Author's note - Content warning.
This book contains elements of abuse of a sexual, physical and mental nature. I try to be sensitive at all times when dealing with such subjects in the book.
An extra less conventional content warning. This book is based on a character that goes through a “weak to strong” transition. Character development is super important here and the main character could be perceived as “extremely weak” in the first part of the book. I assure you that if you continue to read though this you will see her come out of this “weak” phase and into a much stronger person. Yes, this part had to be involved so that you saw the weight of her development.
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(Harper’s POV)
“There, you are done,” Katie, my best friend, declared and turned me around to look in my full-length mirror. I gasped at the sight of myself. I looked amazing, like really amazing. My normally boring straight brown hair cascaded in curls, framing my face and gracing my bare shoulders. My makeup, which was all silver and white, accentuated my features, from my prominent cheekbones with iridescent sparkles on them to my almond eyes that looked bigger with the silver shadow. And all this was complete with my white lace dress that was fitted to my top and flared out at the waist and fell to just above my knee.
“Oh, Katie, I love it!” I squealed and hugged her.
“Anything for the birthday girl.” She winked as she admired herself in the mirror.
“You never know. The whole pack is going to be there tonight. Your mate could be one of them,” and I squealed again.
The idea that my fated mate could be living here in town right under my nose was enough to send goosebumps fluttering down my skin. And tonight was the night of the midsummer ball. It was a big deal and the Alpha and Luna of the Midnight Moon pack went all out. And it just so happened to fall on my 18th birthday.
When a werewolf turned 18, they had the ability to detect the mate that the moon goddess Diana decided was their perfect mate. It was called a fated bond, and there was nothing that compared to it in power.
“Oh, I hope my mate likes me.” I was suddenly worried. I mean, I was no one special, my family didn’t hold any sort of special rank in the pack, and I wasn’t beautiful like Katie, with her mass of blond waves, piercing blue eyes, and ample chest size. Or even smart like my other best friend Louise, who was currently laid on my bed, refusing to get ready for the ball.
“Why would he not love you?” Katie exclaimed,
“You are stunning and loyal. He would be lucky to have you.”
Louise scoffed over on the bed but remained silent.
Katie stalked over to her. “And you missy need to get your sweet behind ready. We leave in an hour.”
Louise gave her a sideways glance. “Told you I’m not going,” she stated. “I don’t see why I have to dress myself up for the lecherous dogs of this town to paw over in the hopes that they will get into my panties,”
Katie rolled her eyes, and I giggled. Louise was a firm believer in equality and hated pack life and pretty much anything werewolf. She thought the pack ranks favoured patriarchy, and the concept of the fated mates was supernatural mind control; she often declared that she planned on rejecting her mate if and when she met him. She made her opinions very clear, loudly and often. I suspected she might have been kicked out of the pack if her father wasn’t the pack Gamma.
“Louise, it’s my birthday,” I put on my best whiny voice. “Please come and spend it with me.”
Louise glanced at me and scowled. “Fine,” she gave in. “But do not expect me to enjoy myself.”
“Oh, we wouldn’t dream of it,” Katies said sarcastically. “Now up and ready, lady.”
Forty-five minutes later, we were all downstairs in my small living room, with my mum taking pictures of us and my dad telling me how beautiful I looked. The pack colours were black, white, and silver, so all the balls and events had that colour code, and we were expected to comply. My father had a simple black suit with a black tie that held the pack seal in silver. He also had a silver seal on the collar of his jacket, which signalled him as a pack employee. My dad was the bookkeeper for the pack, and whilst there were no rank privileges, it gave the family enough money so that my mum and I were comfortable. My mum wore an elegant black evening gown that hugged her figure and ended just above her silver stiletto heels. Katie wore a silver-grey dress that left nothing to the imagination, and Louise had a black fitted knee-length dress that showed her long legs.
We were all ready apart from one other person. I looked around
“Where’s Tommy?” My mum rolled her eyes, and my dad scowled.
“Probably getting in trouble,” he scoffed.
“Oh dear brother, you injure me with your words.” My uncle Tommy walked in wearing a black tux and white shirt. He was my dad’s much younger brother. In fact, he was only a year older than my sister Susie, who no longer lived with us. She had found her mate in the Star Dawn pack and moved there almost a year ago.
