Chapter 01

(3 weeks later)

KARA

"I thought I'd find you here," Denver mused as he plopped down beside me at the edge of the cliff overlooking the green plain of the forest sprawled below.

The Blood Wolves were located in a small town in Washington. The town of Mystic Valley was founded by my ancestors centuries ago when they settled here to form what was now the Blood Wolves. Humans lived in blissful ignorance among us. We learned over the years how to live with them while maintaining the secret of our kind. It grew more and more difficult with the humans venturing further and further into the woods. I'd heard rumors once, that we had a cult in the woods and that my father was the leader. Humans warned their babes to stay away from the Sommers family as much as they could. It was almost humorous.

I swung my legs back and forth, humming a tune under my breath which drifted on the breeze. Denver Rhodes had been my best friend ever since I could remember. With his dark skin which glowed as it caught and held beams of sunlight, hair pulled into tight braids, and body sculptured to perfection, he was destined to be this pack's future Beta. He would have taken after his father if it weren't for me.

Now, some other male wolf would prance in, snatching the position away from my best friend who rightly deserved it.

Three weeks passed by with a blink of an eye and I still hadn't deciphered how to get out of this. The Alphas would arrive today and the games would promptly begin tomorrow. I was running out of time.

"I don't want to be there when they arrive. I don't want to spend time with them or get to know them. I don't want any of this. Why can't my parents see that?" A grumble laced my words as I finally voiced the thoughts I kept bottled within.

I didn't complain during the three weeks. Complaining never served anyone good. However, sometimes it felt good to have someone acknowledge my feelings since everyone else regaled them with sympathetic words as if they were an inconvenience.

Denver weaved his fingers through my raven-black curtain of hair, snagging on a knot as he carved a path between the silken strands. His hazel eyes twinkled with mirth, "Maybe you could use your time spent with them to make yourself seem so unappealing, that they'll quit the games and probably swear off all women for the next century."

The corner of my full lips ticked upward in a coy smirk, "That is a brilliant idea."

"Having brilliant ideas is basically my job description," he quipped proudly, puffing out his chest in what he probably assumed was a manly display of power.

I swatted him over the broad expanse of his chest muscles, "Stop that. You look like a pompous idiot."

"No more of an idiot than the two Alphas who agreed to this madness," Denver shared my sentiment on the matter, not only because he was my best friend but also because he stood to lose something in this deal as well.

"The alpha who wins stands to gain a lot more than he's truly worthy of."

Denver licked the bottom of his lips as his gaze glazed over in thought, "What if you rig the games and neither one of them wins."

"I thought about that but I'd have to know what the games are beforehand and my father isn't giving any details away. I haven't even found anything about the games in his journals or on his laptop. He probably assumed the Alphas would do anything to win so he's keeping all his plans safely away from them, or anyone else who comes snooping around for that matter."

"He knows his daughter well enough to know that he has to keep his plans for the games away from her," Denver pointed out with a chuckle as he nudged his shoulder playfully into mine.

"What if one of them happens to be our mate?" Lex piped in my head, yipping excitedly at the thought.

"You heard what Ma said. There's probably a less than 1% chance of that happening," I thought in response.

"The possibility may be slim, Kara, but it's still there," she argued, growling at my negativity.

In all honesty, I wouldn't know what to do if one of those fools ended up being my mate. They proved when they accepted the invite to the games that all they cared about was power. Not once did they think about the life they were ruining in the process. I couldn't stand the thought of being mated to such a selfish, egotistical individual.

"You don't know them, yet you judge them," Lex supplied with an irritated huff.

"When you figure out neither one of them is our mate you'll be yipping your agreement," I accused before slamming down my mind shields and ending our conversation.

"What if both die during the games?" Denver mused after a short moment of silence.

"My father wouldn't create a game that could kill them. Not when each has their own packs to take care of," I waved off the suggestion with a flick of my wrist, "I don't even know how many games he plans on holding. The all-mighty Game Master has kept all his cards hidden."

"Not really," a triumphant grin split Denver's full lips, "my father mentioned that there will be three to five games. Depending on how the Alphas perform. He will host one game a day every second day to give the Alphas a chance to rest in between."

"Rest and probably bother me. That's how they'll find the time to 'get to know me'," I used air quotes toward the end of my sentence and rolled my eyes at the absurdity of my situation.

"Just go make yourself look undesirable," Denver lifted himself to full height before extending a hand to me, "Come on, they'll be arriving soon and your mother sent me to find you. She says she needs to get you ready."

My groan rattled my ribs as I slapped a hand in his, "Whose side are you on exactly?"

