I nearly burst out in laughter when Damien saw me step into the arena. 5 years ago, he rejected me for an Alpha’s Daughter, because he thinks I am a lowly Omega. But he doesn’t know that I am the Alpha of the largest Pack. Now we meet again at the Alpha Competition. I will get my sweet revenge on him. I will bring him to his knees in public. First I have to make him believe I am getting impatient with this match and I lunge at him before he realizes what I am about to do. He staggers as my fist collides with his face and I see a shocked look on his face, “What! Didn’t think a barbie doll could punch you in the face?” I yell at him. He looks at me dumbfounded as I get back into position, “Didn’t you call me a barbie doll when you rejected me for that?” I yell as I point at his Chosen Mate. ** No one likes to get rejected, especially not in the most humiliating way possible. Instead of it breaking her, it makes her more determined to prove to the world she can survive. She will prove to her former Mate that he made a huge mistake by rejecting her. She will humiliate him in the worst way, she will bring him to his knees in public. When she meets her second chance Mate, will she run for the hills? The Goddess has a strange sense of humor according to Amarah. Theseus is Alpha of the second largest Pack, Dark Mountain Pack. At the age of twenty he found his fated Mate, but lost her within a month. Now he is waiting for his second chance Mate, but as the years pass he starts to lose hope. On the day he finally finds her he uncovers a few secrets, one hidden on purpose and one hidden by accident. Will they learn to trust again?

Chapter 1 Rejected Amarah My name is Amarah Raven, I am a twenty one year old Werewolf and the future Alpha of White Crescent Pack. Yes, you read that correctly I am the future Alpha and our Pack is the largest and strongest Pack there is. Hearing the Omegas talk about my parents has me stopping dead in my tracks, my parents have been ruling our Pack for almost forty years and they don’t want to celebrate.

“Alastor, where are you?”

I ask my baby Brother through our mind-link and as I rush up the stairs I link my best friends. “Did you know Mom and Dad have been ruling for almost forty years?” I ask him as I open the door to Alastor’s room and his eyes fly open as he mutters “Fuck” before he sits up straight. I link one of the Omegas to have breakfast delivered to my office for all of us and as soon as we are all sitting, Alastor and I tell them what the reason for our meeting is. We know we need a lot of help organizing this and I tell each of them what I expect them to do. We are able to get every Pack-member to help in one way or another, from decorations to color scheme and we manage to do it without our parents finding out. I am even able to enlist the help of Luna Jess of Silver Moon Pack, she will take care of inviting some of our Allies. In a matter of three weeks we have to get everything organized and on the day of the party, Alastor and I will take our parents out to dinner. I am even wearing a dress to humor Mom, everyone knows that I don’t like to wear a dress and if I can avoid it for the rest of my life I will. It is an emerald green, floor length, one shoulder dress with a split starting mid-thigh on the left. Three string of shiny stones run from my right shoulder down my back to just above my ass and I top it off with black velvet high heeled ankle boots. The Friday of the party comes as it always does and after lunch Mom and I go upstairs to get our hair and make-up done, after which we get into our dresses and Mom looks gorgeous in her royal blue, floor length dress. Blue and gold is the color scheme, just as it was at their Alpha and Luna Ceremony and when I see Dad I am stunned. He is wearing a black three pieced suit with a royal blue button-up shirt and so is Alastor. “I had a small surprise made for you,” Alastor says as he pulls out two black mask. “Would you mind putting these on?” he asks and Mom and Dad take them without hesitation. We both grab hold of an arm and lead them through the Pack-house to the backdoor. Melia and Rhea are waiting for us at the back porch and they take up position behind Mom and Dad, they pull away the masks at the same time. Mom and Dad look stunned at the scene in front of them and I see tears form in Mom’s eyes, looks like we did an excellent job. Eos signals the DJ to start the music and soon Mom and Dad are off to mingle with their guests, laughing and smiling they walk around. Alastor and I watch from a distance with smiles on our faces. After an hour I get on to a small stage and everyone quiets down, “Thank you all so much for coming. My Mom and Dad stood here forty years ago to swear to each of you that they would be your Alpha and Luna until the day they would step down.” I start the speech I prepared for tonight. Everyone is having an amazing time and I talk to every Alpha and Luna that is present. I dance with Gammas and Betas and even with some of our own Warriors, really enjoying myself despite wearing a dress. It is a little after midnight when I decide to get changed into something a bit more within my comfort zone and as I walk in through the back door I get hit by an intoxicating scent, a scent I smelled a few times during the evening. I had not been able to locate the scent with all those Wolves around, because it came and quickly went away every time. This time I sniff the air and I know that however the scent belongs to is inside the Pack-house, I slowly walk further into the hallway. With every step I take the scent becomes stronger and Minerva, my Wolf, is jumping up and down in my head, making me giggle at her. I am at the bottom of the stairs when I realize that the scent is coming from upstairs and I get an inkling feeling. Minerva is now pacing in my head and like me she doesn’t like where this is leading us. As I reach the first floor Minerva whispers “Mate” and I start walking towards the guest rooms on this floor, but I know that we don’t have anyone spending the night here. Suddenly a noise stops me dead in my tracks and Minerva and I are on high alert, being an Alpha’s Daughter makes me react faster than most. I turn around to see if there is someone behind me and when I am satisfied I am alone in the hallway I turn back around. After taking two more steps I am on high alert again, but this time I know the sound is coming from somewhere in front of me and tentatively I take another step. Slowly but steadily I get closer to the scent and slowly a smile appears on my face, I believe Minerva is right. Minerva is getting more agitated the closer we get to the scent, but she can’t explain to me why and I decide to ignore her for the time being. Following the scent has lead me to the last room on my right and as I put my hand on the doorknob I hear someone groan. Not knowing what might be behind the door I quietly turn the doorknob and I start pushing the door open slowly and quietly. My eyes widen at the scene in front of me and Minerva is roaring in my head. A male is standing at the foot of the bed and in front of him is a woman on all fours, they are so engrossed with one another that they don’t even notice me. The male slowly turns his head towards me as he keeps pounding into the female, he has a smirk on his face and I realize that even the female is looking at me now. “I, Damien of Dark Mountain Pack, reject you as my Mate. I don’t need a barbie doll.” The male says and I hear Minerva whimper in my head, I know he is our mate but he really doesn’t want us. “I, Amarah of White Crescent Pack, reject you as my Mate.” I reply and the Male crashes to the floor in pain.

