Chapter 1

Fire. It was everywhere. Consuming all that it touched with no exceptions and it grew taller by the second. The blood curling screams of people around me drowned my thoughts as I looked around me. Men, women and children alike all ran frantically either carrying the wounded or grieving the fallen. Some were charred from the fire or covered in ash from the smoke but they shared one thing in common; the look of fear in their eyes.

A rough series of coughs shook me but I still pulled myself to my feet. "Saige! Elios!" I screamed out for my siblings in hopes to find them in the chaos. But all I got in return were more screams of pain from other members in my pack.

"SAIGE! ELIOS!" I screamed louder, holding my throat in support. It felt dry as desert and the hot atmosphere brought tears to my eyes. I wobbled forward and scanned the people around me to find them but they were nowhere in sight. "Fuck. Where are they?" I asked myself.

I hit the ground suddenly when I felt a great weight hit my back and two loud thuds hit the ground beside me. I grunted in pain from my injuries and slowly brought myself to my knees to at least see what hit me.

Looking over to my side, I let out my own ear-splitting scream as my eyes took in the sight of the heads of my siblings; their eyes are lifeless and their skin paled. Hysterical sobs shook me as I crawled to them and held them tight to me.

"Why are you doing this?!" I cried to no one in particular but hopefully the person who did this heard me.

"All hail Luna Kaia" a dark, deep voice growled behind me. I gasped within my sobs and whipped my head around to look at this monster in the eyes. But all I can see was a muscular, tall figure of a man; the only features I can make out were his glowing red eyes but he appeared as a shadow.

"Who are you?!" I screamed, holding onto the heads of my siblings tighter; their blood dripping down my body.

He smiled. He fucking smiled and threw another head at me. A head of a man. But he had no face. A faceless man but one look at his head broke something in me. As if my body was catching fire from the inside, destroying every organ in my body.

"WWWHHHYYYYYY?!" I howled into the air.

I sprung up in my bed, breathing heavily as I tried to calm my rapidly beating heart. I quickly looked around me and almost cried with joy when I realized I'm safely in my room. I sighed in relief and looked at my clock beside me. It read 6:30 am.

"It was just a nightmare Kaia" I chanted to myself repeatedly until the wolf within me calmed enough for me gain feeling back in my limbs. I threw the comforter off of me and quickly walked out of my room to check on Saige and Elios. I walked down the hall and slowly poked my head into Saige's room. Another wave of relief washed over me as I saw her peacefully sleeping beside her mate in her bed.

I closed her door and walked across the hall to do the same with Elios. There he was sleeping soundly in his outer space bed sheets. Finally, with my heart at ease, I can go on knowing my family is safe. I smiled at his sleeping form and closed his door gently and made my way back up the hall towards the stairs. Jogging down the stairs, I heard below the front door open and a bunch of hushed voices and obnoxious giggles. I rolled at my eyes in annoyance with what I know I will be facing once I reach the bottom.

I slowed my pace to a stalking prance so they wouldn't notice my presence right away. "Shhhh! Guys, we need to be......super........quiet" a male wolf slurred in between burps to his friends as they practically crawled in the pack house. There were 5 of them; two girls and three guys. All drunk off their asses.

"Yea we can't have Luna waking up and punishing us again like last time" one of the girls said, she must've been the designated driver this time because she seemed to be sober enough to speak well. This group does this every week. The other girl laughed and attempted to cover her mouth with her hand but she lost her balance and toppled over; a loud thud followed her and much to my displeasure, the others in the group looked at each other fearfully and decided to leave her on the floor to fend for herself and they attempted to walk up the stairs.

I stood up and crossed my arms against my chest, pupils dilated and anger fuming in my eyes. I growled low enough for them to hear and enough to stir fear in them. Everyone except for the poor girl who had blacked out on my floor looked up at me.

"Luna! Good morning!" the other girl exclaimed nervously. The boys on her sides tried their best to hold themselves up by the railing of the stairs; nausea clear on their face.

