CHAPTER ONE

VIRGINIA POV

"MOM!"  I scream as I am staring at the car that is engulfed in flames in horror.  I try to run to it but I am being held in place by heavy chains and all I can do is to watch as I stop hearing her screams!  Just as I am about to blackout from the trauma of having to watch my mom burning to death trapped in a car, I am jerked awake by something connecting, hard to my jaw!  I jolt up into a sitting position on my bed.  I looked around slowly while I held my jaw.  I  freeze when I see my abuser standing a little too close to my bed.  He is clenching and unclenching his left hand as I see bruises begin to shadow his knuckles from the contact it made with my jaw.

I managed to work out the soreness in my jaw by flexing it from side to side.  "What can I do for you this morning, Neil?"  I asked calmly. By now I know the drill.  I need not to piss him off, which has become increasingly more difficult lately.  It seems that anything will set him off and I am the one that will be on the receiving end of his aggression.

"You know what you can do for me."  He states with barely controlled anger.

I finally meet his eyes and, pure fear consumes me with the level of barely controlled rage I see in those hazel eyes.  "N-No...I...I don't...k-know!"  I stuttered out.  Whatever is going on with him this morning isn't going to be good for me!

The flame just increases in his eyes as he slides his gaze slowly over my body, sending shivers down my spine as my body steels itself for the beating it's about to receive.  I saw recognition cross his face at my body's natural reaction.  He takes a step towards me and before I can register what is happening, his hand shoots out and he grabs a handful of my hair and yanks me out of bed and onto the floor in front of him.

"You are going to do everything that I say. If you don't, I will give you a beating like you have never had!  Nod your head if you understand what I am saying to you!"

I swallow the lump in my throat as I feel tears sting my eyes.  I feel his grip tighten and the pain is so unbearable that I yelp in pain.  I slowly nod that I understood.

"That's a good girl, now pull down my pants and boxers."  His voice thick with anticipation.

My hands trembled as I grabbed the top of his jeans and boxers.  I closed my eyes as I pulled down and released his jeans once they reached the floor.

"Now open your eyes and then you are going to grip my cock with your hands and stroke me until I am hardened."  His deep voice reverberated throughout the room.

I slowly opened my eyes and hesitated briefly before grabbing him.  I was trying my best to keep the bile down so my punishment wasn't worse than it is now.  I stared at the floor as my hands moved almost mechanically along his cock.  I choked back a sob as I felt him harden beneath my hands.

"Look at me!"  He growled out.

Tears were streaming down my face when I looked at him.  "Please c-can I-I stop...n-now?"  I practically begged him.

He just smiled down at me.  "Why would I let you stop when you are being such a good little slut?"  He closed his eyes as he groaned in pleasure.  After a few moments, he looked back at me.  "Now I want to feel your mouth on my cock, but if you bite me I will snap all of your teeth out of your mouth!"

I'm full on sobbing by this point.  I close my eyes as he shoves my head towards his cock.  I don't open my mouth for fear of vomiting on him.  I felt his other hand grip my chin hard, forcing my mouth open due to the pain of his grip.  He then takes that opportunity to shove his cock deep into my mouth.  I involuntarily gagged at the intrusion.  His grip on my hair tightens even more.

"If you throw up on me, I just might have to do more drastic things to you until you lose the reflex to gag!"

I am completely frozen by fear now and I need my mind to detach from what is happening and all I can think about is the happy times I had with my mom and how loved I felt.  By the time I came back to reality, Neil was just finishing in my mouth and forced me to swallow all of his seed.

"You are definitely better than your mother was!  You are a treasure that I plan on keeping ALL to myself!"  Neil spoke as he caressed my cheek.  He then pushed me away from him so hard that my head connected to the floor with a loud thud.  Pain shot through me and small spots adorned my vision.  The nausea came back and I barely had time to roll over before I threw up everywhere.

"Now look what you did."  Neil tsked.  "Get yourself cleaned up and I will be up with your dress.  After all, you only graduate from High School once in your life and my little treasure must look her best."  He said as he pulled his pants back up and zipped them.  He threw me another look over his shoulder and licked his lips as he looked at me on my hands and knees on the floor.  He paused momentarily before finally leaving my room and slamming the door behind him.  I crumpled to the floor in a sobbing mess.  My brain still could not comprehend what just happened!  I mean, it's not the first time Neil has abused me, but it was the first time that he has done anything sexual to me!

