Kaiya is an orphan found on the doorstep of the packhouse of The Red Shadow Pack, she was brought in as an Omega and made to clean up after the often cold and almost always arrogant Twin Alpha Heirs, Ace and Dylan.

On her sixteenth birthday Kaiya surprised everyone, by shifting into her wolf form two years earlier than expected. This brought about the revelation that her twin bullies were her mates. Horrified, she ran to get some space, but Rebecca, Ace’s girlfriend, cornered her and set her up to get banished. Disgraced, banished, penniless and nearly alone…that is how she is when the twins catch up with her five years later and drag her back to be their plaything.

However, turns of events prove Kaiya is not so unworthy…if anything, it is them who are not worthy of her! Now the twins must atone for their past mistakes and win her affections or their entire pack could suffer.

Not all chapters I post have a trigger warning, but many contain violence, sexual violance and other devious acts. If it is particularly triggering I try to include a warning. Your mental health is important, so if you read the warning and can't handle what happens, skip to the following chapter, or only read the start of the next chapter then skip to the next Thank you and please comment and reach out if you have comments/questions.

I

Kaiya

Today is my 16th birthday and I shifted for the first time, but despite my excitement over finally meeting my adorable wolf, my life went from bad to miserable.

Let me explain…

I never knew my parents. As far as I know I am an orphan and I showed up on the doorstep to the packhouse in the Red Shadow Pack as an infant. Once I was old enough to work, I was given chores. As I have grown, my list of duties has grown with me. First it was dusting and sweeping, then doing dishes and laundry got added to the list, now I do most of the cleaning and cooking along with another Omega, Amina. Amina doesn’t have one duty I have, however, and that is being the practice dummy for the twin alpha heirs.

I had just finished cleaning up from breakfast and was preparing for our morning training session, where I could expect the boys to leave me battered and bruised, as usual. Yeah, I am a literal punching bag for them! That is when the first wave of pain jolted through me, causing me to double over. Despite the pain, I forced myself to stand and rush to the training grounds.

“I thought you were going to bail on us today, Omega!” Dylan snapped as I whimpered and clutched my abdomen while running up to them.

“Kaiya, is something wrong?” Ace asked.

“Just some phantom pain,” I groaned in response.

People say the twins are identical, but there are differences. Dylan has built up a very muscular frame and grown his curly brown hair long enough to reach his shoulders. Ace is toned, yet on the slim side with neatly styled brunette curls. They are both handsome, far more so than when I first met them.

I remember when we first got to know each other. I had been kept away from them, with other Omegas, but was sent to clean their room when I was eight and they were ten. Dylan was in the room searching for something and Ace was impatiently waiting for him.

“I’m sorry, young Alphas. I didn't realize you were in your bedroom, but I can leave and come back once you have gone,” I said, bowing my head respectfully.

Ace smiled at me and winked as he said, “pretty girls are always welcome to clean my space, even when I am in it.”

“Do you say that to the other Omegas? Or am I special, sir?” I asked with flushed cheeks, feeling oddly bold.

“He just likes to flirt with all the girls! Ace is weird and unless you can find my baseball glove, you can wait until we leave! I don’t want you bothering me,” Dylan huffed.

“Is it the leather glove under the corner of your bed, right there?” I asked, pointing to a thick, brown leather catcher’s mitt.

I quickly introduced myself and explained that I would be their practice dummy for training as of next week. Ace thought this was cool because it would give him more of a challenge than the straw men they had been using while Dylan used it as a way to call me “dummy”. I don’t know what I ever did to Dylan to make him act meanly or if that is just his nature.

I took in the shelves full of trophies I was expected to polish, then at the messy beds and clothes, books, and sports gear everywhere. These boys didn’t even bother trying to keep their room tidy! Of course, they had us Omegas to clean up after them, so why would they bother?

From that day on, Ace's moods seemed to run hot and cold, while Dylan was nearly always cold.

Our first training session is a great example…

“Look, here comes our DUMMY!” Dylan shouted upon my arrival.

“Hello, Kaiya! Are you ready to give me a challenge?” Ace asked with an enormous grin.

“I will do my best. Though, I have only been very briefly trained in dodges and defensive moves and I am sure you are skilled fighters already,” I complimented, knowing it was what was expected of me.

The boys took turns making their moves to attack me with most of their hits making their mark and only a few missing me thanks to a fast dodge.

“Ha! You are no match for me, Omega! So much for a challenge!” Dylan shouted after knocking me down.

“Let’s get you up and ready for my next attacks,” Ace offered, helping me to my feet, sweetly, but his tune changed shortly after.

“That’s three in a row you missed, brother!” Dylan teased, not as if he didn’t miss some himself.

“Argh! Shut up! She’s fast, alright!” Ace yelled, before storming off in a huff. Before disappearing into the packhouse, he looked over his shoulder and added, “it’s not my fault she’s tiny!”

“He’s right, I am small and I move quickly, “ I muttered through tears at having the only boy who was ever kind to me act so mean before being dismissed back to my other duties.