Chapter 2 Find Out Amarah I don’t remember how I got up the stairs or how I got to my room. I don’t remember getting out of my dress or into the bathroom, and I don’t remember getting into the shower. But that’s where my Mother found me early in the morning, still silently crying at the loss of my Mate. Minerva has been quiet ever since I walked away from our Mate. I tell her that I understand she is hurting, and that I don’t have the words to comfort her, but that I am here whenever she needs me. For the first time today, I feel her presence, and I feel a little relieved at that. Alpha Atlas My Mate and I are enjoying the party our Pups organized for us behind our backs. They did an excellent job, enlisting the help of everyone willing to assist. Amarah even got Luna Jess to help her with the invitations, and I think I’ve thanked her for that four times already. My Mate was surprised to see they used the color scheme from forty years ago. But when Melia told us her Mom had helped them with that, it explained everything. Amarah is wearing a dress for once, and she looks absolutely stunning. Amarah never was a girl to wear dresses, and from the moment she was able to make that known to us, we had a battle every time my Mate tried to get her to wear one. This is the third time I’m seeing my Daughter in a dress, and I know she’ll never wear one again if it’s up to her. It’s nearly morning when we finally decide to call it a night. Most of the guests that weren’t from our Pack left around one in the morning, and now there are only a handful of Pack members left in the backyard. My Mate tells me she’ll check on our Pups before joining me in our room. I smile at her as I nod my head; no matter how old they get, she will still check on them before turning in herself. I get out of my suit and go through my evening routine when I suddenly feel my Mate’s distress. I rush out of our room in a pair of shorts, and I hear her softly talking to Amarah, but I can’t make out what they are saying. She must have felt my presence as she links me and tells me to go to bed and wait for her. Ten minutes later, my Mate walks in with a sad expression on her face. She tells me what she found when she went to check on Amarah, and I ask her if she told her what had happened. My Mate says she didn’t, but she hadn’t seen any injuries on her. Amarah spends the day in her room, and I call her friends to my office, hoping to find out more, but they don’t have any answers for me either. Ione asks if they can investigate this on their own, and she’ll inform me once they’ve found something. Something happened to my Daughter, and I intend to find out what it is and who is responsible. I will make whoever hurt my little girl pay for what they did, and they will regret it. My Wolf is roaring in my head at whoever did this to her. Amarah stays in her room during dinner, something she has never done before, and everyone is talking about it. Alastor tells them that something happened during the party, but that Amarah has not told anyone anything yet. He hopes that whoever knows anything will come forward. No one seems to know anything about what might have happened, and Ione hasn’t come to me yet, indicating they haven’t found anything either. Knowing my Pack members, everyone will try to help find the answers I need. My Mate and I have a restless night as we keep worrying about our Daughter. In the early morning hours, roars and growls make both of us jump out of bed. I link my Gamma to find out what is going on. He tells me he was woken up by a mind-link, only stating to come to the borders. Amarah I wake up in the middle of the night to a very agitated Minerva, and she tells me we need to go for a run. I quietly make my way down the stairs as everyone else is fast asleep, and as soon as I walk out the back door, Minerva takes over, making a run for the border. She crosses the border without slowing down, sniffing the air in search of rogues, and I hope that she will be able to get rid of some of the pent-up anger raging through her. It doesn’t take her long to find a rogue roaming near our northern border. She toys with him for a while before tearing him to pieces, leaving his body close to the border. She takes another sniff of the air before taking off running again. After a few hours, she has killed six rogues, and I can tell that she has calmed down a little, but I know it will take a few more nights like this before she comes to terms with what Damien did. We rush back towards the border, and again she doesn’t slow down as we cross the border. Roars and howls wake me a few hours later, and I know our Warriors have found the rogues Minerva took out during the night. I hear footsteps running around the Pack house and softer rushed footsteps inside, indicating that everyone was woken up. I decide to get dressed and go see Dad to tell him Minerva took out those rogues, but Minerva shows me the scene with Damien again. I know she needs this to get it out of her system, and Dad will order us to stay within the borders as soon as he finds out it was Minerva. Deciding not to tell Dad, I fall back on my bed again, Damien’s rejection running through my mind once more, and the tears start flowing again. The day repeats itself, spending my time in bed and crying for the loss of my Mate. Minerva and I both don’t understand why, and I guess we’ll never find out the answer to that question. He said he didn’t want a Barbie doll, but how could he say that, seeing we never met before? Anyone that knows me will tell you I am anything but a Barbie doll. No, I think he used that as an excuse to reject me, and if I ever meet him again, I will make him regret this. I ignore the knocks on my door, and I ignore the pushes against my barrier on the mind-link. Only Mom opens my door after I don’t respond to her knocking. Just like yesterday, she makes sure my food is brought up to my room, and just like yesterday, I don’t leave my room.

