Chapter One

Tomorrow is the day of my eighteenth birthday. I have so much planned for the weekend. Today, some of my friends will be coming to the palace for a pool party and cookout. Then on Saturday evening my parents will be hosting a banquet in honor of my birthday. Then on Sunday I am to travel to the Blue Moon Packs kingdom to meet my future husband, Caleb McClay.

Caleb and I have never met. We have an arranged married put forth by the Alpha and Luna McClay of the Blue Moon Pack. My parents Alpha and Luna Taylor of the New Moon Pack offered me in exchange for the added protection for our pack by the Blue Moon Pack. After my eighteenth birthday we are to finally meet and I am to move to the Blue Moon Packs palace to begin the engagement process.

I am Erica Taylor, Second child of the Alpha Taylor and only child of Luna Taylor of the New Moon Pack. I have red hair and green eyes. I do not resemble a traditional werewolf, because I'm not. My half-brother Todd is four years older than me. His mother died during his birth. At that time my father was the Beta of the Silver Moon Pack.

One day he was leading some of guards of the kingdom on a witch hunt. They had learned of a coven near-by, so they went to investigate it. When they came across the witches a great fight broke out. My father stood face to face with a beautiful, young red headed witch. He couldn't kill her. He felt the mate bond and he let her get away. After that day he would sneak away from the kingdom to visit the witch that he had fell in love with. Once the Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack found out about the Beta's affair with the witch my father was exiled from the Pack.

My father went to his love and married her. They started the New Moon Pack. Some wolves of the Silver Moon Pack that had been loyal to him as a Beta followed my father. The kingdom grew but was weak. They needed protection, another kingdom to help them grow. It wasn't long after the formation of the New Moon pack that I was born. I am a werewolf-witch hybrid. And I was promised to the eldest son of the Blue Moon Pack in exchange for protection under them.

One of the rules that we have to honor from the Blue Moon Pack is not to practice magic. If we are to do so we void the contract with them and they well bring war against us. So, I have never been associated with any witches other than my mother and I have never seen her do magic. Nor has she tried to teach me any of it. I'm not even sure if I could do magic as I've never tried. I look like my mother but I seem to have taken more after my father. I changed into my wolf for the first time at sixteen years old. I had a red coat that will definitely make me stand out from the others with their grey or black coats. After I was able to change my father had to notify the Alpha of the Blue Moon Pack that I indeed carried the werewolf gene to change. They would not accept me for their son and future Alpha if I couldn't. So, this was a huge relief to my mother and father.

My father didn't want to do anything to upset the Blue Moon Pack. He is still at odds with the Silver Moon Pack but they keep a distance because they do not want to have the Blue Moon Pack at war with them. The Blue Moon Pack has been around for aging. They have the longest rule in history of this area so therefore they are a mighty kingdom. My father also has issues with the area witch's coven. It is the one my mother was with. They don't like the mix and have threatened many times to kill me. If they get the chance. There had been an attempt to kidnap me and my mother when I was just five. My mother and I were in the village for some shopping. When our guards were taken by surprise by some witches. They were able to fight them off and rushed us back to the palace. There hasn't been another attempt since then.

Todd my half-brother is about 6', with black hair and brown eyes. He has just graduated college this year. He is very protective over me. Even when he was away at college, he constantly called to check on me. But he was still the typical brother, play pranks on me and picking on me. He has never really been into athletics. He is more of a hunter, like my father. I love my brother so much and even though my mom is his step-mother she has treated him as her own. Todd has already found his mate. Which happens to be my best friend, Katie. She hasn't turned eighteen yet but they noticed their mate bond when she turned sixteen and have been dating ever since. Katie is our Beta's daughter. So that worked out great for our pack. And I could not ask for a better sister-in-law, when that day comes. But even if we find our mate we cannot marry until after we turn eighteen and finish school.

Katie and I have been friends ever since she was born. She is two months younger than me. Katie is a little taller than me at 5'6" and has long black hair and brown eyes. And our friendship has been great. We have been able to spend so much time together. Her dad would always bring her with him when he came to the palace. We go to the village shopping and ride horses together. And we both graduate next Saturday. Katie and I are graduating with honors but neither one of us are planning on attending college. With her being my brother's mate, she will become the next Luna of our pack. Since Todd isn't arranged to marry anyone like I am. They don't have any plans for their wedding yet. She said that they will probably announce their engagement after her birthday. My parents think very highly of her and so do I.

