~ A M E L I A ~Moon Goddess, all I asked for was a break. Just one. One night of blissful sleep. Please.I was too deep into this. It was the same as always. The beautiful scent of food surrounded me, an ultimate blend of spices so strong I could practically taste them on my tongue. But I knew that wasn’t the purpose of this dream. I knew what was calling to me. Everett would be furious if he knew the state of the dreams I had and how worse they had gotten. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that we didn’t share a bed and that my room was on the opposite end of the Cabin. Looking down at myself, I was once again in a beautiful floor-length silver gown, it was so long that it trailed behind me as I walked down the dark corridors of the castle. The Shaws’ castle. If this was a vision or some variant of a vision, it made sense that I wasn’t wearing the dress from the masquerade ball. But I still didn’t understand what this dream was trying to tell me.I could notice all the detail
~ A M E L I A ~It was early. Too early. I wasn’t entirely sure how long I had been up for or if I had even gotten many hours of sleep—I was too afraid to fall into another nightmare and disturb Everett. He wouldn’t have cared, he was so kind and caring like that. He would’ve happily held me close and hummed that same soothing lullaby to me again until I fell asleep, but that didn’t stop me from wanting him to have a blissful night of sleep. He was still holding me so close, gripping tightly enough as if he were trying not to release me, as if he were to lessen his grip even the slightest, he’d lose me. The problem with that was, deep down, I don’t think I would ever want to leave his side if he let me go. When he was trying to claim me as his on the full moon, there was a large part of me that didn’t want to say no, that just wanted to give in. Something deep within myself was trying to convince me it wasn’t wrong, that I wouldn’t miss my mate if I were with Everett. That small in
The tradition of who became the next Alpha in a werewolf pack had always been the same. The firstborn child of the current Alpha leader will be the next reigning heir. They will be the future Alpha of the pack to rule, guide and strengthen the pack to become greater and stronger. All packs have always followed this tradition, and it is one of their most sacred laws. However, since the dawn of time, the firstborn heir has always been male…So, what would happen if the next heir were born female?Long ago, when time was still young and new. When the dawn of werewolves was a prominent element on Mother Earth, in the dense heart of the Shadowpine pack, where the moonlight danced and radiated with magical whispers across the forest where the pack’s home lay, a phenomenon occurred that would forever alter werewolf history, that would alter the future for werewolves. For the first time in the existence of werewolves, the title of Alpha was destined to be passed to a woman. Esmeray Stormbo
~ A M E L I A ~A female Alpha.I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It was such a beautiful story. No wonder it was Everett’s favourite book. He liked things outside of the normality that he was used to. The Silver Moon pack had its own beauty in itself, the tradition and care that went into sustaining a pack that has existed for centuries, but it was, in many ways, still living in the past. Deep down, I felt that was why Everett was so drawn to me when we first met.I had a unique outlook on life compared to him and the people of the pack. After all, I grew up with humans. However, some people in the human world still have their heads stuck in the past, too, trying to control and contain those who just wish to live freely and happily. Part of me hated how the book was entirely fictional. Female wolves are just as powerful as male wolves. Why couldn’t a female be Alpha? There had to be some magical element for all firstborns to descend from the Alpha leader to be male. Unless… no,
~ E V E R E T T ~What the hell was I thinking?This was a terrible idea, but I couldn’t resist. I couldn’t let her suffer another nightmare, not alone. The sound of Amelia’s screams still echoed in my ears from the night prior, the pain in her eyes as she was trapped between the dream and reality, and whatever fucked up dark magic that tainted her skin to give her those horrific burns. Temporarily, thankfully. Knowing she was safe and making sure I could be there for her immediately if she needed me was also putting her at a huge risk. Having her next to me, sleeping soundly and blissfully, she was at peace. Little did she know that’s what made the urges worse… Wrap your hand around her throat.Suffocate her.Break her neck.End her.It was getting out of hand, all these thoughts. I could push them away and distract my mind enough not to go through with them, but I would be lying if I said I had no fear at all that one day I would see it through. That I would end up hurting her, s
~ A M E L I A ~No, it couldn’t be. It had to be a coincidence. What were the chances he did this on purpose?What were the chances he did this by accident?Everett took a step closer to me and opened his mouth to speak, but my immediate reaction of stepping back had silenced him and made him freeze in place. ‘Amelia—’I held my hand up, forcing him to stop again. My stomach churned, and my knees felt weak. I felt like I was about to collapse. It doesn’t make sense. None of it makes sense. Opening the book again, I had to reread what I just read. I had to know if what I read was even real…------------------------------The love that Zev had for Aruna was unlike any other love he’d ever experienced in his life. Yes, he loved his parents, and despite their constant conflicts, he also loved his little brother. He also loved hiking, video games, and chocolate cake. The breeze of a summer evening, and the promise of a new day. The list of things he loved was endless. He also loved hi