Chapter 3 Answers Ione After hearing from Alpha Atlas that something had happened to Amarah, we went to her office to find some answers. So far, all we know is that she left the party before most of the guests, but after that, no one seems to know where she went. None of us got much sleep, as we were worried about our best friend. This morning, before heading to Amarah’s office, I asked Dad if he had any idea where to look next. He told me to use the security cameras to see where she went after leaving the party. As Melia and I eat breakfast, we watch the security footage outside to see where she went. To our surprise, she walks into the Pack house, telling us that whatever happened, it happened inside. I know that our security cameras record both image and sound—something Dad told me is useful if you can’t see someone’s face. I hoped this would explain what happened in the Pack house better than just watching the footage. Rhea and Eos walk into the office as I search for the footage from inside the Pack house. Once I find it, I put it on the big screen so we can all see it at the same time. We see her enter through the backdoor, and it takes us only a second to realize that she found her Mate. Instead of saying or asking anything, we watch the screen as it unfolds the most horrifying thing I have ever seen. I think I would rather watch a massacre over and over again than ever see this again. As I look at my friends, I know I am not the only one. It took us hours to find all the footage from inside the Pack house. Now that we have finally found the answer to our question, my Wolf wants to kill someone. It is close to dinnertime, and I know I have to let Alpha Atlas know what we found—something I am not looking forward to. “Alpha, could you come to Amarah’s office and bring everyone with you?” I tell him through the mind-link. Within seconds, all our parents, Amarah’s parents, and her Brother walk in. I tell my Dad I followed his advice and found out what happened during the night of the party. Melia starts the video feed, and like us, they quickly realize what must have happened. But Melia stops the feed before we get to the point where her life changed for good. “I don’t know….” I start, but I am not sure how to say what I want to say. Eos is the one to help me out. “Alpha Atlas, I would rather spend twenty-four hours reading through our history than ever see this again,” Eos says. Alastor pales, as we all know how much she hated it when we went to school. Alpha Atlas tells Melia to start the feed again, and we all watch as she walks down the hallway toward the soft sounds. Eos walks toward the window as the feed jumps to another camera in the hallway. As we see Amarah slowly open the door, I hear Alpha Atlas growl, which only gets louder the more he sees. Our Mothers have tears running down their cheeks as they hear the words spoken by the male. Alastor yells, “I am going to kill you, Damien,” before he even mentions his name, and I wonder how he knew who the male was, as I didn’t. Our Fathers are growling and roaring, while our Mothers are heartbroken. We keep watching as Amarah slowly makes her way up to her room, staggering up the stairs. Once she is in her room, Melia cuts the feed. None of us say a word as we try to make sense of what we saw. Alastor asks why he referred to Amarah as a Barbie doll, and I have no idea what answer to give him. “Maybe because she was wearing a dress,” Rhea whispers. “She looked like a porcelain doll in that dress, and I doubt he ever saw her in her usual outfits.” We all know she is probably right. Amarah looked amazing in her dress, and anyone who didn’t know her would have thought she was a spoiled little brat. But that’s not an accurate picture of Amarah—she is the best Warrior we have and our future Alpha. Amarah I hear my Dad roar, and I wonder if he found out what happened. Soon he is joined by his Beta and Gamma, and I even hear my Brother roar—it sounds like they are beyond pissed. Minerva roars in my head as the tears come once more. I didn’t think I had any left, but apparently, I was wrong. Mom walks in with my dinner on a tray, and I know she will not ask me to come downstairs to have dinner with everyone else. She tells me they know what happened and that Dad wants to inform the Pack about it, show them the footage of the video feed. I tell her Dad is allowed to inform the Pack, but to make it clear that no one is to bring it up in my presence. Unless, of course, I bring it up myself. Our Pack will be outraged, and I know that once they have seen it, I will hear roars throughout the Pack. It doesn’t take long before I hear the first roars, and when I hear them about an hour later, I know Dad just informed the Wolves that had been on patrol. Minerva is becoming restless again, and I know that tonight will be a repeat of last night. She needs it as an outlet for the anger she feels toward our former Mate, just as I need to let the tears fall. I just hope that someday we will be able to put this behind us and accept our second chance Mate if we are lucky enough to find him. It is something Minerva and I do not want to think about right now, but maybe someday we will be able to think about it without feeling heartbroken and sad. For the past three years, Minerva and I had wondered what our Mate would look like, what kind of person he would be, and if we had ever met him before. It is uncommon for us to find our Mate on the day we turn eighteen. Usually, it takes a few years, as we don’t interact with other Packs on a daily basis, and we had always believed in a happy-ever-after. Most Werewolves are taught that the Mate-bond is a sacred bond—a bond to be cherished—and most Werewolves wait for their fated Mate. However, there are Werewolves who believe a fated Mate is a weakness, so they choose a Mate instead. My eyes slowly close as my body finally gives in to the exhaustion from crying my eyes out all day. His face haunts me in my sleep, his words haunt me in my sleep, and there is nothing I can do about it.

