combination of proud and shocked. Listen, I need you to get your sisters ready for school this morning. I need to leave early for work. I may be late tonight too. I'm on call. Would you fix dinner for everyone?" I cock my head to one side, "Sure". "Thanks. Please try not to be late for school." she says and walks out the door.

I look at the clock for the first time and see that it's only 4:45am. UGH! I still have 2 hours until I have to get my sisters up for school. This sucks. Not enough time to go back to sleep. I go to my room and change into my black sports bra and my black leggings and walk downstairs to our gym/training room. Being the daughter of the lead warrior in our pack has its perks. I can work out anytime I want.

It's my favorite way to get my day started and to take out my anger when I have a bad day... which is every single school day. You see, while I love my life at home, I hate my life at school. I am bullied every. single. day. I have no idea why either. Noone wants to talk to me, much less tell me why. I have one friend that I trust, and she is my one-phone-call kind of friend.

Kayla is the pack Gamma's daughter. He is in charge of training the pack warriors and head of security. Kayla and I have been best friends since kindergarten. Her dad and my dad take turns training us in fighting every night. She's the only one who I have trusted with all my secrets.

You might be asking why I let them bully me if I can fight? Here is the main reason: We go to a human school. All of our pack kids go to human schools throughout the metro St. Louis area. Bet you didn't know you had werewolves going to school with your kids. Here's the reason you didn't know: Rule number one in our community is we are not allowed to let the humans know what we are. It would just cause too many problems for us and them. There are a few teachers who know because they work for our pack alpha in the summer months.

It used to be just the pack kids who were picking on me, but that ended up expanding to the human kids over time. So you're probably wondering why I don't kick their asses if I can fight? I'm afraid that if I hit them, it will kill them. Werewolf strength is approximately 200 times stronger than human strength. Once, when I was 12, a boy in my class stood behind me at a crosswalk on my way home and started pulling my hair and calling me a loser. I grabbed my backpack and swung it around and sent him flying backward. There were only two things that saved me from being in major trouble that day. One, I only had one book in my backpack and. two, there was approximately 8 inches of snow on the ground, so he had a fairly soft landing. He left me alone for a few days after that, but he eventually went right back to it without the hair pulling. I can handle names and words, but don't put your hands on me and DO NOT mess with my family. 

I'm in the middle of my warm up when I hear my phone. I pick it up and see a text from Kayla:

K: Are you up?

Me: Yeah. Starting my workout before school. Wanna join?

K: Sure. I'll grab my stuff and come over.

So... Why is Kayla up this early? Her mom is a pack doctor too. I think that's why we get along so well. Our lives are almost identical except that she only has one younger sister while I have two and her dad usually gets to be home in time to cook dinner whereas my dad usually gets home a little later, but he is normally home in time to eat the dinner I cook for us.

A few minutes later, Kayla walks in through the basement door. "Hey, were you able to tell your mom about last night before she left?" I giggled and said "Yeah. She really wasn't surprised. She knows how hard we train". Kayla starts her stretches while I started lacing up my boxing gloves. "So what's on your mind?" Kayla sighs as she bends sideways to stretch her sides, "I've been thinking... Your 17th birthday is coming up." I stop what I'm doing and look at her, "And? Do you honestly think my mate is around here? Even if he is, he's going to reject me. Noone around here wants me around. Why should my mate be any different?" 

At the age of 17, werewolves are able to find their mate. The other half of their soul. The wolf who the Moon Goddess created just for us. My parents are mates and they have a rock solid relationship. They are very much in love. My sisters and I have to tell them to get a room many times a day. The same goes for Kayla's parents. It's embarrassing when you're young, but at our age, it's a life goal. There is literally noone else who can make us feel complete than our mate.

"Why must you be so negative about it? Don't you think a wolf can change once he finds his mate?" Kayla asks. I stop punching the bag and say, "No. I Don't. Besides, all of the guys in our pack are royal assholes. They all have a superiority complex and wouldn't tolerate a mate who can defend herself". Kayla sighs once again, "I guess you're right. That might be why my mate is nowhere to be found." As I stand there contemplating on the subject, I look at the clock. It's already 5:45. Just enough time for me to get my shower and get dressed for school before I get my sisters ready. "Wow! My how time flies! I need to get in the shower and get ready for hell. I mean school." Kayla laughs and says, "I don't know why you tolerate them. I would've beat all their asses by now". I just shake my head, "If I kicked every one of their asses, that would raise some serious red flags about what I am. You know how many there are. I'm better off tolerating it for another 2 months when we graduate." Kayla agreed and left to go home to shower and get her sister up for school.