Chapter One

Deep breath. In, and out. 

I looked at myself in the mirror in my bedroom, trying to figure out if I looked good or like a child playing dress up. 

My dad had bought me a special dress for today, a soft white one that stopped above my knees. I had on a pair of white sandals and had even painted my toenails a soft pink color. My white blonde hair was smooth and brushed, over and over again out of pure nervousness. I had put on a small amount of makeup, a little mascara around my light green eyes and some lip gloss. But I didn’t have much to put on in the first place, so this was as good as it was getting.

“Here goes nothing.”  I mutter to myself, turning away from the mirror finally to grab my duffle bag off my bed and head out. 

My heart was in my throat as I made my way down the hallway for maybe the last time. I glanced at the pictures on the walls, swallowing the lump in my throat at the pictures with my mom in them. 

She looked so young, happy, and healthy. 

Not like she was now. 

“Hey, kiddo.” My dad is waiting for me at the end of the hallway, in the living room. He stands up from the couch and grabs my bag from my hand. “You look real nice.” He says, his voice sounding sad as he looks me up and down.

“Thanks dad.” I say, returning his mood with a shaky smile of my own. My eyes darted over him, trying to soak in every detail. I knew I would be conjuring up images of him and my home when I was struggling in a few weeks.

“Now remember, if this doesn’t work out, you can always come right back home.” He says firmly, putting a hand on my shoulder and squeezing. 

“I know dad.” I gave him a real smile this time, because I knew he wasn’t lying. I was lucky to have such loving parents, even if I’d only had both of them for some of my life.

“Come on. I heard a car pull up outside a few minutes ago. They’re probably waiting on you.” I nod and let him wrap his arm around my shoulder to lead me outside. I knew this was killing him, I could feel it in the tight way he held me; like he didn’t want to let me leave. I’m sure this whole thing was a giant hit on his pride as a man and a dad.

But we also both knew we didn’t have much of an option at this point. 

“Angel Hawthorne?” Sure enough, there’s a black SUV with a man in a suit standing outside of it waiting on me. 

I nod, turning to give my dad a hug and take my bag from him.

“Be good, be smart.” He whispers in my ear before letting go. I nod and turn to leave. 

The man in the suit opens the backseat door for me and I nod gratefully, tossing my bag in first and sliding in after it. I look at my dad out the window as the man climbs in the driver's seat and starts the car up.

I wave at him as we drive away, hoping to the gods this was the right decision. 

Two years ago my mother was diagnosed with a disease known as Moon Sickness. It’s very rare and we know little about it, as there are only around a hundred reported cases. 

We have no idea how  you get it, what causes it, how to cure it. It strips you of your wolf and leaves the shell behind empty and useless, barely even alive. 

Doctors have been stumped for months, only just keeping her alive. Last month, a woman approached me while I was working at my part time job.

She said her name was Leslie Anders and she was with a very powerful group of people who may have an in on how to cure this thing. She said it’d cost money, but she had a way I could get it. 

By going on a dating show. 

At first I thought she’d been joking. How was that going to help my situation? I’d asked. Then she explained, the winning couple of the show gets a five hundred thousand dollar prize, and with even just half of that, I could pay to get my mother into the trials for this new treatment. 

I’d asked of course, why approach me? I’m no one. My family makes just enough money to have what we need and a few things we want here and there. We have no power, no status, no connections. 

She explained she was one of the producers for the show and that viewers were complaining about the lack of varied classes in the contestants, making complaints against the line up being filled with only important, rich names. 

To appease the audience, every year they’d make sure to pick a male and a female from the lower class. But the last couple years they haven’t had many worthy candidates because there was a trend of the lower class couple never even making it past the first round. If you knew you weren't even going to make it past the first round, why would you even bother entering? 

She explained she’d been visiting someone at the hospital my mother was being cared for in and had seen me. She asked about me and got my information from one of the nurses. She was basically saying she liked the way I looked, and thought I’d be the perfect pretty, poor girl for her show. For a while it had just irritated me. She didn’t even know me, what right did she have to be snooping around in my life?

But in the end I’d caved, and here I was, being driven to the set where the show would be filmed this year.

Apparently it was in some grand lake house a few hours away. I’d been emailed some pictures and it had made my dad choke on his coffee when he’d seen it. Multiple stories, tons of windows and balconies, sitting on a hill with a giant lake behind it. It was surrounded by giant pine trees, seemingly isolated in its elegance.

I leaned my head against the window as we drove, closing my eyes. I hadn’t been able to sleep last night and it was catching up to me. 

When I woke up, I’d be in the belly of the beast.