Chapter 1 Syndra

The sounds of the forest and rushing water are music to my ears as I sit on the riverbank as the sun sets. I have been out here for hours with my sketchbook and charcoal. My fingertips are black from smudging the charcoal on the page to blend it. Sitting here like this is one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon. 

This is the first afternoon in the last few months that I have been able to get away. There is always some kind of training or classes during the day that prevents me from doing what I love. Creating sketches that will one day become paintings. 

My name is Syndra Broussard, and I am a lycan. My parents are the Alpha and Luna of our pack, Moon River. It is nestled deep in the forest just outside Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana. To the outside world, it looks like a large hippie compound.  

To us, it is home to over five hundred lycans.  

My parents are training me and my two brothers to take over for them when they retire. So, our days are filled with combat training in human form in the mornings. Then my twin brother and future Alpha, Remi, goes off to shadow our father. Our younger brother, Raphael, will take over for the pack beta even though he is an alpha by birth.  

As for me, my mother is training me to be the pack Luna until Remi finds his mate. I protested at first, but she said the lessons are also for when I find my mate as well. In secret, Remi is training me to help him with his alpha duties as well.  

He says that because we are twins; it is only fair that we run the pack together until I meet my mate and have to leave Moon River, the only home I have ever known, behind me to live with my mate. I love my brother, but I sometimes wish my mate will be someone without a title. 

My mother says that because I am an alpha female, my mate will most likely be an alpha too. All I want is to be left alone so that I can sketch, draw, and paint anything that calls to me to bring it to life in my art.

Sadly, I know that is not going to happen. So, I take any chance I can to find a quiet place to just do what I enjoy. I know that my time for peaceful days like this is running out with my fast-approaching eighteenth birthday. 

Two more days and I will be able to meet my wolf and my mate.  

Whoever he turns out to be. 

Two more days to learn all I can from my mother and Remi. Then I will be heading to the yearly gala for all unmated Lycans. Every unmated Lycan from all over the country comes for the chance to meet their mate.  

It is held in the capital city where the Lycan King lives.  

Over the last few months, as the date of the gala draws closer, a feeling of dread grows in my stomach. Finding one’s mate is supposed to be a happy time. Most female lycans dream of their mates and look forward to the day it happens.  

For me, it signifies the loss of my freedom.  

I know somewhere in the back of my mind that feeling is childish, but I can’t help it. Staying here in Moon River until Remi finds his mate would be ideal for me. Yet, I have a feeling that everything is about to change when I leave here to go to the capital city. 

Syn, where are you? My mother asks through our mindlink. 

I glance at my watch and grimace. It is almost dinnertime. After dinner, I have to start packing for a trip to the capital. When I asked my mother why I had to pack now, she just shook her head, then told me that she knows if I leave it until the last minute, nothing will be packed correctly, or I will only pack my art supplies. 

She wasn’t wrong, so I didn’t argue.  

I will be there soon, Mother.  

Make sure you change and wash your hands. I don’t want charcoal stains on the linen napkins again, Syndra. 

I roll my eyes, then start packing my sketchbook and the rest of my supplies into the faded leather satchel beside me on the blanket. It has held my art supplies since I was ten. It was a gift from my paternal grandmother, the only person other than my brother Remi, to encourage my hobby. 

She died a year later. The satchel is my greatest treasure. It will go with me to the capital and my new home when I meet my mate.  

Little sister, you better hurry before Mother sends Rapha to fetch you. My brother Remi says through our mindlink.  

I sigh, then stand up from the ground. After gathering up the blanket I was sitting on and flinging the satchel over my shoulder, I turned away from my refuge to head home. The last thing I want is for my brother Raphael, or Rapha as I call him, to come and fetch me.  

The last time he was tasked with bringing me home, he threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and ran all the way home. It was humiliating, and not the first time he had done it. He may be younger than me and Remi by a year, but he is not little.

Both of my brothers are built like linebackers for a football team. They are both over six feet tall and muscle-bound giants compared to me. They look more like twins, and most people who meet them for the first time assume they are. 

I mean they both have dark brown, almost black hair. Both have pale silver eyes like our father. Then there is me, at five foot even with wild red hair and emerald green eyes. I got my red hair from my maternal grandmother and my eyes from my mother.  

Remi and I look nothing alike. Fraternal twins are such a fun twist of genetics. We are, however, extremely close. We have a connection that I will miss when I leave Moon River.  

By the time I reach my room, I have enough time to change into a clean pair of jeans, wash my hands and face, and then I rush from the room. 

My father, Etienne Broussard, is waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. There is a soft smile on his face and a twinkle in his silver eyes. He dotes on me since I am his only daughter. It is because of him that I could sneak out to the river today. 

He distracted my mother. I don’t want to know how, but I am grateful. 

I give him a hug when I reach the bottom of the stairs. His mint and vanilla scent, tinged with the scent of his cigar, surrounds me as he hugs me back. I give him a knowing smile as he steps back. Mother hates the smell of his Cuban cigars and will pick a fight with him later for smoking when she is trying to get him to quit. 

He will never quit. 

“I know, I know. I shouldn’t be smoking.” He says with a slight shake of his head. 

“Go splash some cologne on your neck, and I will tell her you had to take a phone call and will be in when you are done.” I give him a wink before walking away.

