Prologue

“I didn’t do that,” I begged again, to anyone who might be listening outside. It’d been more than an hour since they had locked me in this cupboard. My voice was hoarse, my face full of tears and my whole body was shaking.

The darkness was overwhelming, trying to engulf me in the terror that I had never felt before. And when I thought that this darkness would eat me alive, I heard the sound of unlocking the door.

I rushed and fell into the warm embrace and he drew me closer to him.

“Why is it you again?” The voice was stoic; he was looking at me indifferently.

My eyes widened when I noticed that it was him, Graham, who opened the door, but then I cursed again because I knew how I looked.

Eyes red and puffy from crying, face full of blotch spots, and some scratches from the earlier struggle. This was my description, not a perfect way to be seen by a strikingly handsome Alpha like Graham. At eighteen he was taller than he should be, he was towering over my lanky figure, his eyes gleamed golden in the sunlight and his sun kissed hair was a picture to hold.

He drew everyone closer to him by his allure and charm, I was no different. Like every girl in the Mooncrest Pack, I also had a crush on Graham Parker. He was always good to me, or just indifferent to my plight.

“Hey,” he snapped, drawing me out of my daydream.

“I am asking you something?” he said, looking frustrated, having me in his arms.

“I.. sorry, I didn’t hear you,” I stammered, my face flush with embarrassment.

"Why did they lock you?" he asked.

"I.. I." I trailed off.

I didn't have the guts to tell Graham why Raymond and his gang locked me in after school hours.

"You must have done something. Did you fight with Ray again?" He scolded me.

"I didn't do anything, Raymond just… he just doesn't like me," I whispered.

I never do anything. It’s him who has a problem with me.

Graham hummed but didn’t question me further. He tugged my stray hair behind my ear, goosebumps scattered around my body.

"Today is your first shift," he said. Not a question but a statement.

I smiled unconsciously thinking that he remembered my birthday.

"Alpha River told me to check up on you." He replied leaving me deflated.

"Yes, Alpha River," I muttered.

He remembered not because he cared but because Alpha told him to.

"Graham," I said, his fingers gently brushing my cheek, it was as if he was in a trance, this unexpected touch sent a shiver down my spine.

"At party.." I hesitated, my voice was barely above a whisper. He was looking at me so intensely that I thought I might combust on the spot. His face drew closer to mine, lips dangerously close to mine, as if he was about to repeat what happened the other night. I could feel his warm breath on my skin.

"Was a mistake and the one I won't be repeating again." His eyes blazed with frustration as if he was angry at himself. He gently untangled himself from me.

My gut tightened in the vice. Something tightened in my chest, making my breaths shallow.

A mistake.

The moment that was such a beautiful moment for me was a mistake for him.

My eyes welled up at his confession. But I masked my emotions, Serena Green is nothing in this Mooncrest Pack. An outcast. An assumed bastard child of their Alpha River.

I chuckled at my stupid heart.

“What’s so funny?” he asked me.

“Go ahead, don’t spend time with a mistake,” I snapped at him.

We walked in uncomfortable silence and as we crossed the school grounds, we parted ways, because my house is on the outskirts of town. An outcast in every sense.

"Hello, sweetie, I made your favorite lunch for your birthday," the voice of Amelia, my mother, floated from the kitchen.

I don’t know how but she always knew whenever I came back.

"Hi, Mom," I grunted.

"You are way too chirpy, today. What happened?" she asked me while setting the table for both of us.

"Nothing," I answered.

"It doesn’t seem nothing to me. You can tell me."

"Is Alpha River my father?" I asked her again, but this time in the hope that she would just tell me the truth.

"No, he isn't. Thirteen years is a long time but not enough to change the truth." Her voice was exceptionally calm.

"Then who is? Because I am tired of listening that he is." My tone dripped with desperation.

"My dear child, you are a blessing to me. The one I have loved and adored all my life. And maybe you don't have a father. Am I not enough?" she asked me with a serene smile on her face.

"Don't twist this mom. I need to know the truth." I snapped at her.

"The only truth you need to know and understand is that you only have a mother and not a father." She replied nonchalantly.

"That might be your truth but not mine. And maybe I do need a father," I growled.

In an instant, her brown eyes turned black, and even her iris. But only for a second and for a moment I thought that I had imagined that.

I had never seen her shift and was not aware of what her wolf looked like.

She took a deep breath and said to me, "The conversation can wait for another time. Sit down and eat."

I wanted to argue but thought better of it. After eating when I was about to head to my room, my mother stopped me.

"Be ready at eleven. I will help you in your first shift," she told me, but her tone was strange.

"But, it's Alpha's job," I said with a frown.

"Yeah, but I will help you, do you want me to be there with you or the person who everyone thinks is your father?” her eyes narrowed at me.

“But then you will be giving ammunition to the pack members to make assumptions. That everything that they have been thinking is the truth. If I hide today, then everything will be over, Mom.” I trembled.

Not only with anger but also fear. I don’t think I have enough power to handle what would come next.

“Decision is not yours to make. You are not going to the pack meeting. This. Is. Final.” she barked.

Something akin to shock registered on her face when she saw the expression on my face.

“You… you., you are not an omega,” I stuttered and stumbled on my legs.