Ace barely said a kind word for months and got more aggressive and focused during training sessions. Which meant I was more battered and bruised after each session. I learned from that first lesson that while I was meant to give them a challenge, giving them too much of a challenge meant they would get angry and I would pay for it in one way or another.

“Kaiya, are you listening? Are you ready for us to attack?” Ace called out, bringing me back from my memories.

“I-I…AAAgh!” I attempted to speak but another wave of pain tore through me.

As I stood facing them, on the verge of my first shift, the pain rocketed through me once more, bringing me to my knees. I clutched my chest, and then my abdomen and wretched as I felt my bones break and reform. I knew transforming into my wolf for the first time would be painful, but I had expected it to be a bearable pain, not the feeling of searing hot pokers being jabbed into all my major muscles at once mixed with breaking bones and feeling as If I was burning from the inside out.

Finally, the pain ceased and I was able to stand on my four furry legs and look up at the Alpha Twins.

“Wow! Kaiya, your wolf form is adorable!” Ace said in awe.

“Uh-huh!” Was all Dylan could muster.

Ace stepped forward, gathering my tear away training clothes and holding them out to me before speaking, “Unless you want to try this in wolf form, you should transform back and slip these on. Dylan and I will turn our backs, I promise.”

Ace’s voice was soft and filled with empathy. Little did I know how much that would change.

I had been told how to transform back many times, but the reality is not as simple as it was in theory. It is nearly as painful as the initial transformation. I transformed back to my human form and despite the fiery pain and aches in my bones, I grabbed my clothing from Ace and got dressed.

“You can look now,” I offered in a soft tone.

When Dylan turned I was surprised to see a flush across his cheeks, but despite my pain I urged the boys forward. When the first blow struck me, Ace paused with his jaw hanging wide.

“Brother! Come here! Please, tell me I am wrong!” Ace’s voice sounded like a blend of shock and fear.

Dylan rushed up to us with a furrowed brow, asking, “What is it? Is something wrong?”

“Touch her and see! Touch Kaiya’s skin with your hand,” Ace instructed.

Dylan raised his brow and scoffed, but did what his twin had asked. I noticed a tingle run through me at each of their touches. At first I thought maybe one of them or both, or maybe I had built up static electricity, but this was different. This was stronger, it felt like something both strong and pleasant and their scents had both gotten stronger…more alluring but I furrowed my brow in confusion. It can’t be! Can it?

‘They are both our mates, Kaiya. Nice to meet you, I’m your wolf, Lilly,’ A sweet voice says in my mindspace.

‘Nice to meet you Lilly, but are you certain?’ I asked her, but before she could respond Dylan’s voice broke through my thoughts.

“Why is me touching her making my body feel almost electric and tingly? Is that the same for you?” Dylan asked Ace who nodded. “It can’t mean what I think it can, can it?”

“Kaiya is our fated mate!” Ace said in a stunned tone. “She is fated to both of us.”

“No! We must reject her! She’s just an Omega!” Dylan snapped, even though he had been blushing moments before.

My heart ached and I was torn in two! They have never been very kind to me and I feared they would be the most horrible mates. However, we have all been taught to honor the mate bonds in this pack and they are extremely attractive. Why has the moon goddess done this to me?

“We can’t reject her right now!” Ace hissed. “Have you looked at her? In her weakened state, rejecting her would be a death sentence!”

I stared in horror as the brothers argued my fate while my heart felt like it would explode with how hard it was beating.

II

Kaiya

Ace’s and Dylan’s words echo through my head as I run for the packhouse in horror, but soon I would learn it is just the start of my misery.

“No! We must reject her!” and “In her weakened state, rejecting her would be a death sentence!” ring through my mind on repeat while my legs can’t carry me inside fast enough to escape the horror unfolding.

My lungs burn and hot tears roll down my cheeks. Terror grips me and my mind reels while my emotions spiral into a confusing symphony of mixed feelings. My legs nearly give way when I am forced to halt at the top of the stairs after climbing them to the Greek revivalist style balcony overlooking the extensive gardens between the packhouse and training grounds.

Rebecca stands at the top of the stairs, just inches from where I halted with one of her sweetest smiles plastered to her pretty face.

“I have something for you,” she says in that sickly sweet tone that drives me insane.

The thing about Rebecca, besides her being the Beta's daughter and Ace’s girlfriend, is that her sweetness is saccharine. It’s fake and too sweet then leaves you with a bitterness on your tongue and in your soul. It’s like she is trying too hard to win Miss Congeniality in a beauty contest.

In school is where her true colors showed most. Everyone in the pack from lowest Omega to highest ranked wolves attended the pack school together. The first time it happened was one of the days Ace had shown his kinder side. Rebecca had tripped me, maybe accidentally, but I now think it was intentional. I was carrying my lunch when I tripped over her foot which had not been in the path moments earlier.

“Watch it, Omega!” She hissed in a voice only I had heard.

Others were around but no one nearby was paying attention to us. Ace approached her table and helped me to my feet, asking if I was okay. Rebecca shot me a death glare and I nodded that I was fine before rushing to clean up the mess that had been my lunch and myself.

