Arienne just wants to find her soulmate. But when she meets Samyak, she discovers that he's hiding a dark and painful secret that could tear them apart forever.
Lihat lebih banyakI yawned, rolling onto my side. I brushed against Jacob, and his hand began to trace lazy, abstract patterns across my hip. It was getting close to midnight. A slanting beam of moonlight fell across our exposed legs, making them shine silver.
We were waiting up together on the night of my eighteenth birthday. We’d become official members of the Silver Crescent pack at sixteen, and that had been exciting enough – a ceremony held for all of us who’d turned together, with Jacob’s dad, the Alpha, stood in front of the elders on a small wooden platform.
We’d pledged ourselves to our pack, vowing to care for one another and, above all, to preserve the wellbeing of the pack. In our honour, we’d sworn, and his parents, Alpha and Luna, had looked down at us with pride. Ever since, we’d been able to mindlink, and had been permitted to join in training with the pack.
But at eighteen something even more special happened. At eighteen, our true mates were revealed to us.
Not immediately, of course. The Moon Goddess works in mysterious ways, and we’ve been taught from birth to trust in our paths. At eighteen the possibility of finding our mate is finally given: both of our scents mature, and, in adulthood, we may find one another.
Jacob and I had grown up together, him the son of the Alpha and I the daughter of the Beta. We lived in the pack house, along with the Gamma and his family, a pair of twins called Ayon and Aron. More often than not, though, we referred to them as Double A, or just The Twins. They did everything in sync, and Jacob and I found it a little creepy at times. As they were so close, Jacob and I had teamed up, too. We were both only children, which is rare amongst wolves, so our bond had been formed early.
He lived on the top floor of the four-story house. It was huge, and each floor held a cluster of rooms to suit the needs of the pack and those who lived there. The very top floor belonged to the Alpha and, when he found her, his mate, the Luna. Their floor was home to a secondary library, smaller than the pack library on the ground floor, as well as bedrooms, offices, and a small kitchenette. Those living in the pack house tend to eat together, along with the Omegas who live nearby and serve the food.
I’d always felt bad for the Omegas, having to work tirelessly to cook and clean up after the higher ranking wolves. My birth right as the Beta’s daughter meant that I didn’t have to help, but I did as often as I could. My dad used to sigh at me and roll his eyes, but then he’d smile like he was proud of me. Once he’d whispered that I’d make a good Luna, but I had no claim to that title.
Jacob nudged me, gently pressing his knee against mine. I sat up drowsily, pulling my long, wavy hair up into a messy bun. A few strands refused to cooperate, but I left them be for now. Jacob moved one softly away from my lips, tucking it behind my ear and smiling at me, his eyes sleepy. I smiled back, my brown eyes meeting his heavily-lidded sea-blue ones.
“It’s nearly time,” he murmured, shifting his weight in his seat. We were both on my bed, and I’d been on the cusp of sleep, my legs stretched out across his lap until moments ago. The light from his phone screen glowed against his face, enhancing his already strong jawline and straight nose. He pushed my duvet back, and I leant heavily against his side.
He ran a hand through his tousled brown hair. I’d always thought that his hair, eyes, and lips softened his face. His hair was always stuck up at some unusual angle, looking as though he’d just awoken from a long and dreamy sleep. His eyes were kind, with the beginnings of small crows feet etching their way into the soft skin around his eyelids. He’d only turned eighteen a month ago, but his lips had similar wrinkles, soft smile lines from years of laughter and teasing. We were best friends, and – fingers crossed – soon to be mates.
Since childhood everyone had expected us to be mates. We’d clicked instantly, and had been inseparable since we’d first met. Of course, our close quarters helped – the Beta and his family lived on the floor just below that of the Alpha, and the small class sizes on the pack territory meant that we’d been together at school as well as at home.
I had to admit that we were cute together. He towered over me, and his Alpha heritage meant that he was broad and well muscled. I was strong, too, of course, but short and I had an undeniable cuteness about my face. To begin with, he’d treated me like a younger sister, but our bond had evolved beyond that as we’d reached our teens.
We were together every day. At sixteen, when we’d become official pack members and had sworn our allegiance to Silver Crescent, training became another part of our daily routine that was intertwined. It was unusual for two wolves to be so close without being mated, but our lives were one.