~ A M E L I A ~‘You hated me the second I arrived in this pack, you didn’t care for me at all. You made me train with you. You watched from afar as your dickhead friends tried to hurt and sexually abuse me. You wanted to and still want to hurt me, even now…’ I chuckled, realising how stupid I must be to allow myself to be so close to someone like this. ‘How are you saying that I have stolen your heart?’Stroking my cheek gently, Everett spoke slowly, ‘There’s a fine line between hatred and…’ he cleared his throat, avoiding the word, ‘Yeah… Sure, I didn’t like you when you first arrived, but you also drew me in. You know this already; I’ve told you about that before.’ He sighed, ‘The more I was around you, the more I got to really know you, the more time I craved being around you. For a long time, I was in denial about it; hell, even Betty noticed your hold on me before I had fully come to terms with it. That pissed me off so much I got so drunk that night, and the words just came out
~ A M E L I A ~The drive home was deathly silent. It wasn’t that we had nothing to say to each other, but that we had said too much to each other. What once was something casual and seemingly harmless that we shared was now something… Messy. It was all so messy. I was getting too tired of it all. As Everett parked his car, I stared into the forest where my cottage was hidden. My life didn’t seem real—living alone in a pack of werewolves, trying to find out more about my birth parents and who I am, and a curse preventing the pack from being who they truly are. So much…too much has happened these past few months. What a wild ride it’s been. Everett sighed. I couldn’t look at him. I knew why he was sighing; we both knew what was happening. ‘Thanks for the ride back,’ I sniffled and pushed myself out of the car, grabbing my bags and rushing to my home. ‘Amelia,’ Everett called out. I could sense he was close behind me. Squeezing my eyes shut, trying to stop the tears from formi
~ A M E L I A ~Smiling, I parted ways with my mate and walked towards the group. They all instantly fell silent as they laid eyes on me, uttering different words and bowing to me. ‘Hello,’ I smiled at the girl I desired to speak to, ‘you’re Suki, right?’Wide-eyed, Suki struggled to speak at first until the man next to her nudged her arm gently, ‘Y-Yes!’ She bowed, ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, Alpha Amaris.’ Coming to a stand, and gesturing towards the man and spoke speedily, ‘This is my father, Machiavelli Twyla, Beta wolf of the Moonstone pack.’He bowed his head, ‘A pleasure to meet you, Alpha Amaris.’I tittered, ‘I’m still not used to that.’ Looking down at her drink, I noticed it was empty. ‘Come, let’s get you a refill. I could do with a drink myself.’ I looped my arm with hers and guided her towards the bar. She exhaled and whispered, ‘Thank you, it was almost suffocating being there,’ she picked up another flute of champagne and sipped it. I watched her, almost feeling c
~ A M E L I A ~A large smile grew on his face, ‘I love you too,’ he said before kissing me with even more passion. Everett traced his lips against my cheek, planting a kiss as he moved closer towards my neck once again. My breathing stuttered with every move of his. He planted another kiss on my neck before gently dragging his teeth against my flesh, taunting me and making me crave him more.‘Ev… stop… teasing,’ I said, struggling to breathe as I spoke. He chuckled against my skin, ‘I can’t help it, darling, it’s just too much fun.’ He sighed and lifted himself to meet my gaze again, ‘I promise you, I will mark you, but just not today. Today is your Ascension Ceremony; it’s an important and memorable day for you. Completing our bond should be a separate thing, what do you think?’I smiled, intertwining my fingers behind his neck, ‘I think that is a great idea.’ Ev looked pleased and pecked my lips. ‘Besides,’ I added, ‘you probably should meet my adoptive parents before we complete
~ A M E L I A ~With the curse finally being lifted, the people of the Silver Moon pack celebrated for three days straight, immediately after the Battle for Alpha ended, and I was deemed the new leader, the youngest Alpha leader ever in the entire history of the pack, claiming that title from my birth father. I thought and hoped he would’ve been proud that it was me who took that title. Truthfully, I’d expected more backlash for my rise from being essentially rankless to then becoming Alpha, but it seemed that the people of Silver Moon had the utmost respect for my birth parents, as well as gaining respect for me for saving them from the dreaded 18-year curse. The people of the pack were able to enjoy the freedom of having their powers back. I, however, had no chance to embrace my powers or even try shifting yet. There was too much to do, and I had no time to rest, not yet.Moving arrangements for one—I was now the Alpha, and moving back home with my adoptive parents was no longer a
