Chapter 1

Odessa

“I can’t believe I’m here,” I sighed, smoothing my red hand-me-down dress.

I held the chocolate cake in my free hand. I made it earlier before I was invited to my Mother’s boyfriend’s house for a party.

I did not want to attend because Barnette’s children weren’t fond of me. They were high-class and sophisticated while I lived in a one-bedroom rat hole for my life. However, I couldn’t disappoint my Mother. She was convinced he was the love of her life.

“Here we go.”

I rang the doorbell at Barnette’s million-dollar mansion. I’d been to Barnette’s house three times, and each time was a different scenario. I just hoped I made it out of there alive. Barnette’s son, Storm, was the running back on the football team and part of a deadly trio of players, best friends with the quarterback and Alpha Heir, Maverick.

The front door finally opened, and I plastered on a smile. Loud music and laughter streamed out of the house. Anxiety clawed at me. I could imagine all the important people at this party.

Sienna scowled at me. “You. What the hell do you want? Charity?”

“Sienna… nice to see you—”

“Save it. No one invited the omega reject. This party is for elites only, not the girl who cleans the stadium grass.”

Her words sliced my heart even though I’d heard them before. Sienna was the captain of the cheerleading team for the Darciana Wildcats and the Pack’s golden girl.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “M-my Mom told me to come over.”

“That slut of a Mother? This isn’t her house.” Sienna screamed in my face.

I balled my hands into fists and pulled the cake to my chest. Sienna would never like me. To her, I was encroaching on her sacred relationship with her Father, even though I tried to avoid her family like the plague.

“Look, I didn’t want to—”

“Who’s at the door, babe?”

A hand appeared on Sienna’s shoulder before a six-foot-one man appeared in the doorframe.

My tongue swelled, and my palms sweated. My pupils dilated, and every hair on my skin stood.  It was Gage Ravens, the second member of the Wildcats Fab Three. How did I forget he was dating his best friend Storm’s twin sister? It was all anyone could talk about for a month!

The tabloids thought it would ruin their connection on the field, but it didn’t. Storm and Gage have known each other since they were in diapers, the same as Maverick. Their chemistry on the field was something that had been refined over the years to create the perfect deadly blow.

I looked away. I hoped they wouldn’t notice my laboured breathing. I stepped back as the air thickened with his scent.

“Who’s this?” Gage nodded at me.

I’d only seen him and his teammates at a distance, but up close, he was intimidating and more... However, when our eyes met, I couldn’t deny the fireworks. I was drawn to him like a sailor enchanted by a siren’s death song. I knew he’d lead me to disaster, but I wanted to fall into him anyway.

I had a problem.

“No one,” Sienna snapped. “If you’re waiting for your Mother, you’ll have to wait outside. No one wants the stench of dead rats in the house.”

“Sienna,” Storm scolded. “Let her in.”

“She doesn’t belong here, Storm. We’ve been over this,” Sienna placed a hand on her waist, rolling her eyes at her twin.

“Dad wants her here. Let her in,” Storm said firmly.

Storm leaned against the wall behind the couple. Unlike his twin sister, Storm had vibrant blue eyes that could compete with the enchantment of the sky.

“I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t important to my Mother.”

Sienna scowled, “Whatever.” She marched off, and her brother didn’t wait to exchange pleasantries either.

Gage towered over me. My fingers ached to reach out and trace the defined muscles under his shirt and his solid arms that were begging for my attention.

I broke eye contact and walked into the living room. A football flew across the room, over the heads of nearly fifty people and landed in the arms of Maverick Campbell.

Could this night get any worse?

Unlike Gage and Storm, I had known Maverick Campbell a long time ago.

He was too busy with a group of women to notice someone from his past.  Maverick wasn’t just the captain slash quarterback. He was the Alpha of the Pack. Well, he would become the Alpha when his Uncle steps down soon.

I looked around for a place to sit and possibly disappear. I felt like a fish out of water.

Where was my Mom anyway?

“If you’re going to stay take your ass to the kitchen and make yourself useful. That cake better not make anyone sick either,” Sienna hissed.

Despite my banishment to the kitchen, I was glad to escape.

As I walked to the kitchen, I noticed Sienna wrap her arms around her man, Gage. She rested her head on his chest while he placed his chin on her head and lazily wrapped an arm around her, placing a hand on her hip.

My wolf whimpered, and I pushed her far away before she made me say something that got us both killed!

“How much longer do we have to wait?” Maverick asked.

I paused.

“I don’t know. My old man should be here by now,” Storm replied.

“Who knows what that sluts making him do,” Sienna commented.

I bit my tongue. I wanted to yell at her for talking about my Mom that way, but I kept my cool. Once again, Gage and I locked eyes, and I had to break contact.

Where were they? I was drowning here!

The front door burst open, and the house filled with laughter. The music stopped when the couple arrived. My Mother and her boyfriend, Barnette, stumbled into the room in a loving embrace.

“Great, you’re all here!” Barnette beamed.

Mom rested her head on his chest.

“Just like you asked, old man, what’s this about?” Storm asked calmly.

“Tell them, Kitten,” Barnette said.

Mom beamed almost as bright as the sun. She raised her right hand to showcase a huge rock! “Barnette and I got married!”

My jaw dropped. “What?”

Sienna jumped to her feet. “Are you insane?”

“It’s sudden, but we couldn’t wait to be together. Arline and Odessa are moving in! Isn’t that great, Sienna? You’ve got a new sister.”

All eyes turned on me.

Oh crap.