Chapter 1

Most feel obliged when they eventually discover who their mate is. And there are others who think it is the perfect work of the moon goddess no matter the circumstances surrounding it. Well, I'm among the latter but not in the loving type of way. But if you were to look into my case deeply, you could say it's in the most sinister way possible.

I believe the moon goddess knows my purest intentions. She knew I had big plans, a goal to accomplish, and she served it to me on a platter of gold. And for that, I'll forever be grateful to her.

Others might not know this, but I, for one, know the moon goddess has a synchronicity with our thoughts. She knows every little thing we feel, down to our hidden desires, and has everything planned out for us. I know it may sound cheesy to sound like only I know just how the moon goddess works, but what she did for me is worth rambling on and on… only in my mind.

Ten years ago, I had watched my parents die right in front of me. Not precisely, though, because my mother was already gone before I had gotten out of my hiding place. That day, however, will forever be imprinted in my memory.

I can still remember their screams as they were being tortured by those gruesome beings, by those uncanny beings who obviously had enjoyed watching them bleed to their death. If it hadn’t been for my father's timely intervention, I am sure I wouldn’t be here to tell my tale.

My father has always been extra cautious of the things I did, even before the attack by the unknown forces. Although I had been a little girl, I was much too observant of the happenings around me at that time. Not being allowed to play anywhere else other than within the territory of the packhouse had been among the restrictions put upon me by my father. The worse had been my father hindering me from hardly mingling with the ones that were supposed to be my playmates.

The whole event of that day had started with the sounds of gunshots coupled with the screams of our pack members. Being that we were werewolves, we are immune to ordinary bullets due to our fast healing capacities. So when we had heard the screams of our pack members, we knew it could only mean one thing. The enemy attacking us was using the one thing that was lethal to us, our very own weakness — silver bane.

As my father was the Alpha of our pack, he was to go out and do something to protect our pack members. But on that day, I had seen him being hesitant. I might have been young at the time, but I knew something prevented him from performing his duties. What it was, I wasn't even sure of and couldn't even tell. All I knew was that he had been looking at me with so much worry in his eyes.

Once my father had noticed the presence of those beings that had eventually been the end of his life and my mother's, he had hastily taken me away from the living room, almost at the point of dragging me across the hallway. There was a secret chamber underground inside the building, a place that is only known and could be accessed only by members of the Alpha family, including me. It was because of a sealing force that needed only the blood of the Alpha bloodline to get it unsealed.

My father had cut himself with a pocket knife which he had produced out of his pocket. After that, he raised his hand over the path where I believed the seal was, and as droplets of his blood touched the floor, the seal went off. I knew that because I felt a burst of energy leave the area. All the while, I could see my father trembling, but he was trying to put up a bold front for me.

He had opened up the secret chamber and had chosen to hide me in there. Before he went out of the room, he had warned me not to make a single noise so that those murderers wouldn't find me out. I had to give him a nod as I had been too scared to speak.

My fear had almost given me out when I began hearing the slashes of probable swords and other weapons, but I had swallowed my dilemma all through. To perfect my discreetness, I had chanted a melody my mother used to sing for me whenever I was having difficulty concentrating, and it had worked for me. Even when I heard my mother's scream and my father's call to her, I had ensured not to give out my identity. But my heart couldn't take it anymore because I knew what was going on. And with that, tears had flown out of my eyes without restrain.

The next sound that had followed was that of my father after a gunshot had gone through. That cry he had made was more than I could handle. I had heard something like a question about my whereabouts, but I decided to put it as a passing air.

“Where is she?”

Before, I had thought it had been a passing air, but as I heard that gruesome voice, I could tell that it was one of the attackers.

"Where is she?" the question was asked, and at the same time, I heard the sound of a gun go off. My panic had set in again, and I instantly pushed myself to a corner.

My father's torture went on and on, and even when I couldn't hear his voice and that of his torturers anymore, I made sure I stayed in the chamber.

It took over an hour, but when I was sure I was safe, I had gone out of the secret chamber to check on my parents. As soon as I stepped out of the chamber, I discovered an inferno that was getting wild already. I wasn't sure what had happened to my parents, and even though I feared the worst, I was hoping they were still alive.

But when I had seen them in the pool of their blood, I had screamed like a mad dog. In tears, I had rushed over to their seemingly lifeless bodies. That sight had been a tremendous trauma for the eight-year-old me.

I wasn't even sure who to check on first as I couldn't bear seeing them that way. But when I heard a slight cough from my father (it had been faint, but I had still heard it), I had rushed over to his body.

“F– Father,” I had called out in tears as I bent over to him. “F– Father, are you okay?”

"Come…" his voice had come out so croaked, but I had obliged all the same and moved closer to him. I had seen how much he was struggling to keep up with his life even before I had gotten closer to him. Soon as I was very much close to him, he had said just one word to me, "McKenzie."

And he died.

Yes, I had cried bitterly, but that single word had been clear to me then. My father was telling me the name of his killer right before he died. And I had been sure he was supposedly passing a message for me to avenge his death. Even as a kid, I had gotten the message. It was as clear as crystal, even though I didn't know what led to his death. I still am not sure, but the fact that I had the name of his killer was more than enough to set me on a path.

On that day, I had sworn on his dead body and that of my deceased mother to avenge their deaths no matter what it was going to take. I had stayed watching and crying my eyes out over their dead bodies for a long time, but when I had heard the creak of the building furniture, I had been quick to react. It was funny that I could withstand the heat of the flames for so long, and even up until now, I have no candid explanation for that.

Fortunately for me that day, I had been quick to exit the house before it finally collapsed to the ground, destroying every memory I've ever had of the place in the eight years of my life. My parents were gone too, and so were the rest of my pack. And so I ran.

That was ten years ago. And I had held on to that word. As fate would have it, I was presently on my way to the residence of my parents' killers. Not on a courtesy visit, and definitely not to take out my revenge just yet. But I was going there to be part of their family because I have been made a mate to the household's son. And it was there I would begin to execute my plan to take them out one after the other.