Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Hayley

Three years later

The full moon celebration would begin soon, and the moon was already shining brightly.

Pulse quickening, I left my room. I squeezed my eyes shut as a memory I'd tried to bury resurfaced. The Vampire King had rejected me not once, but three times. First in the woods when we first met, and then twice in the Alpha's throne room. He rejected me three times. My father kept arranging meetings with the King until the day Rhain never showed up.

That was the day I vowed not to present myself to Rhain again. If the Vampire King wants war, then so be it. Over the years, they've claimed most of our land, with Vampires occupying it and treating us like slaves.

Even with all that suffering, it didn't stop us from celebrating the full moon every month. And now, I knew tonight was going to be torture because I could still feel the mating bond. It was bringing me into heat, a need only Rhain could quench. That bastard dared to reject me without breaking the bond. This is what I had to endure every full moon. Most times, I would run in the woods in search of any male werewolf, but no matter how much we made love, the need to have Rhain remained.

Clenching my hands into fists, I tried to suppress the feelings building inside. Today, I would have to to try and shift for the first time tonight again. At least that would distract me from the hunger that was coming.

I looked down the hall, searching for Kieran.

"You look lovely," Father commented. I smiled, staring at him. He was dressed in a deep crimson sleeveless tunic and breeches.

"Thank you," I said, turning around to see Mother. She wrapped her arm around mine.

My heart pounded as we walked down the stairs to the second floor. Then I realized that, as the heir to the Alpha, Kieran would need to be at the ceremony first.

We made our way to the shifting ground where the ceremony would commence. There were so many people present. And though we'd lost many during the war, we still stood strong.

I looked around, trying to control my breathing at the feeling brewing inside me.

As we walked through the crowd toward my brother, most paid us no attention; they were too busy helping the youngsters. Tonight, I was going to try again, hoping the full moon would awaken my wolf.

Briefly closing my eyes, muscles tensed as I took a deep breath. Once I had my wolf, I would do everything in my power to suppress this feeling.

Opening my eyes, I spotted my brother and his mate helping with the ceremony. A small smile appeared on my face as I watched the two of them chatting and laughing.

If only Rhain had chosen me. If he had, I could have fulfilled my father's promise and returned to the pack with his head on a silver platter.

Soon, the pack oracle stepped forward, preparing a small ritual before the shifting commenced. I stepped forward along with the other werewolves, and one of them shoved past me hard, nearly knocking me down. When I looked up, a big muscular guy with a brown beard was smirking at me.

I frowned, turning around and pulling him back.

"Aren't you going to apologize for what you did?" I asked.

"Watch your step," he said, turning away.

Without warning, I grabbed his neck, pinning him against a tree.

"What now? You want to beat me up? Why don't you put that effort into fighting the Vampires?"

Mother rushed over, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Hayley."

"He hit me. He needs to apologize."

"Maybe if the Vampire King had chosen you as his mate, we wouldn't be here fighting ourselves," he said, shoving me off.

As he turned to leave, Kieran hurried over and planted his fist squarely in the guy's face.

"I don't care what went wrong, but you need to apologize. Now."

"Fuck," the guy whined, covering half his face. "You broke my nose."

"I don't care," Kieran frowned. "You apologize to her now, or I'll punch your nose again."

The guy balled his hands into fists, frowning deeply as he turned to me. "I'm sorry."

"Fuck you," I said, stepping away.

"Next time you don't respect her as the Pack's Princess, I'll do much worse."

The guy bolted, and I sighed, turning around to continue with the ceremony. The oracle told us what to do, and we complied, undressing in front of everyone. Not that it was new for me—I've done this more times than I can count—but still, my wolf didn't come.

She carried burning invents around us, allowing the smoke to drift into our nostrils.

"The first shift is going to hurt," she said. "You'll have to get through it and survive. After that, you'll be able to shift at will."

The full moon shone down on us, the light settling on us like a blanket. A bolt of blinding pain shot through me, forcing me to my knees. I didn't think I'd ever felt pain worse than this. A loud growl erupted from my mouth as my eyes widened, glowing bright yellow. Blood dripped from my fingernails as they slowly began changing into claws.

I screamed, feeling my joints pop and reform at different angles. The bones in my ribs started popping out, my chest tightening, making it hard to breathe.

When I thought it couldn't get worse, chunks of my skin began ripping off, revealing golden-brown fur—the color of desert sand. It looked beautiful.

I collapsed to the ground, my body surrounded by blood. I was completely coated in brown fur. I growled, teeth clenched at the excruciating pain.

Within minutes, I had tripled in size. My wolf was huge. I roared, showing off my mouth full of sharp, deadly teeth. One bite from me, and a vampire would be down. I flipped onto all fours, and my arms and legs changed into those of a beast. My ribs hunched and cracked one last time before the pain stopped. It was as if someone had pressed a switch, and I was suddenly fine.

I didn't think I'd ever felt this good. I could feel my wolf growling.

Let's get on with this ceremony and hunt those bastards, she was furious at the pain we'd suffered from the Vampires.

I turned to my parents, who smiled and clapped for all of us who shifted. Kieran gave me a small nod.

I'm going to beat your ass this time, my wolf said to him through the pack link, and he smiled.

Suddenly, the air changed as I smelled danger. My ears perked up as I saw Vampires appearing from every corner.

I prepared to launch myself at one of them, but Kieran shot me a look, signaling me to wait and watch. My eyes burned with rage. I didn't know if it was me or my wolf, but I was even angrier after I shifted.

"You soulless creatures!" my mother spat. "Haven't you taken enough from us?"

I looked around, searching for Rhain, but I didn't see him. He must be settled in the tent at the border.

A vampire clapped, a smirk playing on his lips.

"The audacity to continue on with full moon ceremony after being warned not to."

My mother sneered, eyes glowing yellow as she bared her sharp teeth.

"You seem to have forgotten that this pack belongs to our ancestors," the male vampire said. "Long ago, this pack was a village belonging to Vampires, until the Werewolves came and killed everyone, claiming the land as their pack."

"Lies!" my mother snapped. "This pack belongs to our ancestors. We built this place from scratch."

My father placed a hand on my mother's shoulder, giving her a nod.

He stepped forward. "What do you want?"

"It seems our King is too slow in wiping out the pack, so I've come here with my clan," the vampire said. "We are going to take the pack, and bow to us."

"Never!"

"Then we'll kill you and claim the land," the vampire said, baring his fangs—fangs stained with the blood of Werewolves.

"Attack!" he shouted, and the shifting ground turned into chaos.

Everything happened too fast. The male vampire was on my father in an instant. Father roared, shifting into his wolf and launching himself at the vampire.

But the vampire was fast and cunning. With a smirk playing on his lips, he ripped my father's throat from his body. Blood sprayed everywhere, and I staggered back, letting out a mournful howl that shook the ground.