Later that day, in the back stacks of the library, where I would often hide to sketch or write poems, Rebecca cornered me.

“You may live in the packhouse but don’t forget your place! You are an Omega not one of US!” She snarled before slapping me across the face. “That is for looking at Ace as if you might stand a chance in Hell winning his affection!”

I was not aware I did any such thing. Ace is sometimes kind and I appreciate his kindness whenever it shows, but I would never presume myself worthy.

As she walked away, I heard her giggle to another girl, “Kaiya is just a worthless Omega slut!”

Her personality suits Ace, I suppose, but his kindness wavers whenever she is around. He becomes more focused on what she wants and thinks. He seems to care too much about her opinions and less about his own, or mine.

This is in contrast to Dylan whose cold and angry exterior leaves one wondering “what is he covering up? Or is he truly so uncaring?”

I furrow my brow in confusion as Rebecca holds out a small, cut crystal vial, with an intricate brass top and black tassel.

“Perfume?” I ask. “Why would an Omega need perfume? Not to be ungrateful, but…”

I quickly switch from my shocked response to a more humble tone, so as not to cause problems.

“No, silly! It’s a potion to help you with the pains of your first transformation and as an added bonus it will hide that pesky mate bond you are saddled with,” Rebecca offers, twirling a finger in her perfectly curled blond coils, while the other hand holds the vial out to me.

I am highly suspicious of this and something nags at me not to accept what she offers. Like everything about Rebecca from her smile to the coils she has Amira help her create in her hair every morning, something about this seems fake.

“I couldn’t possibly! Please don’t waste something so precious on me,” I say, taking a step back and teetering on the top stair before finding my balance.

“But I insist,” Rebecca says through gritted teeth with that stupid fake smile plastered on her glossy pink lips.

I sidestep, hoping to move past her and get away from all of this insanity, but her hand darts out and grabs my wrist. Rebecca pulls me closer and uncaps the vial with the other hand.

“I saw you! I know what you are…what you are to THEM!” Rebecca hisses and snarls.

Her grip on my wrist tightens as she adds, “ you will stay away from Ace and Dylan and drink up like a good little Onega.”

I struggle as she pours the liquid down my throat. It burns and I thrash in her hold, and then the pain strikes. I double over with the searing pain that shoots through me, radiating from my abdomen outwards.

‘It hurts! It burns! It makes me feel so weak…I am sore, Kaiya, but I must rest,’ my wolf Lilly's sweet voice sounds weak and badly hurt.

“What was in that vial?,” I ask, convulsing with pain.

“Nothing that will kill you, but I don’t know about you wolf,” Rebecca muses before another wave of unbearable pain shoots through me and I struggle to keep my foothold, while Rebecca tumbles down the stairs, when her grip around my wrist finally slips.

I hear a scream from behind me, and attempt to look over my shoulder at the screaming maid, Flossy by the sound of her voice, but before I can get a good look Beta Carson is on me. He pins me to the hard marble surface of the balcony and slaps me.

“How dare you betray this pack!” The Beta snarls before slapping me again.

I look up through tears. I am so frightened and bewildered and I fear what has become of Rebecca. Sure, she is a fake and a schemer, but I would not wish her any horrible injuries or death. I can hardly register what is going on, through the hatred and pain as Beta Carson stops hitting me only long enough to start choking me.

“She pushed Miss Rebecca,” Flossy cries out and that is when I register the scents and presences of my Fated Mates.

Dylan’s smoky scent reminiscent of the annual bonfire is drowned out by Ace’s earthy scent of pine and petrichor. That is the only way I can register which is closest to me.

Ace’s voice sounds murderous as he snaps,” You jealous, traitorous whore! How dare you hurt my girlfriend?”

For the first time outside of training, I feel Ace’s large, booted foot kick my ribs. Only this time it is with an unparalleled ferocity. I think I feel one of my ribs crack, but I am already in so much pain it just intensifies what I am already feeling,

I see spots appear in my vision when Dylan’s vibrant blue eyes come into view above my face. But I sense just a brief hesitation in his actions.

“Enough! I am still Alpha here!” Alpha James’s voice rings through the horrific scene and I feel the world fading from around me.

The edges of my vision are blurry and dark. My body is one giant, painful bruise and I think I split my lip, not for the first time.

“What happened?” Alpha James asks in his booming voice. “Why are you not training?”

“Kaiya had her first shift today,” Dylan starts in a cold, flat tone, though there is something…a slight waver in his voice I have never heard before.

“She ran from the training grounds,” Ace hisses, leaving out the part where we discovered we are Fated Mates.

“I saw her and Miss Rebecca talking, then Kaiya pushed Miss Rebecca down the stairs,” Flossy cries.

Flossy has always been one for dramatics and is often sucking up to both the Alpha and Beta families.

“Has anyone checked on Rebecca?” Alpha James asks.

