Zia’s pack

Ari, are you okay?" Daphney asked, helping me up.

"Y-yeah, thanks," I muttered, turning quickly away from Damien. I did catch Aiden rolling his eyes as he went inside the house.

"Well, hi, Daphney! So you're the new Luna now?" Damien asked Daphney as I stood there, trying to act like he didn't even exist. I forgot Damien was Douchebag's brother.

Oh my God, maybe I need to start getting along with Aiden.

Inside, the place looked even better than outside. These people are rolling in money, I swear. Damien led us inside this massive mansion that looked something out of a design magazine: just glass, ivory, and high-end modern decor in the hallway alone.

We walked into a big sitting room; immediately an older woman, who looked much like Aiden, sat forward. Several others were there, too, our age and above, including Cole Anderson, who seemed engrossed in his phone. Wait… Cole's here too?

I glanced at Daphney, feeling a little perturbed because she didn't look shocked, just kinda sad. I guess they'd had that talk.

"Is that her?" the woman asked, staring at me. Before Aiden could say anything, she leaped to her feet and hurried over.

"She's so pretty!!" the woman squealed, pinching my cheeks like I was some sort of cute puppy.

"Mom, Mom—she's not the imprint," Aiden said, catching her arm to restrain her.

"Huh?" She paused, staring between me and Daphney. "Goodness gracious, did you imprint on two people?!

"What?! No, just her," Aiden groaned, pulling Daphney toward his mom. I was gently shoved to the side, like an afterthought. Why am I here again? Poor Daphney. If she had come here alone, she'd probably be having a heart attack by now.

"Oh, you're also so cute! What's your name, child?" she asked, now pinching Daphney's cheeks the same way she had mine.

"Daphney Dame," she said with a slight incline of her head.

"Ah, darling, your surname is Dame, so you should always introduce yourself as Dame Daphney. You come from royalty lineage, actually," Luna said, flashing an impeccable smile.

"O-of course, ma'am," Daphney stammered.

"And who's this charming girl?" She looked at me, tugging down my hoodie and brushing my brown hair back with her fingers. Touchy, but nice.

"My name is Ariana Miriams, Daphney's best friend," I said, bowing back.

"Miriams… hmm, I feel like I've heard that name before. I just don't—" she trailed off, looking around as though the answer might materialize out of thin air. "Ah, I've heard of a hybrid Miriams. Hm," she mused, then shook her head. "Welcome to Zia pack, Ariana. I hope you find it very hospitable here."

And with that, she just walked away. Wait, what, that's it?

I was left in the dust as Aiden whisked Daphney away amid his mom and other people. Great.

"Hey!" A voice appeared from behind, and I swear, my heart almost jumped out of my chest.

"H-hi!" I whipped around.

"Wanna check out the pack? I'm Kehlani, and I'm also kind of an add-on because I'm the mate of a beta," she said with a smile.

"Oh, well, I wouldn't say I'm an 'add-on.' I'm just here for moral support because this whole thing is… overwhelming," I said, almost rolling my eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever rocks your boat," she laughed, pulling me outside. I guess everyone's friendly here?

Kehlani took me behind the mansion into the woods. I have to be crazy, following some random girl into the woods like this. But soon enough we heard fighting sounds—people training.

"Wow," I breathed, whispering in astonishment.

"I know, right?" Kehlani grinned. "The training here is intense. The Zia pack has a lot of enemies because our borders intersect with four other packs." She raised four fingers. "Four pretty terrible packs who'd do anything to expand their territory."

Yikes. And Daphney's their Luna now? Sweet, delicate Daphney? I started feeling bad for her.

"Why are those packs so terrible?" I asked.

Because they lost so much in the war. Your Silver Moon pack didn't, but the other packs were decimated. The only real loss Zia pack had was their Alpha," Kehlani said with a sigh.

Wait, how does she know my pack's name? Probably Damien or Aiden told her.

Also… does this mean Daphney's done with college? No more school for her?

"We've gotta go. Damien just mind-linked me. Daphney's ready to leave," Kehlani said. I nodded, giving her a small smile.

When we got back inside, she pulled me upstairs. She hadn't let go of my hand once. Clingy much? She opened a door, revealing Daphney sitting awkwardly on the edge of a king-sized bed.

The moment she saw me, her face lit up, and she jumped up.

"Oh great, you're still here," she breathed, the tension released.

"Of course, I'm here," I returned, unhooking my hand from Kehlani. "Everything okay?"

"I'll leave you two," Kehlani said then walked out. Thank God.

"Yeah, everything is fine. I am just overwhelmed. They said that I would have to come tomorrow for a pack ritual to join their mind link," Daphney explained and looked just a smidgen disturbed.

"Yeah, I saw their training earlier. Looks like you'll have to toughen up a bit," I teased.

She smiled sadly. "I know, but honestly, I felt so bad seeing Cole today."

I hugged her. "At least you handled it better than I did." My face turned red with embarrassment.

"I thought you didn't like Damien?" she asked, noticing my reaction.

"I-I don't know…"

"Ariana Miriams has a crush?!" Daphney teased, pushing me lightly.

Stop it!" I pleaded, jumping on the bed and covering my face.

"This is a first!" she continued, laughing as she pounced on me, both squealing while she tried to tickle me.

"Okay, okay, let's go home. I heard your pack has many enemies," I remembered abruptly from what Kehlani had said.

"Oh? Yeah, I heard that too. Something about them wanting more land," she said, frowning.

"I'm sure you will be safe here," I said, getting up. But just as I was about to reach for the door, I heard a clicking sound from the window.

My hearing is more sensitive because I am a hybrid-half fox, half werewolf. Not many people know that, just my family and Daphney.

"Ari, what's wrong?" Daphney asked. Before I could answer, the glass shattered as a bullet shot through it.

Everything around me just seemed to go into slow motion. The bullet hit Daphney right in the chest, and she gasped.

"Daphney!" I screamed, running to her as blood streamed from her mouth and nose.

She fell into my arms, her flowery dress quickly red-soaked. A bluish-tinted purple vein appeared on her face. Wolfsbane.

Shit.