It is the first weekend in June. We have one more week of school which mainly consists of exams. So, us Seniors really only have two days left. Todd and I went to school with the rest of the pack's children. It was great for us getting to know the rest of the pack. We didn't get any special treatment per my father. He wanted us to work just as hard as the other children for our grades. However, we did have body guards with us. Once we returned to the palace, I had an instructor that lived with us from the Blue Moon Pack that prepped me to become a Luna ever since I was ten. My brother studied under my father. I was involved in several extracurricular activities outside of school such as dance classes and equestrian. I had given up the dance classes when I entered high school. I loved ballet the most. My dance instructor told me to I had to choose.

"Do you want to put your heels down or point your toes?"

I chose the horses. I did cross training which included Dressage, Cross Country, and Jumping. Oh, how I loved Dressage the beauty, strength and elegance. It was like ballet with a horse. Cross country gave you the fear factor, jumping obstacles that most people wouldn't even dream of attempting. And then jumping in the arena. Beautiful combinations of fences to test your ability to place your horse at the right distances and collection to clear the rails and planks that are in delicate cups that fall at a touch. Jumping had to be my favorite getting to fly through the air with a huge animal that has a mind of its own. I'm hoping to not be required to give this up.

My mother always still made sure I was a lady. I had etiquette classes once a month. She made sure I could walk up and down the stairs with a book on my head. Which it made a loud bang when it hit the floor and everyone would turn to look, it was quite embarrassing. I also had to learn all about table settings and which each utensil was for, how to hold a tea cup, cut food and eat soup. Definitely couldn't embarrass my parents at a social event. I also took ballroom dancing. I love to waltz. You never speak over the Alpha or against anything he says. The Luna does have her own roles in a kingdom. She is allowed to make some decisions on her own but big decisions must be cleared through the Alpha first.

I have never had a boyfriend or been on a date. Never even had a first kiss. Every guy in our pack knew I had an arranged married and I was off limits. I had seen boys look my way but it was just a glance. They didn't seem to want to waste their time courting me and it couldn't lead anywhere. Everyone always talked about how they couldn't wait to find their mate. I don't get that luxury, mine was chosen for me. I don't think I am beautiful by any means. I'm 5'5", red hair just below my shoulders, green eyes and a pale complexion. I'm not skinny but not overweight. I'm muscular from my years of dance and riding horses. I prefer simple things. I don't wear much makeup and I mostly do my own hair. Except for when there are social events a servant does my hair and makeup. I only dress formal for the social events and most of my dresses are no frills. I My best friend Katie's brother was my date for the prom. It was a very boring night. He was afraid to touch me when we danced. It was understandable because no one knew how Caleb McClay would react to another guy being with me. Or if he even cared.

Caleb McClay the future Alpha of the Blue Moon Pack and my future husband. I have seen pictures of him and heard talk about him. He is six years my senior, tall, said to be 6'2, with jet black hair and hazel eyes. Caleb had a very strict upbringing. He was home schooled by some of the highest qualified instructors and is a military college graduate. He is quite an athlete. He played baseball and football. People have said that he doesn't mingle with the towns people. And has only a few close friends. Which will also hold a rank in the kingdom one day. Everything he does is in preparation for becoming the Alpha. I have heard that he has a girlfriend. They say she is the Beta's daughter and that they grew up together. I don't know her name but have heard she is very beautiful. They both are twenty-four years old and have not gotten married. I'm sure that is because of the contract between our two packs. So, I'm sure Caleb will be very critical of me and look down on me because of the pack I came from and that I'm a hybrid.

I do wonder if she is a backup for him just in case, I don't meet the criteria to be their next Luna. I do worry that this may be an obstacle for me being arranged to marry him. What if she is his mate? Will I be rejected by him? If that happens what will become of the contract between our packs? What does he think about me being a werewolf-witch hybrid? Have they told him that about me?