Prologue

The midnight breeze caressed the wet cheeks of the weeping girl. Her sniffles are drowned out by the deafening music that booms from within the massive hall and surrounds the vast mansion estate. The esteemed guests are heard laughing and talking merrily, as their lives are everything that people dream of. The money, the clothes, the jewellery, the influence, and even the invitation to attend balls such as this one. Everyone seems to be having a blast, except the tiny, crumbling girl that sits in a maiden’s outfit soaked with liquor. Her pale fingers tightly squeezed a crumbled-up paper – a note that had her whole world crash and burn to the ground.

Grace White, the girl who always had a smile on her face, always saw the good in people and was always so strong, finally broke. With her eyes closed, her ears sort out the giggling and the laughter of the two people who have made the last two years of her life, a living hell. In little Gracey’s heart, a spark was lit, and her mate’s and his wife-to-be’s happiness were the gasoline she needed.

Her tears stopped falling, her body stopped shaking from pain – instead, her arms shook violently with anger, and her canine fangs protruded. When she opened her eyes, for the first time in her life she had shown signs of her inner wolf – Jinx. Her hazelnut-coloured orbs were now neon purple and filled with a deep desire to get even. Leaving the crumpled-up paper on the floor that she sat on, she stood up. Her uniform sat so unevenly on her body, but her mind was too focused on her revenge to give a second thought about her appearance or straightening her clothes. Her feet dragged along the garden’s paved pathway towards the back entrance to the mansion.

The servers that exit and enter the kitchen with hands occupied with food or alcohol trays are much too busy to acknowledge the puny girl walking past the kitchen doors and heading to the wine cellar. She knows that hardly anyone will be down there, since this morning she helped to bring all the expensive bottles of champagne up to the kitchen – but in her frenzy mood, no one could stop her from doing what she wanted to do.

Upon arriving at the big wooden doors, she violently kicks the doors open. The bottles of champagne rattle from the impact when the door bangs against the walls. She strides to the back of the room, grabbing the two most expensive bottles of wine – the wine that he specifically warned her not to touch. Her strong teeth bite into the bottle’s cork, and with ease, she pops the bottle open. The bottle’s cork is sent flying by her spitting it to the other expensive wine collection, shattering two bottles. The red contents seep to the floor, staining the white carpet.

“Oops…” she evilly giggles before bringing the bottle to her lips. The alcohol burned her virgin throat, but she kept on chugging. 

“I just got a fucking amazing idea!” she exclaimed, before burping and then giggling at her tipsy state. She began walking towards the door once more but as she did so, her hand grasped the cupboards that contained the wine and pushed it over. When she had come to the last cupboard, she turned around to look at the beautiful mess she had caused, not knowing that someone had just walked in.

“Who, who are you? And what do you think you are doing?” the sweet old lady’s voice caught the attention of Grace. The old lady, Miss Tate, that has been on Grace’s side since she had come to the estate, could not recognize her through her new deadly aura.

“I’m motherfucking Grace White…And I am just having some fun” her voice coated in an eerie cold feeling. Miss Tate felt her heart skip a beat in fear and worry – not once has Grace ever cursed in front of her.

“Gracey, darling this is not yo-“ before she could finish her sentence, the last cupboard is pushed over, making Miss Tate jump in surprise.  

“Where are you going?” she asks Grace, worry laced in her voice.

“Move aside, woman!” Grace yells at the old lady and pushes her aside before exiting the room. Miss Tate, flabbergasted at what she had witnessed – Grace was always so respectful, kind, and sweet.

“What happened to her…” she whispers under her breath.

While strides forward, she brings the bottle to her lips once more. She is significantly underweight, but a werewolf so the alcohol only makes her tipsy. It would take a significant amount of alcohol to have her drunk. She makes her way up the mansion stairs, passing all the spare bedrooms until she stops in front of a pastel pink door with white daisy stickers on them. She looks at the door through her eyelashes, her anger-filled eyes soften a bit as she stares at it. Her hand reaches out for it but pauses before grasping the knob. Her hands tremble before she grasps the knob and turns. The door slowly creeks open – the music that emitted from the estate’s hall was booming yet, the creek seemed to sound so loud.

Tears begin to slip down her neon eyes – both Grace and Jinx. Their heart instantly shattered as they laid their eyes on the baby’s crib. She had specially picked it out – a white crib, with pastel pink blankets laid in it, with a crib mobile with white teddy bear’s hanging from it. She walked over to it, her hand involuntarily reached out, and turned on the crib mobile. A melodic tune began to play while the white bears began to slowly turn. The tears began to fall more profoundly, as she grasped the white teddy bear that lay in the crib. It felt so soft against her skin, and she could not get her head wrapped around how cute it looked with its cute pink dress.

