Chapter 1

The ground trembled as a pack of enormous werewolves led by their Alpha, Cohen Kingsley, charged into the woods. He told them to flank the two rogues who had trespassed into his territory. The rogues were all in their early twenties or younger, yet their quickness indicated that they had always been on the go.

Cohen had no intention of killing them because they had committed no severe crimes against his pack other than crossing the border illegally. He intended to catch them alive rather than murder them. The Werewolf's Council had passed new legislation requiring rogues who committed minor offenses to enter a rehabilitation clinic to be trained to change their rogue lifestyle into something productive.

Cohen's pack, the Southern Werewolves Pack, had over two thousand members and was one of the largest. His pack had fought and won innumerable wars against their foes, notably vampires. The pack was frequently a target of trouble due to its military achievements. The pack's former Alphas imposed several rigorous regulations to keep its members safe.

Many of the regulations had been tightened by Cohen on his own. Even if only one rogue trespassed, he would order everyone to go into complete lockdown in their homes while the Enforcers went on a perimeter run to find the trespassers. If the situation was too difficult for them to move their family to the pack mansion, each pack member's residence was required to contain a panic room.

Cohen had been in charge of the pack since he was eighteen, when his father, Eric, was injured and had to recover for nearly two years. 

A pack that has a wounded Alpha is a vulnerable pack. 

They hurried Eric to surgery to save his life; they swore Cohen in as the new Alpha and tasked him with leading his pack to victory in the conflict his father had failed to stop. Cohen had never known what it was to have fun without worrying about his responsibilities since childhood. As the family's sole child, he bore the burden of his father and grandfather for decades. At 34 years old, Cohen had won numerous battles and acquired the moniker of vicious Alpha. Cohen, on the other hand, never went to war unnecessarily.

He had suffered considerable losses due to the wars he had won. Some things were not worth fighting for. If it meant keeping his pack alive and safe, Cohen would look for another alternative.

When he was younger, his father, Eric, taught him, "Sometimes it is useless to go to war. Avoid it if possible. It is up to you to keep your pack safe. Let the rest of the world call you a coward Alpha. A great Alpha ensures the safety and survival of its pack. You could win every war, but it would be extremely costly. Believe me, son. Some things aren't worth fighting for. Keep that in mind."

Twenty Enforcers followed from behind, supporting their Alpha in capturing the rogues. For them, this was an everyday occurrence. It wasn't always the best option to kill a rogue. To establish whether the kill was necessary, there would be a lot of paperwork and trials to go through. Unless there was an imminent threat, Cohen would usually strive to catch the rogues as soon as feasible.

He cornered the rogues at the edge of his territory line, which stopped directly at the cliff on the south side of his territory, to apprehend them. The two rogues skidded on the ground, attempting to slow down. While his Enforcers surrounded the area, Cohen approached them with cautious movements. The young rogues retreated to the cliff's edge and trapped themselves. To avoid being apprehended, rogues frequently did stupid things. Cohen had to ensure that these two rogues wouldn't do something like that.

If Cohen captured them alive, the Werewolf's Council would place them in a rehabilitation clinic. Based on their anxiety, Cohen didn't believe these two rogues could commit severe crimes. But he didn't go to such lengths to catch them, only to let them die. He was known as the vicious Alpha, yet he wasn't quite as ruthless as he appeared. An Alpha had to keep his emotions in check to avoid messy judgment.

"Please, we don't want to cause any problems," one of the rogues said.

The young rogues shivered in horror, covered in filthy garments that smelled like decaying carcasses and dried blood.

This is a genuine fear.

Regardless, the taller one shielded the shorter one. The scars on their skin indicated they were not yet living their finest lives.

"Surrender right now, and no harm will come to you." Cohen's tone was authoritative.

"We were fleeing someone who wanted to kill us," the tall one explained again.

Cohen picked a lovely aroma carried by the breezes. He was confident that none of them reeked of lilac. The rogues reeked of something other than lilac. The Alpha told his Enforcers to keep their eyes and ears peeled for anything unusual. Cohen returned to the direction they had come earlier and scanned the area for signs of an unannounced guest while two Enforcers kept a watch on the rogues. His wolf's fur was practically tingling, indicating they were being watched.

"Alpha." The Beta, Liam Blake, drew dangerously near to his Alpha. "What exactly is it?"

Cohen said, "We're not alone."

The Alpha's body crashed with the tree behind him a split second later. He fell to the ground with a loud thud, and Liam growled, looking for the assailant. All of the Enforcers were notified of the incident. Cohen got a brief view of his assailant.

A lady.

She went in the flash of an eye before he could get a close look at her face. Cohen noticed that the woman was quite familiar with his pack. She knew who she wanted to go after first. An Alpha wolf was thought to be the most powerful. If somebody wanted to start a war against a pack, they'd start with the Alpha.

