Chapter 1

I woke up with a throbbing headache.

Opening my eyes I squinted at the shrill of light attacking my pupils from my bedroom window. A yawn escaped my lips as I wiped the tiredness from my eyes.

Damn, officially the worst hangover ever.

I swallowed a couple of times, swirling my tongue around my dry gums to generate some saliva.

Scratching my head, I unsuccessfully attempted to arrange the unruly strands, eventually allowing the unattractive mop of hair to remain.

I jumped as I felt movement next to me, turning around I looked down at the blonde lying next to me, her curly mass of disorderly hair was spread across the pillow, tickling my arm. I nudged her a couple of times before she got up.

"Michelle, get up." I poked her face, watching as her eyes slowly began to flutter open. Her icy blue orbs stared at me in confusion.

"What the hell?" She questioned coarsely, lifting her wrist to read the time. I jumped when she suddenly began to shout. "It's one pm! Why are we still in bed? Our parents are going to kill us!" Still a little hung over it took me a while to process this information before my eyes finally widened in fear.

My fear heightened as Mich suddenly began to shout again. "Wait, why are we in bed together?"

Simultaneously we peered under the covers, our hearts beating furiously as we checked to see what did or did not lay underneath the cover.

We both relaxed at our fully-clothed attires, we must have passed out at some point.

"Wicked party yesterday Floss, definitely one I'll remember." She laughed, breaking the silence. I tilted my head, baffled until the memories rushed back to me, the events of last night clear in my mind.

"Shit! Michelle you have to leave, now!" I urged, frantically pushing her body off the bed, throwing her hoodie and make up bag along with her.

"What? Why?" She pouted, grabbing the stuff I had carelessly thrown at her.

"My dad gets back from his trip in an hour, that's barely enough time for me to shower and clean up all the mess everybody made yesterday. I'm doomed if he finds out." I was specifically ordered not to have people over yet I did it anyway. I am so screwed. Now I'm panicking. Being the only daughter of the Alpha was never easy especially when you had the reputation of being a nonchalant, reckless teen. My father has constantly threatened to constrict my movements around the territory by caging me to the confines of the pack house and this time I feared, if I messed up again, he'd really do good on his promise.

"Go Mich, hurry." I sighed in relief as she hastily ran out of room.

Blindly reaching for a packet of aspirin and a bottle of water, I popped out two tablets and drank them both.

Slightly better, I immediately got to work, literally sprinting to the living room. I staggered back in shock to find the place squeaky clean and my father, Alpha James, casually sipping on a mug of coffee.

"Ah, morning Felicity, sleep well?" He asked in high spirits, taking another sip from the steaming mug.

"I guess. You're back early." I offhandedly noted.

"Yeah, there was a last minute vacancy in the earlier flight, so I thought, why not? The sooner I see my lovely daughter, the better." He smiled warmly at me. I frowned, searching for any sign of duplicity in his voice.

"Thanks dad." I smiled, going over to the coffee machine to make my own cup.

"But when I came in-" He continued. "-I saw Michelle running out of our house, but I must have been seeing things, right? I mean, I did tell Felicity not to invite anyone over and she would never disobey my orders." He chimed with feigned enthusiasm.

I turned around in dread, cringing inwardly at my father's narrowing eyes, he knew. "Dad..."

"Giving you the benefit of the doubt, I thought nothing of it and went about my normal day; upon opening the door I see a pair of condoms lying on the floor, broken glass everywhere and countless cigarette buds! Felicity you see why I cannot trust you? This is absolutely unexceptable and irresponsible behaviour and this time there will be consequences." Glancing everywhere but at him, I noticed a discarded cigar and bit my tongue, pointing this out would dig an already consuming hole.

I looked up when he cleared his throat. "You are banned from leaving the pack house for two months, under any circumstances. If it is extremely important, come and find me or Toby." I didn't voice out my disagreement at the terms of my punishment, I was expecting it. After all I did completely trash the living room. "Secondly..." I played with my last remaining acrylic nail disinterested; some time during last night I had managed to lose nine of them. "You will accompany me to every meeting with the neighbouring Alphas for the next four months, including the one this afternoon." He finished.

I dropped my mug onto the dining table, staring up at my father, speechless. "You're not serious." There was no way I was going to that three hour seminar amongst middle aged men, I'd rather give up alcohol.