Chapter 4 Asteria Amarah Again, I wake up in the middle of the night and quickly make my way out of the Pack house to hand over control to Minerva, giving her the chance to deal with the pain she’s feeling. She doesn’t waste any time, crossing our border without being spotted by one of our Warriors. It doesn’t take long for her to find a Rogue and shred him to pieces. She keeps running along our borders, and some of the Rogues flee the moment they see Minerva approaching. Those Rogues are left alone as they pose no threat to our Pack. About an hour before sunrise, we run along our eastern border from south to north. Suddenly, Minerva stops dead in her tracks, sniffing the air as she scans her surroundings. “Blood, not a Rogue,” she tells me, and slowly makes her way toward a cluster of trees and boulders. The scent of blood grows stronger the closer we get, and Minerva slows down even further, scanning her surroundings. Suddenly, her ears perk up as we hear soft whimpers coming from within the cluster of trees and boulders. Minerva steps cautiously into the trees to reveal a female covered in blood, with her arms wrapped around a Pup. I ask Minerva to give me back control, and the female’s eyes widen as I stand before her. She clearly wasn’t expecting a female to show up. “Please, don’t send us back. Please, don’t tell anyone we are here,” she whispers, her voice laced with despair. I crouch down in front of her, taking in the cuts and bruises on her body. Minerva roars in my head at the sight of her injuries. “I won’t send you back, but I need to warn our Pack doctor. I need to know that your Wolf will be able to heal this on her own, and I need to inform my Pack so our Warriors can keep an eye on you,” I tell her gently. It takes a few minutes before she responds. “My Wolf says she can heal this on her own as long as we don’t have to start running again. I don’t know if I want anyone else to know that I’m here. Can you give me a few days to think about it?” she asks, and I decide to give her some time to calm down and rest. I tell her I’ll be back in a few minutes. I shift into Minerva before bolting from the cluster toward our eastern border. I quietly make my way into the Pack house to gather some supplies and food for the female and her Pup. Once I’ve handed her everything I brought with me, I tell her my name and find out her name is Asteria, and her Pup’s name is Inti. “I’ll be back tomorrow night. Get some sleep and eat something,” I say before leaving the cluster once again. It has been four days since the rejection and three days since Asteria showed up. Inti has come out of his shell, hugging Minerva the moment we enter the cluster, and we both enjoy those moments. Asteria finally told me what had happened to them, and I had to let Minerva out to deal with her anger. After we talked for a while longer, she finally agreed with me on telling our Pack. It will give us the chance to keep an eye on them and maybe we will be able to find out if it’s safe for her to return home. Not that Asteria is as optimistic about that as I am. I crash on my bed to get a few hours of sleep before informing Dad about what Minerva and I have been doing at night and about our guests hiding in the cluster. It doesn’t take me long to drift off to sleep, and for the first time since my rejection, I sleep without dreaming. As I slowly open my eyes, I realize I slept straight through. Even though it still hurts thinking about Damien, I know that Minerva and I will survive. I walk into the bathroom to take a shower, and after that, I get dressed, ready to face the world again. Everyone acts as if I haven’t been avoiding them for days as I walk into the dining room. After I sit down, I tell Dad that I need to talk to him with all of our leadership Wolves. Alastor sits beside me, placing his hand on my knee, giving me the calm I need as I see some females staring and whispering about me. I stand in front of the window, looking at some Pups playing on the lawn to the left of our Pack house, and I wish I could see Inti running with them. “Dad, I know everyone is aware of what happened. I don’t want to talk about it, but I have to tell you how Minerva has been dealing with it,” I say. Turning around, I see that everyone is waiting for me to start talking. “The Rogues that were found near our borders were Minerva’s doing. It was the only way for her to deal with everything without hurting the ones we love.” Mom wraps me in her arms, while Dad tells me he already suspected as much. “Are you going to be okay?” Alastor asks as he hugs me, and I tell him that it will take time, but that I am already feeling better. “Dad, there’s something else we need to talk about. Did the Elders or the Council send a message about Little Crescent Pack?” I ask him, and he nods. He hands me the message, and the more I read, the angrier Minerva becomes. “Amarah, what’s going on?” he asks, as everyone can feel the anger radiating from my body. I take a few deep breaths, trying to calm Minerva down. “The contents of this message are a bunch of lies,” I respond. “Khonsu’s Brother didn’t die in a Rogue attack. Khonsu killed him and tried to forcefully mark Luna Asteria. He also tried to kill her Pup, Inti, but he failed at that as Luna Asteria protected him. Khonsu always wanted what his Brother had, even as little Pups. When his Brother found his fated Mate, Khonsu tried to seduce Asteria, but she told her Mate about what Khonsu had tried to do, and he removed Khonsu from the Pack-house to protect his Mate. Luna Asteria managed to escape her Pack’s territory with Inti. She kept running until she was too exhausted to continue and took shelter in the cluster of trees and boulders near our eastern border. She is fully healed now, and she and Inti are doing much better than the night I met them,” I say as I look at my Father. We discuss the options we have, and Dad decides that I’m right. With Asteria hiding in no-man’s land, we won’t be lying if we say that she is not in our Pack’s territory. Instead of having a meeting in front of the Pack house, Dad links the entire Pack at once and explains the situation. Everyone is ordered to keep her presence a secret, and with the Alpha command in place, I know Asteria and Inti are safe. I follow Dad out of his office, and I’m surprised to see that an Omega is putting clothes, toys, and other items into a bag. “Alpha, some of our Pack members have brought supplies for Luna Asteria and Inti. Where would you like me to put them?” she asks, and I smile as Dad tells her to put them in his office. He informs me that he will accompany me tonight. Our Head Warrior approaches me and Dad to tell us that every Warrior has volunteered to visit them at night and to bring them whatever they need. Happiness and pride fill my heart as I realize that our Pack considers them as one of our own. That night, I visit Asteria with my Dad, and when we tell her what’s going on in our Pack, she rewards us with a smile. Inti is happy with his toys and clothes; Asteria is happy with the support she’s been given, and she tells me that for the first time since her Mate was killed, she feels calm again. We have all fallen into a routine that works for all of us. Asteria and Inti have their day and night rhythms reversed—they sleep during the day and are awake at night. Pack members take turns teaching Inti everything he would normally learn in school and helping Asteria with whatever they can. Khonsu is still searching for her and still sticks to his story, even though most Packs have found inconsistencies with it. The Elders are not eager to give him any information, and so far, no one has shown up on our doorstep to ask about Asteria and Inti. We received a message from Council member Boaz, stating that Khonsu was still searching for Asteria and that they had questioned him about the events of that night. He had refused to come in, using his search for Asteria as an excuse, but the Council is not giving him much time to dodge them. Two weeks after Damien rejected me, he informed the Elders that he had found his Mate, and that had set off a new string of sleepless nights for me, while Minerva had once again taken to hunting down Rogues and shredding them to pieces. Dad had a video conference with the Elders and a Council member the day he found out what happened. When Damien reported finding his Mate, they called Dad to ask what I wanted to do. Dad told them to leave it as it was—that his Pack would feel the consequences one day. Realizing I needed something to take my mind off Damien, Dad told me he was stepping down, and that gave me enough to keep me busy. I had been trained by Dad for years, and I knew I could handle the job, but I was nervous nonetheless. Today is the day I will take over from my Father, and we both know that some of our allied Alphas will not agree with him. They may or may not break their alliance with us, but truth be told, I don’t care, and neither does my Father. Alastor has been over the moon, to say the least. I don’t understand why, as I am becoming Alpha and not him. Alastor once told me and Dad that he was glad Dad didn’t believe only a male could take the position of Alpha. When we asked him why, he smiled and said, “I don’t have the patience to deal with crap.” Dad and I had laughed our asses off because it’s true that Alastor lacks patience in some areas. Alpha Drew and Luna Jess are the first to arrive. After just one look at me, they both know that I will be taking over instead of Alastor.