"Why are you leaving her like that?" I asked her sternly, motioning my head towards the passed out girl. Her short black dress riled up to display her lacy underwear which only fueled my anger even more. What if one of the disgraceful male wolves were to have woken up and found her?

"Oh" the girl said with fake surprise as she looked at the girl and back at me "Luna I was going to come back for her" she laughed nervously. I scoffed and took a few more steps so I was only inches away from her face.

"No you weren't. I saw the look of fear on your faces when she fell and made all that noise. You were afraid of waking me up so therefore, you were all going to leave her here so only she could get punished" I corrected her, my eye growing darker with each word.

"Umm..err..I..We" she started to ramble on and I raised my hand to silence her. "Enough. The sad thing is, I was actually in a good enough mood to not punish any of you for sneaking in past curfew. But now, after seeing how fake you all are, you're all waking up at 9 am and cleaning this house. Every room, bathroom and the kitchen needs to be spotless by the time everyone is back from school at the end of the day. I'm sure our cleaning crew with appreciate the day off" I ordered.

The boys around her groaned and started to crawl up the stairs, "Yes Luna" they mumbled as they held back their nausea. The girl looked to be holding back her tears before nodding, "Yes Luna" she replied and tried making her way up the stairs but I stopped her. I walked down the remaining steps to the sleeping girl and cradled her bridal style. I walked over to the first girl and dropped her in her arms.

"Take her to her room and don't wake her up to help you. She can sleep for as long as she likes" I told her, my voice soft as I referred to her.

"But Luna that's not-"

"Not what? Fair? And leaving her on the ground exposed the way she was so some poor excuse of a wolf can come and take advantage of her is?!" I yelled the last part in her face, fuming once again. "When she wakes, you have two options: tell her what took place here or send her to me so I can tell her. Choose wisely and I will find out if you lied" I added and waited for her to combat me again.

A small tear fell from her eye before she nodded again and walked up the stairs. She stopped halfway up and looked over her shoulder to look at me. "Happy birthday by the way Luna Kaia" she whispered. Not out of fear but out of the kindness in her heart.

I took a deep breath and shot her a small smile, "Thank you. Now get to bed. You only have two and a half hours to sleep" I reminded her before I stalked off towards the kitchen. By this time, some other pack members were starting to wake and the pack cook and his crew started to make their appearance. I smiled warmly at them and started to make myself a cup of coffee.

"Happy birthday Luna Kaia!" the cook exclaimed in a way too happy, way too loud tone. His crew behind him echoed his greeting as they took to their stations. I tried not to cringe and smiled at him. "Thank you very much Raul and everyone" I replied kindly, adding creamer and sugar to my coffee.

"Any big plans today? You only turn 25 once" Raul said with a joyous smile.

I laughed and shook my head, "Nope. Just the same thing as always; visit mom and dad, have dinner with Saige and Elios and drink wine while reading a book" I told him just as I told her last year and the years before that.

A small frown appeared on his face but he quickly changed his expression and pinched my cheek. "I've seen you grow from the pup that you were to this amazing woman Kaia. I hate to see you not enjoy your youth and go out once in a while. You'll never find your mate being cooped up in here" he almost sounded like he was scolding me. I raised an eyebrow and took a sip of my coffee.

"Raul, as I've told you before, I don't want to find him. Maybe once upon a time, I dreamed of finding him and living happily ever after but honestly, mates are a distraction. Your main focus revolves around them; where they are, what they are doing, who are they talking to. Watching my sister with her mate gets me exhausted and I'd rather not put myself through that" I told him with all the honesty in my heart. All mates are good for are being used as leverage for your enemies to use against you. They weaken you and force your hand to do things you wouldn't normally do for the sake of their safety. If I ever did find my mate, I would reject him. I don't need him.

