CHAPTER ONE

Head down, shoulders slouched.

Head down, shoulders slouched. I repeat the mantra as I make my way across the halls. Monday mornings can always determine how the rest of the week goes. You either go unnoticed and have a good week, or you attract unnecessary attention and have a horrible week, and I am determined to have a great week this time around as I walk hurriedly down the hall that’s filled with chatter about weekend escapades and expectations for the week. And of course, this won’t be a high school if there’s no talk of boys in between and gossip and of course, complaints about tests and assignments.

However, as the school...sorry, not just school but town outcast, I can’t partake in the chatter going on, just keep my head down and hurry towards the back of the school where the football field is. That is where I’ll stay safe till classes start. Unfortunately, I’m so focused on my escape that I don’t see Penelope De Flores aka the school’s queen, dating the school’s king, aka one of the people who has made my life hell, aka the girl who is supposed to be my sister...well not my actual sister, just something along those lines, like a foster sister or step-sister or something else like that. I walk straight into her back so hard that I rear back lose my footing and fall straight on my ass, my hood flies off much to my chagrin, exposing my ‘abnormal’ white hair...oops. She screeches like an enraged banshee and whips around, her Barbie blonde hair flying around her and her brown eyes glaring down at me. She doesn’t say anything, just glares at me...most likely processing what to say, who knows. She doesn’t talk for a long time, just glaring down at me like I’m the last person on earth that she’ll want to waste her words on, and being tired of the silent treatment from her growing snickers and snide remarks going on around the room as more people gather to watch us, I mumble a quick sorry and move to get up, but then she talks.

And when she does talk though, it’s low but still so venomous.

“Is there any day you won’t embarrass my family’s name? Is there ever going to be a day you’re just going to disappear and leave us all in peace? Just get up and out of my sight, Mars.” With that, she walks away, leaving me sitting on my ass.

I hastily get up and pull my hood over my head, even though it does nothing to hide me now considering everyone has seen my hair and therefore everyone knows it’s me, and now, all the chatter in the hall is about none other than me, Mars River Brown.

I walk away either way, being more careful so I don’t get into anybody’s way anymore. As soon as I make it to the field, I head towards the bleachers and sit down, I’m the only one here and I love that, at least I can wallow in my but not for long though, because five minutes in, my black-haired best friend, Aria aka the moon goddess was soon sitting next to me, having appeared out of literally nothing.

And yes, you heard exactly what you read, moon goddess...I guess I should have started with this info, but it doesn’t really matter now, does it? No, okay...So, I am a werewolf, as is everyone else in this town, so technically it’s not a town but a pack. The Lupus Howl pack is led by our alpha, Alpha Richmond Wright, soon to be led by his son, aka the school’s king, aka Penelope’s boyfriend, aka someone I’m not so sure about because he hasn’t personally hurt me in any way, but has definitely stood by and watched while his girlfriend or some other people have, King Wright...don’t even get me started on the name.

I’ll turn sixteen on Wednesday and I’ll finally get to shift for the first time, but more than that, I’m so ready to meet my mate and fall in love with someone who isn’t an asshole. The rules are kind of weird though, and according to Aria, they are necessary rules, so I just leave her to it. Maybe the alphas give her enough shit about it and she doesn’t need any more from me. The rules state that at sixteen we find our mate, then thirty days after, there is a public ceremony where your mate either claims or rejects us. But since no one has the time to attend a public ceremony every time someone finds their mate, that rule only applies to the alpha and beta and their sons or daughters, anyone who is next in line for the position. Everyone else waits for a set date in the next month after the month they find their mate, so if thirty people find their mates on different days in the month of May, all those thirty will have their ceremony on a set date in June, unless of course, they find their mate in the week of the ceremony or the day of the ceremony, then they have to wait for the next month.

After the claiming ceremony, you guys can do all the lovey-dovey stuff, and when you turn eighteen, you can mark and mate with each other, and then you can start making babies and stuff like that. Yeah, all that.

Anyway, now that you know that, it makes Aria a little more understandable. So, we have the moon goddess, she created all werewolves and is our life force, we worship her and blah blah blah. She’s also the cool type of goddess who doesn’t just sit in the sky and rule over us but comes down for a chat like right now, and boy does she love to gossip and drool over all the gorgeous boys in existence, sometimes I just want to smack her, but she can also be all business and serious, and no, she doesn’t look like an old lady even though she is older than anything I know. She looks like some gorgeous twenty-year-old model that has all the boys falling at her feet, quite literally, she is the moon goddess after all. Today though, after the hallway drama that I just walked out of, I’m not in the mood for gossip and boy drooling, I just need a reason to keep enduring all this. Because if I don’t find my mate here when I turn sixteen on Wednesday, I’ll be leaving so fast that no one will even be able to tell which road I took and when I left.

