Chapter 1

If there was one thing everyone noticed about me, it was how alone I was, despite living in such a large pack. And I was ok with that. In fact, being isolated made me happy. I was calm when I was alone, and I never had anything to worry about. No drama, no broken hearts, no pups, no submission, no meeting anyone's needs, nothing but simple bliss. It was paradise. But despite my lonely nature, I was very outspoken and driven. I was my own person, and I took pride in that. Having a mate was out of the question. I didn't even want one, despite a minor crush I had on one wolf. It wasn't the simple fact that I didn't want a relationship, I was afraid of one. Anytime you get a mate, the male comes out on top, especially if he's an Alpha. Being a Delta, that wasn't very good for me. Deltas rank third in command and train other wolves to fight when the Alphas or Betas are busy. They can be stubborn and expect to be listened to. Despite not having many privileges, Deltas were respected by the other wolves. Some of the other pack members encouraged me to find a mate, but I refused. My mother says I'm too stubborn; that I should let a man take care of me, but I insist that I don't need one. I have friends, and that is all I will ever need. Everything else I can do on my own. Yet even some of these friends are getting mates and are pushing me to have a lover of my own, the girls in my group insisting that it's actually comforting to have someone to take care of them. I become repulsed at the idea, and the discussion usually ends with stony silence.

Knowing that, you can guess how horrified I was when our beta male knocked on our door and said that I had to come with him to join other young female wolves in an event to find a mate. When I tried to make a run for it, two other wolves came in and dragged me out of the house, struggling and clawing at the ground as I begged my parents not to let me go, but my dad only hung his head while my mother shook hers. I continued to scream and thrash about, not caring how much of a scene I was making, until they finally managed to throw me into a van with eleven other girls who hung their heads in nervous silence. They slammed the door before I could leap back out, and I just curled into a corner, whimpering.

"Delta, you already knew you would be chosen," one of the she-wolves says kindly. She's a blonde with pale skin and blue eyes, perhaps the oldest of our group at nineteen years of age. "Any wolf with a rank gets a mate sooner or later."

"I know," I pout, turning so that I can look at her. "I just didn't want to believe it."

"There's a chance you won't get a mate," a small brunette offers, catching my interest. "I heard there are only ten wolves this year, and even then just two of them are alphas. So two of us will make it out still single."

"That's right," another she-wolf, this one with dark skin and long, wavy hair adds. She looks at me with bright orange eyes that glow even through the darkness that consumes the space around us, the only light coming through a slit in the door where they closed it. Even in this dim light, our wolf senses are sharp enough to give us enough visibility to see each other. "You just have to avoid the guys for two weeks once the event officially begins, and you'll be released back to your pack."

"But with the packs being short on males, those who are caught will be expected to breed," I say gloomily.

"And because you are the highest-ranking female, you'll be a big target," the blonde girl points out.

"I don't want pups. I don't want a mate. I just want to be alone," I groan, turning back into my corner and folding my body into a fetal position. The girls continue their small conversation in hushed tones the rest of the way, some eager to have pups, others not so much.