"Yours, always yours," hauling me to my feet, he added, "I'd take your place in a heartbeat, Kara. The way this has dulled your light isn't fair. I'm scared, eventually, you'll burn out and just accept everything that's happening. I know you're a fighter, but you'll do what's good for us and not yourself. That's why you're still here. That's why you haven't even attempted to run away."

"When has running away ever been the solution to a problem, Denver?" Stripping down from my clothes and folding them into a neat pile, I continued, "You have known me for twenty years. You know I've never run from any situation. Why would I start now?"

Leaping forward without waiting for a response, I shifted into my wolf. Lex burst free, red fur sprouting from my olive skin until I landed on four massive paws. The wind danced along my thick fur, bringing with it a mixture of scents from the surrounding nature. The blue sky above, the wind in my fur, and the calm sounds of the forest were what defined Heaven for me. If Heaven wasn't like this, I didn't want it.

Scooping my clothes into my jaw, I watched as Denver shifted into his wolf—the color of chestnut with tufts of black fur in between.

Using my hind legs, I propelled myself into the forest. Lex loved this. Constantly being caged in my mind drove her crazy. She needed the release, needed to embrace her wild nature. Lex reveled in the hunt. Her tracking skills had heightened over the years. When she first came to me at the age of 16, we realized she was a natural tracker. We spent four years honing our instincts and ability.

Both Lex and I could navigate this forest with our eyes closed—admittedly, her better than me. With grace and poise, we leaped over boulders and weaved around trees. Dry leaves and twigs crunched beneath the rapid hammering of Lex's paws on the ground. The rapid pace of my heart became background noise as Lex trained her hearing on the sounds of any approaching threat. Denver kept his pace with me, familiar with this routine thanks to our daily runs.

We avoided the humans as much as we could. However, one or two would catch a glimpse of us which would send people into a frenzy. Whenever that happened, we couldn't shift for days because hunters would litter the woods like ants. Their weapons couldn't harm us. They simply thought the forest was plagued by gigantic wolves. Playing it safe was still the better option to ensure we could remain on these lands.

We barrelled out of the tree line and into the little village we had created. Most of the pack lived in town, some preferred to live amongst nature. My family was one of them. It was why my father never ran for mayor. He despised living in the town, unlike our predecessors. Though, we constantly made certain whoever held the mayor position was one of us—that included the chief of the force and the President of the local hospital.

We created Mystic Valley. We ran Mystic Valley. Humans were lucky enough to live here. They wouldn't see it that way if they knew the truth though.

I shifted, shoving Lex into the backseat of my mind. Then, I threw on the sports bra and sweats I had held between my jaw.

"I'll catch up with you later," I called over my shoulder as I took the stairs two at a time.

"I'll be right by your side when they arrive," the promise in Denver's words followed me into the pack house where chaos stole my peace.

Every wolf rushed around in preparation for our guests. Two rooms were prepared in the pack house, in the wing I resided in, both next door to me. When I found out about our living arrangements I knew I had to do something about it. So, I moved my things into Denver's room.

It was either that or use the window to get away from them.

"There you are," Ma's voice cut the air like a hot knife through butter, "come, we need to get you ready. You're in a state and first appearances are everything."

She began ushering me toward the winding staircase but I dug my heels into the hardwood floors and steeled my resolve.

"I'm not going to be prodded and prepped to be displayed like some prize. You may have made me that but I refuse to play the part. This," gesturing to the length of my frame—which was quite tall considering I stood at 5'9—I gritted, "is me. If they can't accept me as I am, for who I am, maybe they don't deserve me at all."

"It never hurts to put a little effort—"

"Your version of making an effort is the equivalent of someone presenting a stuffed turkey at Thanksgiving dinner. No offense, Ma, but I want nothing to do with it," noting the disappointment ghosting over her features, I murmured, "but, I'll have a shower. I need one anyway."

Crease lines bracketed her wide smile, "Okay, at least you won't smell like you've been sleeping in a hovel."

"I do not smell like I've been sleeping in a hovel!" I squeaked in mortification as I not so subtly lifted my arm to get a whiff of myself. Holding back a gag, I grimaced, "Okay fine. Maybe I do sort of smell like that but I've been out running for most of the day."

"You better not have exhausted yourself. We have a long night ahead," Ma warned, her expression becoming taut as she swept her assessing eyes down my body.

At her words, a devious idea sprouted to life in my head, blossoming into something that could possibly save me from this.

Masking my malevolent grin with a saccharine tone, I cooed, "Of course not, Ma. Tonight will go exactly as planned."

What my mother didn't know was, tonight would play out according to my plan and not hers.

Let the mating game begin.