Chapter 5 Long Awaited When I took over from my Father, a lot of Alphas had been shocked. Most High-ranking Wolves give their position to their Sons even if they have a first-born Daughter. In the history of my Pack there have been two other females that could take over the Alpha title from their Father, but both decided they didn’t want to. I on the other hand have always known that I wanted the title when the time came and with my Father’s Beta, Gamma and Deltas also having first born Daughters all our Highest-ranking positions are filled by females. When my Father stepped down as Alpha and when the Elders had sent out the notification to every Pack some Alphas had torn up the alliance we had with them. It didn’t bother me as it was something my Father and I had expected. Of the nine alliances we had four that were broken when I took over, but the other five stayed loyal as each of their Alphas had seen me grow up and they knew I would be as good an Alpha as my Father had been. One of those Packs lives to the south of us and together we keep an eye on the no-mans land between our Pack territories. That clearing is used by anyone that wants to travel from one side of our Pack territories to the other side and most of those travelers have no ill intentions, but some are Rogues that will try to get onto our Pack territory. They only get one warning, if that doesn’t scare them off, they die. I know that not all Rogues are bad and the ones that have no ill intentions are also the ones that only need one warning, the others don’t care whether they life or die as long as they think there is something to gain. So I must always pay attention to the Rogues. Right now, I am sitting in one of the watch spots along our border, my eyes shift left to right and back again as I keep an eye out for Rogues. Our eastern border patrols tightened after three Rogues crossed into our neighbor’s territory ten years ago, killing two pack members. I can still hear Dad’s roar that morning when Alpha Damon informed him. He gathered the Warriors on duty, but no one had seen the Rogues. After a long investigation with his Beta and Gamma, they found nothing. I was sixteen then, and determined to help. I called my friends for a sleepover, and that night, we snuck out to watch the patrol ourselves. After an hour of observing, we saw the problem: our Warriors run the borders from north to south at the east border, and they run the borders clockwise, but as they near the south border they all take a short cut, leaving a blind spot—exactly where the Rogues crossed. The next morning, we told Dad what we discovered. He was furious at us for sneaking out, but more so at the Warriors for endangering the pack. He called every Warrior not on border patrol to the Pack-house and the ones on border patrol were included through the mind-link. “As some of you may have heard three Rogues crossed the west border of Dark Mountain Pack and killed two of their Pack-members. We couldn’t find anything wrong with our border runs and I can assure you that your Beta, your Gamma and I went over everything. Our Pups were the ones that pointed out how they were able to cross the border without being spotted. They watched you for an hour last night and each and everyone of you takes a short cut from the eastern border to the southern border. This will no longer be tolerated, as of right now you will run the borders the way they are and I will make sure that you will be randomly checked. Am I making myself clear?” The look on his face is murderous and the Warriors all answer with “Yes, Alpha.” Since that day, our Warriors have patrolled diligently, but one of our older Warriors suggested we set up hidden watch points along the borders, like in his former pack. I proposed the idea to Dad, and after refining it with his Beta and Gamma, we implemented it. Now, I sit at one of those hidden spots, armed with my bow and arrows, ensuring no Rogue crosses our borders again. I see movement across the clearing and know it’s one of their Warriors on border patrol. I still haven’t figured out how they conduct their patrols, and truth be told, I don’t really care. But I do wonder if they’re aware of the fact that we have stopped dozens of Rogues since that night. “Alpha, you have a visitor,” I hear my Beta say through the mind-link. I tell the Warriors with me that I’m heading back to the Pack house for some Pack business. They both nod but don’t take their eyes off the clearing. Before heading to the Pack house, I step out of the tree line and look in the direction of a small cluster of trees and boulders. I know who lives there, and so does every Warrior in my Pack, but we don’t mention it to outsiders as it might put her life at risk. I know who my visitor is, but I don’t know why he’s here. I’ve been thinking about his reason for showing up ever since he announced his visit. No answer has come to mind, but I guess I’ll find out soon enough why he’s gracing me with a visit. As I walk back to the Pack house, I pass many of my Pack members. Like my Father, I greet each and every one of them as I pass. I smile at the antics of a little Pup and grab a hold of him just before he tumbles down. “Thank you, Alpha,” the little Pup says before I put him back on his feet. One of my Deltas joins me as I near the back of the Pack house, and the two of us make our way to my official office on the ground floor. I ask an Omega we pass if she can bring us some coffee, and she rushes off to the kitchen to comply with my request. As I walk into my office, my visitor gets up from his seat. “Elder Ezra, please take a seat,” I say, and he sits back down in the chair he just got out of as I take a seat behind my desk. “To what do we owe this pleasure, Elder?” I ask. Elder Ezra pulls an envelope from his bag and puts it on my desk in front of me. I stare at the envelope for a moment. I know what’s in it just by looking at it, and I have to suppress the smile that wants to spread across my face. I have only seen it once before, lying on this same desk over a decade ago when my Father was still the Alpha. I have been waiting for this day ever since I took over from my Father, and I know I will enjoy this very much, as will my Wolf. “Alpha, in the file you’ll find a list of the Packs that have been invited as well. All the rules, regulations, and conditions are in there, along with my number, just in case you still have unanswered questions,” he says as he gets out of his seat. “Thank you, Elder Ezra. I will read it all and contact you if something is unclear to me,” I say as I shake his hand. I guide him out of the Pack house to his car and watch him drive off. A smirk appears on my face as soon as he is out of sight. “That’s about damn time,” my Gamma mumbles, and we all start laughing. We walk back to my office, and as we’re about to enter, one of the Omegas walks out, telling me she has placed the coffee in my office as she heads back to the kitchen. I sit down in my favorite armchair facing my desk, while my Beta, Gamma, and Deltas sit on the couches to my left and right. The five of us grew up together—if you saw one of us, the rest were soon to follow, making it easy for our parents to find us. I open the envelope, already knowing what’s inside: an invitation to the Alpha bloodline competition. The smirk on my face gets bigger as I pull it out. I have been waiting a long time for this moment, and I will enjoy putting all those cocky Alphas and their siblings in their place. The Alpha bloodline competition is held every year for a select few Packs. They get invited by the Elders and get to beat the crap out of each other legally. Every person from an Alpha bloodline in that Pack is allowed to enter the competition. The Council doesn’t interfere with this competition, even though they love the fights between the Alphas, and some of them even come to see the invited Alphas fight. Our King has never shown his face at the competition, and Dad doubts he ever will. I read through all the rules and regulations for the competition. The more I read, the bigger the smile on my face becomes, and I know everyone present in my office can tell that I’ve found a way for the participants to underestimate me. The rules state that the first name drawn gets the choice to fully shift into Wolf form or go Half-shift. But there’s a loophole—the opponent doesn’t have to follow. They just can’t shift fully if the first fighter chooses Half. I’ll use that to my advantage. Let them think they know what I’m capable of.

