Ch. 1

I plopped down on a bench outside the high school cafeteria taking in my surroundings for one of the last times. To me, Las Cruces was dry and dusty, it sat right on the edge of the Chihuahuan dessert, it’s only saving grace are the mountains. It’s one of the reasons my Father chose this place, he only boasted about his genius plan to anyone who would listen- we were safe, no one would expect to find a pack of almost 300 nestled here, hidden in plain sight. Which was also a lie, he used magic to enforce a barrier, and he said it was to keep us safe from the other supernaturals’ and other packs, another lie. Only my brother Ace and I were privileged to his bed of deception as we were his children, or “heirs” as he liked to call us. My father was cruel and merciless, which is how he got into his position, slaughtering those who stood against him. He was the werewolf “King” and he represented the wolves in the supernatural council. My brother Ace, was next in line, he might only be 20 years old, but he’s been training all his life to take over after my father. Film coated my mouth and bile rose in my throat at the thought of my brother turning out to be as cold as my father…

“Aurora, what are you doing out here?” I glanced up suddenly torn from my bitter thoughts, and breathed a sigh of relief seeing my best friend Cami headed in my direction. “It’s too hot to be out here when I look this good.”

I chuckled, taking in her appearance, her hair was so blonde it was almost a blinding white- but her skin was a golden bronze. She was tall and muscular just adding to her already striking appearance. “Just taking in the scenery since in a few hours my entire life will change.” I fiddled with the hem on my plain white t-shirt. Tonight at midnight, I would turn 18. The humans have it wrong, wolf shifters are basically human until the first full moon after their 18 birthday, the old legends passed down to us from our ancestors talked about a time when we were born in our wolf form, but wolves are violent creatures by nature, too many fights broke out between undisciplined and untrained young wolves, it caused wars between the supernatural factions. The wars dwindled each faction’s numbers by almost half. High Priestess’ from each coven came together, and placed what our people would deem a curse on us. We would not come into our wolves until the first full moon after our 18^th birthday.

“You’re the alphas daughter, not just any alpha, the reigning alpha of the packs daughter- you have nothing to worry about! In fact, let’s talk details about tonight. I’m thinking I come over around 5 so we can start getting you ready, hair- makeup, nine yards.” She clapped her hands together in a desperate attempt to make me as excited as she was, I groaned. “Come on bestie, you can’t let your asshole dad dictate everything you do.” The best part about Cami was that she understood what an asshole my dad was, even without me being able to say it.

I grinned, a little bit of my nerves fading away when I saw the pure excitement dancing in her eyes. Cami turned 18 a few months ago, and was loving her wolf self, constantly reminding me it was her “best self.” Although Camis’ rank was somewhere in the middle of the pack, her beauty was seen as an accomplishment to my father- a way to get male wolves to fall in line, so he allowed her to be my best friend as she could prove useful in future endeavors. Once again, I felt the bile rise in my throat- my father’s way of life disgusted me. I shuddered outwardly without meaning too and Cami immediately noticed. Worry flashed over her features.

“Once your eighteen, do you think things will get better for you?” she whispered, she only knew part of my father’s cruelty. I couldn’t bring myself to meet her eyes, she would see the lie. I knew if anything, it was about to get a hell of a lot worse. I was sparing her from the rest, mostly by choice, but partly because I was forbidden to talk about what happened at home as it was the “Alphas” will, I physically couldn’t make myself talk about it, even if I wanted too. Even though we aren’t fully one with our wolf yet, the older we get, we come into enhanced speed, healing, night vision. It’s 100% better than humans but still exceptionally weak by a wolf or any other supernatural standards. I healed fast, but not fast enough, she would see the bruises sometimes, the scars, she would ask and I would tell her I slipped or fell. It worked when we were kids, not so much now. She accepted my answers and didn’t pry, just helped me carry my books if my arm was healing from a bad break, the worst part was when she looked at me with pity, I felt weak, and alpha heirs are not allowed to be weak.

Wanting to lighten the mood I plastered on a smile and turned to face her, deciding to ignore her hushed question. “Five would work perfectly Cam, although are you sure you need a full three hours? The party starts at 8.”

“I need time to make sure both you and I look perfect.” She patted my leg and stood up. “I’m going to do some last minute shopping and I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“What about the rest of classes?” the only response I received was an exaggerated eye roll and a backwards wave as she strolled off. High school was really a formality, hardly anyone went to college, unless they were to be the packs lawyers or doctors, other than those select few my father would place you in a position and job once you turned 18 depending on where you ranked. We had a caste system when it came to our pack, Omegas, betas, and alphas. The tricky part about being a werewolf is you never know where you will fall on the scale. Both of your parents could be an alpha- and your wolf is an omega, or vice versa, both your parents are omega and your wolf is an alpha. No one knows why, but the rumor is the wolf goddess blesses everyone based on their soul. Those with pure souls become alphas, and those with darkness become omegas- as a checks and balances system. It was all rumors and speculation as no one has seen or heard from the moon goddess since the faction wars, we disappointed her, we failed and she left us. The legends are hogwash in my opinion, my father was an alpha, and he was as dark as they come…

The bell rung signaling the end of lunch and I took that as a sign to stop day dreaming about things I couldn’t change and finish out the rest of my day.