Chapter 1 (The Strange Wolf)

It was getting dark.

Scarlett Ashford stood alone in the center of the temple, her heart pounding in her chest like it was about to explode. Unlike her regular days, she was looking exceptionally beautiful - robed in her pretty wedding dress that was made of lace and satin.

Her fiery red hair cascaded down her shoulders, framing her porcelain face. Jeweleries sparkled around her. She looked perfect.

She shifted her weary eyes to the entrance of the temple, wishing deeply that he'd just show up already and remove the doubts in her mind. She prayed earnestly to the moon goddess not to let this become her fifth disappoinment.

This was meant to be the happiest day of her life. She and her boyfriend felt they were a perfect pair and decided to chose each other as mate. They had arranged that day to complete the mating ceremony at the moon goddess temple, but it's been over an hour already. Why wasn't he there yet?

'He's not coming.' her wolf growled within her. 'Just like the others, he's not coming.'

Scarlett lowered her gaze to the floor and fought the urge to cry.

It didn't take long before the guests started leaving - the few witnesses she had been able to gather. They murmured as they left, some of them laughing at her.

"I knew this was going to happen. Zeke didn't look like the type that would get mated to her." a woman said to another as they exited the hall.

"How could she even think an Alpha's son like Zeke would want her?" Another sniggered.

"She needs to pray more to the moon goddess to get rid of this ill-luck of hers." Another grumbled.

Scarlett's hands fisted the sides of her dress. She was trying so hard to keep herself together. She couldn't believe this was happening. Although, she had feared it was going to happen, she thought Zeke was different.

She stopped hearing voices, and glancing round the temple, she discovered she was the only one left. The entire guest were gone

She drew a deep shaky breath, shut her eyes for a few seconds before stomping out of the temple.

Her ride was still waiting. She got into the backseat and instructed the driver on where to take her.

***

Zeke had a favorite spot. So, she decided to start her search from there. She needed to find him - see him face to face and comprehend what was happening.

A while later, the driver got to the bar and she left the car immediately. She looked ridiculous - moving around in her toe-length wedding dress. A lot of people from the bar gave preposterous stares at her, majority of them whispering of her strange red hair and pupils.

She wasn't putting on lenses today, or had her hair dyed. And that was because she had wanted to look all natural while taking the vows with Zeke. So, seeing her in her natural form gave a lot of people quite a fright.

The moment she stepped into the bar, she caught a whiff of his scent. She was right. He was somewhere in the bar. 

Her crimson eyes darted across the bar, aflame with a tempest of anger as she strode forward. The moment the bartender - Rolf - noticed her, he ran out to meet her.

"Hey, Scarlett. I... I didn't expect to find you here." He stood in her way. "Is everything okay?"

Scarlett ignored him, following the trail of Zeke's scent. Rolf tried to stop her, but he was careful enough not to touch her.

"Um ....why don't you have a drink while you tell me what the problem is?" He chuckled nervously.

"Stay out of my way, Rolf." Her voice was dangerously low.

Rolf knew her too well to mess with her in that mood, so he just let her be.

Following the scent, she ended up in the restroom where she heard his moans and that of another female. Her heart sank into the pit of her stomach, she coiled her fingers into fists to contain her anger.

As she approached the door, she prayed deeply that she was wrong and it would turn out to be someone else. She wouldn't know how to accept this betrayal again.

She pushed the door open when she reached and her heart clenched in her chest as she came in contact with her supposed groom, making out with a lady. His pants were down to his legs, and he had his organ inserted into her from behind, seemingly having a lot of fun.

They flinched and separated from each other the moment they saw her.

"What the hell?!" The lady gasped, yanking her clothes from the floor and carelessly slipping them through her head. Zeke was gobsmacked and frantically tried to fix his pants.

Scarlett was completely pale. For the fifth time, her heart was broken again - shattered cruelly.

She was blanked out and had her eyes on Zeke, so when the lady ran out of the toilet, she didn't spare her a glance.

"For real?" Her voice was barley above a whisper. "You abandoned me at the temple just to get into the pants of a woman? In a restroom?"

Zeke brushed his fingers into his hair.

"Listen, Scarlett; this isn't cool, okay? I really don't appreciate the fact that you barged in on me like I'm so kid." He grumbled.

