Chapter 1

You know those werewolf love stories that you read on the internet? The ones where the mean Alphas meet their loving mates, and their shitty world magically becomes right again? Well... forget about that, because those stories are just fantasies. In the real world, wolves are predators. They hunt, kill and eat in the most cannibalistic ways imaginable. They are monsters in every sense of the word. And as for the moon goddess... well... you can forget about her too! She definitely doesn't exist. Also... forget about mates in general, because there is no such thing! The truth is, being a werewolf is a curse, but not the kind of curse you are probably thinking of. 

You see, when a werewolf shifts, their bones shatter and totally realign, and when they shift, their beasts take over completely. Werewolves can also shift whenever they want to, it doesn't have to be a full moon. The full moon honestly has no effect on werewolves. But the main thing you need to know about werewolves, is that they are always hungry. Their appetites are insatiable. And they have an insatiable thirst for blood, almost equal to that of a vampire, which sees them always killing and devouring large quantities of raw meat. Werewolves are beasts that are cruel and heartless. And they truly are animals in every sense of the word. The only thing that drives them is power. Their curse is their insatiable blood lust and their need to kill. Werewolves are true predators which are at the top of the food chain. People refer to them by many names, wolves, werewolves, beasts, or Lycans. But to me, no matter what you call them, they are all the same. Monsters!

We have had to live with knowing about the existence of werewolves for decades now. They are monsters who are untouchable and feared by us humans of the world. They are so feared that not even the police will touch them for fear of death. So... humans govern humans, and the monsters govern their own. Like I said, it has been that way for decades now. The mountains are theirs, but the valleys are ours. A peace treaty was established many years ago. Only, in order for us to keep the treaty in place, the werewolves have insisted that we have to sacrifice a girl to them every year. It is like that in every community around the world. A human girl from every town across the globe, is handed over to the packs nearest their communities, as a way of keeping the peace. 

The Black Mountain Pack which was led by Alpha Cole consisted of about two hundred werewolves. Their pack was the pack that resided right outside of our sleepy little country town. And like other towns around the world, every year we brought a year of peace by sacrificing a girl to their pack. The moment this sacrificed girl became theirs, they could do with her whatever they pleased. So... every year a girl between the ages of fifteen and eighteen is chosen in a raffle. She is then given to the pack Alpha as a gift to appease him and his pack. The sentence given to the girl is one year, but for some reason, the girls are never seen or heard from again. No one has ever questioned this fact. And why would they? Once they had those girls, the pack could do whatever they wanted with them, even kill them if they wanted to. So, for all we knew, those girls could be killed the moment the werewolves too them back to their pack, and we would never know. 

This year was my last year of high school, I was now seventeen years old. I was about to graduate from high school, and I should have been looking forward to the beginning of my life. But I couldn't do that! And the reason I couldn't do that, was because the day after I graduated from high school, this years sacrifice would be made to The Black Mountain Pack. So unfortunately, my life might actually be over before it had even really began. 

That was just the way it was now. The treaty's needed to be kept if we were going to be able to live in peace. Teenage girls weren't allowed to leave town... ever. There were no family vacations, no going away to boarding school, nothing! People worried that if a girl had the opportunity to leave, then she would find a way to vanish and never come back! It was stupid really... I mean... where could they go? The same thing happened in every country across the globe. So long story short, girls weren't safe, ever. Not until they were over the age of eighteen anyways. 

"Lara, are you ready to go yet? We should have left fifteen minutes ago!" My twin brother shouted as he banged on my bedroom door. He did it with so much force, that if I didn't know better, I would think the cops were about to break down my bedroom door. "Lara, god dammit, we are going to be late!" he shouted. I looked over at my door from where I was sitting at my student desk, which was beside my bedroom window. I had been reading my emails while I had been waiting for him to finish getting ready, ironically enough. 

I got up from my seat and made my way over to my bedroom door, opening it before it got broken. "Dude, I have been waiting for you," I told him, as I walked past him, and made my way downstairs heading towards the front door. Today was my last day as a high school student. I wasn't really attending classes or anything today. Today I was just getting myself ready for graduation. As I made my way towards the front door, I found myself wondering, "Would I still be here after this years sacrifice? Or would I be getting taken away by beasts? And if I did get sacrificed, what would happen to my family?"

I shuddered at the thought of living with monsters. I didn't want to be taken away from my family. I didn't want to lose my life and my free will, and live what was left of my life being at the mercy of beasts who were no better then wild dogs. I looked around our home as I made my way down the stairs. We lived in an old log cabin. It wasn't much, but it was home. My family wasn't wealthy by any means. But we lived comfortably. My parents were both doctors, and thanks to them and their teachings, my brother and I were pretty handy when it came to medical crisis, and we lived comfortably. After I graduated from high school, I had  wanted to go to college to study and become a paramedic. But God only knows if that was going to be possible.

"Lara, I am waiting," my brother Scott called, from where he now stood beside the front door. He was dressed in black cargo pants, and wearing a red, black and white hoodie, as he silently fumed at me for apparently making us late. Scott was the least patient person I knew. I rolled my eyes at him, as I made my way out the front door. He followed on my heels, as I made my way onto to our drive way and got into our black Jeep Wrangler. I started the car and reversed out of our driveway. A moment later we were speeding down the street and heading towards the school that Scott and I attended. Five minutes later we were pulling into the schools parking lot. The moment I stopped the car, Scott, always so impatient,  jumped out of the car and hurried towards the main school building. 

"Love you too princess," I called out sarcastically to his retreating figure. 

He turned back to me, looking a little guilty at his actions, and waved to me. I couldn't help but grin at his reaction. I mean, it was what I had wanted... but still...

 I wished he would just slow down occasionally, he is always so impatient. He acts like I annoy him, but I know deep down he does love me the same as I love him. A moment later I got out of the car, and made my way across the open lawn headed towards the main school building. Once I was in the building, I made my way towards the room where I had to pick up the things I would be needing for my graduation ceremony. When I entered the room, I noticed that Scott was already in the room getting his things. I made my way over to the various tables, and picked up what I would need from the items set out on the various tables. When I was done, I made my way over to another table and signed some paperwork for the school. Once I had signed the paperwork, I was presented with my graduation cap and gown from one of the administration ladies. As soon as I had done everything I had to do, I made my way out of the building and headed back to the Jeep. I put everything on the back seat, and stood beside the Jeep waiting for Scott to come back out to the car. When Scott eventually made his way out of the school building, he made his way over to the car and like me, he also put his stuff on the back seat, but on the passenger side, before climbing into the front passenger seat. Once we had both put our seat belts on, I started the car and we drove home in silence.