"Never say never Luna. The Moon Goddess works in mysterious ways" he told me with a wink before going to the back to prepare breakfast.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAIA!" I jumped slightly, careful not to spill my coffee as Saige and Elios made their way to me. Elijah, Saige's mate, dragged himself behind them clearly in a state of exhaustion. I showed him a look of sympathy and handed him my cup of coffee. He sighed in appreciation and took the cup from me. "Thanks Kaia. Happy birthday" he said in a low, raspy voice.

"Thank you everyone" I told them and turned to make a new cup of coffee. Rustling could be heard behind me and before I knew it, a big red gift bag with glitter paper was thrown into my face. Thankfully, I caught it before it fell and huffed in annoyance.

"Saige" I warned her.

"Oh hush big baby. As your sister and Beta, it is a privilege to shop for you. Now just open it" she rushed me excitedly. Saige has always been a giver of gifts. She's that person who even though you tell her not to get you a gift, she gets one for you anyway.

I rolled my eyes and did what I was told. I sighed and pulled out a rather thin, short and backless red dress with two miniscule straps to hold it up. I gave her a side look and the fakest smile I can make for the gift. She jumps for joy and motions for me to keep going. I threw the dress over my shoulder and dug through the bag to find a medium sized shoe box. I placed it on the counter and took the top off to find a beautiful pair of black Louboutin heels. The heels I can appreciate, the dress on the other hand...

I smiled genuinely this time and hugged my sister. "Thank you very much Saige" I told her. She hugged me back happily. "You're welcome! Now you can look stunning for when we go out tonight!" she exclaimed happily.

My smile quickly left my face, "absolutely not" I replied in a monotone voice as I placed my gifts back in the bag.

"But Kaia!" Saige started to whine, pouting her lips.

"Don't but Kaia me Saige. You know I don't like leaving the pack house unless I have to or unless we're seeing mom and dad. We're staying home tonight after our dinner and that's how I would like to spend my birthday" I scolded her, trying to take my leave but Elios stood before me with one of his famous handmade birthday cards. His beaming smile instantly calming me.

"I'm still not old enough to get you a gift myself but happy birthday Kaia" he told me, handing me his card. I smiled back and took the card to read it. "Your drawing skills are improving Eli. This is beautiful. I love it" he drew two wolves on the front, I'm assuming that's him and I by the color of their fur; he doesn't have his wolf yet but I admire his imagination. On the inside, he grew four wolves running towards the other side of the page and he wrote a beautiful message inside.

Saige looked over my shoulder curiously, "Wow Elios. You're talented for an 11 year old" she commented proudly and ruffled the top of his head with her hand. He grinned and before we knew it, he was running back upstairs to get ready for school.

"Saige be ready in an hour. We're going to see our parents" I told her as I walked away.

"Fine but this isn't over" she called back referring to our previous conversation. I growled and used my speed to put myself right back in front of her again. She didn't falter or even showed an ounce of fear which only pissed me off more. Her big brown eyes stared into mine with no sign of submitting.

"I'm not going out and that's the end of the discussion" I barked back, forcing her to submit but she so effortlessly doesn't. "You may be my Luna but you were my sister first and I just want one night where we can go back to being sisters, not Luna Kaia and Beta Saige. Is that too much to ask for?" she asked, her eyes glossing over with her future tears.

I sighed and calmed myself down; I softened my eyes and showed her apologetic look. "I'm sorry Saige. But for me, asking me to go out is a lot to ask for" I told her before turning on my heels to exist again.

"Then you leave me no choice" she warned me, her voice strong in her Beta tone.

I turned around again and glared at her. "What?"

"If you won't listen to me, your sister, then I will tell the one person who you will listen to" she replied, a sinister smirk playing on her face. My eye grew wide with shock and my heart fell to the pit of my stomach.

"You fucking wouldn't" I snarled.

"I'm telling dad" she told me confidently and sped past me to run up the stairs to begin getting ready. Leaving me in a fit of nerves as her words still rang through my ears. I'm telling dad.

I'm telling dad.

Telling dad.

I hate her so much right now.