Chapter 1: Caught in the Act

Prologue

Long ago, the Werewolves and the Lycans lived in harmony.

While the Lycans were stronger, faster, and wild, the werewolves were weaker and well-groomed.

They were alike in many respects and had the spirit of the wolf, which the Moon goddess, their guardian deity, bestowed upon them.

They each dwelled in their lands, side by side, and the Lycans flourished greatly, multiplying and growing in their numbers.

Until their lands could no longer contain them, and some started to settle among the werewolves, in the clan closest to their boundary, known as the Red Moon Pack.

Out of fear of being overwhelmed by the Lycans, the elders of the pack sought out a witch to inflict a disease upon them that spread like wildfire, affecting only the Lycans and killing all the females of reproductive age.

Soon, the Lycans dwindled in their numbers and were forced to return to their lands.

However, the curse did not stop. It continued to spread far beyond into the Lycan's lands, killing all the females and shrinking their numbers.

The few left ran deep into the forests, leaving their lands behind in an attempt to flee the curse.

That was the last anyone saw of the Lycans, and gradually, they faded from the surface of the earth.

Centuries later, the legend still stands.

A prophecy told from one generation to the other, in the Red Moon Pack.

'A time will come when the Lycans will rise from the shadows and take their vengeance against the Red Moon Pack. Killing everything that breathes and wiping them off the surface of the earth. When that day comes...only a child blessed by the Moon goddess herself can save the pack from death.'

Woe to all the inhabitants of the Red Moon Pack, for the time, is near, and the day of reckoning shall come.

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Chapter 1: Caught in the Act

Nivia POV.

"Stop right there!"

I froze mid-action, my fingers were clutched around a neatly folded paper, about to slip it into the dressing locker of Justin Reynolds.

Even without turning to look, I knew whose voice that belonged to.

That was Claire Garrett, the head cheerleader of the Oakwood football team and Justin's fake girlfriend.

"What are you doing?"

Oops.

She has caught me red-handed, about to slip a letter into his dress locker.

"What's that in your hand?" Claire's voice rang out with curiosity.

"Nothing," I quickly said and withdrew my hand, hiding it behind me.

"I clearly saw you trying to slip something in Justin's locker," She pointed out with disbelief.

I shuffled my feet on the floor, my heart racing.

Maybe if I kept silent and waited, she would give up and leave.

"Are you dumb?" She asked, her voice spiking up with irritation.

Sweat beaded on my forehead and I felt it trickle down my neck.

For the first time in a long time, I was hot enough to sweat.

"I'll ask you again for the last time, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" She repeated, drawing out every syllable for emphasis.

I shook my head, "Nothing."

It took me three years of forever crushing on Justin to take this bold step.

In my hand was a sweetly crafted love letter. I was about to confess my love to Justin and hope he noticed me.

It was something I had to do, just to take it off my chest.

I didn't know why Claire was here, sticking her nose in what did not concern her.

They were not even real couples.

In our school, young wolves were not allowed to date until the mating festival, where we found our fated mates.

That was the rule.

But Claire went around acting as though Justin already belonged to her.

My best friend, Matty, had talked me out of it repeatedly. Telling me it was a bad idea.

I knew he was right, It was absurd to even consider the possibility that Justin would ever look my way.

I was the nerd of my class, the one who was completely absent in the eyes of others unless they needed me for something.

And it only ever involved homework, class projects, and group assignments.

Other than that, I was invisible.

The skinny girl with the white hair, who looked like an albino mutation gone wrong.

Many of the other kids were tan from running in the sun and enjoying the companionship of their wolves.

As for me, I got a bad rash whenever I stayed under the sun for too long.

I would be clocking eighteen in a few days, and yet the spirit of the wolf had not come to me. A lot of people found me strange because of that.

How I dressed also played a role.

I always wore hoodies and sweatshirts. Even on a sunny day when the temperature was a hundred degrees, I would look for a blanket to crawl under.

There was a cold I felt since I was a child, a chill that seeped into my body, freezing my skin.

My mother said on the day I was born, a blizzard of snow fell in July, in the middle of summer.

A red crescent moon had risen in the sky as I came into the world, cold with my hair as white as snow.

It was an omen, something strange and unusual.

Since that day, I always suffered from a cold. A lingering, persistent winter in my soul.

That was why I always needed to keep warm, wearing a heap of clothes, or I'd suffer a hypothermic attack.

I was the weird kid in the class, someone Justin Reynolds, who was captain of his team and famous for his good looks, would never look at.

Claire walked around me and snatched the letter from me. She flipped it open and read through it.

Her jaw dropped, "You bitch!" She exclaimed with anger.

"Claire..." I called her name, shocked at her reaction. My face heated with embarrassment and my eyes dropped to my toes.

"Justin!" She yelled at the top of her voice.

"Shush..." I placed a finger to my lips, signaling her to keep her voice low.

"If you think you have what it takes to have Justin Reynolds, you should be bold enough to say it to his face," she murmured, her lovely green eyes blazing with anger.

"Please Claire, I don't know what came over me. I will never do it again," I pleaded, scared she would make a scene.

"If you can do it now, you'll do it again," she refused.

"I swear I won't," I blushed, my face growing warm.

In my heart, I prayed that she would let it go. I didn't want him to find out like this.

The embarrassment would kill me.

"What's going on here?" a rich male voice asked from the entrance of the door.

My eyes slowly lifted, and my heart stopped as my gaze settled on Justin, who had just come into the locker room with a group of his friends.