Chapter One

                                                  I squinted my eyes against the sun. It was blazing extra today. I raised my hand above my eyebrows, shielding my eyes against the sun. Our wooden house was small, with only two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen, and a small living hall. I strolled ahead, trying to find peace for my skin under the shadow of a tree. It was a very hot day. 

      I wasn't hunting but I liked to see rabbits wandering, jumping around. Though, my mother didn't consider this. 

     I glanced at our backyard garden. My mother was a healer. I got this in my blood too. I could see all the grown vegetables, herbs, and all essential spices, I was still trying to learn their names and their benefits. It had been years. My mother learned everything from a little age.I wasn't out here under the burning sun to see rabbits. They must be resting under the ground in the holes that called their homes. It must be cool there. Sometimes, I wanted to be a rabbit instead of a wolf. They looked beautiful.

      It's only me and my mother. She goes on a hunt in the evening or at night. I never could get the stomach to kill them, deer and rabbit. I was content to eat vegetables. My mother is an amazing cook. She mostly cooked vegetables for me. My father died when I was a little girl. I hated every member of the Blood Moon pack. His previous leader ordered to attack our pack. Salazar, I had heard his son killed him. Some told it was just a lie. No one knew the truth. Troy! His name is Troy King. The Alpha

       Wild animals destroyed some parts of the garden a few days ago. So, it was my duty to protect our food, herbs. Technically, I'm the scarecrow of my mother's garden. Shouldn't I wear pretty dresses and go out with my mate? Who's my mate? I don't know yet. But, soon, I would. 

          We'll find him, my wolf said. 

       She always consoled me with her sweet words. But my expectations had died. We lived at the end of the Dark Moon pack's territory. My father was a warrior and died years ago. I was five years old then. I missed him, my mother, too. Life was easy with him. 

      "Hi, scarecrow!" My friend Claudia Weiss giggled, coming toward me. She was slim, tall with long dark hair. Her backpack was slung over her shoulder. I couldn't attend school, but my friend homeschooled me. She wasn't just my friend but also my teacher. Kidding! My mother needed a helper. She couldn't afford someone from out. So, I helped her whenever I could. My teachers never complained as they weren't going to get another healer. The tragedy that happened years ago, spoiled our four years of study. But our alpha encouraged us to complete our study. 

     "Haa!" I said out loud with a scowl. It was quite irritating to sit here in the sun. But our garden was part of our life. 

          Source of our happiness!

     "Everyone was talking about King in the class today," She dropped her backpack on the ground and plopped next to me on the ancient wooden bench.

       My wolf growled. She didn't like people talking about him.

      ' Enemy! I hate him.' I called in my head. My growl was audible this time. 

       "Shouldn't they talk about our Alpha Max instead of Blood Moon pack's Alpha?" I asked with coldness. 

      Strange! My wolf, she was giving me a hard time because of the burning sun, as she seemed more bored than me to be here. She wanted to take control and ran deep into the woods. Now she got the gossip and she looked calm. I frowned at her inwardly. 

      "He's visiting here. In. Our. Territory. And call him The Alpha," She slapped hard on my shoulder. 

      I glared at her, rubbing the spot. Claudia was my childhood friend. We did not take offense to anything. 

      "Is he coming to purchase herbs from us? Oh! So nice of you! Thanks for letting me know. I'm gonna charge him extra. Indeed, I'm not giving him anything. Not a single useless hay." I thinned my lips and darted my gaze around. 

      "He's the Alpha," She rolled her eyes. 

      "You told me," I said with a bored expression. 

      "It's a big thing. Some are saying, he'll kill our Alpha or some are saying they have signed the treaty.'' She looked happy with the information. 

      That grabbed my attention. But it should not affect me much. Our life would not change. It could be miserable but I wouldn't expect a better life, "Does not matter," I sighed heavily. 

      "Are you crazy?" She slapped my arm one more time, " His warriors can force themselves on us before we meet our mates." She said, 

       My heart began to drum in dread. My mate was my only hope to pull me out of my boring life. I stared at her. She was looking damn serious. I couldn't come up with anything. Sadness rose inside me.

       'Is the Alpha that bad? '

       'Bullshit!' I heard my wolf growling. 

       'Seriously, we don't even know him,' I growled back. 

       'Exactly! Don't judge him upon people's decisions.'

       " We have warriors too," I retorted. 

       "Not strong like them. Strong Alpha! Strong people," She said, saying the common sentence spoken by Blood Moon wolves. 

       "You seem eager to join them," I muttered. 

      "He's at Alpha's place. I heard from my mother last night. I overheard them, his stepsister Katherine is our Alpha's mate. There's going to be a giant party after the moon ceremony," She muttered happily. 