I always tried to make up for my big round eyes and button nose at training. Every kick or swing told the bigger wolves around me that they shouldn’t dismiss me based on my size, or the spattering of freckles that littered my nose and cheeks. A younger boy had teased me for having long hair the other day. I’d used my swaying ponytail to pull him into a chokehold, and had grinned triumphantly as he’d tapped out, frustrated.
My mum, training alongside me, had winked over at me. Some of these wolves needed to be taken down a peg or two. My dad saw, and shook his head fondly. He’d smiled at my mum, though, and given her hand a quick squeeze before retaking his position at the head of the pack, next to Jacob’s dad.
Recently, the Alpha of the Valley Fern pack, who neighboured us further inland, had discovered the development of a serum which he claimed could force a werewolf to shift back into their human form. His warrior wolves had captured two hunters prowling on their land, and they’d uncovered the serum buried deep in their pockets, loaded into syringes. Since then, our Alpha had increased the number of training sessions we undertook in human form.
Jacob, as the soon-to-be Alpha, had been too busy helping one of the young warriors into an offensive stance to notice. I like to think that he would have approved of my imaginative method, though.
I could feel him tense next to me. He took my hand in his much larger one and began rubbing soothing circles into it. I got the feeling that this was to soothe him more than me. As soon as it struck midnight, we’d know if the Moon Goddess intended for us to be together or not. A lifetime of being certain that we were hung in the balance.
We’d never kissed, having never quite let ourselves reach that point out of respect for our future mates, on the slim chance that we weren’t destined to be together. We loved each other, though, and we’d cuddled our whole lives, naturally letting our bodies align, feeling them sink in to one another with a feeling of safe familiarity. Jacob was my home, as much as my pack was.
“Arienne,” he whispered, his lips brushing against my ear. I shivered. “What if we aren’t?”
“I don’t know, Jake,” I mumbled back. I moved my free hand so that it lay atop our conjoined ones. The darker brown of my skin melted into the tan of his. I looked up at him and bit down on my lower lip. “We have to trust that the Moon Goddess knows best.”
“But what if she doesn’t?” He asked, his voice so quiet I had to strain to hear it, even with my ultra-sensitive wolf hearing. I moved so that both of my legs were swung over his, shifting my weight into his lap. I kept our hands entwined, though, and let my tired head flop against his chest, just below his chin.
“We have to trust her.” I spoke into his t-shirt, talking quietly as though afraid I’d break the spell between us. “She’s never been wrong before. Our whole lives, everyone has assumed that we’d be mates. Your mum has been giving me guidance on being a Luna for as long as I can remember.”
I smiled to myself. Jacob’s mum, Liliana, had started to subtly give me bits of knowledge regarding what it meant and took to be Luna of a pack years ago. The first time was at a large pack gathering, where she’d pulled me aside during dinner to tell me to listen carefully to her welcome speech, as it would likely be something I’d have to do myself in the future.
I’d listened attentively, my eyes never shifting from her. She was a powerful wolf, but with a motherly softness that I was sure Jacob had inherited. She oozed self-respect, though, and I yearned to have such an essence about myself one day.
“My dad said that if we weren’t mates, we should both reject them to be together.” He laughed, and I felt it rumbling deep in his chest. “He wants you to be my Luna, Ari, and I want that too.”
He punctuated his sentence by pressing a delicate kiss to my forehead. My whole body tingled, and I was certain that we were right. We had to be mates.
“We’ll find out in a minute,” I whispered, looking down at his phone screen. The background was a photo of us, captured by my best friend Rosa. We’d been out in the woods, pacing the perimeter of our border, and her boyfriend Joshua had jumped out at us. Jacob had screamed, and I’d laughed so hard that my lungs had hurt. He’d caught on quickly, and Rosa had taken the photo at the exact moment that it had clicked for him.
I was bright red in the face and doubled over, and he was looking at the camera with wide eyes, his mouth in a perfect O shape. I smiled down at it, remembering that day fondly.
Jacob’s dad had requested more wolves working the perimeter due to an increased number of Rogue sightings. We’d just turned sixteen, and were eager to demonstrate our allegiance to the pack. Rosa and I had been to the gym together when the mindlink came through, and we responded to our Alpha keenly. As we headed to the showers we devised our plan, and she mindlinked Joshua to let him know.