~ A M E L I A ~I looked at the guards, ‘Please ensure Draven doesn’t try anything stupid.’With that, I sped through the forest, not realising how tame my wolf speed was before gaining access to my full power. It was a level I could not even fathom to explain. Magical? Fantastic? Out of this world? Yes, all of the above. My nose locked in on her scent swiftly, it was as if I could physically see her just through her scent. She was running back towards the pack, but she wasn’t going to make it. All of my senses were locked on her. I could smell the fear in her sweat and hear the panic in her panting breath. I slowed my pace and moved around enough to make her struggle to decipher where exactly I was coming from, only making her panic more as I moved in closer, finally being able to see her with my eyes. She came to a halt suddenly, frantically searching around, and when she went to move off again, I was there, standing right in front of her. ‘Going somewhere, Yurena?’ I stepped fo
~ A M E L I A ~ His voice was as clear as day in my mind, yet part of me felt like it was all a dream. Yet it wasn’t a dream. It was real, but it was about to turn into a nightmare when my attention was brought to Draven and the dagger in his hand as he pulled back, ready to plunge it into his son’s heart. With more speed than I had ever been able to harness before, I flashed towards them, leaping onto Draven’s back and swinging myself to the side to throw him off and send him skidding away. ‘Everett, Everett!’ I said in a panic, dragging my hands across his chest to check for any wounds. He groaned as he sat up, ‘I’m okay, I’m okay… just weak from the wolfsbane.’ He placed his hand over the stab wound in his stomach to stop it from bleeding, and with his free hand, he placed it on my cheek, looking deep into my eyes, ‘Amelia.’ With tear-stained eyes, I smiled and placed my hand on top of his, ‘Everett.’‘How dare you!’ Draven hissed as he came to a stand and walked slowly back t
~ A M E L I A ~‘No!’ I groaned and shoved my heels in the dirt before I hauled myself down towards the ground, using his weight to bring him down too. As he was above me, I used my legs to throw him to my side before bolting away from the cliff. By this point, I had used too much of my wolf speed and was struggling to lock into it fully. I needed full access to my wolf side. Draven sped after me, though he was also worn out; he still had full access to his power, which gave him that advantage. He hurtled himself at me, tackling me to stumble and fall into the bushes. A twist and crack of my ankle made me wail out in pain. I couldn’t see my friends, but I knew they were on edge watching the scene before them. Hudson and Everett both were likely fighting every urge within them not to get involved. They knew if they did, the challenge would become void, and I would lose instantly. They believed in me enough to fight this on my own. I’ve got this. I can do this!Pinning me down, Drav
~ A M E L I A ~Within those first few seconds, I knew that his fighting tactics differed from Everett’s—where he would wait for his opponent to come for him to then take them down, Draven was a head-on type of fighter. That only made him more unpredictable for me and lowered any advantage I could have even more. Focus. My mind hissed. Locking in on the situation before me, I stood still and waited for the right moment. Draven clenched his hands into fists. Watching closely, I spotted his right hand draw back ever so slightly. That was my mark. I waited for him to get closer and closer, to make a move. As he pushed with his left foot and lunged closer as he drew his right fist back, it was time for me to dodge and counter. I leant back as his fist moved for my face, grabbing his wrist and arm, pushing his punch away from me to miss my head. Using that momentum, I twirled around and skidded back, dropping to my hands and knees. Not having time to think things further, I pushed fo
~ A M E L I A ~All my friends tried to keep me busy and distracted during the day. We played board games, watched movies, and even had a picnic in the forest. However, I was struggling to eat and ended up watching the sun move in the sky, teasing me with what was to come. There was no more avoiding the inevitable.‘I’ll be right back,’ I said quietly, pushing myself to my feet and making my way back into my cottage. I’d become so comfortable with this home, and the chances were, win or lose, I’d not be returning to this home.I poured myself a cold glass of water and took a couple of sips before tipping the rest down the sink. Resting my hands on the kitchen counter, I tried to hash out a strategy to help me with the upcoming battle, but everything I thought of always resulted in the same thing: me losing.Draven was an Alpha werewolf, and before then, he was a powerful Beta. He had always been strong, and though I had strength, they were too limited. There was no hope.‘Hey,’ Sammy
~ A M E L I A ~To nobody’s surprise, I couldn’t sleep at all.It got to the point where I had to start pretending that I was sleeping just to stop everyone from shouting at me to rest in preparation for the battle, so I could gather my strength. We had all stuck together in the living room, moving the coffee table and the sofas to allow more space for us all to sleep on the floor. The guys brought the mattress from my bedroom and the guest bedroom to lie on the ground so they all had something comfortable to sleep on. Gabriel and Kaylee were on one mattress, while Sammy and Theo were on the other—they all had fallen asleep not long after I pretended to. I was lying on one of the sofas. Peeling my eyes open slowly, I noticed the other sofa was still vacant, and two people were not in my line of sight. I searched the room carefully to see where they had gone off, too, trying not to get caught for being awake. Both Everett and Hudson were standing by the back door, looking out to the