Prologue

(TWO YEARS AGO)

(ARES KINCAID)

A loud, shrilly scream filled the dark, quiet forest. Birds resting peacefully flew away, flapping and squawking, as my Lycan wolf growled inside my head.

"FIND HER!" His voice was a loud snarl. He was using his Alpha voice on me?! 

"I am not really in any shape to be a hero tonight, Storm! I am dead drunk," I slurred as I walked inside the dark forest following the scent.

Storm snarled. I didn’t know why he felt so overprotective right now of this girl. We didn’t even know who she was. "GO!" 

I started running into the woods and a loud growl made me pause for a second, and my heart twisted when a small whimper followed the growl. 

I could now see the massive wolf standing over the tiny girl. Her body was trembling in fear, but even when she knew she was going to die, there was also a spark of anger in her eyes. A touch of fire. My heart gave a mighty tug as I looked at her. 

I knew I had to save her. I couldn't let her die in this cold forest, alone and afraid. 

"Tell the bitch I will come back to haunt her," the girl hissed as she glared at the massive beast. "I won't let her rest."

The wolf snarled closer to her face, his mouth frothing at the side, and I knew it was time to shift and go be a hero.

I quickly removed my clothes and I stumbled out of the bush, still not transformed. It must be the overwhelming amount of alcohol in my system.

The wolf whirled around, staring at me with his beady eyes. “F*ck."

He was huge for a werewolf, and if I didn’t shift now, there was no way in hell I was going to save myself, let alone save the girl.  

“Storm, ideas? You wanted to save the girl.”

Storm looked at the trembling girl and his anger skyrocketed, and before I knew it, I felt a ripping pain and I was transformed into my Lycan wolf without my control. He was taking over. 

Storm quickly barrelled toward the wolf, giving him no chance to defend himself.

He plunged his paw into the wolf's chest and ripped out its heart in one swift motion. Blood seeped from the wound as the wolf transformed, and the man fell to the ground, writhing and groaning until he finally went still. Storm kicked the lifeless body aside with a growl before crushing the heart and slicing through its muscle with his sharp claws. Throwing it away like it was garbage, he turned to the girl, his eyes turning worried. 

I had no idea why my Lycan was acting like a possessed beast.

The girl looked up from the ground, her eyes hazy, and then she smiled groggily before standing up. She took a step closer to Storm, and her trembling fingers reached Storm’s chin. "You are a good man- wolf..."

It was strange to hear her say that. Was I, though? I winced a little.

"I am really not. I am a fucking mess." I didn't know why I was confiding to this strange girl, but I couldn't stop. "I- I abandoned my pack. I can't be the Alpha and I can't do anything to-" 

She looked at me, her eyes soft and soothing as her fingers ran along my Lycan's arms. 

"You saved me. You are a good man. And you will be a good Alpha, too, and-” She stumbled back and Storm grabbed her by her shoulders. She groaned and closed her eyes, leaning closer to my wolf. He was so fucking giddy that she was responding to him. But why? Who the hell was this nameless girl?

He put his big paws around her back, and she sighed, burying her face in his hairy chest. 

“Are you alright?” Storm asked, his voice gravelly. She mumbled something under her breath, her words incoherent. She was losing a lot of blood from the wounds on her arm.

And then, out of nowhere, I shifted back to myself, standing completely naked with a girl pressed against my body. I felt my throat go dry and my heart jumped when I felt her body against mine. She was so soft and lush. Her skin felt like satin under my fingers. 

“Let go.”

“No…” she whispered, tightening her arms around me. “Don’t go.”

“I need to- I am naked here,” I said, my voice hoarse.

One eye lazily popped open before she sighed. “I don’t mind,” she breathed out, and I gasped as she pressed further into my body. “I don’t want to- to be alone. Please hold me. I am so cold and you are so, so warm,” she slurred.

“I will just grab my shirt and then-”

She tightened her grip, and I wasn’t- I- fuck… my c*ck was twitching slightly from being so close to a warm, lush body. I felt like a pervert. A drunk pervert.

This was not the time or the place. 

What the fuck is wrong with me? 

I pried her hands away. "Give me a second. I'll get dressed and then take you to the hospital," I grunted. I moved towards the bushes, took my clothes, and quickly pulled them on. After that, I grabbed the whiskey bottle and took a long gulp, then another, to calm myself down.

When I walked back to her, she was leaning against a tree with her eyes closed. There was no response when I called her. 

Taking my phone out from my pocket, I called the emergency number. It took me a few tries to tell them where we were. I took her hands in mine, rubbing them to keep her warm. "Hey, you are alright." 

After a few minutes, I could hear a van approaching, and soon two men and a woman walked towards us. They pulled her up and put her on the gurney before one of them turned to me. "Are you coming?"

I shook my head in response. The man then looked at the dead wolf lying next to me and let out a sigh.

“No, just take care of her. Here.” I reached into my wallet and gave him enough Euvens to cover her expenses for the next three days of her hospital stay.

The EMT nodded and walked away, leaving me alone in the dark once again, with only the dead body a few feet away for company.

I woke up with a start, my head pounding. I had no idea where I was. When I looked to my side, I winced at the sight of the lifeless body next to me. "Damn, that's gruesome," I muttered, staring at him and trying to remember why I had killed the bastard.

“Storm?”

“Do not disturb me for a month."

***

I staggered inside the pack house and hissed when my best friend stopped me.

"What the hell happened to you?" Kai exclaimed as he noticed my grimy, bloody shirt. "You reek of alcohol and blood. Whose blood is that?"