I take a few calming breaths and slowly stand up and head towards the bathroom.  I shut and lock the door before I take my clothes off and step into the shower.  I just stand under the running water and try to wash away the disgust I have with myself for being so weak!  I reach up and turn the temperature up to the point that the water is scalding my skin, hoping to burn off his touch.  Nothing seemed to help, so I finished washing up and got out of the shower stall to dry off.

I wrap the towel around me and head towards the door.  I grab the handle and pause trying to get my nerves under control.  I can't let Neil know how he affects me.  I take a couple of deep calming breaths and open the door expecting to find Neil in my bedroom but I am shocked to find a black box sitting on my bed and Neil nowhere to be found.

I cautiously approached the bed and eyed the box.  There is a card on top so I open it and what is written on it has my hands trembling.

                                  -GINNY-

                                  WHEN I SAW THIS DRESS I THOUGHT OF

                                  YOU AND HOW DELICIOUS YOU ARE GOING

                                  TO LOOK IN IT!

                                                                                -N-

My hand covers my mouth as I drop the card down on the bed.  I haven't opened the box yet, afraid of what I am going to find.  After about 10 minutes of just staring at the box, I finally opened it.  I pulled out a cocktail dress with thin spaghetti straps.  The fabric is Chiffon and the color reminds me of the night sky when there is a full moon!  It's absolutely beautiful but also very revealing.  My fingers barely caress the material before I am paralyzed with the realization that I won't be able to wear a bra with this dress!  I have no strapless bras and I don't know what I am going to do.  I pull the dress completely out of the box and find a black strapless bra lying on the bottom of the box.

I grab it and see that the bra is my exact size!  How did Neil know my size?  I know that he has never shopped with me when I buy my under things and I have never told him I do all of my own laundry when he is not home.  The only way for him to know is if he went into my room and rummaged through my clothes!  That thought alone had me quickly scanning the  room looking for anything out of place.  After noticing nothing out of place, I decide that I need to get dressed before I am late for my own graduation.

I put light make-up on and keep my long curls down and grab a pair of black flats and once I am sure that I am ready to face the day, I head downstairs.  I am met with Neil's heated gaze.  I refrain from meeting his gaze and try not to shudder as I stand there in the entranceway.  I reach for  my jacket but Neil grabs it before my hands can get to it.  He opens it and holds it up for me, waiting for me to come to him.

I hold my breath as I walk towards him and turn so he is facing my back as I put my arms into the sleeves.  He lets his hands linger on my shoulders a little too long.  I can feel his body coming closer to me and I can feel his breath on my cheek as he speaks into my ear.  "I knew that you would look beautiful in this dress!"  He begins to kiss my neck and onto my shoulder before he speaks again.  "You are making it very difficult for me to control myself, my little vixen!"

I bite my tongue to keep from saying something that I will get punished for.  I slowly stepped away from his touch and headed for the door.  "I don't want to be late for graduation."

He narrows his eyes at me but doesn't say anything and grabs his keys.  He has refused to allow me to get a vehicle even though mom let me get my license before she died.  He hasn't allowed me to have any of the money from her life insurance, but he is also not aware that mom put some money into an account for me that I couldn't access until I turned eighteen and graduated high school.

Once I have my diploma in my hands, I plan on escaping and starting a new life somewhere far, far away!  I just had to survive another month in this house that I once called home, but has since became my prison!      

BRAXTON POV

Today is my eighteenth birthday and I am supposed to find my mate.  I am also the soon to be Alpha of my pack.  Today is the ceremony that will make me the new Alpha.  I am really excited to finally be able to take on being Alpha and also to find the one that the Moon Goddess made for me, the other half of my soul.  My wolf, Jackson, is anxiously pacing inside my head, giving me a headache.  Dude, can you please stop pacing!  You are making my head hurt.

Sorry, I just really wanted to find my mate, normally we would have had an inkling at the age of sixteen if our mate was in our pack.

