Lydia.That day, I bring down my first deer. It feels almost surreal, but the arrow that pierces through its unsuspecting eyes is mine. The deer falls to the ground as soon as the arrow hits, and although I feel remorse for it as always, I also cannot keep myself from crowing out of triumph."Good job!" Caleigh claps me on the back before running towards the carcass to start gutting it. We pack the meat inside our packs and dump the entrails far away so other carnivores could make use of it. With meat-heavy backpacks, we make our way back to our caves so we could drop the bounty off in the kitchens. The stores of meat in the pack would be full after this."How strange," Caleigh mused as we dropped the meat off, gazing around the pack lands, "Your unwelcome shadow is absent today."I'd noticed that too. I have yet to see Otis for the day; he'd been absent from my site since this morning. Maybe he finally came to his senses and decided not to pursue me. But I knew that thought is too g
Lydia.The shadow moved discretely as if it was aware that it was being watched. Or perhaps it was not taking any risks and was acting as if it was already in danger.As I move through the darkness the trees provide, being extra careful not to make a sound, I start to see the owner of the shadow.It was a man, judging from the body. He was dressed in all black, covering his body from head to toe in dark garments that blended in with the night. His face is wrapped in a black scarf. He looks almost like an assassin, but I know that his gait is too sloppy to be that of an assassin's. Besides, an assassin would never creep around the caves so slowly. The man stops near a certain cave. There is a window carved into the stone, and it's open partially due to the humidity. The man straightens and peers inside the window, opening it slowly enough not to make a creaking noise as it was bound to do if opened quickly. Then, ever so carefully, he places his palms upon the windowsill and raises h
Lydia.Otis hollers as I stab his arm with the arrowhead, his cry waking up everyone in the near vicinity. I start to hear voices coming from all around me. But caught in the throes of my anger, I don't care for them. I want to see Otis hurt for what he was trying to do to Ryan. With a yell, I pull off the sharp metal from his chest, and he cries out once again. Clutching the injured arm, he stumbles back a couple of steps and hits the wall, hard, with his head. The impact makes him lose consciousness, and he falls to the ground.I brace myself to pounce on him again and end him once and for all. I could feel the bloodlust taking over me, poisoning my mind like a scarlet berry. My vision tinges with death, and there's the gushing sound of an ocean in my ears. 'Kill, kill, kill,' my mind chants, and there's nothing I want more than to listen to it. I want to see fear clog his face, I want to see him choke on his own spit. I want to watch the life bleed out of him. I want to watch him
Lydia. We run through the forest as fast as we can, without looking back. I can feel my heart breaking inside my chest with every step we take. I left Ryan. I left Ryan to fend himself against his murderous tyrant of a brother all alone. I left him on his own. I left the love of my life. The pain is too much to bear, and I feel myself slip off. In the spirit plane, my wolf is startled to see me. The purple and magenta sky of my mind's world is strewn with multicolored stars, but I can't appreciate that beauty today. Disregarding my yipping wolf, I stride towards the remaining chain. I need to break this in order to gain my full potential. I don't care if I'm still too weak. Ryan is in danger, and I need to break this chain in order to save him. I need to go and face down an entire packet to reclaim my beloved back. My wolf comes growling and snaps her jaws at me. She tries to warn me off the chain, as she knows I'm not strong enough yet. But I am too far gone to listen to reaso
Prologue.My name is Elizabeth Mannering, and I was born eighteen winters ago to Alpha Greyson and Luna Victoria Mannering of the Crescent Moon pack.And I am a werewolf.My pack was situated deep within the Lunar woods, surrounded by the Lunar Mountain range. It was small, barely consisting of three hundred members. A border pack, lying quite close by the human kingdom of Reincast in the continent of Maqori. The Lunar woods were where the supernaturals lived, while Reincast was where humans lived. Humans weren’t quite aware of our existence, but they were wary of the Lunar woods as they felt that something was off in it. They rarely ventured in, and when they did, they’d face dangers that were beyond shifters, were the Lunar woods hosted all kinds of supernatural and paranormal creatures such as druids, witches, dwarves, dryads, nymphs, centaurs and many, many more. Shifters such as my pack were only a small part of the mosaic.I was the first-born of the Alpha of the Crescent Moon pa
Elizabeth. I make my way back home after the rigorous training session with Maeve as the old, rusted bell in the castle tower rings, signaling the time as noon. After the training session, there was nothing more on my agenda, which meant that I was ought to use that time to get ready for the Midnight ceremony.A Midnight ceremony was an intimate affair, perhaps even more intimate than a mating ceremony. No one was allowed to witness the first transformation. The day a pup turned eighteen, they were to exit the pack boundary and enter the Lunar Woods on their lonesome and spend the night within, meditating and trying to reach within themselves to find their wolf. Half the time, two or three people would turn eighteen years of age on the same day. But our pack was small with only two hundred and seventy people living within, young and old. So today, I was the only wolf turning eighteen.Which meant that I was to go through my ceremony truly alone.At the Midnight ceremony, I will also d
Elizabeth. I make my way down the actual staircase to the first floor of the castle, trying not to wring my fingers with nerves. I don’t know why I feel so anxious about this lunch, it’s not like I’ve never done this before. I do think that it’s the nerves that are meant for tonight setting in early, what other explanation do I have?I got along with my family alright. I loved my father, although he could be difficult sometimes, I adored Carol. Carol could be a little too submissive to my father, easily giving in to his whims, but I tried not to hold that against her. She liked to see her family happy, and sometimes she went about it in the wrong way. Otherwise, she was a delight to talk to. And of course, she had filled the role of my mother ever since I could remember.My relationship with Easton was that of a typical brother and sister. We used to be very close when we were children, we only had a three-year age difference between us, and both of us could look over that. But as tim
Elizabeth.My eyes widen as the words register in my mind, and I can’t believe that he just said it.“What?!” I demand.“You heard me. That ingrate needs to learn his place!” My father reiterates, and from the corner of my eye, I see my stepmother grit her teeth.“Father,” I say in the calmest voice I can muster although my heart hammers in my chest, thoughts run in my mind mile a minute, “What reason did Easton give for missing the meal?”“He said he was busy-” My stepmother immediately starts, but my father cuts her off.“Disrespect, that’s the reason,” Alpha Mannering thunders, banging his fist on the table, “This has been going on ever since that boy turned eighteen. Once he found his wolf, he’s starting to act as if he’s an Alpha. No, not even an Alpha would be as arrogant as he is being!”Easton was a Delta, and I don’t think he is acting as my father claims he is. My father got angry easily when he thought that people were trying to go above him. Easton was twenty-one, so trying