Chapter 1

Elara's POV

The scream tore through the air before I even saw the blood.

One second, Falcone was standing in front of me, calling my name. The next, chaos erupted. People ran. Plates clattered. My grandmother’s hand found mine, and we ran. Again!

If you're wondering what it feels like to lose your home, your safety, and nearly your sanity, all on your twenty-first birthday, I can tell you. It’s loud, fast, and it burns.

But maybe I should start from the beginning.

It was my twenty-first birthday. A small gathering. Just my Grannie Alba and a few pack members I barely knew. She baked a cake, stuck a single candle in it, and smiled like that would be enough to save me.

“Happy birthday Elara,” they chorused.

I glanced at my Grannie Alba, who wore a tired smile on her face. She gave me a small nod and I blew the candle out. A small round of cheers filled the air from among the men and women that were present.

I went around the small group with a forced smile on my face, muttering my appreciation to each of them for coming.

It wasn’t sadness, not exactly. More like a quiet ache.

I would’ve traded this whole setup for warm muffins and an old movie with Grannie Alba, instead of being here with these people who were more of strangers to me.

I could imagine the conversations they had about me on the way here.

“Oh poor Elara, her third year without a mate.” they must have said.

“I think her mate is dead, there's no way he wouldn't have found her by now.”

“Are we sure she even still has a wolf?”

“The girl must be devastated, I wouldn't show my face if I were her,” I thought to myself.

“Turn that frown upside down child,” I heard Grannie Alba murmur, cutting me off from my thoughts.

I loved her so much, I'd do anything for her.

She opened her frail arms for a hug and I eagerly stepped in. “Everything will be alright, I just know it,” she said when she released me.

There was a glint of confidence in her eyes but before I could question it, she was pulled away by someone asking for some dinner forks.

I noticed a group of women in the far corner whispering and pointing in my direction. A frown found its way to my face and while I was making a decision to walk up to them, a voice stopped me.

“Happy birthday Elara,” a familiar voice said. The hairs on the nape of my neck stood.

I turned, it was Falcone. Falcone Pelna was the youngest brother of the alpha of my pack. At least, what was left of the pack.

He had a mate once, but she died less than a year after they were mated.

“Thank you Falcone,” I replied with a shy smile. “I hope you have had something to eat or drink?”

“I haven't. But that's not why I'm here, I wanted to see you,” he said, his dark eyes boring into my soul.

“Oh!” I exclaimed in fake surprise.

Falcone has been trying to get in my pants for as long as I could remember. To anybody else, he was a widower who wanted to take pity on a mateless mutt like myself and claim her as his mate.

But I knew better.

There weren't many single women of age in my pack. In fact, I was the only one in the pack who was over the age of eighteen that hadn't met her mate. Tough luck. Falcone didn’t want a bond. He wanted something easy. And who better than the girl no one else had claimed?

“Is something wrong?” I asked him in a soft voice. My eyes met Grannie Alba’s from a distance and I could see expectation in her eyes.

Looking back to Falcone, I noticed his eyes were also trained on my grandmother. The realization dawned on me. Was my grandmother trying to set me up to marry Falcone?

“Elara Rossi,” he said, his voice louder now, drawing attention. I felt bile rise up to my throat as the sandwich I had earlier, threatened to come back up. I couldn't stand being the center of attention.

He opened his mouth to speak but a piercing scream that tore through the gathering cut him off.

It took me a moment to realize that people around us had started running in different directions.

Ignoring the man behind me, I hurried to my grandmother, grabbing her as we made a run for it.

Some months ago, I discovered a house just a stone's throw from ours that used to belong to a witch. At a corner of the house, there was a small funny shaped bookshelf. Anything that's kept in front of that shelf becomes invisible, humans included.

Blocking out the screams from people outside, I helped Grannie Alba on to a chair that I had previously positioned in front of the shelf.

“Are you okay?” I asked her, referring to her heart. She nodded, waving me off. I made a mental note to take her into town to see the human doctor I knew, Dr Isabella, if we survived this. No, when we survive this.

For years, the Open Creek Pack has faced attacks from various packs with attempts to take over our land. Many times, they succeeded as they would kill anyone in their path.

Our alpha was a pathetic one who we would be better off without. They would kill members of the pack or drive them away from their homes, then claim the lands.

My grandmother sat, rocking slightly in the chair as she looked blankly ahead.

The snarls, the sounds of jaw snapping and flesh tearing from outside made me want to pull out my hair. Finally, it stopped.

Using the back door from which we came through, we went back outside. The familiar line was drawn on the ground in front of us. It looked dark and wet.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I stared ahead at our house which was now inside the demarcation.

It had been claimed!

The fog cleared slightly and my eyes were drawn to a round object that lay ahead of us on the ground, just beside the line. Two dark eyes stared up at me. The scream I had been holding in for so long, tore through my throat.

Happy Fucking birthday Elara!!