Chapter One: Fae

Sinister howls fill the night, coming from every direction, but I don't care.

I RUN.

I run as fast as my legs will allow me in my human form. My feet are cut from the rough terrain of the forest floor, and what I imagine must have once been a beautiful green dress is now torn and tattered.

My wolf, Gaia, whines at me begging to be let out, but I know better. I don't dare shift, not unless I want to risk my life.

'Fae, let me free! I can bring us to safety!' Gaia pleads with me but I ignore her, not allowing her to take control.

"No! Hush, Gaia you know we can't let anyone see us shift! If a male recognizes us as their mate we will never be free from him!" I shout, panting and tripping over roots sticking up from the ground.

I'm running, but I hardly even understand what exactly I am running from.

Without missing a step I take a quick look behind me and my eyes widen in horror. At least a dozen smokey shadow wolves are chasing after me, snarling and howling their dismay at my attempt to flee.

I reach down and grab what I believe to be a good sized stone and hurl it at the one closest to me. I gasp as the creature disappears in a puff of smoke only to reappear again, still running in formation with the others. The stone only seemed to slow the shadow wolf down, not harm it at all.

"Shit!" I yell as I trip over a fallen branch, cutting my leg and falling to the ground. I scramble to try to get back on my feet but it's no use.

One of the shadow wolves lunges at me and I scream as it's body clashes against my chest, the creature dissolving into a black mist that encases my body, causing me to go numb and my limbs to fall limp.

'No! No! NO!' My heart is pounding in my chest and I feel Gaia pacing back and forth in my mind, each of us panicking.

And then I hear it, a triumphant howl breaking through the silence.

My eyes burst open and I gasp for air, my chest heaving. I clutch my nightdress and look around the bedroom of my small peaceful cottage, taking in all my familiar comforts of the place that has been my home for so many years.

"A dream.." I sigh my relief as my heart rate begins to return to a normal pace.

As if on queue, a sweet, high-pitched, concerned voice fills my mind, disturbing my recovery.

'Fae! Fae! Are you alright? I can sense your distress through the pack bond. Did something happen?' My younger sister, Sylvie's voice rang in my head loudly through mind-link.

'Ow, jeez Sylvie, please keep it down! It's too early for this. I am fine.' I replied through mind-link. I massage my temples and sigh as I swing my legs over the side of the bed. My nightdress is clinging to my skin, soaked in my sweat. I badly needed a wash.

'Well..okay. Sorry! It's just..' Sylvie's voice trails off.

'What is it Sylvie?' I ask as I strip my clothes and step into the washtub, sinking into the nice hot water.

'Can we talk later? In person. It's kind of important.' I frown and blow bubbles in the water not liking the implications of what she is suggesting.

'Fine. But you're coming here. You know I don't like going into town unless I absolutely have to.' I reply firmly through the mind-link making sure she understands this is not up for negotiation.

'Ugh! But you live so far away! That's going to be like a thirty minute hike!' She whines in protest but I shut her down.

'Sylvie.' I say firmly through mind-link and she gives up.

'Okay, okay! Fine, I'll see you in a few hours.' She replies defeatedly and I smile to myself. Though she may be a pain she is my sweet sister, and all we have is each other.

Our parents died when we were pups in a war between our pack, Whisper Moon, and a distant pack known as Blood Oak.

Our mother, Rayna Brimstone, was one of the greatest and only Healers within the entire region. It is usually extremely rare for a wolf to be blessed with healing abilities, and so, if one is discovered they become the ultimate token or prize.

When the greedy Alpha of the Blood Oak pack had learned of a beautiful red haired maiden with the ability to heal wolves, even those who were on the brink of death, he became driven to claim her as his mate.

Our father, Elias Brimstone, was at the time Alpha of the Whisper Moon pack and the rightful mate of Rayna, who at the time was pregnant with Sylvie full-term. He was ready to face whatever threat came to harm his precious mate and family.

However, when the battle had struck our mother had just given birth to Sylvie. Alpha Tyrian of the Blood Oak pack had cunningly staged an ambush that targeted the civilians of Whisper Moon. Knowing our father would rush to their aid, he snuck into the hospital to find my mother holding Sylvie in her arms. He gave her two choices; go with him and leave this life behind, breaking her mate bond to become his mate and heal his warriors, or die on the bed that she lay in.

Of course, faithful to her mate, their bond, and her two loving daughters, she refused to go with him, shouting at him to leave and never return. This rejection angered Tyrian and in a fit of jealous rage he tore our mother's head from her body, leaving baby Sylvie screaming and crying in her lifeless arms.

Feeling the pain of the mate bond severed and the death of his mate, our father faced Tyrian in one-on-one combat. In the end, their wolves ended up tearing each other apart until both were beyond submission and took their final breaths.

The Whisper Moon Beta, Ronan, took the position of pack Alpha and raised me and Sylvie until we were old enough to live on our own.

Now, at 20 years old I live in a small cottage on the very edge of our pack lands, alone.

Every wolf develops or inherits a special ability on their 18th birthday. And unfortunately for me, I happened to inherit our mothers rare healing ability, while Sylvie, who just recently turned 18 a few months ago, developed a not-always-so-reliable psychic power, seeing short snippets of the future.