It also marked the first time we had shifted after being sworn into the pack. It was ceremonial to allow our wolves to come forward together for that first time, but since then we’d had no opportunity to do so again. At the ceremony I’d been in a flurry of thought and conversation, and overwhelmed as the mindlink opened for the first time. As the second highest ranking young wolf, I’d been the second to shift, so I hadn’t got to see Jacob in his wolf form.
When the photo had been taken we’d just reached our post, and were yet to shift. Moments after we’d all changed, allowing our wolves to come forwards, giving them physical form. I’d expected Jake’s wolf to be brown, like his hair, as I was – my brown fur and chocolate eyes matched my human body, but he was a silvery-grey wolf, standing much larger than I did. His dark eyes did remain the same, however, and looking into them was strange. I could see his soul, almost, bared to me in his animalistic form. He’d mindlinked me then, and I could almost feel his raised eyebrows even though I could of course not see them.
You make a cute wolf, Ari, he’d said, and he sounded smug.
I would’ve rolled my eyes if I could have, but instead I shot back through our link.
You’re not so bad yourself. I could almost feel his smirk radiating off of him.
“Arienne,” he hissed. He looked pointedly at the time. The clock on his phone read 11:59. I tensed against him, and he pulled me close.
“How do we know?” I asked.
“We just do,” he murmured. He took one of my hands in each of his, and squeezed gently.
Then the numbers changed. 12:00. Jacob’s fingers squeezed tighter. My eyebrows narrowed, and I looked up at him, confused.
Nothing had happened. My breath stilled, and I looked up at Jacob. We froze.
I tugged nervously at my dress. Nami and Rosa were behind me, weaving flowers and plaits into my long, brown hair. It waved neatly, having been blow dried and oiled by my entourage. “Are you sure you don’t want any lipstick?” Rosa asked, fiddling with a daisy. She glanced at me in the mirror, her sharply plucked eyebrows raised.“I’m sure,” I said, rolling my eyes at her. They sparkled in the bright light, wide beneath the swathe of brown and gold eye shadow on my lids.“I think you look good without it, anyway,” Nami shrugged. She wound a small, black band around the end of the braid she’d woven into my hair, and then stepped back. “You’re all done, Ari.”“Thanks,” I smiled, turning from side to side to admire myself in the mirror. The dress was simple: I was draped in gold, tightly fitting and hugging the curve of my waist. It had a squared off sweetheart neckline, and I wore a shimmer of glittering highlight across my collarbones. My sun necklace, given to me by my parents, so very
“It seems,” Alpha Gedeon smirked, “that an accord will have to be negotiated. Young Jacob is to be Alpha of your pack one day, if I am not mistaken. Airini will make a fine Luna; of that, I am sure.”But nobody was paying Gedeon so much as an ounce of attention, not even the wolves of his own pack. All eyes were fixed on Jacob and Airini.She, like Jacob, was covered in the mud and gore of battle. There was a deep, purple bruise blossoming along the side of her face, which stood out starkly against her white skin. Her hair was fine, golden gossamer that floated down to her shoulders. She was easily as tall as he was, but lightly boned and lithely muscled. She looked delicate, but sharp, like an ivory blade.I grabbed Samyak’s hand excitedly, and in that moment I knew that Jacob and I had never been meant to be. My love for Jacob poured out of me now, an expression of friendship and joy for h
Death was easy. There was no pain in darkness, no anguish. There was no regret, no suffering. But there was no joy either; no elation, no sense of wonder. The darkness was all consuming, but it was not fulfilling. There was something missing, something niggling at the very farthest point of my mind.Then the darkness began to lift, and, though my bleary eyes stayed shut, a bright, golden light shone upon my face. I wondered if I would be opening my eyes into the afterlife, this first blurry vision of gold my eternal resting place.“Arienne?” Samyak murmured. “Arienne – please, open your eyes.” Then I heard him turn, shuffling despairingly to someone, anyone for help. “Why won’t it work?” He asked, his voice heartbroken, confused, like that of a child.This didn’t seem like death. Death was a painless, eternal nothingness. Samyak was crying, and I could see him w
