001

Raven's POV

I was exhausted already. Parties had never been my thing, and they never would be.

I was sitting at the makeshift bar, a lit black pipe in my hand. Yara was sitting right beside me, gently sipping her large glass of something yellow. The music that hovered above our heads was soft, and yet it made my ears throb. My palms were sweaty, my mouth was dry and I kept losing my focus.

My heart was miles away from home already.

I needed to get out of there.

Instead I sighed and raised the lit pipe to my mouth again. Yara let out an impatient sound and gently lowered the pipe from my mouth. "You shouldn't be smoking that here. Father will—"

I groaned and rolled my eyes. "Father won't do anything to me, Yara." I waved the hand holding the pipe aimlessly, a sarcastic look on my face. "I'm his favourite daughter."

Yara snorted and folded her arms. "No, you're not."

She's right. Like parties never being my thing, my father had never really liked me. Nor my step-mother, for that matter. I wasn't much of a daughter to them. I was just Raven.

Plain old Raven.

Yara, on the other hand, was utterly beloved. With her tumbledown, curly blonde hair and her beautiful blue eyes, she pulled the attention of anyone wherever she went. This was supposed to be her engagement party to Alpha Jaxon, an alpha from a neighbouring pack, and my parents had gone all out for her.

Their marriage was supposed to form an alliance between Alpha Jaxon's pack and ours, in order to face our common enemy from the Stormgate Pack. Yara got to marry a handsome alpha, while I got to sneak into Stormgate and be a spy for my father.

I couldn't help but admit the nagging feeling of jealousy in my heart, but I pushed it aside. All of this won't matter anyway, I reminded myself. By this time tomorrow, I would be gone from this pack for good. I would be on my way to Stormgate, to a new life, I thought. The thought wasn't very thrilling, but I had no choice.

"Well, I can't stand this noise." I mutter to her. "And the people, and the small talk. And the food. And—"

Yara giggles, throwing back her blonde curls. "You cannot stand literally anything, Raven." She placed a hand on my shoulder. "You should go dance with someone. Maybe that'll take your mind off things."

I shake my head imperceptibly and settle more comfortably into my stool. "I don't think so, Yara."

My step-sister nudged my shoulder. "Oh, you should. Who knows? Maybe you'd find someone here. Someone....permanent. And then Father won't force you to go all the way to Stormgate pack anymore."

"Father isn't forcing me to do that, Yara." I said gruffly. "And quit blabbing, or everyone would hear I'm going tomorrow."

"I don't want you to go," Yara said in a quiet voice, and I turned to her. She continued. "You can stay here, build a family. Our children could grow up together, you know."

"I don't think so, Yara. That life isn't for me. This...throwing balls and hosting parties and producing cubs for some alpha." I murmured. 

"I don't want to dance with anyone." I added. The person I really wanted to dance with wasn't here. I wasn't sure he ever will be anyway.

I'd only met him once, and our meeting had been brief. I'd been in the tool shed in the main square of town, sharpening my blades. He'd walked in, and with all arrogance, ordered me to sharpen his blades. I'd reminded him that I was the daughter of the alpha, and afterwards he'd stormed out of the shed. 

Our time together had been fleeting, but the fire in his jade green eyes had been imbued into my head ever since. With every breath I took, I could almost catch the sharp tang of rain and metal that had hovered around him like a cloud. He had walked into that tool shed and walked out with my heart in his hands.

He was just another pompous nobody, I'd tried to assure myself ever since. But my heart had other lovestruck ideas.

Yara was calling my name, and it took me several seconds to pull myself from those thoughts. "What?" I called sharply.

Her hand was clasped around my upper arm, tight like a vice. Her voice was breathless as she spoke. "Look," she whispered. "They're here."

I looked up; a train of four or five men had walked into the party, and the entire room had gone silent. All that could be heard now was the whispering of the guests as they all seemed to look in one direction: the door.

I watched as my parents walked over to the men. They spread out and walked forward to meet my parents, with their leader right in front. And as the leader met my parents in the middle of the room, my eyes caught those twin pools of green, that mane of long, jet-black hair, the arrogant smirk that had melted a part of my heart back in that shed.

Could that be—

"Yara," I called, tapping her hand hurriedly. "Which one of them is your betrothed?"

"The one in the middle!" She whispered in response, and my heart stopped.

Oh, Goddess!

"Raven, he's here!" Yara squealed. "He's really here! My betrothed!"

"Yep." I murmured, my eyes unwavering on his. "He's here."

He'd walked in to meet me like that day at the shed, but this time he was taking more than just my heart.

He was taking my sister's too.

*****

"You should come see Yara. She is very excited to finally meet you." I heard my step-mother say as the men walked towards where we sat. Quickly I swivelled on my stool, turning my back to the approaching men and hiding my face behind a raised hand.

I heard Yara giggle and watched from the corner of my eye as she stood to her feet, and I knew she was extremely excited to finally meet him. 

I wasn't, though.

I needed to get out of there.

"Alpha Jaxon, this is Yara. Yara, meet your betrothed." I heard my father declare as he made introductions. They ignored me, as usual, which I was grateful for right now. 

Swiftly I stood from the stool and made a move towards the nearest exit. Then I heard his voice, and my heart stuttered to a stop.

'"This must be your other daughter then, Alpha Wilder." He said to my father.

Fuck!

"Ah, yes." I heard my father say, a slightly cutting edge to his voice. "Her name is Raven."

I could hear the subtle warning in my father's voice, the raist tilt to his voice that urged me not to mess anything up. 

Behave, Raven. He seemed to say. Don't do anything stupid.

Quickly I rearranged my woebegone face and turned slowly. My eyes settled somewhere above Alpha Jaxon's shoulder, avoiding his face completely. I wasn't sure my heart could stand looking into those endless pools of green again.

I felt the alpha stiffen before me. Recognition flashed across his face, but quickly he rearranged his expression too. I could feel Yara and my parents watching us curiously, their eyes full of questions.

"So!" Alpha Jaxon called out, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "We meet again."

I cocked my eyebrows, hardness slipping into my features. "Yes, Alpha Jaxon."

I felt Yara shift beside me. Her head swivelled from Alpha Jaxon's face to mine, then back. "You two know each other? Have you met before?"

"Yes, we have." I murmured, then reached for her cocktail glass and threw its content down my throat in one clean gulp. 

I hit the empty glass on the bar, then turned my back to the shocked faces of my family. "I think I'll dance with someone." I muttered, then strutted towards the dance floor.