Chapter 1

Delister Orphanage

JANE

“What is the meaning of this, Jane?” Mrs. Calister pointed at the tiny coffee stains on the hem of my skirt. I immediately glanced at Hayley, who was smirking wickedly.

“Mrs. Calister…” I tried to explain, but she slapped me so hard across the face that I fell backward.

My eyes widened in shock when I saw one of my teeth lying on the carpet.

“Luna Clarisse is coming here to see how I’m running the orphanage, and you stain your best outfit? You filthy orphan!”

Hayley had thrown her coffee on me on purpose, but Mrs. Calister didn’t care.

She grabbed me by the hair and dragged me out of the room, pushing me toward the stairs.

I landed hard on the first step, blood rushing to my head, my face aching, my mouth sore from the missing tooth—my legs trembling. Mrs. Calister was a strong and cruel she-wolf.

“Go to your room and stay there. I’ll tell them you’re sick, you stupid girl.”

She curled her lip in disgust and stormed off.

I spat out the blood pooling in my mouth, and my eyes began to sting. I hated the knot forming in my throat, the tingling in my nose as I desperately tried not to cry.

Just one more year in this orphanage. Just one more year. Then I’d turn eighteen, awaken my wolf, and finally join the Alpha King’s forces as a tracker wolf.

Around my neck, I bore the mark of a tracker wolf—a small red circle. It meant my father had been one. That skill could only be passed from father to child.

There were many tracker wolves, but all of them worked for the Alpha King in the capital. I would finally leave Delister City.

I opened the door to my room, blood still boiling.

Right behind me, Hayley showed up with her group of friends. She was laughing.

“Oh, you won’t be able to go on the trip to the Delister pack… what a shame,” she sneered.

“Hayley, don’t forget to sleep with one eye open tonight. You never know what might happen,” I threatened.

Hayley raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

“You think I’m scared of you? The crazy girl who swore she saw a black wolf when she was ten? Oh, are you going to call him to punish me?”

Hayley always brought that up—my claim that I’d seen a black wolf. Everyone knew what had happened years ago with a black wolf from the Silver Moon pack.

“Marius Blaine is real. Maybe he’s the one I saw.”

“Of course, the murderer who slaughtered his own pack. Be careful, little Jane, or he might come for you too—since you’re so fond of him…” she said, then walked out of the room with her friends, laughing loudly.

I huffed and sat near the window, watching them drive away.

I stayed there until night fell. I must’ve been sitting for hours, just staring into the distance, into the forest, until I saw it.

Red eyes watching me from the shadows. Unmistakable. Burning.

My heart raced, and my whole body trembled.

I stumbled back, in shock.

“ By the Goddess!”

I wasn’t dreaming... those red eyes were real.

. . .

Daiane opened the door to the room we shared hours later, while I was watching through the window all the she-wolves returning with something in their hands.

Gift bags, new hairstyles. I felt a sting of envy, but I shut the window.

“ Jane, you won’t believe everything we did today! Luna Clarisse took us to her pack, we ate, got a few gifts—look at this braid one of the she-wolves did in my hair!”  Daiane showed off a long double braid that looked perfect in her dirty blonde hair.

I just nodded.

Daiane must have noticed my discouragement, because she quickly came over and sat beside me.

 

“One of the wolves I met invited me to a party in the clearing... we could sneak out after midnight.”

 

I made a face, feeling no excitement for a party or for sneaking out in the middle of the night.

 

“Come on, Jane, it’ll be fun. What Calister did today was so unfair. That snake Hayley did what she did because she knows you’d win Luna’s heart.”

 

I highly doubted that Hayley thought that way. After all, she knew that even though she didn’t have parents, they had died in the Silver Moon pack massacre, carried out by the fearsome Shadow Wolf.

As for me, I had been abandoned at the orphanage door.

She bore a mark on her neck that showed she was destined to be a she-wolf for an Alpha, destined to be a Luna. And I, if I was lucky, would be risking my life on the roads, following the scent of wolves who had committed crimes against our Alpha King.

But I knew Daiane wanted to cheer me up, and I couldn’t resist her hopeful eyes.

“I saw him again today,” I said.

Daiane rolled her eyes; like everyone else, she didn’t believe me.

“Jane, even if Marius Blaine, the killer, is still alive, he’s not after you. It’s your imagination. That night you think you saw him... the kitchen was dark, and you must have just been scared, besides the fact that you hit your head.”

“Why would he kill them all? And imagine how strong he must be to have done it alone...” I asked.

Daiane shook her head.

 

“No, no talking about that. Even if he’s alive, he must be far away from everyone’s sight. The King’s wolves are still looking for him because of the massacre. Now, how about a party? Please, come on…” she pouted like a little kid.

 

“Alright, we’ll sneak out during the night, but if the Black Wolf catches us, it’s your fault,” I joked.

 

. . .

 

It was already past midnight when we were walking down the trail toward the clearing where the party with Daiane’s wolf friends was supposed to happen.

 

“Are you sure you know the way? It’s so dark here…” I said, looking around. There didn’t seem to be any party anywhere; it was so quiet.

 

“Of course I know. Dany showed me the way to follow.”

 

Soon we arrived at the clearing, but there was no party at all. I don’t consider three males sitting around a campfire a party.

As soon as I saw that, I felt a bad feeling and grabbed Daiane’s arm before they could see us.

“Let’s go! This feels weird.”

Daiane pulled her arm away from my hand and looked at me as if I were a silly, paranoid girl. To my dismay, she turned to the males and waved, shouting:

“Dany! Dany!”

Dany was the tallest of the group, with light hair and a square face. As soon as he saw us, his friends stood up and smiled, waving. Still, I didn’t think they looked friendly.

Daiane ran toward him, and the male scooped her up in his arms, kissing her deeply.

I was speechless; I had never seen her kiss anyone before.

I thought about leaving when my eyes met those of the other males, who seemed to be staring at me expectantly. But how could I leave her alone among all those males?

I should have left...

I walked toward the clearing, and everyone greeted us while Daiane sat beside Dany.

I ended up between two males named Caio and Paul.

“I thought there would be more people here, since it’s a party,” I said, narrowing my eyes at Dany.

Dany smiled in a way I didn’t like and replied,

“If there’s one male and one female, it’s a party,” he said mockingly.

I felt a chill run down my neck, and that was when Caio placed his hand on my leg.

I slapped his hand immediately, and he laughed as if he found it amusing.

“Look at her, Dany, how fierce she is!” Caio mocked.

I stood up and looked at Daiane.

“Let’s go, it’s already late.”

Daiane seemed uncomfortable with what Caio did to me and stood up. Dany pulled her back with all his strength, forcing her to sit beside me.

I moved forward to rescue her, but I felt big hands grab me by the waist and was thrown backward onto Paul, who, to my horror, ripped my blouse.

At that moment, the males burst into sinister laughter.

I was alone now, and they were going to do whatever they wanted to me.