Alpha Brius was shadowed on either side by his family. His hair, red as blazing fire, stood out even in the darkness. The glow of the sun shone on it, blood dousing flame, and it rippled like water as he stepped forward beside his mate. I could just make out Luna Lucille’s classical features in the dim morning light, though her hair, darker than Brius’s, was obscured.“We said we would stand beside you,” he called. “No matter the task. You saved our son, and the White Elm pack is in your debt, Lapis Moon. We have come to fight at your side.”Luna Carla beamed, and walked down the slope to greet them, Alpha Felix at her side. “You came,” she breathed.“We did, Luna,” said Alpha Brius, bowing his head to her. It was a gesture of respect, and one that was not necessary under such circumstances. “You called, so we came.”I beamed dow
The sun was rising, the first glimpses of orange light tickling the purple sky of the dawn. I stared straight ahead, my flask of coffee going cold between my hands.They were coming, and we were ready.We’d been sent to bed halfway through the night. I’d struggled to sleep, but had fallen into its warmth an hour before I had to wake up again. The broken pattern of napping had made me more tired than I had been before, but my steely focus and determination was keeping me awake now.Samyak had excitedly filled his parents in on his gift, but when they had asked me about mine I’d had very little to say. Ryna’s aura, if that was what it had been, gave me hardly anything to go on. Samyak’s gift was real, palpable; we had both witnessed its effects first-hand. Seeing one maybe-aura was not much to brag about; besides, even if it had been real, I didn’t know what it meant.&nb
I felt my face pale. I clung to Samyak, my hands scrabbling at him like the terrified claws of a prey animal. The moon’s light glittered in my eyes, spinning slowly like a distorted, monocolour kaleidoscope.“Arienne?” Samyak asked, his voice whipping like static against my ears. “What is it? What’s wrong?”Black spots pulsed through my vision, but I shook myself, determined to find out more.Gedeon? What time tomorrow? I sent back, my mind scrambling to find his. But no reply came, and I felt myself falling.Before I hit the bottom, however, I yanked myself back up to the surface. The tidal wave was coming, but we had time. We were prepared, and we could be ready. We would be ready.I pulled back, and my gaze met Samyak’s. He looked soft, his lips plump and his eyes tender. They furrowed in confusion when he saw my own exp
The next few days passed us by quickly, running together and blurring into one. Rosa and the other warrior wolves arrived, and we spent her first evening sat together in her family’s guest cabin, catching up and gossiping about Joshua, Jacob, and Samyak.The sunlight had slanted in through the window, warming the sides of our faces as we’d grinned. I’d caught sight of Ryna stalking past outside, and had watched her disappear into the woods with a grim feeling settling in my chest.Though I wanted to talk to Samyak, I found the days were slipping by without a moment for us to be alone together. The only part of the day we had to ourselves was at night, as we climbed into bed, and we were both so exhausted from the days of training that we fell asleep quickly, with little more than a hurried “Goodnight,” and a chaste, sleepy kiss.Our days were filled with training, both mental and physical. A
“Blood?” Samyak frowned, a crinkle appearing between his eyebrows. “How will blood help us?”“It’s all in here,” I said, gesturing to the small, purple book.Luna Carla’s eyes widened, and she cocked her head to one side. We were upstairs in the pack house; all of the highest ranking wolves from both the Lapis Moon and Silver Crescent packs were in attendance, cramped together in the seating area by Alpha Felix and Luna Carla’s offices. The last vestiges of the sun’s rays were slanting through the windows, burnished gold warming our faces and brushing highlights into our hair. Speckles of dust span through the light, floating upwards and spinning slowly as they rose.“What’s this old book going to tell us?” Ryna asked, sliding one hand onto her hip. Her slim, blonde eyebrows raised slightly, and I sighed.&ld
“Mum! Dad!” I shouted, a wide grin spreading across my face. Then I was wrapped in their arms, and I was finally home. I felt complete; whole, though I hadn’t realised that I’d been missing anything until now. They towered over my head, and I felt safe, secure.Then they released me, and another set of arms tackled me from the side. I pulled back, and stared up into familiar, warm sea-blue eyes. His short dark hair was tousled, more so than usual, and stood up at irregular angles, falling in waves across his forehead.“Jake,” I breathed, smiling. I felt dizzy, overwhelmed, as he pulled me flush against his toned body.“Ari,” he whispered, and the hole inside me filled a little more. I’d missed him; not the person he’d been when I’d last visited Silver Crescent, but the best friend that I’d known for years, before mates and relationships and sto
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