Chapter 1

~HAZEL~

The mate hunt.

It's today—a day that sends chills down the spine of every shifter. Every five months, a male and female are picked to participate, and there's no option to decline; it's mandatory.

As our vehicle approaches Harmony Park, I can see the crowd has already gathered. My family and I are running late, and if we don't join the lines in the next ten minutes, we'll certainly face the wrath of the Soul Keepers.

"This is all your fault," my stepmother chastises her son. "Ashton, I told you this event is no laughing matter. One slip-up, and you could end up being chosen for the mate hunt as punishment!"

Ashton chuckles, pulling his mate close to him. They found each other exactly a year ago when Ariel turned eighteen. Since then, they've become inseparable, which is partly why we're late today. Ashton insisted we wait for her.

"Well, I couldn't just leave without my gorgeous girl, could I?" he grins.

My stepmother rolls her eyes. "If we end up being late, you might have to decide between her and the mate hunt, whether you like it or not."

My father gently rubs her thigh to soothe her. "I'm sure everything will turn out fine. Let's just hope no one from our family gets picked."

Ashton glances back at me and says, "Look at Hazel; she seems so calm. We all need to take a page out of her book. If we let the Soul Keepers dim our spirits with fear, we'll never find happiness!"

I was anything but calm, I'm unsure how he could see otherwise.

Ashton has always been the optimistic one. It's been five years since my father married his mother, and while we don't act like your typical siblings, there's definitely no hatred between us.

My stepmother shakes her head, clearly frustrated. "I wish you would take this more seriously."

"It's alright, Mrs. Bonfire," Ariel chimes in. "I'll make sure Ashton behaves at the event and doesn't stir up any trouble."

Ashton casually pushes back his jet black hair and leans back in his seat.

My heart races as the car finally rolls to a stop. We managed to get here with just two minutes to spare. Every five months, shifters are herded into this line once they turn seventeen.

Now that I'm nineteen, I had been coming to the event two years now. Ashton, being twenty-one, is more accustomed to it and seems convinced that our family is safe from being chosen.

"Let us hurry up." My step-mother says as she pushes us through the line. Luckily, we are the last ones to slip in which meant that we got here just in time before they shut the gates.

The crowd is filled with anxious faces, everyone and their children are scared that they will be chosen. It aches my heart to know that two unlucky people would be thrown into the woods of Abyss today and be forced to mate or be killed.

The soul keepers enjoyed messing with our emotions. The more we suffered, the happier they became. They always chose a male and female that they felt would give them a good show.

They didn't want two people that would easily mate, they wanted a man and woman that would put up a fight and refuse it until the very end. The chosen couple would have the full five months to mate but if they didn't, then the soul keepers got the chance to trap their souls.

I shiver at just the thought of something like that happening.

"Welcome, shifters, to yet another exhilarating hunt." Grim, the most irritating soul keeper in existence, greets us with a crooked grin. His presence always seems to drain the energy from the atmosphere, as everyone feels a wave of sickness simply at the sight of him. Soul keepers look like us but are marked by their piercing silver eyes that shimmer in the dim light and complex tattoos of swirling patterns that cover their arms, chests and necks, each symbol telling its own story. "Why the sad faces? Cheer up, everyone! Today is a fun day! The more you cheer, the less likely you are to be chosen for the hunt," Grim chimes in with a mischievous glint in his eyes, his voice echoing through the forest.

At his words, everyone begins clapping enthusiastically and making a deafening noise, their eyes darting around nervously, hoping not to be the one chosen. I didn't believe him for a single second, suspicion flickering in my mind.

Meanwhile, one of the female soul keepers, who had moved to the back of the group, is holding a sealed envelope tightly in her hands. The envelope bears the names of the chosen female and male.

I look at my father, I can see the anxiety in his face and it doesn't help that my step-mother is practically chewing at her nails from the fear of the announcement. She is always like this. I didn't blame her, I felt just as scared, I just didn't show it as much as she did.

"Bring forth the envelope, let us see who the lucky couple will be!" Grim exclaims eagerly, his eyes lighting up with anticipation.

"He is such a sick bastard," Valentina, my best friend, murmurs with a mixture of disgust and hatred as she tightly grips my hand, her knuckles turning white. I hadn't even realized she'd moved from her family to come to my side, her presence reassuring yet tense.

"Shh," I whisper softly, lowering my voice so only she can hear. "You do not want him to hear you and purposely choose you for the hunt," I add in a hushed tone, instinctively glancing around us, hoping no one had heard her.

She rolls her eyes with a hint of irritation, her voice dripping with mockery as she says, "I would not give them the satisfaction of being scared. They feed on our fear, you know. It is better if we all do like your step-brother and pretend like our lives are perfect—put on a brave face and hide our true feelings. Believe me, that would make them more miserable than anything else."

"You two," my stepmother scolds us sharply, her tone firm yet tinged with disappointment. "Do not bring attention to yourselves or the family. Stay quiet and composed."

I bite my lip tightly, feeling the urge to speak slip away as I clamp my mouth shut, the weight of her words pressing down on me.

I watch intently as the envelope is carefully handed over to Grim by a female soul keeper. The tense silence in the forest is noticeable as he slowly raises the envelope, drawing out the uncertainty that hangs thickly around us.

Valentina instinctively squeezes my hand, her grip steady but tight, and I hold my breath, my heart pounding in my chest. Please, I silently pray, not someone from my family or close circle. Please don't let it be one of us.

"Lovely," Grim exclaims with a wide grin, his eyes practically bulging with excitement. "I have the names of our couple of the day, and trust me, they're set to bring us plenty of thrills over the next five months. I can already sense that this is going to be absolutely worthwhile."

The other soul keepers on the wide screens are growing increasingly impatient, clearly eager to hear who the council has chosen.

"Ashton—" My ear begins to ring sharply at the mere mention of that name, causing a sudden echo that seems to linger. There are countless Ashtons out there—some are strangers, others acquaintances—so it could be anyone, yet my mind instantly defaults to my step-brother. My stomach tightens into an uncomfortable knot, twisting with suspicion and unease, especially as Grim says the word, "Rider," heavy with implication.

I tense up visibly, my muscles tightening as my entire family reacts with a mix of shock and fear. The heavy silence amplifies the tension in the air.

No. I couldn't believe it; Ashton had just been chosen for the mate hunt. This couldn't be happening, not to him, not to our family. My mind races with disbelief and dread. Please, this had to be some kind of mistake, a cruel misunderstanding.

"And now for the lady joining him," Grim's voice is filled with a strange delight, eerily calm but laced with excitement. "Hazel—"

No, surely that couldn't be... My heart sinks, and I struggle to catch my breath. "Bonfire," he announces.

In that tense, frozen moment, my heart seems to stop entirely. He just uttered my name, clear and unmistakable: Hazel Bonfire. The sound of my name echoes repeatedly in my mind, each repetition making it harder to grasp that this surreal moment is actually happening to me.

For the first time, my step-brother's composure cracks; his usual calm demeanor dissolves into visible shock and horror. I see the flicker of disbelief cross his face, mirroring my own feelings of despair. As he slowly turns to look at me, a heavy silence falls between us. Our eyes lock, intense and searching, as both of us struggle to process the startling revelation and what it means for us both.