Chapter 6 Females In Control Amarah

Someone clearing their throat pulls my attention away from the document I am reading. I look into the face of one of my best friends. They know how to read my expressions, and right now, they can tell I have found something that has made my day. My Beta is looking at me with a questioning look in her eyes. I smile at her before deciding to answer her. Melia, Rhea, and Eos are as curious as Ione is, and experience has taught me that if I don’t answer them, they will keep nagging until I give in. My Beta, Ione, my Gamma, Melia, and my Deltas, Rhea and Eos, are all twenty-six. The five of us were born within the same week and have been inseparable since birth. We slept in the same room until we turned sixteen, but now we have our own rooms in my quarters on the top floor of the Pack-house. Once one of us finds her Mate, depending on who it is, that person will move out of my quarters into their own. If I am the first one to find my Mate, they will all move into Ione’s quarters, and so on. We know one another better than we sometimes know ourselves. Just a look from one of them is enough to tell me what is on their minds, and I know that I am an open book to them as well. This is sometimes a blessing in disguise, but in other situations, it can be a pain in the behind. I quickly tell them what I have uncovered, and they all have a smirk on their faces, knowing I will knock them down a few notches. “You need to start training, not that you don’t train enough,” Eos is quick to say, and I know exactly what she means. Male Alphas are bigger than I am. They also think they are faster and stronger. I will prove to them that I am faster, and because of that, I will be able to land punches before they even see them coming. A knock on the door interrupts our meeting, and Melia is the one who walks over to open it. “Hello, Alastor, what is it?” she asks as she sees my baby brother on the other side of the door and steps aside to let him in. “I heard an Elder dropped by, and I hoped to find out if you were finally invited,” he says as he looks at me. I nod my head, and a smile crosses his face. Unlike me, he doesn’t want to partake in the competition, but he has his reasons for wanting me to go. Alastor sits down in the armchair opposite mine as if he belongs in this meeting. He doesn’t, but it doesn’t stop him, and I don’t mind if he sits in on this one. The bond between the two of us is very strong and tight, as it has been since the day he was born. Mom sometimes asks us what will happen if either of us doesn’t like the other’s Mate. Alastor and I always say the same thing, “I will reject my Mate,” which always makes Mom growl and Dad laugh his ass off every single time. Neither of us will ever reject our Mate; it is not the way we were raised, and we both understand the importance of our Mate. It is one of the reasons why we are the largest and strongest Pack there is. Every male and female in our bloodline were fated Mates, and that only makes a bloodline stronger. “How much time do you have?” he asks, and I tell him that the competition is three weeks from today. I will increase my training, and I know that every Warrior in my Pack will help me in any way they can. “Do you have any idea which other Packs have been invited?” Rhea asks, and we all know why she asks. We are all hoping that two certain Packs will be there—two Packs that, for different reasons, are on our shitlist. I grab the envelope with the invitation, and with it is a list of all the Packs that are invited this year. At the top of the list is the first Pack on our shitlist, the Dark Mountain Pack, and halfway down the list is the other one, the Hollow Moon Pack. “It looks like this is our lucky day. Both of them are on the list. Let’s see what the rest of the rules and regulations tell us about how this works,” I say as I grab the document from my lap and start reading through it once again. “On the first day, there will be three matches at the same time. Each Wolf fights two matches, and with the ratings of those matches, it is determined who will drop out of the competition. A knockout will give you the highest score in a match. Two knockouts in the first round mean you skip the fights on the second day, while the rest have to determine that day who else will drop out. On the third day, only one match at a time—tap out or get knocked out during those matches, and you drop out immediately. If the number of participants is insufficient to fill the third day, there will be a one-hour break before the next rounds start. If you lose the match, you are out of the competition, and the rounds will continue until one Alpha is left standing,” I say after reading the document. Alastor starts counting the number of Wolves that could participate in this competition. He writes down the number of males and females per Pack that are of an Alpha bloodline, and if all of them enter the competition, this could last the entire week the Elders have picked. “Ready for dinner, Baby Girl?” Dad asks through the mind-link. “We will be there in a minute,” I reply, and as I look at Alastor, I already know Mom has linked him at the same time. The six of us stand up as one, and Melia bursts out in laughter. I sit down at the head of the table as Ione sits to my right. The chair on my left stays empty, and Melia sits in the chair next to it. Rhea takes her seat next to Ione, and Eos sits next to Melia. Mom and Dad sit next to Rhea, while Alastor sits down next to Eos, with the chair next to him remaining empty. Officially, the chairs to the left of Melia and Eos should stay empty, just like the chairs to the right of Ione and Rhea. The empty chairs symbolize the lack of a Mate by our side, and after discussing it, we decided to leave only two chairs empty. Omegas walk into the dining room with plates filled with food, while others place dishes on the table filled with even more food. By the time we are done, every plate and dish will be empty. Once everyone has a plate, the Omegas sit down at their own table.

