Chapter 1

“Mine,” Dante growls from beside his father, beginning to move. Towards the centre of the shifting circle.

“No, No, No.” Aretha’s eyes widened as she stiffened at his voice. After years of his bullying her, she wasn’t sure what his endgame was this time, and she wasn’t sticking around to find out.

She bolts, leaving the man who just claimed her in front of the whole pack just standing there.

His face went pale with shock; he didn’t know what to do. Should he go after her? Should he just wait till she calms down and comes back to the packhouse and try talking to her in the morning?

“What did you expect her to do? What, run into your arms? After you've been an asshole for years since you became step-siblings-. Both of your fathers signed a mating contract at her birth, yes, but she never asked for that, just as much as you hadn’t.” The voice paused, before continuing, “But to find out the guy who has made her life hell since her mother mated with your father to join the packs together after the passing of their late mates to make things easier when the time came for you two to take over, you just…man, I have no words.” His best friend and future Beta Oscar said, folding his arms across his chest.

He just stood there, his face blank, like he had been hit repeatedly, and in some way, maybe he had.

“I…I didn’t know she was my mate,” Dante managed.

“Like that should have mattered, your fathers were friends, close ones, and if my father told me this correctly, it was your father that suggested the mating contract, not hers, after her father helped defend our pack before she was born.” Oscar pointed out, matter-of-factly.

“What? No, that can’t be right, that’s not…”

“What your uncle told you, of course, not after all the packs are one now, so it no longer mattered what he told you, because he knew how much you hated the contract and, in turn, her, so he played on it.” Oscar paused, watching the Alpha Heir and his best friend as the distress of his wolf began to take over his body. “Man, you didn’t know, but you have always had a thing for her, you’ve been in love with her for years, even though you showed her the opposite, and that’s why she took off because she wasn’t sure if you would reject her like you always have or worse.”

“Why would he do that? Why would my uncle do such a thing?” Dante said, dread pooling in his stomach.

“Why else, so that the pack never fully expects Aretha as Luna beyond those from her father’s Moon’s River pack before becoming one with our pack, Blue Moon, after her mother mated with your father to make things easier for both of them, single parents with a pup each that would one day wed each other, made sense to bring you together both packs sooner rather than later. Not many pack members seem to remember that Aretha was Alpha born herself, then there would be others who hope that the rest forget and only have her as Luna on paper to fulfil the agreement.” Oscar said, running his hand through his hair, completely over what he had watched play out over the years.

Dante began to move without saying a word in the direction that Aretha had run off, as a she-wolf that had been seen by members of the Blue Moon pack as a better option for the Luna role of Aretha. She stepped forward into Dante’s path, her face a mask of concern, although fake, it would look genuine to anyone who didn’t know better, and she knew all too well that it always worked on Dante, so tonight shouldn’t be any different.

“Not now, Fawn. I need to go after my mate and bring her home; I need to speak with her alone,” Dante growled. Both sides of him united as one in purpose to find their fated mate.

“Your mate,” Fawn repeated, her voice dropping with fake heartbreak and fake tears welling in her eyes, “but…but,” her voice broke to add to the drama, “You told me that you don’t even like her, and you couldn’t believe that you were being forced to mate with a nasty gold-digger of a wolf because she has always bullied me ever since she moved to the pack house. And you wished that I was your fated mate to get away from her.”

Dante froze midstep as Fawn’s words hung in the air like a blade. -Leave her, she’s trying to trick us.- His wolf Midnight growls in his mind.

“Interesting, you say so, Fawn,” called a voice from behind her. She turned slowly to find Isaac, the Delta Heir, standing there leaning against a tree; he rubbed the back of his neck. “Funny things the cameras say a very different story, although once even I would have believed you, no matter how much Aretha begged us to check the cameras. We had no reason to believe her over you, coz you were a pack mate since birth. This video was from this morning.”

Isaac said, pointing to the screens placed for the tables, as pack members began to watch as they returned to their seats for Aretha’s 18th birthday dinner.

Fawn’s face paled; she hadn’t seen the screens before now.

As if appearing out of nowhere, Oscar speaks, “Apparently, Alpha Lloyd Jarvis Dante’s father and her mother, Luna Nicolette River-Jarvis, were going to surprise Aretha with a video of her life growing up from her beginnings with her father in Moon’s River till now, but it seems someone has hacked the feed for just a few minutes.

The video began to play. Aretha was playing the flute by herself when Fawn and her friends came in.

“Well, well, what do we have here?”