While Sylvie is still learning to control her power, I have been making every effort to hide mine and hide myself and my scent from any and ALL males.

This is my secret to bare and mine alone, forever.

My wolf huffs at me and lets out a growl, 'I can protect us! I am NOT weak!'

I roll my eyes and step out of the tub, drying myself off and pulling on a dull brown dress. I sit down in front of my mirror and begin to braid my exhaustingly long strawberry blonde hair. While my fingers tuck and weave the strands together effortlessly, I take a minute to observe my complexion. I'm five feet and four inches in height, with a slender hourglass figure. My skin is paler than most, with a light dusting of freckles across my nose and cheeks. My eyes are a bright green with flecks of gold. I frown feeling so plain and boring but I quickly get over it, knowing this is a good thing. No one would ever look twice at me, meaning I would be safe from any unwanted male attention.

Finishing the thick Rapunzel style braid I let it fall to my back, and I hear a rhythmic knock at the door before a cheery voice chirps.

"Ohh sister! Open up sleepy head my feet are killing me!" I open the door to see my beautiful and smiling sister.

Unlike me, Sylvie wastes no time making sure every detail of her daily look is perfect. And to her credit she is indeed stunning. Sitting at five foot two her petite curvy frame does her sapphire blue dress justice as it hugs her tight making her voluptuous chest pop. Her golden blonde hair cascades down her shoulders and back elegantly and her clear skin, sparkling blue eyes, and pouting lips make her the most desired she-wolf in our pack.

Also unlike me, she doesn't seem to mind the constant stares or drooling males she attracts with her daily outings to town.

Sylvie immediately throws herself at me in a big hug then pulls away inviting herself inside. "About time!" She makes herself at home in my small kitchen and starts to brew some tea which reminds me that I forgot one of the most important parts of my daily routine.

Closing the front door I rush to my bedside table and pull open the drawer retrieving one of the small vials hidden inside. I pull off the top and tip the liquid into my mouth sighing in relief once I've taken it all. I look up to see Sylvie with her brow furrowed and a hand on her hip.

"Let me guess, 'medicine'?" She said the word medicine while making exaggerated quotation marks with her fingers.

"Yeah…something like that." I lie as usual and take a seat at the table as she pours some tea into a cup for me.

"Fae, I'm not stupid you know. I KNOW things." She says and taps the side of her head with her finger. I laugh and take a sip of the warm liquid not giving her any insight into what I've been doing.

Every day I drink a vial of Zinnia extract to mask my special scent and aura from any male that may come sniffing that could possibly be my mate.

I do NOT want a mate.

I will not put myself or any of those I love in danger due to my desirable healing ability. So on my 18th birthday when I healed my own broken leg faster than regular wolf healing, and discovered my inheritance of our Mother's ability, I quickly began taking a masking potion and retreated to this cottage. I am perfectly content spending my days reading my romance novels or tending to my small garden here.

It isn't that I don't have trust in my sister, but for her own safety this is a secret that I alone must bare. I will not bring death upon her when she had barely escaped it already as a baby.

Noting my silence and unwillingness to speak, Sylvie sighs dramatically and plops down in the chair in front of me. "Speaking of knowing things..I need to discuss something with you."

My eyes meet hers and I set my cup down and straighten my posture. Her serious tone and worried expression have me slightly curious and concerned. She must have had another vision.

"What is it?" I ask giving her my full attention, I notice she hasn't had any of the tea that she made.

She fiddles with a lock of her hair and looks down at the table. "Fae.. I'm worried about you. I saw something.. someone.. a big hulking wolf growling and chasing you. In my vision this morning.. you looked terrified!"

My breath catches in my throat and she reaches forward to grab my hand squeezing it tight. For some reason Gaia perks up at the news of this vision.

"Fae! Breathe, it's going to be okay! Alpha Ronan and the rest of the pack won't let anything happen to you, you're family."

I nod absently and get up from the table suddenly feeling very vulnerable and unsafe. She said a wolf was chasing me. Chasing me, just like in my dream this morning. But is it a male wolf? A female wolf? Suddenly I feel the urge to start grilling her for details fear creeping into my usually calm demeanor. But I know I can't interrogate her on something she can't control. If her vision is true then I need to make sure Sylvie is as far away from me as possible, I can't put her in danger.

"Is that all?" I quickly snap at her and her eyes widen at my sudden change of attitude. I need her to leave, the farther away from me she is the better.

"Well- Yes- But-" She stammers and I cut her off.

"Good. Thank you for sharing this with me but I think you should head home now before it gets late. It's a long walk and if you saw an angry wolf in your vision I don't want you traveling long distances alone at night. Do you understand?" She gets up from the table and heads for the door which I open for her.

"Yes.. but Fae?" Sylvie turns back to look at me before pleading with me. "Please stay safe. I know you like your space out here..but I worry. I love you." She wraps her arms around me in a tight goodbye hug and she heads out the door.

"I love you too, baby sister. I promise I'll be okay." I reply and she smiles back at me as she walks away and I close the door.

Not one minute after closing the door and I'm mind-linked by our Alpha Ronan in a broadcast to the entire pack. His voice sounded uneasy but the Alpha command was clear.

'All pack females meet me in the town square NOW.'