Chapter Two

Mazelina

Mazelina

Ironmaw, I swear every misfit reject from the other packs above is in Ironmaw. They know how to party, and I’ve been to werehyena parties. Ironmaw kills it every time.

But you never stay at the party long. These guys are maniacs. They love sex and violence and, above all, get completely annihilated on drugs and alcohol.

And for the record, it takes triple the amount of human alcohol and drug intake to get shifters drunk. Imagine a half-human with all our strength and no inhibitions.

I felt like showering a hundred times a day for a week after visiting them. But it was one hell of a way to lose my virginity. I did it out of spite of my father. I was Nineteen and concluded that I would never find my mate, not with this lie hanging over my head, so I got high and with some random guy.

“Two Maze. Two random guys and it was the best night of our lives”, I shake my head.

“Samara, you are going to get us in trouble one day”

“Ha! Says you. I had complete control of us.”

“Are you okay?” Mom asks.

“Fine. Just wondering if anyone from Ironmaw will attend tonight.” I glance at her through the mirror as I apply the last of my mascara to my lashes. She visibly shivers.

“I told your father I didn’t want you going to that horrible pack, but he insisted.” She recalls.

I know she didn’t have a great time when she was young. It’s a rite of passage, so to speak, to go to each pack to find a mate, except for the King’s.

Mom places her hands on my shoulders and gently squeezes. “I’m so glad you didn’t find your mate there. I don’t know what I would have done.” She looks away, but her body is tense with remembering her time visiting Ironmaw.

It’s not something she will ever talk about, not even to me, but I can hazard a guess about what happened to her. Coincidentally, my father was visiting them the same night, and she will only talk about how she met Dad and how their eyes locked and right there they knew they were mates.

Sounds romantic, right? I bet that’s a lie. Our entire family’s foundation is built on secrets.

“Maze! What is taking you so long, child!” Dad yells from downstairs, Mom and I look at each other, hearing the frustration in his voice.

Tonight, Dad is escorting me to The Moon King Pack. Usually, you aren’t allowed to visit unless it’s for official pack business.

One time as a family, we went to the King’s on official pack business. We had the worst time. Everyone was horrible to us, including the staff. We weren’t allowed in certain areas of the territory and every pure blood made damn sure we knew about it.

You only have free rein of the place if you are Pure. My father, of course, is pure and could go anywhere he wanted, and he was proud as punch that he was pure. Made sure his family was aware of how important he was. It was all for show, of course. I was eight. It still hurt for a long time.

Interesting fact of the Kings, most of the Alphas are from the King Pack, however, the Luna’s must be Pure to run The Moon Kings.

King Alpha’s like my father can find their Luna outside of their pack, they just can’t be Alpha for Kings. Which is why he’s Alpha of the Sentinels.

No Alphas have ever found a Luna in Ironmaw, not that any of them would ever say, I’m pretty sure the Alphas killed the females of Ironmaw when they found their mate. At least that’s what I’ve heard.

Right now, the King Pack is low on females, and they have cordially invited all the mateless females from all the packs to join the Mating Ritual.

Can you tell how much I’m jumping for joy here?

I am all for not going. They’re a bunch of gloating purebred assholes. Why on earth do they want to sully their pack with half-bloods is beyond me, I mean how the hell are half-bloods meant to get around when they aren’t allowed entry to 80% of the territory??

“She will be down in a minute, Reade.” Mom yells. She grins. “You look beautiful.” She says softly, kissing the back of my head.

I stare at myself in the mirror. I’ve left my hair platinum with large black stripes through it. Dad didn’t want me to be too noticeably different, but seeing as everyone dyes their hair these days, I can get away with it. From the time I could change my appearance, I have kept my eyes dark blue, rather than my pale sky-blue eyes. To cheer me up, I’ve given myself a light bronze glow all over my body.

One day I won’t have to hide, but I wonder if I’ll ever get used to it. Since I was a child, I’ve always covered my natural appearance. It would be weird to not do it.

I remember asking gran why no one in my family looks like me. She said the power only lies with the female gene as long as there is a female white wolf in the bloodline. Her theory of why it skipped generations is because of the extinction of the white wolf. She believes the Gods and goddesses are punishing us.