“I have, Alpha sir!” The familiar voice of Beta Carson’s brother in law, who is a pack doctor, pipes up. “She has a pulse, but I need to get her to the pack hospital quickly!”

“You do that, Bill, and keep me informed!” The Alpha says firmly before turning his attention back to me. “First you abandon your morning duties of training your future Alphas, then you violently shove the Beta’s daughter! I thought you were better than this!”

The Alpha sounds as disappointed as he is angry. I had no clue he had any regard for me, let alone enough of one to think I was better than whatever this all is. I regret Rebecca’s fall, but I didn’t do it intentionally, she came at me.

“I-I’m sorry…I didn’t mean…it was…accident,” I whimper softly with my eyes turned to the ground and head bowed in supplication.

“Let me punish her father! I won’t show any mercy!” Ace says with a cold voice and hatred glazing his beautiful eyes causing them to look like a raging sea about to pull me under its wake as I glance up at his beautiful face now contorted in anger.

“Not this time, son! Kaiya, you are banished from this pack and sentenced to five years imprisonment in The Iron Keep over in Red Fields. If Rebecca dies, you will too. Is that understood?” The Alpha asks and I nod sheepishly.

I didn’t get a trial or the opportunity to properly defend myself! There will be no justice for me! It is just another reminder how little I matter to any of them.

What hurts the most, is the burning hatred in Ace’s glare. He had been kind on occasion, but that time is gone for good. Yet, neither he nor Dylan rejected me.

My surroundings blur as rough hands grip me and the searing pain once again racks my body before the world goes dark.

I hear one last thing as I drift into unconsciousness…Ace quietly says, “I should have just done it! None of this would have happened, but now she will pay!”

III

Ace

Kaiya turned sixteen today and I had intended to give her a small gift. It was nothing special, just a token of kindness, but it seems my kindness to her was misplaced.

Kaiya transformed in front of our eyes on the training grounds and her wolf was the most adorable, fluffy ball of silver fur I had ever seen. She has an unusual red petal mark on her forehead, which I haven’t seen before. It reminds me of something out of an old fairytale. I wanted to run my fingers through her fur that looked so soft, but I knew she would be embarrassed, so I picked up her clothing and held it out to her so that she could transform back and we could train. She wasn’t ready to train in wolf form yet.

As we turned our backs on her to allow her a modicum of privacy, I caught Dylan’s eyes and his glazed expression. He is rarely moved or surprised by anything since our mother’s death. I suspect he is shocked. I mean, her wolf’s fur doesn’t match her chestnut colored hair, the petal mark is close, but more vibrant, so that is a factor. But I also suspect he thought she would be more scrawny and scraggly, not fluffy and adorable.

When I felt the surge and tingle of the mate bond I knew what it was and there was a slight thrill, but shock and fear overtook me. I had to have Dylan touch to see if he sensed the same from her.

I remember our first meeting, but I had seen her at a distance for years. She was always busy, working diligently and I heard it said she was an orphaned Omega. I felt bad for the adorable little girl with the chestnut hair and mossy green eyes.

But now I am dating Rebecca and I can not have an Omega as my Fated Mate! Rebecca would be furious at me and at Kaiya and I cannot deal with that drama as I prepare for my formal Alpha Training.Then to discover Dylan and I share our mate! It is absurd! It is bad enough that father wants us to share our title, but to also share our mate? No!

I don’t know what freaks me out more, the idea of Rebecca hurting Kaiya, the idea that Kaiya is my Fated Mate or the idea of having to share Kaiya with Dylan. My emotions war with one another as Dylan and I argue.

“She is in a weakened state! We can reject her once she has time to recover from her first shift, if you insist,” I snarl at my twin, once again.

“You want her! You want her for yourself,” Dylan says in a change of tone as he narrows his bright blue eyes at me.

We both have blue eyes, but Dylan’s always seem so bright, while mine change with my moods and what I wear. It is one of the ways people can tell the difference between us, not that most people are observant enough even with us wearing our hair differently, having unique personalities and distinct personal styles. Dylan is more casual sporty meets bad boy meets frat boy and my style is more casual but refined.

“I don’t want drama and if being with her is going to cause drama, which it will, I don’t want to deal with it, however, I believe she deserves to live,” I sigh and run my fingers through my hair.

“What if we didn’t reject her? I know I am the one who has been pushing for it, but….I don’t know,” Dylan mutters.

I have never seen Dylan so flustered in our entire twenty and a half years of life. That is when we both turn suddenly at the sound of someone screaming. I see Kaiya at the top of the stairs, but can’t make out what is happening from this far. Dylan and I both rapidly switch gears and bolt to the scene unraveling before us.

I notice Rebecca bleeding and unconscious, but her uncle who is a pack doctor is tending to her. With a nod from him, I continue up the stairs and hear and see what Beta Carson is saying and doing, while the little maid who sucked my cock on my eighteenth birthday shrieks that Kaiya pushed Rebecca down the stairs.

My emotions are all over the place, but one thing is certain…Kaiya isn’t the sweet, innocent little Omega I always thought her to be!