Aria plops down beside me in a beautiful white halter-neck dress, she always dresses in white, no other colour, and she says that it’s supposed to be that way, and that she is the moon goddess. I don’t understand because she didn’t make much sense, but sometimes questioning her is like going round in circles with no end. If she doesn’t want to explain further, she won’t. She starts to talk but I cut her off immediately.

“So, tell me oh great moon goddess, why exactly am I in this pack, in this place among people who clearly don’t want me here, and I honestly don’t want to be near?”

“I see we’re not playing around today since I’m ‘oh great moon goddess’ now.” I don’t bother answering, and she sighs and inches closer to me, taking my hands in her warm ones before speaking again. “Mars, this place isn’t just a place for you to live, it’s a place for you to grow into a tough-skinned girl who can handle whatever the world throws at her at any point in time. You may be struggling to handle what these people are throwing at you now, but I can promise you, Mars, that there will be a time that these same people won’t be able to handle anything that you throw at them, nothing.” I deflate at her words, accepting them.

“You’re lucky I love you, Aria, so damn lucky.” I huff and she squeals in excitement and throws her arms around me, engulfing me in a bone-crushing hug. “For someone so slender, you sure do hug like an actual bear...no, an anaconda is much more fitting.” She pulls back after pecking me on the cheek.

“I take my fruits and vegetables very seriously, there’s no way I wouldn’t be strong.” I snort and she flashes me a smile so bright it could blind me.

“First, fruits and vegetables aren’t body-building foods, and secondly Aria, I’ll punch myself in the throat the day that you manage to put aside a greasy burger or extra cheesy pizza, and eat an apple or asparagus.” She opened her mouth to retort but one look from me had her shutting her mouth and looking as guilty as she should be. I honestly don’t know where all the fat she eats goes. She is about to say something probably in her defence when some jocks start making their way onto the field, headed by King himself. They aren’t in their jerseys, just normal clothes, so it is obvious that they aren’t here to play, at least not officially. It’s just three of them, King, his best friend, and soon-to-be beta, Ansel Sanders. And another one of their friends, a total asshole who is nothing but a bully, and another one who has made my life hell, Andy McCoy.

They haven’t seen me yet, and I don’t want them to, but they don’t even look my way. All three of them are huddled together and talking quietly among themselves. They talk like that for a few minutes while Aria and I watch quietly, and then King suddenly breaks away from the group and throws his hands in the air out of, most likely, frustration. Then he runs his hands down his face and turns away from his friends and us. His friends share a look, then turn and move towards him cautiously like they would a caged animal, and with the rapid rise and fall of his chest, I can boldly say that he is about to become an animal any second from now, and I’m right. Mere seconds before his friends reach him, he bursts out of his clothes, tearing them apart as he shifts into his brown wolf and takes off towards the tree line of the woods surrounding the school and most of the pack.

Both Ansel and Andy jump back as he shifts, and when he takes off, they talk silently then bend to gather his shredded clothes from the field, no doubt to dispose of them. I turn to Aria as they work on gathering the pieces.

“What d’you think that’s about?” I ask and she looks thoughtful for a moment.

“I think someone’s beginning to find out their mate may not be who they think it is, and they are not happy with that, not at all.” I frown, that can’t be right. King and Penelope have been together for the longest time, and that is usually a sign of them being mates, but if they’re not, then who could they possibly be mates with, and what would that mean for all four of them? King is a year older than Penelope and I, and he should have found his mate by now unless she is younger than him and they are both in close proximity of each other, then they’ll know they are mates when she turns sixteen, but since Penelope’s birthday is next month, I don’t understand why he is having this problem now, why not after her birthday, why now?

It’s like Aria reads my thoughts because she answers for me, “He is starting to feel the bond with someone, and since Penelope doesn’t turn sixteen until next month, then that means she can’t possibly be his mate, and he is about to find out who his mate is very very soon.”

“Well, shit!”

“Well shit indeed, Mars...” I startle at the voice of Andy right beside me, and I blanch. “Tell me, what the hell are you doing here and how long have you been here?”

It’s safe to say that I am fucked...so much for a great week.