Prologue

AMELIA

 Tahoe, twenty-six months ago

 I wondered how long it would take to die. So this was how I died— so brutal— burn to ashes. What did I do to deserve this? Was this what it felt like to be trapped in hell for eternity?

 Smoke and fire were the only things I could see, obliterating the home where I grew up.

 “Help!” I screamed out loud as I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them as I watched the fiery flames devour my bedroom door, leaving me no way to escape. The crackling sound was horrifying.

 I was the weakest, the tiniest in the pack. At sixteen, I couldn’t even call myself a werewolf as I hadn’t shifted yet, which always got me bullied.

 Tears blurred my eyes. Thick smoke began suffocating my lungs, making it hard to breathe. Sweat covered my whole body as heat seemingly slowly melted my skin.

 I’d never been so terrified in my entire life until today as the flames began crawling over the pink carpeted floor. In point of fact, I didn’t want to die this way. If I only had another chance, but there was no other option. I didn’t make miracles. Though I prayed to the Moon Goddess, she wasn’t listening anymore.

 “Zeph! Mom! Dad! Please, help!” I coughed furiously. I could no longer see anything in my room.

 Windows. I swiftly turned to the window, it was covered with a huge flame, too.

 “I’m so sorry.” I laid back in bed and curled myself into a ball, accepting my fate. As I endured the pain, I kept the beautiful memories in my thoughts before the fire began licking my skin, and what it was like a hot molten ball of fire struck me from behind, exploding my lungs.

 I arched my back and clutched my shirt, gasping as an excruciating pain erupted in my chest. My eyes were cracked wide as I stared up at the burning ceiling.

 Was this what it felt like to be burned alive?

 I crawled off the burning bed, and then out of nowhere, I smelled pines. For a split second, a strong wind roared in a rush and charged through the room.

 A tall man with flowy long white hair appeared. I couldn’t see his face, but I was sure he was a man. The last thing I heard was an airy and soft voice before I passed out. “You’re not going to die today.”

***

I woke up dripping with sweat. My entire body felt like burning from the inside, yet I was shivering, and chilling from the outside. I licked my dry lips, as parched as if I was left to die somewhere in the desert.

 How was I still alive? Was I still alive? I heard murmurs from behind the walls. I turned and twisted in bed. My chest was so painful that it was run over by a truck, and flattened by a roller.

 When my body trembled again, I mumbled, “Mom.”

 The door creaked, and someone came in— it was my adoptive brother. I could smell his scent—a woodsy, musky, and spiced. Then I felt a hand on my forehead.

 “Amelia, can you hear me?”

 “Z-Zeph?”

 “Yes, it’s me.” The mattress shifted. “I’m glad you’re awake now.”

 “How long?”

 “Three days. You were at the hospital for three days, but even Mom couldn’t figure out what was going on with you. We can’t risk you getting poked by the doctors and finding out our secret, so we brought you to the pack house. You’re in my room.”

 “I thought I died.” My teeth tattered.

 “Me, too. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you when it happened.” Zeph held my hand.

 “You were saving the world. You saved it.” My brother was with Alpha Ryden trying to save our world from a monster Cyrius. I was glad they did.

 “What happened, Am?”

 I cracked my eyes open. They were blurry at first, until his tired worried face became clear. What I wasn’t expecting was the shock on his face—  his eyes bulged, staring at me.

 I cleared my throat. “W-what’s wrong?”

 He let my hand go and stood up, then stepped back in terror.

 “You’re scaring me, Zeph.”

 “I’m sorry, Am.” The way he swallowed hard, scared me.

 I looked at myself. I was wearing jammies that I didn’t recognize they were mine. I patted my face. I didn’t see any burns, nor did my arms or hands. Then it hit me.

 My heart started to pound as I lifted my gaze at my brother. “What happened?”

 “I was hoping you could tell me.”

 “I’m sorry about the house. Where are Mom and Dad?”

 “They’ll be here soon. They’re worried about you. We thought—” He swallowed hard again. “We thought we’d lost you. How is it even possible, Am? No one could have survived that fire.”

 “I don’t know.” I pulled the blanket over my body when I began to shake again. “Can I get a Tylenol, please?”

 “Let Mom check you first.” I could still hear the worry in his voice no matter how hard he tried to look strong.

 I shut my eyes when it was too much. “I didn’t burn the house.”

 “You know, people think you were suicidal after the bullying.” He came back to sit on his bed, putting the wet towel on my forehead.

 I gasped as the cold towel pressed against my skin. “I swear to the Goddess, I didn’t set the house on fire. I was sleeping, Zeph. You believe me, do you?”

 “Of course.”

 “That’s all I need.”

 I might have passed out again. I woke up with the yellow light illuminating the room from the lamp on the nightstand.

 I sucked in a breath as I felt that I wasn’t alone. A tall shadow lurking in the corner of the room moved, and I knew exactly who was it without seeing his face.

 Then the scent of intense deep woodsy amplified the fresh citrusy and cedar, a note of captivating vanilla that left a trail of heightened sensuality.

 I sucked another breath as Alpha Ryden stood straight and took steps in my direction. My heart began to pump so hard. It made it hard to breathe.

 He stopped just right at the foot of the bed and stared at me intensely. With his smell getting so strong it blew my mind. I could barely hear when he called my name. Apparently, his scent became like the most delicious thing on earth. It was addicting.

 And then it hit me.

 “I want you to leave this pack, this land, my land, and never come back.”

 My eyes widened as I swallowed the lump in my throat. “W-why? What did I do?”

 “You’re an abomination that I can’t afford to destroy my pack.”

 “I didn’t do it.” My voice shook. My chin trembled. My eyes began to water as I lifted my gaze, meeting his.

 His deep green eyes were like a dark forest, full of mystery and danger but I was willing to take the risk to explore. Until he added, “You will leave tonight or I will kill your family, including your brother if you tell a soul about this.”

 “Don’t do this, please?” I would give everything and do anything for him not to harm my family. I shook my head as tears began to form in my eyes. “I can’t.”

 “I, Ryden Braxton, Alpha of Crimson Heart Pack, reject you, Amelia Hayes, Omega, as my mate and future Luna. I banish you from the pack and my land and never to return.”

 I shook to cry, feeling the agony erupted in my chest. 

He just rejected me, tearing my heart apart so ruthlessly without a hint of regret.

 Before he walked to the door, he paused. “And have fun on your 18th birthday.”