Dylan reaches the top of the stairs first, but he hesitates as a look of shock and dismay crosses his face. I shove past him and snarl.

I cannot keep the venom out of my voice as I snap, “You jealous, traitorous whore! How dare you hurt my girlfriend?”

I kick Kaiya’s ribs harder than I ever have in training. In training I don't want to hurt her, but right now, I want to cause her a great deal of pain! Right now, I am satisfied with the sound of her breaking ribs.

I nearly scoff at how weak Dylan’s response is.

‘Maybe his wolf talked sense into him!’ My wolf, Aspen, scoffs in my mindspace.

‘Oh! Now you speak up! You haven’t spoken to me in months!’ I snarl in response.

‘You don’t listen! You still chose to date Rebecca and now you refuse to understand that had you not dated Rebecca, this probably would not have happened. Maybe we would be mating our Fated Mate, now. But you don’t listen to me, nor do you use your big head to think, Casanova!’ Aspen scoffs again. ‘I am not talking to you!’

Aspen retreats back to the back of my mindspace where he has been hiding for over six months, ever since I gave into Rebecca’s seductions. He has gotten angry about any women I have had sexual relations with, but not as angry as he has been with Rebecca. I can feel his anger with me and his desire to take over and pull Kaiya into our arms and mark her. I will not allow it!

“Enough! I am still Alpha here!” My father’s voice rings through the horrific scene .

‘This had better not have anything to do with your womanizing, Ace!’ My father says through the mindlink.

I feel a smidgeon of guilt, but the anger I feel far outweighs any quilt I have.

As dad goes through his questions, I think to offer to punish Kaiya, but he refuses me, for now.

Dad banishes Kaiya from the pack and sentences her to five years’ imprisonment in The Iron Keep in Red Fields. I have only been to the place once, but it is a place rumored to be stained red from blood, when in fact the red is due to the high iron content in everything from the stones to the water. Even the soil takes on a red hue and the trees that grow there are gnarled and twisted. The Iron Keep is the most brutal werewolf prison in our region, but this is not enough punishment.

As I watch Rebecca get placed on a stretcher and Kaiya’s limp form dragged away, I turn and whisper to Dylan, “I should have just done it! None of this would have happened, but now she will pay!”

Dylan pauses before replying, “She is already paying for our mistakes brother. I feel...no, nevermind.”

“What” I ask in a snarl.

“I feel like we are missing something,” Dylan replies with a furrowed brow before I turn and follow the ambulance so I can attempt to be there for Rebecca.

How could Kaiya have seemed so innocent when she is capable of such cruelty?

“Rebecca has a concussion,” her uncle Bill informs me as I arrive at the hospital. “And she appears to be in a coma, yet alive.”

A coma!

IV

Dylan

Five Years Later

I go over the prison reports in front of me for the third time today. Something isn’t adding up. I saw Kaiya’s wolf, so I know she has one. But reports say she has no evidence of even having a wolf spirit. Her healing is decent, better than human healing, but not up to par with a typical werewolf whose wolf spirit is healthy. She never shifts, even when forced into a fighting ring. There is definitely something wrong.

I’m jittery and nervous. I’m also more than just tempted to storm out of here and go to her. I want to ask her questions and see for myself what has happened to her, but the other side of me tells me I am a fool for trusting her or anyone, mate bond or not. It’s five minutes until three o'clock. She will be released at three on the dot.

I close my eyes and inhale deeply.

I remember that fateful day five years ago. Kaiya’s sixteenth birthday. We didn’t expect her to get her wolf or transform that early. Which leaves another mystery for us. Is she truly an Omega? Her tiny stature would suggest she is, but no one knows who her parents are. My father told me to drop it and never speak of her again, which makes me suspect he knows things he isn't divulging.

I was stunned with how adorable Kaiya’s wolf was and how much I wanted to touch her fur and nuzzle my face against her softness and even more stunned to learn she is our Fated Mate. I acted so poorly when I tried insisting on rejecting her, but ever since mom died and dad turned bitter, I have been afraid to be like him. In retrospect, he is exactly what I have been turning into…a cold, bitter man who shows little emotions.

So much that happened that day, just doesn’t add up. I blame myself for some of it and Ace’s stupid knack for thinking with the wrong head, certainly didn’t help anything. If he hadn’t fallen for Rebecca’s charms and just smartly stayed single until we found our Fated Mate…Had I not given Kaiya a hard time for being an Omega and just accepted our bond…I am sure we would not be in the same position we are in now.

I am not certain Kaiya didn’t push Rebecca down the stairs, but I know Rebecca well enough not to trust her to be as innocent as she pretends to be. There must be some way to discern the truth.

A knock at my office door rouses me.

“Come in!” I call out looking at the clock…two minutes to three. “You are early, Octavius! You aren't due for twelve more minutes!”

“Some Alpha, sir! I have found the literature you requested, sorry it has taken many years to track it down, it is a rare piece of our pack’s history. But if you don’t mind me asking, why would you want a practically ancient book of prophecies?” Octavious asks with furrowed brows. “I had to go deep into the archives and even then it was misfiled under a totally different category and I only happened upon it by accident while assisting another pack historian in search of old nursery rhymes.”