Tommy looked at us and whistled, “Damn ladies, you are looking good tonight.” I rolled my eyes. Tommy had that James Dean bad-boy-type vibe going on, and the girls in our pack went crazy for it. I couldn’t count the number of times girls tried to friend me because they wanted to get close to my uncle. I heard giggling and looked round at Katie, who had the biggest crush on him, which I found totally gross. I mean, he was twenty-five. That age gap was just creepy. But Katie had declared that she and Tommy were mates, and she was eagerly anticipating her 18th birthday to confirm it.
Tommy winked at Katie, which just made her blush, and then grinned at Louise, who just rolled her eyes. He turned to me.
“Happy birthday, kid,” and grabbed a hug.
I scoffed. “Not a kid Tommy. I’m 18 now,”
“Sure you are,” he agreed, “But you’ll always be a kid in my eyes, sprinkle.” I glared at him, which earned me a laugh.
“Ok, let’s get this show on the road,” he declared. Tommy was our designated driver, while my parents would be taking their own car to the pack house. We all filed out into the warm midsummer night with Katie calling shotgun.
The drive was only about five minutes, and before long, we entered the grand hall in the pack house. It was decorated stunningly with silver and black cloth draping from the ceiling and white tea lights and lanterns leading out into the back gardens where the dancefloor was set up.
Tommy held his arms out. “Ladies, may I escort you to the ball,” he said in a mock chivalrous tone. Katie giggled and latched herself onto one arm, and he looked expectantly at Louise, who just glared at him and stormed on ahead. I noticed the brief look of hurt flash across Tommy’s face before the smooth charm replaced it.
“Come on, my lovely niece, let's see if we can find your prince charming” I smiled and looped my arm around his, and we walked into the party.
The room and gardens filled up within the next half hour. After dragging Louise away from arguing with her dad once again, we managed to get a couple of dances before Alpha Daniel Chambers made a speech about the time of the year. He also said that even though the moon governed us, it was important that we must also give thanks to the sun. He talked about the balance of duality, which earned a loud, sarcastic comment from Louise, who was promptly pulled out of the room by the Gamma. Everyone, including the Alpha, laughed. They were used to Louise by now.
As the Alpha was coming to the end of his speech, I heard a noise from behind and saw the Alpha’s son Damien sauntering in with his usual group. Of course, they were late because they could get away with being late. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to the stage when something stopped me.
There it was, the most beautiful scent I had ever smelled. I sniffed again, and my senses were slammed with that rich pine leaves and rustic fire smell, and I knew there and then that my fated mate was in the room somewhere. The smell seemed to be getting stronger every time I smelt it, and my wolf was going mental in my head, begging me to go find my mate. But I couldn’t leave while the Alpha was talking. It was disrespectful and grounds for punishment.
The scent was so strong that I was struggling to concentrate on the words the Alpha was saying, and I was feeling like I was going to pass out. Then I felt people pushing in from behind. I turned and almost growled as they pushed right in between me and Katie. When I saw that it was Damien, the Alpha heir, and lowered my head in submission and hoped he didn’t notice my almost feral glare.
I tried to breathe through the scent now. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get through this when I felt someone’s hand on my arm, and the touch sent electricity running through me, enough to make me gasp, and something came alive in me. I closed my eyes as I felt the hand trail down my arm, and whoever it was slid his hand into mine, entwining our fingers and gently squeezing.
“Breathe, Strawberries…” A husky voice whispered in my ear, and I took a deep breath. I could feel his breath on my ear as he whispered, “Open your eyes, let me see you, mate.”
Shakingly I opened my eyes and looked to the owner of the hand that was gently rubbing his thumb along mine to calm me. Standing next to me was Colton Stokes. Best friend to Damien Chambers and the future Beta of our pack.
(Harper’s POV) Oh my Goddess, oh my goddess. I was currently holding hands with Colton Stokes, and he was my fated mate. I shyly looked up into his eyes through my lashes and saw that he was watching me intensely, and I immediately blushed at the look in his eyes and looked away again. I heard him chuckle, and I blushed even more. Alpha Daniel finished talking, and everyone clapped, and I had to break contact with Colton’s hand so I could clap too. Not that I remembered anything the Alpha had just said. The clapping died down, and I felt sparks on my back as Colton placed his hand on me and began to guide me through the crowd quickly. I made an attempt to look back to see Katie but noticed that she was preoccupied with talking to Damien.
