Chapter 1

Karla:

I felt the piercing cold breeze of the night through the fur of my wolf as she ran through the woods. For a very long time, I have never had the opportunity to leave the pack or even the Packhouse to feel the scorching sun or even the wind against my skin.

But tonight, I got the opportunity, a chance to be free, to enjoy nature, and to do what I always wanted to do.

The Alpha and the Luna of this Pack who happen to be my parents are attending a party at another pack for what they call the alpha summit party, with the change of government, the humans are becoming more of wolves Hunter, wanting to eliminate all wolves from their territory, and they think it's time to strengthen inter-pack alliances. So my beloved parents went and as usual, they were thinking of the safety of the royal family, so they decided to go with my elder sister leaving me behind. Like I was not going to be in danger if those wolf hunters attacked our pack since rumor had it that the royal family, is usually their target. "When there is no alpha, there will be no pack." I heard that is their slogan.

At seventeen with a few months to my eighteenth birthday, I still don't know what it means to have physical friends, but I do have three friends on my social media pages, crazy it's a dating app, that was the only thing, I found on my phone when my nanny gifted me this phone, two weeks ago, at first I felt reluctant to create a profile, but just last week I decided to have my profile up. My profile had only been up for a week, but I had already made three intriguing connections. Each of them was vastly different, offering personalities that kept me guessing who they were.

First, there was Zephyr. He was the life of the chat, always ready with a clever joke or a quirky meme. His messages were filled with energy, and his effortless charm often left me laughing out loud something that my family couldn't give me, happiness. He seemed genuinely interested in me, asking about my day and sharing hilarious anecdotes about his job and how boring it was. Zephyr was like a burst of sunshine, he is a jolly good fellow although, I haven't seen his face, but I couldn't help but look forward to the messages. He told me, everything about his look, judging from his description of himself, I could assume he must be gorgeous.

Then, there was Ryder. He wasn’t much of a talker, but when he did speak, his words carried weight. Cool and composed, he had an air of quiet confidence. His interests were fascinating, art, music, and late-night drives, then he told me, he is a guard, and then I asked, "Like a security man?" His laughter buster and it sounds angelic and sinful at the same time. Though our conversations were brief, they were meaningful. He was the type who didn’t need to say much to leave an impression.

Finally, there was "Shadow," the mysterious one. He didn't give me, his real name, nor does his profile carry anything about him. His profile picture was a shadowed silhouette, and his messages were curt, almost cold. Yet, there was something magnetic about his aloofness. He had a bad-boy edge, the kind that made me curious about what lay beneath that mask and he was the only one who asked for my picture because I didn't have any on my profile, just my bear, which was gifted to me, by my nanny as well when I turned six and since then I have been sleeping with it.

All my life, I had just my nanny and my bear, my little friend. "Karla, it's time to go home." My wolf Nyx said

"C'mon, Nyx, a little more and we will go back."

"That is what you said a few minutes ago and the last two hours, did you realize we are no longer at our border or anywhere near the pack border?" She scoffed but didn't attempt to turn around.

"Are we?"

"Yes, I think it's time to turn around and leave."

"Not yet, look over there, I could see a..."

"Not that Karla, we can't go near." Nyx said, I got the urge to ask the reason we can't go there when her voice came up, "It's a tavern of prostitutes, drunks, and rogues, a lawless place for bandits, thieves, and murderers gathered here, and mingle with strangers that drew attention to themselves, and you know what that means for those innocent strangers. The mortal danger for them... I think we should go back." My wolf said, wanting to turn around, she was so focused on retrieving her step that she didn't know that, it wasn't just our paws but others' footsteps that had joined in the forest accompanied by a deep raspy voice. "Stop, you know you can't go further..."

My wolf halted from running, her paws screeching against the forest ground, as my eyes roved the surroundings to find the male, who asked me to stop.

My heart palpitations increase, staring at the male, whom I just heard his voice. He was very handsome, with his innocent look and sexy lips. And the other with him, was just as attractive as him.

My lips drop, I don't think I have been attracted to the opposite sex like I am attracted to this male in front of me. They were fully clothed, and from the look of things, they had been running and the voice wasn't directed to me but to someone who was running ahead of me.

They are shifters, I could smell them.

I withdrew with my nakedness standing behind a huge tree while looking at them, my gaze tilted further, and I could see the face of the fellow they were chasing.

Terror was written all over him, I could see fear reek on his body and his trembling foot wasn't unnoticed by me. "Instead of being tortured by you, I would rather take my life." He reached for the dagger in his waist with a trembling hand, his breath ragged. Behind him, shouts echoed, closing in. Just as the blade gleamed in the moonlight, a rope whistled through the air. It coiled tightly around his arm, pulling hard. The dagger fell to his foot just as the two launched at him taking the man to the floor.

"Who asked you to spy on us? Why are you here?"

"Come off it, this is a neutral area and everyone has the right to be here."

"Not when that someone just gets off Moonlight Pack."

"Oh, so you belong to the Moonlight Pack?"

"Don't ask dumb questions when you know the answer." The one with the brown hair said, "Let me refresh your memory, I am Gamma Ryder Cooper, of the Moonlight Pack."

'Moonlight Pack,' I mouthed inwardly, I have heard a lot about the Moonlight Pack and their high-ranking wolf and it wasn't a pleasant story, they say they are sinister.

"Beta Zephyr Garrett,"

'The beta of Moonlight Pack, he is cute.' I said mentally before my hand flew to my lips, 'Zephyr,' his features reminded me of my friend, Zephyr, they bore the same name, with similar features although I hadn't seen him, I could tell he fit into that description that he had given me but he didn't tell me, he is a wolf talk more of him being a beta of a pack.

"Even if you tell me your rank, that wouldn't make me scared because you..." Before he could complete his words, we heard an earth-shattering growl and thudding paws approaching, another was joining the scene with a stronger aura.

My head snapped in that direction and a huge black wolf emerged from the parted bushes, he immediately shifted into his human form, and my eyes widened at the sight of his gorgeous naked body, I flicked my tongue across my lips at the sight of his. He was the kind of man who could make a girl drop her pants without an effort, his presence was a blend of danger and allure that drew people in even as it warned them to stay away. His sharp, angular features seemed almost sculpted, with high cheekbones and a jawline that could cut glass. A faint scar ran diagonally across his left chest, a hint of a past that most wouldn’t dare to ask about, and on the right side of his chest, there was a wolf tattoo on it, with his mouth wide open and his fangs elongated, under it there was a caption, 'Tame me.'

His eyes were the most captivating, dark, almost black, with a smoldering intensity that seemed to pierce through lies and facades. They held an unsettling calm, like the eye of a storm, with a combination of both control and chaos beneath the surface. His hair, jet black falls just on his shoulder and is slightly disheveled, adding to his untamed charisma.

He moved with grace, every step calculated, even with nothing on him, he was like a god, a naked god.

He was the epitome of a dangerous beauty, a man whose very presence was as thrilling as it was terrifying and I was not wrong when his voice came up, I wanted to cower and the same time, want to have those voices play in my head every morning

"Has he confessed?" His voice was deep and sent shivers down my spine like I was the one under his trap, ready to be slaughtered.

"He refused to say a word." The cute one said, and without a warning, he leaped from his spot, those two parted ways creating a space between them, and the man on the floor, was still unharmed but the fear in him had multiplied and horror was visible on his face, 'What is he going to do to him?' I asked no one in particular till he stood in front of the male.

"Alpha Killian..."