“I have been doing some research into an odd phenomenon and swore my great grandmother told me a story about one of these prophecies. I am not at liberty to say which one, just yet,” I explain.

“It is quite curious. No Alpha typically concerns themselves with such things, but you are unique. If that is all, I will leave this with you and you can summon me when you are done with it,” Octavius says.

I nod and Octavius gets up to leave then softly hums, “I hope the next mating ball brings you your Luna, sir.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it, “ I sigh, knowing exactly where my Luna is walking out of at this very moment.

I turn to Prophecy 3,224, by a seer named Agess Moorehouse. She is denoted as a hybrid werewolf-witch.

“The true Alpha will return when two shadows rule over the pack as one. The Alpha shall rise and truths will prevail. The pack will return to peace and prosperity only when the Red Shadow Wolf is born,” I read out loud. I mutter, “I know this prophecy and several others named The Red Shadow Wolf, but this one is the one calling to something inside me…what does it mean?”

I find a scrap with vaguely familiar handwriting on it…my mother’s handwriting.

I read the notes, “Who is the Red Shadow Wolf? Who is True Alpha? ‘Ashcroft’ could be a shadowy landscape, but does that make Dylan and Ace the two Shadows? Only time will tell, but I think this could be important.”

“Mom was researching this too?” I ask the empty room.

‘It seems that way,’ my wolf, Tamesis, says in my mind. ‘I'm certain we are getting closer to the truth.’

Another knock disturbs me, but I am not expecting any other visitors. I have a lot of paperwork to do. I suspect from the heady floral scent oozing under my door who this visitor is and quickly stow away the ancient book of prophecies and mom’s notes on the prophecy.

“Come in!” I call out.

A maid opens the door and bows out of the way for Rebecca who dismisses her by saying, “That will be all for the moment, Flossy.”

“Hello, Rebecca. What brings you to my office today?” I ask, not bothering to mask my displeasure. “I have a lot of work to get done.”

“I know, but I thought you would like to have some company,” she says, wheeling herself further into my office. “You work too much! You hardly socialize. At least, your brother finds time for me, but you don’t find time for anyone. How will you find a Luna? You could choose me.”

“I’m not interested. I’m not Ace. Getting laid is not my priority,” I huff.

“You could probably use the stress relief,” Rebecca sighs and then pouts. “I heard the wench who did this to me is a free woman now and yet I remain bound to this wheelchair and unable to remember why.”

“I’m certain that is frustrating,” I reply, feeling a sense of sympathy, even if I am torn and confused over what I should be feeling and what really happened.

I lean back in my office chair and tap my pen on the surface of my large oak desk, while I assess the scene before me. I know how Ace responds to Rebecca pouting, does she pout hoping I will fall over her the same way? Or does she pout because she is experiencing a genuine emotion? I never can tell.

“I’m sorry, Rebecca, but I really must finish this paperwork and I am expecting an important call,” I say, getting up and opening the door for her to leave.

She pouts again but requests that I sit next to her at dinner tonight and I agree, and then she rolls herself out the door. She is paralyzed from the waist down, which is rare to happen with werewolves, but I am no doctor.

Before I even return all the way to my desk my cell phone rings and I smile when I see Damien’s name flash across the screen.

“What’s the news?” I say as I answer the call.

“She was picked up by another Omega in a beat up old car,” Damien replies through the phone. “Should I bring her in, boss?”

“No! Not yet! Trail her for me,” I reply before cutting the line.

V

Kaiya

The creak of the enormous Iron gate and the rattling of heavy chains is a cacophony of sounds as I stand in the entry and nod to the guard. For five long years this place has been my home, but today I gain my freedom.

I went half starved and thirsty for weeks or even months on end before I would be given proper food, and then there were the beatings and fighting rings. When I was allotted time outdoors, all I could see was the distant sky above the tall red walls.

With my wolf silent and knowing she was weak and unable to heal me well, my healing from the beatings was slower than normal for a werewolf. I still heal faster than ordinary humans, but not always fast enough to be healed before the next bearing.

Ah…the beatings! The severity and style of beatings varied with the guards. Sheila wasn’t any less harsh than the guys. Sheila's beatings usually left me battered and bruised, but also questioning just what stories she had been fed, because of what she would say as she hit me.

“Jealous, traitor! I hear you are a power hungry whore who craves Alpha dick! What did you want them both?! Ha! You'll be lucky if anyone gives a traitor like you a second glance!” She would say while punching and kicking me as I hung suspended and cuffed with my feet barely grazing the surface of the floor.

Then there were the guys, Vaughn and Thomas. They weren’t too vocal until they threatened to do unthinkable sexual acts against my will. Fortunately, they never actually acted on those threats, but I was constantly in fear they would.