I wonder if she was clairvoyant. She said that the Gods and goddesses will one day stop giving them white wolves. I feel like that might be a blessing.

Right now, I’m praying that I won’t end up mated to a King.   

Turning from the mirror, I beg one last time, “Mom, I don’t want to go. I could do so much good here with my gifts. I don’t need a mate. Goddess helps me if he turns out to be a king.”

She laughs, “Honey, don’t forget your father’s a king.”

“No, he isn’t. He’s Sentinel,” I say stubbornly.

She looks down at me sadly. “I know you don’t want to go, honey. You are as stubborn as your father.”

“I’m not being stubborn and father’s more willful than stubborn.”

“Either way, he won’t let you counsel his members, and he most definitely won’t allow you to use your powers, and we both understand why. He is Alpha and what he says is the law.”

“Maybe I’ll leave. Find a pack that will accept me”

She caresses my hair soothingly, “Maze, you are accepted here.” I grunt at that, “I know you can’t walk out the door without making these changes.” she waves her hand in the air towards me, and she smiles suddenly, “Maybe you’ll find your mate tonight and won’t have to worry about this nonsense anymore.”

I snort nonsense. It’s only my life, my body, after all. I give her my best puppy wolf eyes, but she only smiles at me knowingly. “Fine, you win. But I’m only going for you.”

She chuckles, “You are as stubborn and willful as your father, child.”

We both giggle as we make our way downstairs. Dad is waiting impatiently at the bottom of the stairs. Pacing in his classic black suit, he looks up and does a double take. “Wow Maze, you have outdone yourself this evening. I’m sure you will find your mate tonight.”

I roll my eyes, “Mates aren’t matched because of looks, Dad, you know that.”

And considering he purchased this dress; he shouldn’t be surprised at how it looks. It’s a sapphire strapless gown, why they make us dress like this is beyond me, but with my hair tied into a French braid side bun, my bangs swept to the side, making the black and white colour sleeker and chicer, I guess I look very good tonight.

I give myself one last look in the foyer mirror. I’ve gone with a soft Smokey dark shadow to make my dark blue eyes pop with the sapphire dress. I look great, but it’s not the real me. But I keep my smile in place, not wanting to further disappoint anyone else tonight.

“I don’t know about that. The first time I saw your Mother I choked on my tongue. She’s so beautiful.” He caresses her cheek. “Even more beautiful today.” They gaze into each other’s eyes like they’re alone in the room.

My brothers Blaze and Aries both start making gagging sounds, making me laugh. “Are you two coming as well?”

“Bodyguards.” Blaze answers. My baby bro found his mate without even trying. He and Alice both turned eighteen on the same day. They’ve been attached to the hip since birth and have been best friends ever since.

On their eighteenth birthday, Blaze drove over to her place to pick her up and go to school together like usual and when she opened her front door, Blaze said it was like a big boom went off inside his head and heart and now they’re mates for life, they just got married for human purposes, mating is marriage in our world but they wanted to make sure it was legal in all ways possible.

Aries still hasn’t found his mate. Not that he’s looking, he’s refused to go to any of these stupid events and Dad doesn’t seem to care in the slightest. Until the preparation for Alpha begins, Aries can do what he likes.

I smirk at Aries. “Finally, you have to attend one of these shindigs, hey.” I giggle at his glare and shrug, “Maybe you’ll find the one.” I waggle my eyebrows, emphasizing on the one Blaze howls with laughter as Aries storms out the door.

“I’ll be in the car,” he growls.

“We are so going to have fun with him tonight,” Sam adds.

“You shouldn’t antagonize your brother like that.” Dad scolds. I roll my eyes.

“I hope he finds someone, too. He’s always so lonely.” Mom looks out the door sadly. Dad gives her a quick hug. “Beta Broddi will be here with you tonight.”

Mom scowls. “I am quite capable.”

He stops her with a kiss. “I know, my love. It’s not for you, it’s for me and my peace of mind.”

Mom all but melts on the spot. “Very well. Be safe all of you and be kind to Aries, you two.” she shakes her finger at Blaze and me. We both laugh as we walk out the door.