Scarlett huffed. She couldn't believe it.

"Is this a joke?" She took a step into the room. "I just caught you making out with a woman on the day of our vows, and this is the best you can say?! What the hell is wrong with you, Zeke?!" She yelled, her voice echoing off the walls. 

"Can you quit acting like you really wanted this?" He rolled his eyes. "Admit it, Scarlett. You only befriended me 'cause you wanted to use me to get into the Royal team. You only acted nice 'cause I had Lycan blood in me and you needed my recommendation into the training. That's the only reason you came close to me."

Scarlett's face crumpled up as she tried to wrap her head around his outrageous accusations. Zeke was actually the son of one of the Alphas and yes, he had the power to recommend people into the training for the Royal team. He had indeed, recommended her and at the end of the training, she passed and got selected, but he failed. Hold on, was he acting this way out of envy?

"What're you talking about?" She scoffed. "I may have gotten into the training with your recommendation, but the only reason I got selected was because I was good! It isn't my fault you weren't picked."

"Just cut the act, okay? Moreover, what makes you think I'd really want to mate someone like you?" He threw a ludicrous stare at her and sniggered.

"Take a look at yourself, Scarlett. Which man on earth would want to mate a lady as strange as you are? You barely look like a normal wolf with this... hair and eyes." He shook his head. "If you ask me, I'd say you were born to be doomed and bring misfortune to those around you. Just stay away from me, okay? You already ruined my evening."

His hurtful words coiled around her soul like venemous serpents. For a moment there, her breath snagged in her throat.

As if that wasn't enough, he said the final killing words, staring right into her eyes:

"I, Zeke Brandon, son of Alpha Maverick, reject you, Scarlett, as my mate."

His voice was clipped and his eyes devoid do any warmth. His words tore her heart into several shreds, making her unable to breath.

Since they weren't fully mated, it didn't cause her harm. But her heart ached terribly from the fact that she actually liked him, yet he could treat her like trash.

Her vision became blurry, and when she blinked, the tears fell to her cheeks.

He smirked, like he enjoyed seeing her that way. He approached the door and tried walking pass her, but she pulled him by the wrist and reeled him back into the room.

"What're you doing?" He snorted.

Before he could catch his next breath, she spun around and arched her leg through the air, connecting her foot with his head. She kicked him so hard, he tumbled to the ground and collided his skull with the surface of the toilet seat.

A painful cry cut through his lips as blood gushed from the cut on his head.

"You're a fool, Zeke. And someday, you'll pay for this." She growled at him.

Taking off the engagement ring, she threw it at him before stomping out of the toilet.

Rolf was a distance away and heard everything. The moment he saw Scarlett coming out of the toilet, he stood in her way.

"Deep breaths, Scarlett. Deep breaths. Come on." He pulled her into a forceful hug, patting her back.

...

Rolf eventually got Scarlett to change her dress. He gave her a short dress and a room to change in.

When she was done and out, he convinced her to sit for a free drink, telling her it was his own way of sympathizing with her. And since she was pretty heartbroken with no particular destination in mind, she decided to stay back for the drink.

Sh sat palely at the counter, staring into space and fighting with the thoughts in her head.

"Stop thinking too much, Scarlett." Rolf said as he got her cocktail ready. "You're a pretty lady. And I'm sure you'll find the right man soon enough."

'The right man?' Scarlett mocked herself. She's been rejected by five men already. There's no way there's a right man for her. She's never giving it another try.

She was so hurt and was lost, staring into space that she didn't notice Rolf sprinkle something into her drink. With a smile, he handed the cup to her.

"Cocktail is ready. It's one of my favorites." He beamed.

Scarlett finally looked his way. Her eyes mirrored her pains, as well as tears she was fighting so hard to control.

She drew the cup to her self and took several swigs from it.

"Thank you, Rolf." She mumbled.

Rolf went ahead to clean off the table with a napkin, a wide smile on his face.

"Congratulations on being selected to the Royal team, by the way." He added. "It's huge, you know? I mean, it's everyone's dream to get to work for the Capital Pack that controls every other Pack, and being close to the Supreme Alpha King. I must say you're one lucky girl, Scarlett."