"On the contrary Felicity, we leave in four hours. Go shower, eat, do whatever young girls your age do, but at the stoke of five, we go downstairs to welcome our guests."

"But daddy-"

"No Felicity, I have been extremely lenient with you these several months because I thought it was simply a phase, but that is clearly not the case, so proper discipline will be in order from now on." I didn't have the chance to say anything more, his phone suddenly began to ring and he left to take the call.

I took an enduring chug of the scalding beverage, slamming it onto the table in anger.

"Just great." I muttered, glaring at the shattered mug. Rolling my eyes at the blood pouring down my hand. I quickly washed it off before clearing up the mess.

***

"You're right Alpha Drake, but I don't think we should go for the hawk approach, invading their territory would only result in an immediate retaliation and the last thing we want is mass blood shed within our packs." My father stood tall, emanating power and authority as he outlined the Vampire basis and proposed a plan of action.

I sat still, running my hands through my hair in boredom, I have been here for exactly one hour, watching in annoyance as the men constantly swayed back and forth between a final decision.

I mean seriously, MAKE YOUR MINDS UP!

"Their clan is accumulating to an uncontainable amount and if we don't do something about it quickly, we will be at war - meaning lives lost and communities destroyed - we cannot allow that to happen. I suggest we get somebody on the inside, promise him money, a pack, whatever he wants to ensure we always remain one step ahead." Another Alpha, who's name was unknown to me, suggested. There were so many in the room that my brain simply could not cope with the vast amount of names.

"I agree Alpha Logan, I think this is our best and only option in order to avoid death to our loved ones. Make him swear secrecy before sending him back to the Vampires." Swearing secrecy is a big deal in the world of a werewolf, the promise is thought to be sent directly to the Moon Goddess herself and if it is broken, your mate will die a painful and tragic death within seven days. A myth nobody has dared to fuck with.

One Alpha snorted, his face morphing into that of disgust. "Who would want to be a vampire?"

Another Alpha laughed. "You'd be surprised how much people crave immortality."

"Send a woman in, there are usually the last suspects, it would be much easier to go out and come back unnoticed." Another Alpha input and my eyes widened at his words.

"But they are too fragile, sending them into the front line is risky, if she is found out, she will most certainly crack under the pressure." Alpha Saunders argued, completely disregarding the fact that he was sitting right next to me.

I stood up, clearly not acknowledged in the small meeting room aka my father's office.

"I'm going to get a drink." I announced, leaving the room without waiting for a reply.

The idea of war should scare me, however, I felt nothing except boredom, the thought of Vampires attacking my family and I was daunting, but I was confident it wouldn't come to that, my father was a great leader and he would surely keep us safe.

I was more worried about opposing Alpha's more than Vampires themselves. Opposing Alphas infamously included Jax Fitzgerald, Alpha of the Blue Moon Pack, he had previously been involved in his own Rogue War, coming out victorious without the help of other neighbouring packs. Killing the Alpha's brother, he sent his head to his family; as if that wasn't enough, he seduced the leader's sister to her own demise, enrolling her as a pack low rank for the pleasure of others until she finally killed herself at the news of her family's death. He struck where the Rogue Alpha was most vulnerable and it paid off.

Alpha Jax Fitzgerald was ruthless, powerful and cold, which is partly why he was a valuable asset, everyone needed his cunning mind and without him I saw a loss in our future. While the Chosen have yet to be selected, the chances of them coming from his pack were high.

I felt sorry for the unlucky girl the Moon Goddess entangled him with.

Taking the glass of water with me, I skipped back to the meeting room.

I came to an abrupt halt as a delicious scent wafted through me, the musky aroma of pine cones and spices entwined to produce a scent that could only be described as perfection. Searching for the source of the smell, I gasped as my eyes narrowed onto a tall male, his back was turned to me, but I could already feel my body moving towards him like a magnet. His tousled brown hair blew effortlessly in the breeze of the open window.

He is my mate. He had to be.

I'VE FOUND MY MATE! I looked around in panic.

Hell. No.

Covering my mouth with my hand, I slowly reversed, tip- toeing back the way I came. I was definitely not ready for a mate, not now, not ever.

Turning around I prepared to make my escape until a warm hand rested on my shoulder. "Don't. Move."