Chapter 1

Part 1

I'm from a lost place. A place that seems to be nothing more than a small mountain town, nestled in the forest and kept from the world. People don't come around here, and that's how we like it. We are free to be ourselves that way.

I grew up in the trees. We have our houses and stores and parks and other things that humans have grown accustomed to, but we spend most of our time outside, in the breeze and under the stars. That's one thing I'll regret leaving behind—the magic of the mountain night sky. My mother says that in the cities you can't see a thing, only darkness.

But sometimes even the mountain night sky doesn't show enough. I want to see everything. Every star and planet and galaxy—everything that may or may not be—but I had to give up on that dream as I grew up. So I'll settle for the world. I'll hike every mountain range and walk along every beach; I'll get lost in towering cities and lay in flowering fields on rolling hills. I want the freedoms that a human girl my age would have.

My world, well, it has many ways of tying one down.

My mother ignores me when I talk about traveling and adventuring. She says true happiness is in the family—the pack.

She says a lot of things regarding the way I should live my life. My father doesn't say so much. He knows of my ambitions but is far too busy with his position to waste precious family time arguing. As our Alpha's Beta, he's gone early in the morning and doesn't get back till late at night. I thought that maybe it bothered my mother as much as it bothers me, but she's proud to be mated to a Beta.

She only hopes that I get so lucky.

"But if my mate is a Beta, I'll have to leave for—for forever," I counter.

My mother sits down at the table after preparing our dinner. She looks over her plate and picks up her fork. "You're right. I had to leave my pack for months, traveling around just to find my mate with the other girls of age, just as you'll have to now that we know your mate isn't here. Now, maybe if your father wasn't so important we could move to your mate's pack, but, well, things are how they are."

I poke around at my food and say, "You know I'm not doing that."

"Don't, Brigette. Don't start."

I swipe the long, black strands of hair from my face and sit back. My mother tries to ignore me, but she steals glances at my defiance. "I just think it's a waste. Going from pack to pack, possibly across the world just to see if some random guy is my mate. All of these beautiful places, but those girls don't see any of it. I don't even want—"

The sound of her fork hitting her plate cuts me off. She takes a breath. I close my lips, knowing that pushing her buttons won't get me anywhere.

"Where's Dad?" I ask. It's best to change the subject before she goes on a tangent about mates and how much they matter to us.

"You know where he is. I'm sure he'll come home as soon as he can."

It isn't until we've both finished eating that I hear the front door open. I glance to my mother from the table. She's cleaning up in the kitchen, but she stops and calls, "Dale?"

Dad appears from around the corner, his chest sinking as air pours out of him. He's tired—long day—but he always manages to come over and kiss the top of my head.

"I'll heat up your plate," Mom says.

He pulls out the chair beside me and sits down. "What took so long?" I ask.

"We have an Alpha visiting from another pack in a few days," he tells us. "We were finishing up some plans. Actually, the Alpha invited all of us for dinner when the visitors get here."

"Oh," my mother breathes, "how lovely. Please, send the Alpha our thanks."

My Dad glances to me as he says, "Yes, yes, I will." He frowns a little at my face. The last thing I want to do is attend some fancy dinner party for a bunch of high-standing men. "It's just one dinner," he tells me. "All you have to do is say hello, eat, and say thank you."

"How many hours?"

He shrugs. "No more than three."

My lips part. "Three?"

"Brigette, stop it," my mother says as she places my Dad's plate down in front of him. "You can see the Alpha's daughter again. You know how much she likes you."

Our Alpha's daughter is fourteen. All she likes talking about is her first shift nearing and then being able to find her mate. I can't understand why she's waiting for such things already. Her first shift is two years away and her mate at least another four. However, she loves to talk to me about mates because I'm able to find mine. Every time I see her, she asks if I've found him.

I give my Dad another look and he squeezes my shoulder reassuringly.

"I don't know, some Alpha is coming. I guess they get here tomorrow."

"Really? Sounds exciting."

I shake my head. "I have to go to a welcome dinner with my family. The only person I have to talk to is Amabell."

Lindsey and I walk through the forest toward the lake where we often hang out as the sun sets. There is a lovely view there of the sun falling behind the mountains. I had to get out of the house. My mother wouldn't stop rummaging through my closet for something for me to wear tomorrow night.