Chapter 7 Uneasy Theseus

My eyes stare at nothing in particular as I stand in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of my office. Behind me, I hear the voices of my best friends as we wait for the Elder to be escorted to my office. My baby brother, Damien, had already told me he hoped it was the invitation for the Alpha bloodline competition. His Mate, Penelope, had looked at him and said he would end up in the top five, at least. My Delta, Xanthos, had turned around just to make sure he wouldn’t laugh in her face. My Beta, Ajax, had not hidden his laughter, and her reaction to it had been hilarious. My Gamma, Apollo, and my Delta, Midas, had kept straight faces, but I knew they were struggling to keep their laughter inside. A knock on the door makes me turn around as Apollo walks to open it. Elder Ezra walks in with a smile on his face. “Alpha Theseus, thank you for making time for me,” he says, and I gesture to the chair in front of my desk. I sit down behind my desk as Elder Ezra sits down as well. He grabs a file and an envelope out of his bag, and all of us know what this is about. Damien had been right—it is the invitation to the Alpha bloodline competition, and I know that he will enter. Elder Ezra doesn’t stay long, as he still has a few other Packs to visit, and I, for one, am grateful that he leaves quickly. Ajax grabs the file from my hand as soon as the door closes behind Elder Ezra and starts reading the rules and regulations. With Damien entering the competition, this will be the first time in decades that a member of my family will participate. I’m not sure if I should curse him for it or be proud of him for taking a chance. “Theseus, open the envelop. There is a list of Packs in there and maybe we can determine how long this shindig will take or make bets on how long Damien will last.” Ajax says with a smirk on his face, sending all of us in a fit of laughter. I pull the list from the envelop as someone knocks on the door, this time it is Damien that walks in and the moment his eyes land on the envelop he yells “Yes.” Apollo tells him to sit down so Ajax can go over the rules and regulations. For once he actually sits down and listens as Ajax reads the document to him, surprising me as he even asks a few questions. Damien thanks Ajax and after that he leaves my office with a huge smile on his face. I open the list of Packs that will also receive an invitation and my Pack is at the top of the list, I read every Pack name out loud as Xanthos writes down the number of Wolves from an Alpha bloodline. Three of the Packs on the list are allies and I know I will at least show up for the first round, just to see how they are doing. “Last on the list is White Cresent Pack.” I say and four heads snap in my direction. They are the largest and strongest pack and I remember why Dad didn’t participate last time our Pack got invited. Alpha Atlas is a force to be reckoned with and Dad didn’t want to get embarrassed by losing to the guy. “Okay, that is at least one. How many Pups does he have?” Xanthos asks and for a moment I am at a loss for words, I wouldn’t know if and how many Pups he has. I link my Dad and he tells me that he has two Pups at least and that one of them is female. When I tell Xanthos he writes down two and I ask him how many that totals to. If our calculations are correct this could take the week the Elders picked and now I am glad I didn’t want to enter any way. Rogues are a daily problem for us and I want to spend as less time away from my Pack as possible, I know almost every Pack deals with them on a regular basis. However, I never received a request for help from White Cresent Pack, none of my allies have ever been asked for help by them as well and sometimes I want to watch their eastern border to see if I can figure out why they never call for help. My name is Theseus, I am a thirty year old Werewolf and the Alpha of Dark Mountain Pack. My Pack is the second largest and strongest Pack there is and according to the history of our bloodline chosen Mates are the reason for the decrease in strength. My parents are chosen Mates unlike my Grandparents, fated Mates are the best thing for every Wolf and as far as I know every Pup is raised that way. If it had been up to my parents Damien and I would have been raised with the believes that a chosen Mate is the best option. Luckily my Grandparents from my Father’s side didn’t allow it and to this day I am still grateful for that. When I was twenty I met my fated Mate and ever since that day I wondered how my parents could have settled for anything less, but then tragedy struck in the form of three Rogues. They had gotten on to our territory by crossing the western border and they had run in to my Mate and her best friend, they had raped and killed them before they were caught. I still feel the anger inside me, even though it has been nine years and Apollo’s hand on my shoulder pulls me from my thoughts. “Calm down, Theseus. Just breath.” He says and as I concentrate on my breathing I feel myself calm down. They all know how much her death has affected me and I am grateful for their support through all of it. Ajax distracts me by telling me that Damien has three weeks to get ready and I know that Damien will be cocky and arrogant going into that competition. I take more after our Father’s side of the family, while Damien takes more after our Mother’s side of the family. “Damien can handle this on his own, he wants to participate in the competition. I just hope he understands that he will have to train more than he does now, if he doesn’t I believe he will not make it through the first round.” I say as I sit down in one of the armchairs. “Okay, do you want to make a bet on that?” Ajax asks and Apollo says he will tap out in both matches during the first round. Xanthos is with Apollo and so am I, Midas and Ajax think he will be dropped in the second round. Xanthos writes down when each of us believes he will be dropped and how, before he writes down what we are betting for and Apollo suggest that who ever wins the bet gets to give the money to a charity of his choice. We all agree to that as we have enough money to spend. The rest of the afternoon is spend with discussing border patrols and training schedules for the entire week. By the time an Omega links me for dinner we have made chances to increase the number of men running our northern, eastern and southern border and a few chances to the training schedule to free some time for Damien. I am in a good mood as I walk into the dining room, but it quickly turns a hundred and eighty degrees as I see Penelope sitting in the seat to the left of my seat. She is unaware of the fact that I entered the room and she keeps chatting to the girl standing behind my seat. Not even the fact that every other conversation has stopped makes her aware and as soon as her friend sees me approaching she pales, moving away from my seat with her head bowed down. “What the fuck are you doing in that seat?” I hiss through gritted teeth and Penelope smiles up at me as if she has no clue as to what she did wrong. “Theseus, there you are. We have all been waiting for you, how long does Damien have until the competition?” she asks as she gives me an innocent smile. I don’t have to say a word as Apollo grabs her upper arm and yanks her out of the chair, before he pushes her towards Damien. “Damien, this is the last warning. Tell your Mate to stay out of that chair or next time she will end up in the dungeons.” Apollo growls. Damien doesn’t argue with him as he knows damn well that Apollo has my approval and I hope that Penelope will finally learn her place within this family. When Damien came home with Penelope over five years ago I was happy for him and I actually believed they were meant to be. Six months later their Pup, Joseph, was born and I thought that smile would never leave his face again, but nowadays I wonder if they are actually fated Mates. If I have to believe the rumors they cheat on each other every chance they get and that is impossible if they are fated Mates. Four year old Joseph pulls me from my thoughts as he calls “Thees, Thees” and runs towards me with his arms open wide. I grab him by his waist and lift him above my head as he squeals loudly, making me smile up at him. This little Pup is the only good thing that came from Damien and Penelope. Penelope keeps her eyes on me and the longer she keeps staring the more it irks me, making me feel uneasy.

Chapter 8 Capture The Flag Amarah

“Eos, get the Warriors to the clearing.” I say as I approach the group of women near the training ground. Eos and Rhea don’t hesitate a moment and instruct the Warriors I want to assess through the mind-link, while I walk over to Ione and Melia to have them follow me to the clearing. The clearing is a strip of no-mans land between our Pack and that of our neighbors, we use it to assess our new Warriors or to train them to build up their speed. We also keep an eye on it during our patrols, because it is the perfect way for rogues to try to get access to our territory. The clearing runs from our northern border to our southern border making it our eastern border, not that any rogue has been able to penetrate our borders and if it is up to me they never will. For the next three weeks I will not only use the clearing to train our Warriors, but also to prepare myself for the Alpha bloodline competition. I step into the clearing and my eyes get drawn to the western border of Dark Mountain Pack, in the past ten years we have only seen someone of their Pack a handful of times. “Okay, Gentlemen. Today we play “capture the flag” and I want you to talk strategy with Eos and Rhea, once the first one of you comes for me you have an hour to get the flag from me. I promise you, I will do everything I can to keep the damn thing. So, good luck.” I say as I walk away from the group with Ione and Melia. An hour later I am still the proud owner of the flag and every Warrior is flat on their back, trying to catch their breath. They did a hell of a job, but I am just too fast for them and I have to admit that I know they will never succeed. Even my friends have never been successful, not even with the help of Alastor. For the past four days we have played “capture the flag” three times a day and every day the amount of Warriors that join gets bigger. Eos told them on the second day why I used this type of training and each and every member of my Pack wants to help me get ready. Twice a day I play it with my Warriors, just to improve myself and them and they are becoming fanatics. Once a day with the Pups, all of them love the running around and their Mothers stand on our border cheering them on. Mom and Dad have joined them twice already and the huge smile on Mom’s face is a sight for sore eyes. This morning the group of Warriors is the biggest that it has ever been and I laugh as I see them arguing with Eos and Rhea on what might be the best way to try and grab the flag.