Speaking of sexual acts…I can tell when one or the other of my mates engages in the act, because sharp pains shoot through my entire body starting in my abdomen, sometimes causing me to convulse. Since no one knows why, they have given me medications. Some for the horrible headaches I have and others for the ‘phantom pains’ and ‘convulsive episodes’. Of course, neither Dylan nor Ace have told anyone we are Fated Mates.

I’ve nearly forgotten what the outside world is like, but this bleak place is harsh. Unlike the sloping valleys, lush forests and winding river surrounding the Red Shadow Pack’s home city of Emberfield.

“Of course no one is here to get me, and I have no idea where I am going,” I mumble to myself as I step through the gate and up the long, dusty, red path.

Of course no one's here…I am an orphan. My mates hate me and I only have one friend…I stop dead in my tracks as a familiar face comes into view.

“Amina!” I shout, now running forward and embracing my only friend.

“I couldn’t just leave you totally alone!” Amina laughs. “I got banished by Ace and now I live in a nearby pack. I’ll tell you the entire story soon.”

“I-Wow!” I stammer. “I have missed out on so much in five years! Start with telling me about your new pack and then we can talk about how Ace came to have the ability to banish you and why.”

“My new pack is small, but Alpha Maxim is kind hearted. He had come by the Red Shadow Pack for business or social calls in the past and remembered seeing me when he found me wandering the neutral city in search of work and offered me a place in his pack. He didn’t ask too much of me and I found myself a decent job within the pack. I saved up and bought my little cottage just a few months ago,” Amina says sweetly.

As Amina continues her story, I take in her appearance. Her long, dark hair is down in loose waves, rather than piled and bound to keep it out of her way for work or school. Instead of her maid uniform or school uniform she wears a tasteful but simple black dress and flats. Her tawny skin has a rosy glow to it especially her cheeks and a more relaxed, less drawn expression covers her face.

“The Freepelt Pack is just bordering the neutral city of Starfalls to its west and Red Shadow Pack to its south,” Amina sighs. “I still hear rumors of the goings on in The Red Shadow Pack.”

“Oh?” I ask with a brow raised in questioning. “Is there anything I should brace myself for?”

“Rebecca was in a coma, and she awoke with no memories, or practically no memories, but according to some rumors, she is making moves to set herself up as the future Luna. Ace is not faithful to her,” Amina says.

She leans in and whispers, “I know the truth. I was there, tending to Miss Rebecca after her earlier training, just beyond the wall to the garden. I saw Miss Rebecca’s reaction and followed her as she stormed back to the packhouse and grabbed the vial.”

I turn to her shocked as she opens the door to a beat up little car for me, and replies, “You know?”

“Yes, and I got banished for trying to bring the truth of everything to Alpha Ace, however Alpha Dylan was harder to reach,” she says so softly it would be hard to make out if I was a step or two further away.

“You need to fill me in on all of this,” I say as I slide into the passenger seat and watch her round the car to the drivers side while I struggle to sort out the tumultuous storm of emotions I am feeling.

“Alpha James got ill and then Ace and Dylan graduated university and took over as Alphas despite having no Luna. That was just shortly after Rebecca awoke from the coma,” Amina starts as she drives. “I went to Alpha Dylan but he was busy and I couldn't see him to talk to him about what I had seen and what I knew. So, I went to Ace, only this time with the entire story and what little evidence I had gathered. He snapped at me and banished me from the pack.”

“Wow!” I gasp and turn to look at Amina as she pulls up to a little yellow cottage with a small porch and neatly trimmed shrubs.

Inside the cottage is a large, clean, fresh room, a small, sunny kitchen and a tidy bathroom. It’s not the biggest place, but after my prison cell the place is a dream, even if we have to share a bed.

I collapse onto the floor, crying as my emotions finally catch up to me.

“I haven’t spoken to my wolf since that day,” I cry. “Lilly is too weak and if Ace and Dylan get their way I will be rejected and possibly not make it anyway. I don’t know what to do.”

“Hush, Kaiya. We’ll start with what we can do.” Kaiya hums softly as she brushes my hair out of my face. “Why don’t you go wash up and I will lend you some of my clothes.”

A warm shower with fragrant body wash, clean clothes and a hot meal are luxuries I have not had in many years. I find myself, snuggling down into the pillows of Amina’s sofa bed as we chat and replay our histories.

“Remember the time we mopped the entire hallway and game room then Dylan and Ace came in from a football game covered in mud and grass and tracked it through the entire space, not even a moment after we finished?” Amina asks.

“Ace apologized later,” I hum as I think back, wincing as I remember the aftermath.

“Yes but Beta Carson beat us after Ms. Gentian reported our failure to have it completed in a timely manner,” Amina sighs. “Then we got stuck cleaning that dusty old attic on what should have been our day off.”

“Beta Carson was always cruel, but Alpha James had been kind until Luna Catherine passed away while giving birth to Princess Dahlia,” I sigh.

“Princess Dahlia lives with her Aunt in Sungarde, about a day’s drive west of here, where she is expected to take her aunt’s place as Priestess of The Blue Moon Pack,” Amina says. “I overheard Alpha James talking about it one day not long after you were sent to prison.”