"Alpha!" Liam dashed over to him, shielding him from any danger. "Are you okay?"

"Keep your guard up," Cohen ordered them. "It appears that someone is with us."

Cohen rose to his feet, roaring as wrath rose in his dark eyes. Due to his wolf's rage, his Enforcers lowered their heads, not their guards. The assailant launched another attack, knocking out five of his Enforcers. Cohen ran to defend his Enforcers but came to a halt when she slung her blade at him. It hit his front leg just a few inches away.

Cohen then recognized the intruder.

Mira Red.

She was the same woman whose picture was on the Werewolf's Council's wanted list.

Mira Red was the Werewolf's Council's most wanted rogue. They spent a lot of money and time to bring her in for a trial and justice. She was dubbed "The Lone Wolf" or "The Huntress" because she performed everything independently. According to the facts, she didn't work for someone higher up the food chain. Mira operated independently. It was never impossible to gather information. The only issue with this type of information was its authenticity. Cohen doubted that anyone would sell the Lone Wolf useless information.

Despite her frequent appearances in the news, no one knew her past. The Werewolf's Council had a television station that transmitted to all packs.

Mira's only recorded history dates back fourteen years, when the fourth battalion dismantled a vampire slave encampment. Mira was only fourteen years old at the time. Her life before the rescue remained a mystery until recently. The Werewolf's Council rehabilitated her in one of their most secure locations. That case rocked the werewolf community to its core. Nobody anticipated the vampires to continue to trade in enslaved people. Enslaved people were frequently used as blood banks. Every day, the case of the missing person would hit the news.

The abductee might be alive or dead. The vast majority of the victims were discovered to be deceased. Since that day, the werewolf packs had dedicated their attention to pursuing vampires who ran slave trades. They saved countless lives, but countless more were lost in the process. After nearly a century, that case was the first known vampire slavery encampment.

After nearly a week, Mira fled from a rehabilitation institution and disappeared off the grid for several years before resurfacing with her first kill.

Gregory Kincaid, one of the four royal vampire siblings, was her first victim. Her career of killing highly desired and deadly vampires and werewolves has kept her in the spotlight ever then.

Mira positioned herself between Cohen and the young rogues in their current circumstances. As much as he inhaled the air, her beautiful lilac aroma filled his nostrils. It was a thrilling experience.

Mira held dual daggers with a crimson gem on the hilt, her signature weapons. It didn't take a genius to figure out that someone forged the daggers with pure silver. When rogues could not defeat more formidable opponents, they turned to weapons. Mira's daggers had tasted more blood than any other blade that had ever been made.

If an Alpha were poisoned with pure silver, it would take longer for him to die. However, the average werewolf would die after 48 hours. Mira's daggers were made with pure silver. For the time being, it appeared that way because no one had ever looked at her daggers.

Mira stood firm in front of him, dressed in a maroon leather coat and tight black trousers. As the wind blew around them, her wavy red hair waved. Her most noticeable feature was her piercing blue eyes. She had a few faint brown freckles around her cheeks and on the bridge of her nose. Cohen also noticed scars on the exposed skin of her neck and cleavage, which he assumed were the result of close calls with death and battles.

She had five throwing knives attached to each of her thighs, ready to use whenever she needed them. Unlike other hunters who opted to conceal their identities, Mira never covered or hid hers.

"Stay where you're at, boys," Mira replied emphatically. Her gaze stayed fixed on the Alpha. "As much as I'd like to, I don't want to spill any blood tonight."

Cohen grumbled, but she didn't seem to be bothered by it. The corner of her mouth drew slightly upward.

He pushed himself to form a mind link with her, but he hit several roadblocks. Solid walls. An average rogue wouldn't stop an Alpha from using a mind link. Mira, on the other hand, had just done it. The more he tried, the more obstacles he encountered. Despite his attempts, she remained unaffected.

"What should we do, Cohen? We can also take her down. Give the—"

"Stand down." Cohen shortened Liam's sentence. "We have no idea what she is capable of."

Nobody had any idea how powerful she was. Cohen was adamant about not taking the chance. Some things weren't worth fighting for. 

Her skin radiated a dark aura that encircled the surrounding area. It wanted to inform him that she wasn't the person he should get involved with. Something about her screamed at him that she was far more dangerous than anything he'd ever seen before. Despite her appearance as though she wouldn't fight, the Alpha took extreme precautions by alerting his Enforcers to prepare for anything she could cause them. She had a calm demeanor, but she was armed.

Cohen shifted his gaze back to those brilliant blue eyes. Then it dawned on him. His body shivered, but his thoughts screamed with delight. The mating tie was palpable to him.

There's no way.

The Moon Goddess granted him the one wish he had wanted for a long time. But there was no way Mira could be the one he was looking for in the name of the Moon Goddess.

Mate.