Prologue

“Abe!” I call out to my brother who staring at me like I’m some foreign beast. I step forward to reach for him, but he stumbles backward. 

“Demon!” He shouts “Demon!”

“Stop the games, you prick! It’s not funny.” I say, growing annoyed.

Abe stands, straightening his shoulders as he elongates his claws. Panic consumes me as I stare at his sharp nails in fear. This is supposed to be a non-lethal sparring session for the Alpha-ship. The winner gets the title, the loser gets the position of Beta. We already know the positions we will take. All we need to do is act the part for the sake of tradition. 

I glance around, looking at the pack warriors who gape at me in fear. My father, stands proud on a ledge watching, pales when our eyes lock, slowly he turns his back to me. What the hell is happening. I step forard reaching out to him as the sound of flesh tearing rings through my ears before the pain sets in. I scream out in agony, my hand flying to my left eye.  Hot liquid pours from me, stinging my eye as I stumble back.

“Abraham!” I sob. “What the fuck?” I trip over a branch and fall.

“We can not be the pack with The Ultima! Everyone will come in search of you, to use you as the weapon you are.”

I look up at him with one eye. The ultima? Ultima’s are folklore that my great-grandma used to tell us about. The ghost stories of the wolf that came now and then to help replenish the werewolf community with the gift of recruiting humans to be wolves based on their skill sets. Well, until the last Ultima, that is.

The last Ultima had been one of our distant ancestors. He tried to create his own pack in retaliation for not being the alpha. He killed many packs trying to fulfill his desire to become an alpha where he wasn’t born to be one. But I don’t want to be an alpha. To lead the people and never leave the pack. I want to be the one who travels from pack to pack, creating alliances for the alpha. I was craving the role of Beta. So would it be so bad for me to live and serve my alpha, my brother?

“You have to die, brother,” he says, making up his mind.

Abraham steps closer as I flounder to get away from him. I can see the guilt in his brown eyes as he squares his shoulders, readying himself for the task at hand. 

“Die? What the fuck are you talking about? No one needs to know!” I beg as he squats down before me.

“Did you even know your eyes were glowing red?” He asks calmly.

I want to lie. To tell him, of course, I knew they glow red in a fight. But in truth, I had no idea. I get where he is going with the question, if I don’t have control over when my eyes go red, how can the secret be kept a secret?

“You know me, you know I would never do anything to betray you.”

Abraham stands and walks away from me, shaking his head. Chuckling angrily. 

“You don’t know, do you?” he whispers, completely shocked. Then turning to our father. 

“You didn’t tell him he was the one you chose for Alpha?” I look to my father, who glanes over his shoulder in shame, shooing the rest of the warriors watching so that it is just us three.

“This is rich,” Abraham laughs. “Fan-fucking-tastic job Dad.”

“I have no desire to be Alpha. Let me serve as your beta. That’s all I want!” I rush out honestly.

“It doesn’t matter, Axel! That’s the issue. You get everything and you are ungrateful and you  refuse it.”

“What?” I whisper, trying to understand where all this is coming from.

Abe and I have always been close. Yes, I got better grades and I’m stronger, but I loath fighting. This is why I was choosing to be a beta even if our dad wanted me to step up.  

“AXEL!” a voice screams from the woods. I can hear her getting closer.

I slowly erect myself from the dirty ground, waiting for Madelyn. The only person who I know won’t turn on me. Not only have we been best friends since we were little, but she is the love of my life, and I am hers. 

“See! You even get the girl.” Abe groans in frustration. I turn to him, looking shocked.

“What?”

“Axel, the better twin. Better looking, kinder, stronger, and smarter. I have been chasing your shadow my whole life, and I was fine with it for a while until she chose you.” He pauses and looks to the clearing where Madelyn will show up at any moment. “If you won’t be the alpha, the pack needs I will. And the pack can’t have a risk like you. I am sorry, brother. But I have to choose the pack.”

“NO!” Madelyn screams, making her way to us as Abe raises his claw to slash my throat. He tenses and drops me as Madelyn stops mid-stride, her hair flying out around her. Both of them snap their eyes to each other and her breathing hitches. Abe walks towards her and she puts her hand up to stop him. Shaking her head as tears stain her cheek.

“If you kill him, I will reject you, Abraham Wolfgang,” she says angrily. Her eyes find me and her hands fly over her mouth as she looks over my mangled flesh. 

“Abe is your mate?” I say, my heart now mirroring the wound on my face.

“Oh, Axel,” she whispers. She reaches out for me with one hand but stops and retracts it.

“You’re my mate?” Abe asks. His chest is heaving up and down wildly as he takes a tentative step closer to her. 

“Promise you won’t kill him,” she begs, running to him, pounding her hands on his chest. “I will never forgive you if you kill him!” she sobs.

“I promise not to kill him, but he can’t stay,” he responds softly. 

Madelyn nods slowly and turns her puffy red eyes towards me. Abe hugs her close to him, cooing her and kissing her forehead. I can feel the blood draining from my face as I grow cold from my injury. Trying to stand, I lean forward and groan, pushing myself up only to fall face-first into the dirt. 

The sting of the pine needles and mulched leaves rocks me as I hiss in pain. I crawl to the nearest tree and sit down with my back against it, breathing hard again. Is this what a slow death feels like? As a werewolf, we have excellent healing capabilities, that is depending on the severity of the injury. If the wound is one that is bad enough, the healing process can’t outrun death. Judging by how lethargic I feel, I assume that this is the wound that will kill me, especially if I am kicked out of the pack. 

Being in a pack provides strength and helps speed the healing process. Being kicked out while injured is a death sentence. And one I know that is coming my way. My wolf takes over as I make a painful transformation in hopes to speed the healing process. Death is something that at the moment sounds welcoming, but my wolf refuses to give up and if he wants to fight, then he can carry the wound. My human body can no longer physically carry on. 

The woods slowly grow dark as my vision fades. I can hear Abe and Madelyn talking furiously. The ground leaves me and I become weightless for a moment before being roughly tossed onto a hard metal surface. A vehicle jumps to life with a roar and after the 3rd bump, I succumb to the pain and blood loss. 

There is a sharp stabbing in my hindquarters that relentlessly pulls me from my only place of peace, sleep. A growl vibrates from my chest in a warning to whatever is poking me. For a moment, it ceases and I relax, closing my eyes again. Another jab, then another. I take a moment to gather my strength and with every ounce of energy I have left; I open my eyes and reach out snarling. 

I bite down into the soft warm flesh of a teenage human girl who stares at me in horror. I instantly release as she falls backward holding her arm, not a sound leaving her mouth. A group of people descends on her, wrapping her arm in a shirt as two girls pull her away from me. A young male stands before me, shaking in fear with a stick in his hand for protection, as the rest turn and walk away. The moment he realizes I have no use for them, he turns and runs after his friends yelling.

“Did you guys see its eyes? It had red eyes! It has to have rabies!”

“Shut up Kyle!” the girl screams. “It bit me and it’s your stupid fault!”