"Well, it's my good deed for the day, or night," I replied. "I killed a wolf and saved a girl. I'm a fucking hero, Kai."

Kai let out a deep sigh as he looked me over, trying to gauge the seriousness of the situation.

"I know it's tough, but you need to snap out of it, Ares. If you don't, things are going to go downhill quickly," Kai said sternly. "You're the Alpha now, whether you like it or not, and you can't go around doing things like this."

"I never wanted to be Alpha," I hissed back. "Brian- he should be the Alpha, Kai. He shouldn't be locked up."

"It's unfortunate, Ares, but it's the way things are now, and we have to deal with it. This is your pack, and we're all counting on you."

“I don’t want the responsibilities. I can’t run the pack. And Azalea… she's only three years old. How am I supposed to take care of a baby? What do I even know? Does she poop?" 

"Of course she does," Kai replied with a frown. "But you're not alone in this. We're all here to support you, but you need to start acting like an Alpha and stop behaving like a drunk asshole."

I took a deep breath and looked at Kai, seeing how worried he was. "I'm sorry."

“You needed time. But now, it is time to act like the Alpha you are."  

He was right. I remembered the voice telling me I would be a good Alpha, but how would I know if I spent all my time drinking? I sighed, realizing that I needed to step up and take responsibility for my pack and for Azalea.

“Yes, Alpha.”

“Kai, will you be my Beta?” There was no one better for the job.

"Absolutely, yes!" Kai replied, accepting the position.

I stared out at the endless stretch of land and woods beyond my pack's territory, my mind consumed with thoughts of the one man I couldn't wait to obliterate. To achieve that, I knew I had to stop drinking and become more powerful.

I turned to Kai, my eyes filled with anger. "Alpha Albert Adams will rue the day he came for my family. One day, I will make him pay. I will take away everything he loves and cherishes."

***

(ELYN FROST)

The night was as dark as the large wolf chasing me through the thick woods.

My lungs burned, but I couldn't stop now. Stopping meant a bloody, painful death, and Luna Amelia would dance over my grave. I wouldn't give that bitch the satisfaction. Never.

Faster. Faster. The words rang inside my head. But no matter how fast I ran, he was always right behind me.

I had no wolf to match him.

When I turned sixteen, I was excited to meet my wolf, to hear her voice. I waited all day long, but she never came. 

Everyone in the pack talked about the curious case of Elyn Frost and dubbed me a freak. And a freak, I had been since then.

A frustrated whimper escaped my lips as I stumbled on a root and fell.

Air stilled for a moment. It was eerily quiet, and then the wolf came bounding out of the dense trees with a loud growl. I felt his sharp claws scratching along my arms, ripping my sleeves away. 

He raised his paws, ready to deliver the final blow... 

Screaming, I woke up, shuddering.  

I looked around, noticing the white walls, and the heavy smell of antiseptic hung in the air. I should be dead by now.

Am I already dead? 

The last thing I remembered was being chased by a wolf. 

“Luna Amelia,” I hissed as the door opened and she walked in. If I was dead, I must be in hell, because Luna Amelia was my hell. 

She peered down at me, her face a mask of feigned concern. My father sighed, looking exasperated.

"Why do you always do this to yourself, Elyn?" he asked, as though I were to blame for being chased by a murderous wolf.

Deep down, he knew it was Luna's fault, but he kept quiet. The guilt of what he had done to her had made him spineless and blind.

"Do you think I sent a freaking wolf after myself to hunt and kill me?" I asked with a malicious smile.

“Why did you have to leave our pack? You are safe here.”

"Am I? Am I safe here, Alpha Albert?" I growled, as he shook his head. He had given up on me the moment I was born. He had never been a father to me anyway.

"Just two weeks ago, Ella Cohen and her bullies dragged me through the forest and tied me to a tree." I pointed to the rope burn that still hadn't fully healed. "This is what they did, and what did you do?"

"I punished them. They were just being silly kids."

My body burned with anger. They weren't being silly. They were bullies and psychopaths.

I spent the entire night in the cold, my teeth chattering, tears trailing down my cheeks. Everything in me had gone numb from the cold, and the rope had cut off my circulation. And here was my father, telling me they were just being silly kids. No, fuck it.

That was the reason I left the pack, but now I was back here again. STUCK!

“You know what? Leave,” I hissed. He growled, his Alpha wolf hating the disrespect, but he left. 

“I know you sent the wolf to kill me, Amelia."

 She had always wanted to get rid of me, the black spot in her perfect life.

"What are you talking about? Why - I would never do that," she said.

Lies. All lies.

"I know it was you. I know you were the one who told Ella to do that. But you know what, Luna Amelia? I won't die. Not until after I watch you die. And your death, I pray every day, will be cruel. Your eyes crushed into your skull. A stone smashed into-"

"You are a terrible girl. Maybe that's why you never got your wolf," she said with a derisive smile.

"I don't care about the wolf," I only half lied. "Get the hell out."

The door to the room opened and my frown turned into a smile when I saw Liam walking in. 

“Oh, you- you should never, ever do that to me,” he said as he sat next to me. “El, I will kill you if you ever leave without telling me where the hell you are going.”

“Liam, why are you here?” Amelia gave him a bitter look. 

“Because she is my best friend, Luna Amelia." He knew about her, but not everything. "So a wolf tried to kill you?”

“Yes, but how did I end up here?"

"Yeah. Someone saved you. You don’t remember?" Liam asked, taking my hand. ”

Amelia grunted and walked away, leaving us alone. I gazed into Liam’s beautiful hazel eyes, and the pain subsided. “Who saved me?” 

“Some guy. Now go back to sleep, lovely El.”

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