"Amabell isn't so bad," Lindsey says, trying to make me feel better. "Besides, how many people can say they've been in a room full of Alphas and Betas and Lunas? I don't know about you, but important people are so interesting. It's just exciting to be around them."

"It's less exciting when your Dad is one of them," I say.

"Well, I wish I could go to something like that. If anything, you know there's going to be good food."

We come up to the lake. A gentle fog has settled over the water in the distance, and it draws near as the last bits of color drain from the sky. There are a few fallen trees that we have made into seats by the water's edge. I lay on my back as Lindsey sits next to my head. We relax in the soft noise of the wakening forest around us, but it isn't long until Lindsey shifts beside me and asks, "What are you going to do? You know, out there alone?"

I peer up at her dropped face. "I've told you. I'm going to see the world. I going to swim in the Mediterranean Sea and climb through the A****n jungle. I'm going to do everything."

"And how are you going to get to all those places? What about money and safety and your family?"

I slowly lift up as I say, "I'll figure it out. I have some money saved up, and safety isn't an issue when you're like us. I'll hitchhike, be a stowaway, sneak—"

"And your family?"

"What about them? They'll be here. My Dad will continue as our Beta and my mom will continue to enjoy it."

Lindsey peers to the side. "But you're their only child."

"Maybe I'll come back for a visit or two," I shrug. "They know that this is what I want. I'm sure it won't be a surprise."

"And your mate?"

"I don't have one."

"Not yet," she reminds me. "But you will."

I watch her sweet face. "I'll be gone before that happens. And trust me, I won't be nearing any pack territories while I'm off."

Lindsey sighs and grabs a pebble from the ground. She fiddles with it before tossing the thing into the water, making a plunking sound as it disappears. I too face the water. Only a faint glow from the sun is left above the mountains.

"We've been friends for a long time," she says.

"I know. You're the only person who gets me here. You're the only person that can see past the pack and mates and all of that."

Lindsey turns to me, swinging one of her legs over the tree trunk to the other side. "So what am I supposed to do when you just run away?"

I swallow. "Well, you have Timothy."

"Yeah, I know, but you're my best friend."

My shoulders drop. I think for a moment then say, "What about that time you said you'd come with me?"

"That was before I found Timothy, Brigette."

"Mates," I murmur. "Now do you see why I don't want one?"

"Hey, I love Timothy. I-I wouldn't give him back for anything."

"I know. We just want different things. You like having a mate. You like being a part of a pack, and I don't, so I have to do what's best for me."

Lindsey falls silent for a moment. "So when are you leaving then?"

"I don't know. Soon, I think. It's about time."

"Will—will you at least say goodbye before you do?"

I glance over, hating the sad look on her face. "Of course. You'll be the last person I see before I go, okay? And if—when I come back, you're the first person I'll look for."

Lindsey takes a breath. Her lips part but before she can speak, a presence from behind us steals her attention. She turns to the shadowed trees and softens. A grey wolf steadily emerges from the darkness. Timothy.

"Looks like your mate's come to bring you home," I say lightly, standing up.

She looks back at me. "He doesn't like when I'm out here too late."

"It's fine," I say. "Go on. I'm going to stay here for a little while longer."

"Are you sure? We can walk you back."

"I'm sure."

Lindsey smiles and makes her way to her mate's side. Her hand strokes the wolf's face in adoration. "Okay, I'll see you later then. And don't stay out too late."

"I won't," I assure her and watch as the two vanish between the trees, heading in the direction of the town's center.

My chest rises and falls as I look back to the lake, out at the water that's growing blacker by the minute. I could leave now if I wanted. I would be keeping my promise to Lindsey; she would have been the last person I've spoken to before escaping. If I left now I would also miss the dinner party that's looming over me like an exam or a doctor's appointment. However, I don't know how to get in and out of the house with both my parents home. I'd have to grab a few things.

The moon appears above me as grey clouds push out of the way. Moonlight shimmers against the water, giving me a peek into the beauty that's out there for me to see. Imagine the moonlight in Paris, over the Eiffel Tower, or the sunrise from a glacier in Greenland.

My eyes close as I picture all these magical places in my head.

I-I should probably go back—just for now. But I'll leave soon.

I promise myself that I'll leave soon.