“Let’s make this a bit more interesting. How many knifes do you think I can nick?”

I ask Ione and Melia through our mind-link and I hear their giggles as they are thinking about my question. Ione thinks maybe one or two and Melia thinks I might manage to grab five knifes. There are eighteen Warriors in the clearing and all of them carry at least one knife in their belt, so the minimum could be eighteen if I can take one from each of them. As Eos and Rhea walk in our direction I ask them the same question through the mind-link. Rhea agrees with Melia but Eos thinks that I might be able to grab six knifes and I smile at their lack of confidence in me. A twig snapping to my left has me on high alert and the same goes for everyone in the clearing with me, but I see it is a Warrior of Dark Mountain Pack. Suddenly five more men step forward and I hear Eos say through the mind-link

“Yummy”

and we burst out in laughter. “Okay, if you Gentlemen are ready I suggest you start.” Rhea calls out to our Warriors. I step away from the group as the Warriors spread out and slowly make their way over to me. Myles is the first one to lunge at me, but I had already seen it coming and I quickly step aside. He slams into the ground face first and I hear Ione call out “Ouch” as two Warriors try next. I run around them, I jump over them and slide under them. Melia whistles as the hour has passed and I grab the flag from my belt with a huge smile on my face. “Sorry, guys. I didn’t lose anything.” I shout as I walk towards Melia, “Unfortunately you all did lose something.” And the girls hold up all the knifes that I took from them. Nestor bursts out in laughter as he realizes that I took both his knifes and each Warrior is looking from the knifes to me and back again, not understanding how I managed to do that.

Theseus

Yesterday one of our Warriors told me that members of White Cresent Pack are using the clearing between our Packs for training and this morning I told my Warriors to warn me if they showed up again. I don’t mind them using it, but I was wondering why they didn’t use their own training grounds.

“Alpha, they are back at the clearing.”

One of my Warriors informs me and I tell my men to follow me. Damien has been training a little bit more than usual, but not as much as I think he should and I have a feeling he will not make it through the first round. As we approach our western border we can hear chatter coming from the clearing and most of the voices belong to males, but as we clear the tree-line I can see a few females with them. The females are standing together and so are the males, making me wonder what is going on. “Those are Warriors of White Cresent Pack, Theseus. Including the women, look at the emblem on their jacket.” Apollo states and after looking at all of them I agree with him, these are Warriors. One of the females shouts out to the males and another female steps away from her group. One of the females on the sideline calls out “Ouch” as one of the males hits the ground and we all chuckle as Ajax mumbles, “Beginners luck.” Soon after that he mumbles “Fuck” as we see the female dodge all the males attempts to get a hold of her. “The one with the auburn hair is a Delta’s Daughter, I met her when she was about twelve years old and the one with jet black hair is the Gamma’s Daughter.” Apollo says. Xanthos tells us that the female with light brown hair is the Beta’s Daughter and the female with dark brown hair is also a Delta’s Daughter. “Who is the female with ash blond hair?” Josh, one of my Warriors asks and none of us can answer that question. The blow of a whistle draws our attention back to the clearing and every Warrior is laying on his back as the female pulls something from behind her. “Capture the Flag.” Josh says and I have to admit he is right, they were never meant to grab her. They were meant to grab the flag, but failed miserably and I am stunned when I see the other females holding up hands full of knifes. Every Warrior is checking their belts and it looks like she not only held on to the flag, but also took all of their knifes away from them. Xanthos is laughing his ass off as he watches the stunned looks on the Warrior’s faces and I watch as one of the Warriors approaches her, he bows his head as he speaks to her. All the males show her deep respect and Midas thinks she might be the Daughter of their Head Warrior. The way she holds herself tells me she is a High-ranking Wolf, so he might be right as a Head Warrior is considered a High-ranking Wolf. Suddenly the clearing is completely quiet and as I lift my head I see that all of them are gone. I strain my eyes to see if I can still spot them, but it is of no use and I see surprised looks on the others as well. They had not noticed them leaving either and a part of me feels relieved that I wasn’t the only one that missed it, I chuckle as I look at my best friends. Shortly after lunch Josh links me again to tell me that they are back, but this time with a bunch of Pups and I tell him to just ignore them as we already know why they are using the clearing. I put my focus back on the paperwork in front of me, but my mind keeps wandering back to the female in the clearing. I still haven’t been able to find out who she is, not even my Father could tell me after I described her and I know he has met most of their members when he still ran our Pack. My Father had looked rather surprised when I had told him during lunch what we had seen. For a moment I even thought he didn’t believe me, but my men confirming my story changed the look on his face and he had quickly changed the subject when Damien joined us. I wasn’t the only one that noticed and Xanthos was the one that asked through our mind-link what that was all about, but I knew as much as he did.

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You and Amarah go way back—she’s the fiercest warrior you’ve ever known, the future Alpha of the White Crescent Pack. You’ve seen her train, seen her lead, seen her break rogues with her bare hands. But tonight, she’s different.

She stands at the edge of the moonlit clearing, ash-blond hair loose, eyes glowing faintly in the dark. Her breath fogs the air as she turns to you, voice low. 'I’m going to face him again,' she says. 'Damien. In the Alpha Bloodline Competition. And this time, I’m not just going to beat him—I’m going to break him.'

You step closer. 'And if he begs?'

Her lips curl, not in a smile, but in a predator’s promise. 'Then I’ll decide if he’s worth sparing.' Her fingers brush the hilt of her knife, eyes never leaving yours 'You’ll be there, right? To see it?'

She waits, the weight of her choice hanging in the air