Prologue

For hundreds of years we have lived in secret. We no longer live in fear of humans or hunters, witches have magic and we have strength, but like any supernatural being, we try to live in peace with all beings even when they’re no threat, we still don’t relish revealing ourselves to everyone.

At the age of seventeen your beast awakens, on the first blood moon after your birthday a ceremony is held and only the Elders are present to witness which beast chooses you. It is a sacred ceremony that we all look forward to. Our senses awaken from the age of fourteen with enhanced hearing, eyesight, smell, healing and strength.

Up until the age of seventeen we are all equal and depending on the beast you get your rank within the lair will determine your future. Sires usually get an indigo beast and rarely a violet one. A violet beast is the strongest one and you are feared and revered when you are blessed with one.

Blue beasts are usually a sign that you will be a good second commander or just second in command of the liar, like the co-captain. Green beasts are specialized, they become doctors, trackers, investigators and so forth.

Yellow beasts are soldiers or warriors. They protect the lair and the members that live within that community. They will be in charge of the territory, training and even personalized protection for certain members of a higher ranking.

Orange and red beasts are the workers of the community and the weakest of our kind. They are usually the cooks, cleaners, butlers, drivers and so forth. Every person has a place within a lair and the happiness and wealth of your lair depends on your Sire. If you have a good Sire then your lair will prosper.

Every species has their rotten fruit, the bad apples of the group and we are no exception to that. We have a group of Elders and they make the laws, visit different lairs, all crimes are reported to them and everything is decided by them.

Their word is the law and no matter what rank you have, they have the power to make you bend to their will. They are strong and fierce and they have no friends. They have allies and sometimes just sometimes the bad apple is an Elder. They are rarely put down even if they are bad.

Like all species we have bonded halves, it doesn’t really matter and many of us have been bonded to humans over the years. My mother was half-human and that makes me a halfling. Basically we are all halflings as our ancestors were also bonded with other species. We weren’t prejudiced when it came to a bonded half because your other half makes you better.

The bond works the same for all of us. It starts with a smell, your other half’s smell is something only you can smell. Usually you complete the bond ceremony by mixing your blood. This bond is for life or rather until death separates you. You can complete the bond or you can choose not to complete the bond, it doesn’t really matter.

Although, why would you not want to complete the bond? That person is your other half, the best fit for you, the person that will make you happier than anybody else can. By choosing a partner rather than sticking with the one fate gifted you, you’ll be happy, but you won’t be as strong or as complete as you should be.

Any beast can be bonded. Bonds are aware of ranks although some beasts reject a bond with a beast that is of a lower rank than they are, but that’s just ridiculous. Every person has his own strengths and weaknesses no matter what your rank. You could be a Sire and be a total dickhead or a worker with a heart of gold.

When the bonding ceremony is completed the female will bear a mark on the left side of her neck which is a replica of the male’s beast. It can only be seen by those that are born with the blood of the beast and it will also change the woman’s rank to that equal of the man.

It sounds sexist I know, but within our species men are stronger, the providers and protectors. Women are the care givers, usually analytical people and nurturers. Most men tend to become warriors while most women train to be nurses and doctors, it is just within our nature to be this way.

Yes, there are female warriors, good ones too, we’re not prejudiced and any beast can attain any rank except that of Sire and Second Commander. Your beast will change in colour as your rank changes within your lair and we do this by ceremony.

We don’t follow conventional human laws although we are respectful of their laws and every year we hold ceremonies for unbonded beasts to attend in the hopes of meeting their other halves. Only unbonded youths attend until you reach the age of twenty-three. If you haven’t met your other half by then you are free to choose your own half but not before then unless you reject your bonded half.

Our house was situated on a slight hill overlooking the houses of our lair’s members that scattered through half the town below us. My family controlled the upper side of Aurora and Joseph McIntyre controlled the lower side.

Joseph McIntyre and my father had been friends up until their own Sire Ceremony when my father was gifted with a violet beast and Joseph with an indigo beast. He was jealous and he had also been in love with my mother.

He had rejected his bonded half and waited for my mother to turn eighteen, planning to claim her when she recognized the bond with my father and a new power couple was recognized. They were happy and in love, they loved each other fiercely and us. He was a good man and I wanted to be exactly like him.

Life doesn’t always work out as you plan it and after their deaths I shied away from my normal social circle and Jax and I stuck with Rev and Preston, two new families that joined our lair from the North three years earlier and we all bonded instantly. I knew they would each die for me, loyal to a fault and they were my best friends.

Most people call us a gang but for us it was a lifestyle. On my eighteenth birthday I’ll step up and ascend the seat that my father left behind and take control of everything. My top priority though are my sisters and I would protect them with my life.

I was sixteen when my parents died, Christina or Chris as she preferred to be called had been fifteen and Hannah had been nine. My sisters were my everything and I loved them completely and I was very protective over them.

The door to my bedroom opened slowly, creaking softly but I kept my eyes closed, pretending to still be asleep. I heard the soft footsteps as they crept closer to my bed and I fought the urge to open my eyes. I felt the mattress dip slightly as a weight pressed down on it.

“Happy birthday Lucas!” she screamed as she jumped on me.

I grabbed her in a bear hug as she knocked the wind out of me and started tickling her. She was laughing and squealing as she tried to pry my arms loose from around her. I pinned her down on the bed and hovered above her.

“What’s the first rule?” I asked her as she caught her breath.

“Never enter your bedroom without knocking,” she said in between laughs.

“And what’s the punishment for breaking my rules?” I asked her.

“To be your slave for a week!” she yelled as I started tickling her again, “but it’s your birthday!”

“You have a point there kiddo,” I said as I released her and she jumped off my bed quickly.

“Martha’s already announced breakfast,” she squealed as she ran away.

I groaned as I got out of bed and made my way into the bathroom to shower and change. I was seventeen today. I looked at myself in the mirror as I got out of the shower and noticed the faint black and blue around my eye. My lip was still split open from yesterday’s training session and my ribs were cracked.

I’d be healed by tomorrow if I didn’t get a good pounding after school today. Every day for the last year my uncle, Jesse Sterling, has been training me for one thing only, taking over as Sire of our lair. Jesse was my father’s Second in Command and like my second father. One year ago to the day my parents died and I had to grow up pretty quickly. My sisters needed me and my own mourning was pushed aside to be there for them.

Jesse had taken guardianship of us and we remained living in our house with all the privileges we were accustomed to. My father had many business interests that Jesse still controlled and we each had a trust fund. I trusted Jesse with my life and his son, Jax Sterling, was the brother I never had.

I wasn’t the greatest person but I’m me. I’m the future Sire of this lair and I would do everything within my power to protect my people, all of my people. I had no qualms about killing or shedding blood, it was part of my being as much as I was.

We were the Grey children and I had every intention of fulfilling my father’s legacy. My own destiny called out to me too and its intertwined with the legacy he left me. Everything I do, every decision I make is to keep our family together and the lair safe. I realized that my parents death were not accidental as I started reading his journals.

I’m Lucas Grey and I vowed to avenge my parents murder.