His rich laughter follows me as I walk towards the dining room. I can hear my brothers’ voices, and it sounds like they are arguing about something. Judging by their tones, it sounds like Rapha is angry and Remi is not taking him seriously. 

“Alright, you two, that is enough bickering. We leave in three days for the capital. Work whatever issues you have out before it is time to leave.” My mother, Lisette, scolds them. 

I stop in the doorway of the dining room and laugh quietly at the annoyed expression on Rapha’s face. “What has Remi done now, Rapha?” 

Instead of answering me, all he does is throw both of his hands in the air, then stomps over to his seat at the table. He crosses his arms over his chest and glowers at Remi, who just grins at him. My twin is a tad mischievous when it comes to our younger brother.  

“What did you do this time, Remi?” I ask him as I walk into the dining room.  

Remi looks at me, then winks. It causes the scar on his face, from his temple to his cheekbone, to crinkle a little. He got it in a rather nasty fight during a rogue attack a few years ago. It is a battle scar, according to him and our father. I think it makes him look fearsome. 

I suspect he likes it makes him look that way. 

Male alphas and their egos.  

“I just played a little prank, that is all, cher.” Remi says as he walks to his seat across from Raphael.  

“It was not a little prank. That shit stank up the entire car and I had to drive with all the windows down on the three-hour drive home. Fuck you, Remi. Why do you have to do shit like that all the time?” 

Remi’s face sobers, and he just stares at Raphael for a moment. “We have serious jobs and an entire pack to be responsible for soon. Pranks are my way of letting loose.” 

“At everyone else’s expense.” Mother says as she sits down at the end of the table. 

To my complete surprise, Remi lowers his head and actually looks ashamed of himself for once. Before I can comment on it, our father joins us at the table. Mother shoots him a knowing look but doesn’t comment on his late arrival. 

A few moments later, two omegas bring out dinner. Remi flirts with one of them while the other smiles at me before she ducks back into the kitchen. Nettie, or Antoinette, is one of my best friends. I will see her later tonight when she comes to my room to help me decide what to pack.

She has a much better sense of fashion than I do, and I will need her help. 

I started eating the dinner that had been prepared: a roast duck with new potatoes and peas. I hate peas, but Remi loves them, so he always ends up eating mine too. My skin crawls as I feel like someone is watching me.  

Glancing up from my plate, I see that my mother is eyeing me critically.  There is either something wrong with my clothes or my hair. She never likes what I wear or how little effort I put into keeping my wild curls tamed. I am not put together enough for her liking. 

Not since I will be acting Luna soon.. Be it with my mate or helping Remi until he finds his. 

In my mother’s eyes, a Luna should be immaculately groomed and dressed. That has never been my style, but I know she has a point. It will be expected of me no matter where I end up.

“Tomorrow, you and I will go to the salon. You could use a haircut, those nails need to be redone, and your eyebrows are out of control.” Mother states after her gaze travels over me, then she reaches for her water glass as if what she said wasn’t hurtful.

I lower my head as I feel embarrassment flush my cheeks. I hate it when she puts me on the spot and points out my flaws. My hair is fine, just a little wild. My nails are, well, my nails are a mess.  

“Lisette, let the girl eat in peace. We have two days until we have to leave. Let her be for tonight.” My father speaks up and gives her a stern look. 

“If she doesn’t run off to Goddess knows where tomorrow so she can draw.” 

The way she says the last word makes it sound as if I am doing something disgusting. To her, I guess it is. In her eyes, I should be hanging out with girls my age and going shopping all the time. She wanted a perfect princess to pamper. 

What she got was far from perfect. At least when it comes to what she thinks is perfection. I am who I am, and she hates it.  

I would rather be outside than inside, jeans rather than skirts or dresses, and I hate shopping. Growing up with two brothers made me more of a tomboy than a prom queen. The only one who has a problem with it is my mother, the queen of right and proper. 

“I will go with you to the salon, but tonight I want Nettie to help me pack instead of you.” I tell her softly. 

She raises one of her perfectly manicured eyebrows at me, and for a moment I think so is going to deny me. Instead, she nods her head, then goes back to eating her dinner. I send a silent prayer of thanks to the Moon Goddess. 

Lisette Broussard may be my mother, but there is no love lost between us. We haven’t gotten along since I was a child and wanted to play outside in the dirt more than I wanted to wear frilly dresses and play with dolls. She pulled away from me further when puberty hit, and I still didn’t like what she assumed I should. 

Sometimes I wish she could just accept me the way I am. 

After I finish my dinner, I ask to be excused so that I can start packing. For once, my mother smiles and agrees to let me go to my room. I get up from the table, then kiss my father’s cheek before I rush from the room. 

Twenty minutes later, I have two empty suitcases open on my bed as I stand in front of my closet looking at all the skirts, dresses, dress suits, cocktail dresses, and ballgowns that my mother had delivered yesterday.  

There are a few outfits here to my liking, but the rest are more to my mother’s tastes. Why that surprises me, I have no idea. I may be an alpha-born female, but I am in no way the lady she wants me to be. 

A knock on my door pulls me out of my thoughts.  

“Come in,” I call out from the closet. 

My brother Remi’s scent fills the room instead of Nettie’s.  

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