(Harper’s POV) Colton crashed into my bedroom door, pressing me against it. His mouth descended on my neck and sucked on the spot where he would soon leave his mark, right in the crook where my neck met my shoulder. The feel of it sent tingles through my body and turned some heat on inside my lower regions. I let go of him enough to reach around and grab my door handle. It flew open as I turned the handle, and we fell into the bedroom. We landed on the floor, with him on top of me and my legs still around him. “Ow!” I exclaimed as pain laced through my back from the impact, and Colton looked up, shocked. “Shit, Strawberries, sorry.” He pulled himself off
(Harper’s POV)I screamed again, the pain too much to bear as tears streamed down my face. I tried to pull away, but Colton held me tight as he continued to rub circles on my nub while rubbing his hard member against my back. Another wave of pleasure chased the pain around my body. Both sensations seemed to run on endless cycles as I cried out and gripped the sheets that covered us.“That’s it, baby girl,” Colton grunted against my ear “Ride it through,” before he grunted again and I felt warm liquid shoot up my back as he came again. He slowed to a stop as he leaned against me, panting.I began to cry as I felt his lips graze my neck once more, and he wrapped his arms around me, whispering shushing sounds in my ear
(Tommy’s POV)My car screeched into the parking lot of the pack house and I jumped out. I was furious; I wanted to find that little shit and rip him apart. I could hear the music of the party still going. These things normally lasted till past daylight. I was normally one of the last ones left standing, or if I was in bed, certainly wasn’t sleeping.But not this time. Katie had come looking for me, telling me she couldn’t find Harper, and she was worried. I played it down and told her I would look for Harper and to go have fun. That was when she pouted and mentioned something about Damien. She said how he was flirting with her until one of his friends came over and mentioned Colton had bagged that girl, and then he suddenly wasn’t interested. She was very upset about it, but I told her she had a lu
(Harper’s POV)I looked at the ring on my finger, and then back round the room. Tommy had the look of fury on his face. Everyone else was smiling and chatting. Colton was running his hand up and down my arm, and the sparks were making it hard to think straight.I was engaged! To Colton Stokes! At any other time this might have been one of those dream come true moments. Hell, this time yesterday I might have thought that this was my dream come true. But now circumstances were different, very different. I took a step away from Colton and shook my head.“But he rejected me,” I whispered. The Alpha stopped talking and looked directly at me, then I realised my father and the Beta had stopped talking too, and were also looking at me.“What did you say, Harper?” the Alpha asked, his tone oozing with authority. I couldn’t help but bit on the side of my lip. The Alpha was
(Harper’s POV) Everyone looked up as we walked into the dining kitchen. My mum’s eyes zero’d in on Colton’s hand wrapped around mine and grinned. I was thankful to see that Tommy hadn’t left the house and was sitting in the corner of the room. He was glaring at Colton as soon as we walked into the room, but had refused to meet my eyes. The Alpha stood up and smiled “Here they are,” he said cheerfully “Come take a seat my dear, it is your birthday after all,” and then he held his chair out for me. Before I could sit down, though, Colton slid into the seat and then I let out a surprised yelp and he pulled me down onto his knee. He wrapped his arms around my stomach and gently kissed my shoulder before looking around at everyone. “I thought I would save a seat for someone else,” h
(Harper’s POV)I sat on the floor, not moving. If I moved, then I would have to pack and once I had packed then…I didn’t want to move to the pack house; I had lived here in this house my whole life. Even when I go to University in September, it will be a local one so that I can drive home every night and sleep in my bed.“Harper sweetie” I looked at Louise, who had kneeled down beside me and was rubbing my back. “We should get started on some packing” I shook my head.“I don’t want to,” I said, fresh tears welling up in my eyes and Louise pulled me into a hug.“I know sweetie, I hate to say it but I don’t think you have any choice right now” she pulled away and smiled “but plus side, we’ll be living together,” and I smiled back and nodded my head. Louise helped me up off the floor, and I tu
(Harper’s POV)Driving up towards the pack house felt a lot more daunting than it did 24 hours ago. It’s hard to think that this time yesterday I was so excited for the ball and finding my mate. And since then so much has happened.The house wasn’t lit up like last night, most of it was dark. This gave it an eerie feeling. As we drove over, Louise explained the basic layout. The ground floor was where the great hall was, as well as a pack common area and a couple of spare offices. The 1st floor was all the main offices and where the majority of the pack businesses were run from, then the 2nd floor had the entertainment centre and gym which was strictly for named and high ranked as well as important visiting guests, who also stayed on the 2nd floor. Third floor was shared by the Beta and Gamma families and top