       "So, they are allies, our Alpha Max and The Alpha, Troy King, " A strange kind of thing rushed through my body. 

       'He's coming,' my wolf said in excitement. 

       "He's our enemy," I repeated the words I had heard in my childhood. My father died fighting with Blood Moon's warrior. Thou, he must be a few years younger than me, doing his training, his father was the Alpha, then. I'm glad he died. 

      "Not anymore!" She chuckled. 

      "He'll always be my enemy," I told her. 

      My wolf growled at me. Claudia glared at me. 

      'What's wrong with them? I lost my father because of the Blood Moon pack. What does she expect me to do? Great! I'm alone in my team. '

       We heard the crushing of dead leaves. Our heads jerked in the direction and we were ready to shift if danger was near. But I could not smell it in the air. 

       "Claire is waiting for you," Fabri said. His gaze was darting around. He was looking for his prey. He's Claudia's brother. They lived next door to us. 

       "I didn't see one till the morning," I smiled at him. 

       "I'll find one," He smirked fully, swiping his gaze on us. 

       He loved hunting more than chasing girls. That was the reason he was Alpha' sister, Claire's bodyguard. 

       "I'm leaving my bag in the hall." She said. 

       "Yeah, thanks. I'll study in the evening. Is that okay?" I asked her. 

       "Totally fine, bae!" She dangled her arm around my shoulder, tugging me to the front of my old house. I cleaned it every day, I tried my best to make our old house look beautiful. I failed every time but it was clean. 

       I was hoping. I wouldn't hear more about him. Enemy! I thinned my lips. 

              We made our way to the packhouse. When we entered, a blonde girl was standing on her toes. She was draped in a short pink dress. Swan dance! If I wasn't wrong. 

        Hot girl of the school. That was what boys called her at her back. But she's Alpha's sister. No one dared to cross her path, raised his gaze on her. She looked pretty angry with it. 

      "You're already the best ballerina," Claudia

 chuckled, grabbing her full attention. 

      Her face erupted into a smile, "Have you heard Troy is coming today?" Her eyes glinted with happiness. 

      "I thought. He would have come," Claudia nudged my arm, smiling. 

      "Of course, not." She frowned. But I knew it was fake, the glint in her eyes didn't lessen. 

      "You're waiting for our father's killer," I couldn't keep the anger away. 

      "He did not kill our fathers and pack members," Claire glared at me. 

      "She's right," Claudia said with a sad smile. She lost her uncle and grandpa. 

       I shook my head. I wasn't going to change my opinion. He could have stopped his father. I also wanted to stop my father from going out of the house. He just smiled at me and asked me to take care of mommy until he returned. I was taking care of her. And still wanted a miracle to happen. 

      "I'm not gonna change my opinion," I told them, dryly. 

      "Gosh! Girl!" Claire glared at me. She's not only the hot girl but also egoistic, haughty too. I didn't understand how she could be my friend. Her blue eyes were saying everything. 

      " Are you planning to be his mate?" I spun. I couldn't comprehend but I felt triple the amount of anger I was feeling after hearing his name. My wolf bared her teeth. She wanted to claw at Claire. 

      "Yes! Yes!" I heard her happy tone. 

      I clenched my jaw but couldn't hold the escaping growl, "I have to study. I'll see you later," I told them and hurried to the door. I was so angry that I wasn't seeing the path. I collided with something very strong and hard. Two strong hands shot around my waist, holding me to his chest. I found myself staring into the most gorgeous and dangerous amber eyes. It shone golden. My wolf pushed on the surface. It felt hard to control her today. My anger was gone, my nostrils filled with his musky, sandalwood scent. He smelled so good. I was losing my control. 

       I lifted my hand to touch his strong arms. Before I could. I was peeled off of him. 

      His calm gaze turned stormy, "She's sorry," Claire said, giggling. But fear could also see on her face. 

      "I'm not," I gritted my teeth at her. 

      "Shut up! You spoiled my first meeting with him," She scolded me in her lower voice. She was talking as she was going to claim him as his. 

      I yanked away from her touch. Alpha Troy didn't peel his gaze from me. His look was sending shivers down my spine, but my wolf was still trying to take over the control of my body, to move forward, to touch him. I never felt such a strong desire to touch someone. 

     I trembled when I saw Max glaring at me too. I moved at the door. Troy growled loudly. I broke my pace into running. I turned to the forest. I shifted, reaching into the woods, I forced my wolf to run away from the packhouse. And she heard me, though she wanted to run back and do what she couldn't do.... touch him.