Chapter 2

I squeezed my eyes shut and covered my ears, but I could still hear the terrible sounds coming from the TV.

Clara clapped excitedly and turned around to shove me. "Joey, look! That guy's head just got crushed by the train! So exciting!"

I didn't dare open my eyes. Even with my ears covered, I could still hear her.

"Look!"

When I still wouldn't lift my head, Herman yanked me up and dragged me in front of the TV. He gripped my chin and forced my face up. His voice was cold and merciless.

"Clara is training you, and you can't even appreciate it. Just watch. It's good for you!"

I had no choice but to open my eyes. On the screen, a body was being crushed in the darkness. Blood was everywhere.

"Ah! Ahhh!" I shrieked in terror, struggling to pull back, but Herman's hands clamped down on my shoulders and held me in place.

Behind me, I heard them both laughing.

"What a coward. It's just a movie and you're still scared. Pathetic!"

"Werewolves are supposed to have incredible mental strength. And you call yourself an Alpha's daughter? That's hilarious."

One shock after another pushed me past my limit. I couldn't take any more. My eyes rolled back, and everything went black.

When I woke up, I was still lying on the floor. The empty pill bottle sat by my feet.

Morning had come. The living room was empty.

Herman and Clara had left me there all night. They hadn't even checked on me after I fainted or given me my medicine.

Before I could recover, Herman dragged me into his car and drove us to the haunted house Clara wanted to visit.

I begged him not to make me go inside. "I really can't, Herman. I have claustrophobia, and I fainted last night."

Herman pulled me into his arms, nipped my earlobe, and murmured, "Joey, don't you want to be stronger? Are you going to hide behind us and be a coward forever?"

I fought an intense battle inside myself, but I couldn't overpower the shadows of my past.

Impatience flickered in Herman's eyes. "Joey, you're just making excuses for being a coward."

He sighed and started lecturing me. "That's the problem. We've been too easy on you, and now you're afraid of everything. It's all fake in there. What is there to be scared of?"

Clara stifled a laugh. "Joey, it's fine. Just stay behind us."

She hooked her arm through Herman's, and they headed inside together, laughing and talking.

I followed them through the green darkness. Fake ghosts drifted around us, and creepy sounds echoed through the halls. My teeth chattered nonstop.

My chest tightened, and my palms grew sweaty.

Then their voices suddenly disappeared.

It was pitch black inside. I couldn't see, couldn't hear, could only stretch out my hands and feel my way forward. "Herman? Clara! Slow down, I can't keep up!" No one answered.

"Herman, where are you?" A terrible wail answered me.

In that instant, terror swallowed me whole. My feet felt nailed to the ground. I couldn't move forward, and I couldn't find the way out.

I called Herman. He hung up right away. I called again and again. He rejected every call.

Just then, a white ghost drifted past me. A crunching sound came from behind it. The "ghost" was chewing on a bone.

I screamed and stumbled. Someone caught me before I fell.

"Are you okay, miss?" It was a human boy, looking at me with concern. "You seem really scared. Where are your friends? You shouldn't be in a place like this alone."

I was shaking so badly I couldn't speak.

"Want me to take you out of here?"

The boy held my hand and led me outside. The moment I saw sunlight, I felt like I'd come back from the dead.

I texted Herman and asked where they were.

Much later, he called back. "Sorry, forgot to tell you. We left a while ago. Clara said it was too fake and boring, so we left early. We're at the coffee shop down the street."

He hung up. A cold wind swept past me. Even with the sun shining on my face, I felt chilled to the bone.

I opened my messages. My father, Richard, had sent me photos of all kinds of men.

On my eighteenth birthday, my wolf awakened. My father felt it was time and wanted to arrange dates for me.

But I was convinced Herman was the mate chosen for me by the Moon Goddess. I refused my father's arrangements and stayed in Herman's pack.

Now it seemed like I had been wrong.

I turned away from the haunted house and took a cab home alone.