Content Warning: Mention of r@pe “Fuck you, Damon. You’re a worthless piece of shit,” I snarl at him. Damon charges at me and backhands me across the face, splitting my lip. “YOU WILL ADDRESS ME AS ALPHA!” His Alpha aura radiates from his body as he screams in my face. I laugh in his face, and he slaps me again, making me laugh harder. “You’re no Alpha. You’re nothing but scum.” He raises his hand to strike me again, but Nick catches his arm. “How are you fighting his Alpha command?” Nick asks, eyeing me curiously. “I don’t take commands from filthy mutts.” Nick drops Damon’s arm and points to me. “Command her again,” he tells Damon. Damon lowers himself to my eye level. “SUBMIT TO ME!” He roars in my face, unleashing his full Alpha aura and shaking the vases in the room. When he’s finished, I look at him blankly and then laugh again. “Wow, that was a good one, Damon. It felt like you blew your entire load on it.” Damon steps back in surprise as he realizes he really can’t comm

Catherine P.O.V “Do you think they’re going to find the Alpha tonight?” I hear one of the werewolves ask Leo, the Beta of the rogue pack. “Alpha Damon invited nearly every lycan Alpha and Luna from across the country for this mate ball. His bid for power has given us the best chance to find the Alpha once and for all,” Leo tells him. “What if the Alpha is a werewolf?” Another werewolf asks. The lycans in the room look between each other and we all start laughing. “As if a werewolf is going to be the chosen Alpha,” Rebecca, another lycan, sniggers. The werewolves glare and growl at us, but Leo lets out a roar, and the room falls silent. “We have never heard of a werewolf being one of the chosen. As far as we are aware, it’s only been lycan to have been chosen by the Moon Goddess,” he explains. “Then why are we even here? This sounds like a lycan problem,” the first werewolf says. Leo approaches him slowly, causing the werewolf to back up. “The chosen are a problem for us all. I

Catherine P.O.V ‘I’m freezing. I should have found one of their drop spots and stolen a pair of clothes.’ ‘Why don’t we shift?’ Bella suggests. ‘My fur will keep us warm.’ ‘There’s not enough room here and they’ll spot us,’ I say, watching the hospital entrance from our hiding spot nearby. ‘I still don’t think we should do this. You saw what she did to Costas,’ Bella whimpers. ‘Because of Costas, she’s weak and injured. This is the perfect time to kill her.’ ‘Well, I don’t want any part of it,’ Bella says firmly, as she curls up in the back of my mind and blocks me out. ‘Fine’ I huff, rolling my eyes. ‘I’ll do it myself.’ I slowly creep out from my hiding spot and run across the road to the side of the hospital building. I try the windows as I walk along the wall, but all of them are locked. “Shit,” I quietly curse out loud. The last window is an old push out kind, and when I look through, it looks like it’s a janitor’s closet. The lock looks flimsy, so I push hard on the top o

I enter the pack hall from the rear door, and as I look out from behind the stage curtain, I can see it’s full of members of the pack, the visiting leaders and their pack members, and the remaining members of the Elder council. Everyone is talking loudly, but they all stop talking when I walk onto the stage. The members of Blood-Moon all kneel when I approach the microphone, and I have to clasp my hands together on the podium to stop them from shaking.‘Breathe. We’ve got this, Athena. I told you, I believe we were made for this,’ Enyo says softly, and I feel her strength envelop me.I clear my throat before saying, “Good morning, everyone. Thank you for coming on such short notice. I’d first like to say congratulations to all of those who found their mate last night. Despite the sour turn of events, I’ve been told that there are fifty new mate bonds here this morning.” I stop as everyone in the hall claps for the new couples.“I would also like to offer my heartfelt condolences to th

‘Alpha, can you please meet us in the conference room?’ Leah mind-links.‘I’ll be right there,’ I respond, leaving the bunker with Uncle Alex, Ryna, and Tony.As we get outside, most of the crowd has dispersed, and things seem to have calmed down. At least I thought it had until we reach the conference room and hear arguing inside.“Tony, take Leah and update the Luna Guard and Crescent Warriors on what’s happening. We will meet shortly to go over the plan for tonight,” I tell him.“Yes, Alpha,” he says, and he and Leah leave.I open the door and find Beta Castor yelling at the Elders.“How do we know that you’re not one of the Elders involved in this? You’re probably just covering your ass!”Before Elder Laskaris can respond, I answer for him. “I can assure you, Beta, that Elder Laskaris is on our side. He was the one that told me there was a prophecy.”“We vouch for him too,” Luna Rachel says.“With all due respect. Luna, but I don’t know you,” Beta Castor says, earning him a growl