Traditionally, most Alphas can already tell who their mate will be if they smell them on their sixteenth birthday.  On my sixteenth birthday, my mother invited every single she-wolf in our pack, hoping I would get lucky and find a mate from our pack.  She was more disappointed than I was when we didn't find her.  She has been planning my eighteenth birthday celebration since then and she has invited every single she-wolf from all of the surrounding packs, whether we have an alliance with them or not.  She seems really desperate to find me a mate.  I am just putting my tie on when both my parents enter my room.  My mother comes up to me and helps me finish making up my tie and runs her hands down my suit, straightening it.

"You look very handsome my dear."  My mother gushes at me.

"Thank you mom."  I leaned down to give her a quick kiss on her cheek.

"You look like an Alpha should look, son."  My father says as he gives me a hand shake.

I smiled at him with a thank you, then school my features to professionalism.  My father is one that will always show professionalism at all times, making it hard to figure out what he was thinking most of the time.  I always feel like I have to always make him proud of me, because I am never told that he is proud of me, but my mom always says that his is he just doesn't say it.  At first it bothered me a lot, but I soon became used to it.

"Have you decided who is going to be your Beta and Gamma?"  Dad asked me.

I nodded my head.  "Christian is going to be my Gamma and Rollings is going to be my Beta." 

He nods appreciatively.  "Those are excellent choices son."

Rollings is the son of our current Beta and my best friend who is always there to keep me in line when he needs to and always has my back when I need him.  He has already saved my life more times than I can count.  He has yet to find his mate, but I'm pretty sure that he will find her very soon.  Christian and I have been friends since we were 8 years old. He is originally from our neighboring pack, Midnight Pheonix.  His parents, the Alpha and Luna, and baby sister were killed by a band of rogues.  My parents found him in a pile of dead bodies, waiting to be burned! He barely survived and his psyche was so damaged that he was suicidal.  When Rollings and I first saw him, something just clicked and we have been as thick as thieves since.

Boys you had better be ready!

We are!  They replied in unison.

I cut the link and headed towards the door before my parents stopped me. 

"Braxton, we need to talk to you before we head to the ceremony."  My mother tells me, timidly.

I know that voice, she only does that when she is about to say something that is going to piss me off.  I straightened my back and slowly turned to face them.  "What is it that you want to talk to me about?"

My father is quick to answer, knowing that he can deal with my temper better than his mate can.  "Well, first of all, happy birthday and second of all, we have decided that if, for some reason, you do not meet your mate tonight, then you will only have until your twentieth birthday to either find your true mate or choose a mate."

Both my wolf and I are immediately up in a rage!  "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN?!"  I can tell that my eyes are black when my mother immediately shrinks back away from me.  My father is in defense mode and his wolf, Blake, is bristling about to attack if there is any reason too.

"BRAXTON! Son, you need to calm down so that we can discuss this in a calm manner."  My mother is pleading with me.

My chest is heaving so badly with the amount of control I am trying to use.  I don't want to attack my parents. What kind of Alpha will I make if I do that?

Jackson, dude, we need to calm down and listen to them. I am trying to get my wolf under control before the shit hits the fan.

I will not take a chosen mate, I will only have my true, moon goddess given mate!

Me either dude, please just cool off, we will go for a very long run after the ceremony, I promise, okay?

Fine.  He slowly recedes to the back of my mind and sulks.

I take a deep calming breath and when I open my eyes again I know that all my parents see is my dark grey eyes staring back at them.  "Jackson and I both agree that we will not take a chosen mate. We will wait for as long as it takes for our one true mate."

Both my parents shake their heads.  "Braxton, you have duties and responsibilities to the pack and your people.  This is not up for debate. If you do not have a mate by your twentieth birthday, then I will take back your Alpha title!"

I barely had Jackson under control with this new threat!  I knew that my father was stubborn and he would do as he said without hesitation, but I also know that if I prove myself to the pack and my people, then what he says will no longer be a threat.  That thought was my only light at the end of this dimming tunnel I found myself in.

"Then, if that is all, we still have a ceremony to attend," I said through gritted teeth.  "Unless you have already changed your mind and not make me Alpha?"

Both my parents head towards the door and school their expressions into professionalism, yet again.  "We have not changed our minds."

They head out first, then I take a little extra time to get better control over Jackson.  I took deep calming breaths and decided that I would speak with Rollings and Christian about what just happened after I let my wolf blow off some steam.  Are you ready for this, Jackson?

Our parents aren't going to know what hit them, and I'm looking forward to finding our mate!  Let's do this!