“I always wondered but dared not ask,” I sigh, “I know she reminds him too much of the wife he lost.”

“Lets talk of more pleasant things,” Amina pats my shoulder and we change the subject.

I hate being a burden on Amira, I know she works hard and does not earn enough to sustain taking care of both of us for long. Besides, I need to do something, her house is small and clean, there is little for me to tidy up here and not having something to do makes me feel useless.

“What jobs are available in your pack?” I ask, eager to take responsibility for myself and start a new chapter in my life.

“I’ll take you through the downtown area tomorrow and we can check out the places I know are hiring,” Amina offers. “Then I will present you to Alpha Maxim.”

Amina looks at me with eyes full of worry.

What is she not telling me?

VI

Kaiya

One month of searching and I still have no luck with jobs. Alpha Maxim is fine with my presence but requires all adult residents to get a job before joining his pack officially. Until I am an official pack member, I don’t have all the rights and protections of one.

Freepelt pack is a small pack and they don’t have a lot of work, but I overheard a shopgirl this morning saying she would never hire me, because Alpha Ace would destroy anyone who helped the “traitorous whore Kaiya Ember”.

My last name is because of the main city of The Red Shadow Pack. As far as I know, I have no true last name. Even in a different pack, I was doomed.

I don’t want to bring Ace’s wrath on Amina, so I need to find a job and get out of her place for her sake.

So now, I have driven into the neutral city and am looking into bartending at a human owned establishment. I get offered the demeaning job, with the skimpy uniform and agree to come back tomorrow night.

Walking out of the building, I make my way out to Amina’s beat up old car when one of my headaches strikes. I reach for my bag, but find my pain relievers are empty.

I wait for the worst of the pain to die down and attempt to start the car, but it won’t turn over I helped Gordon, the pack mechanic once or twice, and can at least check on the starter, so I squint and get out of the car to open the hood for a peek when rough hands grab me and a bitter scent fills my nostrils as something covers my nose and mouth.

I struggle, just a moment and feel my body go limp. A man I don’t know grumbles something I can’t discern to someone as he ties me and I am tossed into the back of a car with little regard for my well being, my head makes contact with the door on the other side, just before everything fades to black.

My body is sore and stiff. I can barely move as I wake up in a dimly lit room. I am cold, and wet and suspect they used a bucket of water to awaken me.

“Alpha Ace, I have her here for you,” a gruff man’s voice grunts.

My eyes come into focus on the tall man in front of me as a chill goes through me at the coldness in his once tender voice as he says, “Kaiya, long time now see!”

“Ace! I…” I start but his Icy glare comes into focus and I stop and switch gears. “Ace, you have changed so much!”

“I have changed so little compared to how different you are from what I had thought you to be, little mouse,” Ace says. “I pitied you, I cared for your well being. I left you extra blankets in your room and gave you sweaters I outgrew to keep you warm in winter, but you never knew, did you? But your jealousy nearly killed MY future Luna!”

I swallow hard and attempt to dry the tear that escapes my eye, however my arms are tied to a chair and I can do no such thing. I had suspected the extra blankets and warm sweaters were from Ace and had treasured them. He showed me small kindnesses no one else dared to. Then my brain catches on the last part.

“So what Amira heard was true,” I mumble. “Go ahead and reject me.”

“I don’t think I will, at least not yet,” Ace laughs with a cold wickedness I never expected from him. “You see, I want you to suffer before your possible death. Maybe if you are lucky you and that miserable brother of mine can live in exile together if he doesn’t get his shit together, but…no…I think not! I think he will join in my fun then we can reject you and watch your pain tear at you before we send you so far away your shadow will never again cross our packlands!”

Ace seems almost unhinged.

A fiery rage grows in the pit of my stomach and I don’t think about what spills out of my mouth next.

“I hate you, Ace Ashcroft! I hate your stupid face and what you have become!” I scream before I feel a hand sting my cheek with the first blow, the tingles are still there, though fainter because of Lilly’s dormant state.

“Shut up, you traitorous bitch!” Ace snarls. “Rebecca was in a coma for years and she still has not regained all her memories, nor the ability to walk! Do you understand what you did?”

“Fuck you and your bitch!” I spit before a fist slams into my stomach from one of the men I can’t get a clear view of because one has me in a head lock that keeps my head from lolling forward.

My eyes water and I grunt, trying to get an explanation that I know he will never believe out, to defend myself, but the punches and slaps keep coming. I can see Ace pacing and adjusting his jacket cuffs.

“Don’t kill her yet, boys. I have plans for her,” Ace says in a cold tone.

“What do you want us to do with her boss?” A deep voice of a man…no thug…who sounds a bit slow on the uptake grunts.

“Knock her unconscious and bring her to the pack hospital to patch up her cuts. I don’t want her bleeding on my carpet on the way in. Then we will move her to my personal dungeon,” Ace says in a dark and foreboding tone. “You will love my playroom, little mouse!”

I feel something blunt make hard contact with the back of my skull before everything goes black, once more.