Scarlett simply sipped from her drink. That was one thing she could say she was lucky about. The Capital Pack was the overall Pack, and every other Pack submitted to it. Scarlett was from the Duskrunner Pack - Zeke's Pack - and this was her first time coming to the Capital for the training. She's never even met the Supreme King before. He was rarely seen by regular people. She wouldn't deny being excited about the selection, but Zeke's betrayal has ruined her happiness. 

"By the way, have you heard anything regarding the... prophesy?" Rolf's voice broke into her thoughts. "Hoof! I sincerely hope that shit isn't real, you know? I mean, what on earth could be a threat to our existence? What or who could possibly wipe us from the surface of this earth?"

Few months ago, a prophecy had shown up on the walls of the temple. It's been ages since those walls brought up prophesies, it only happened in ancient times. But for the first time since the current generation, it generated a prophesy - one that was pretty dreadful.

It warned the wolves to be weary of a certain woman that had the power to bring an end to the existence of the wolves. In it's words, this woman was highly dangerous, and her blood would be more deadly than wolfsbane. And in her was bestowed the power to wipe every wolf from the surface of the earth.

Every wolf pack in the world had been terrified since then and working tirelessly to know more about this prophesy and who the said person was. It was their biggest threat at the moment.

Rolf spoke about it for a while, but Scarlett paid no attention to him. Instead, she took out time to worry about how unlucky she's been from birth.

Why was she born different? Why couldn't she be normal like everyone else? If she was, perhaps, she wouldn't have had to go through this torture she was currently passing through.

She took more sips from her drink, and hell! It was doing a lot to keep her calm. Not until she started feeling funny.

Her stomach rumbled. She rested her head on the table and tried to comprehend the feeling. Her legs began to wiggle, shivers began to creep into her spine.

"What's going on?" She muttered weakly.

She lifted her face from the table and snaked her fingers into her hair. Why was she feeling this way all of a sudden? Why was she feeling horny?

She looked up at Rolf and noticed he was smiling at her.

"Are you alright, Scarlett?" He touched her hand. "Maybe, you should come in for some rest."

No, something was wrong - Scarlett realized.

She pushed his hand away and rose to her feet. The sensation was crazy, it was driving her nuts. Electric-like feelings surged through her, giving her that deep want of intercourse. She needed someone; she needed to get laid by her mate.

'You don't have a mate!' her wolf reminded her.

"Scarlett?" Rolf called gently.

Hastily, she ran out of the bar.

***

It was dark already, and whatever had taken control of her was making her head a jumbled mess.

She ran along the road, and kept running until she got into the woods. She wasn't thinking straight, didn't know where she was headed. Her wolf simply urged her to keep going, making her seem like she was in danger.

"Scarlett!" She heard his familiar voice from behind and paused to look at him.

It was Rolf, and he had been coming after her.

Her entire body was weak, her head was a mess. She turned around and continued running, not knowing where she was headed in particular.

Due to her frazzled state, Rolf caught up with her and pushed her to the ground.

"Why running, huh?" He sniggered as he stood ahead of her. "Just keep calm, okay? I've been curious to know what a red-haired girl like you would taste like."

Scarlett's heart panted heavily in her chest. She wanted to get on her feet and fight back, but her body disagreed with her thoughts. If it wasn't for how weak she was, Rolf would've been no match for her.

He sniggered as he worked on his belt.

"No..." she muttered weakly.

He successfully took off his pants and was about climbing on her when something attacked him from behind. It pushed him so hard, he crashed to the ground and sprained his ankle.

"What the hell?!" He spat out.

Turning to see his attacker, shock gripped him when he discovered it was a white wolf. White wolves were mostly Alphas and extremely strong. He'd be no match for it.

He shrunk back in fright as the wolf approached him, it's blue eyes glowing at him.

"No...No....!"

It pounced on him and left a deep scratch on his face. The moment the wolf left him, he took to his heels, panting heavily.

Scarlett was almost out of breath. Behind blurry vision, she watched as the strange wolf attacked and sent Rolf away. It turned to her when it was done and let out a loud howl - one that echoed into the depth of the night.

Conniption gripped her for a moment. That was the first time someone was saving her life.

She tried to keep her eyes open to understand who the wolf was, but it soon became impossible as dizziness finally won over her.