She brought the bottle to her lips and stared at the teddy bear for what felt like hours but was only a few minutes. Her mind and heart, both, felt numb and lifeless. The melodic tune eventually stopped, but she did not seem to acknowledge it.

“You would have loved this room…” she whispered to herself.

Her thumb and index finger slightly press the teddy’s tummy when familiar voices were heard.

“Mom and dad loves you!” the sweet voices of her mate and her come from inside the teddy bear. She lets out a deep growl, his voice felt like a thousand stabs to the heart.

“I’m sorry little one…” she whispers, before taking the spare unopened champagne bottle and smashing it against the crib. With the opened bottle, she empties the contents all around the room. The white and pink room, now stained with red wine – the smell of alcohol filled the room, robbing it of it its original baby powder smell. She caressed the teddy bear in her arms, deciding that’s the only thing she will take from this estate – the teddy bear and her maid’s outfit.

She takes the matches that lay on the tables and lights the vanilla candle. She lifts the candle and takes one good last look at the room. The memories of her and her mate decorating it floods her mind. It is as if she could almost replay everything in her mind.

“Little one…I am so sorry. I wish I fought harder for you….” With tears rolling down her face, she throws the candle into the crib. Instantly, the crib caught alight. She turned to exit, but before she could she decided to leave a little note for her mate.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Leonidas Beckett, the alpha of the crimson shadow pack, pulls his mistress and soon–to–be wife closer to his side. He marvelled at how prestige she made him look by just standing beside her – her long red hair, lean curvy body, radiant skin, and feminine presence were exactly what he needed this pack’s Luna to be. He stared at the side of her face while she brightly smiled at the other pack members – his eyes lingering on her neck as he is tempted to mark her. However, his wolf snares at him and Leonidas’ mistress. His wolf, Xavier, reminds him of the beauty who is his true mate, but all that Leonidas can think of is how weak, fragile, and the absence of a wolf as she is a human.

You’re a fool… Xavier insults Leo, after scowling at the insulting thoughts Leo had of their mate.

And you have been blinded by the moon goddess…Leonidas throws back at him.

“My darlin’, how are you enjoying your evening?” Leo whispers against his mistress’s ears.

“It’s just lovely, especially since I get to stay by your side...” her face softens, and she offers him a small smile…

“I am so sorry that you had to find out about Grace – but I am glad you’ve learned the truth about her cruel ways” she places her hand on his cheek. He looked into her eyes, and though he cared a lot for this woman, he could not help but feel emptiness staring into her green orbs.

“Alpha…” Mis Tate speeds walk towards him, curtsying before going on with what she has to say.

“Something is not right with Grace –“Leo shuts the woman up by raising his hand.

“Go away. You should be more concerned about this event running smoothly than some good-for-nothing woman” his mistress discreetly smiles at his dismissive tone when hearing news about his mate.

He is finally all mine…She thought.

“But-“again Miss Tate was interrupted, but this time by a guard.

“Alpha! A room on the top floor had been set on fire – fortunately, I was able to put it off” he announces to his Alpha.

“What happened?” he asks concerned.

“I reviewed the tape and Lu- I mean Grace was seen entering and exiting the room. We tried looking for her, but we haven’t found her yet”

“Fucking hell!” The alpha growls in anger. At this moment, all the guests have stopped their partying and are closely listening in.

“There’s also something else…”  

“What is it?” Leo snapped at him.

“The room she had set on fire….was the baby’s roo-“ before he could finish that sentence, Leonidas dashes towards the mansion. With his speed, he was at the entrance of the baby’s room within a flash. The smell of smoke and burnt fabric invaded his senses before he could enter. It was hard to admit, but his eyes were filled with tears that threaten to fall, but never did. His heart broke when he entered – the crib he and his mate fixed together, was now ash and burnt wood. The walls that they painted together were blackened by the flames. The windows were shattered by the intensity of the heat, and the baby powder smell of the room was replaced with smoke and wine. He quickly run to the crib, looking for the teddy bear he had bought – the teddy bear that had recorded their voices, but he could not find it, or its remains.

He turned around to look at the room’s damage, his heart tearing at the seams as this was the only thing left that he had to remember his child by. However, what caught his attention first was the big words carved into the wallpaper. His heart sank, his skin covered in goosebumps.

HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE A WOMAN SCORNED, LEO…I WILL GET MY REVENGE, FOR MY CHILD…

At that moment, a piercing howl rips through the air which made every hair on his body stand. It felt like a slap on his face, he could not believe it – his mate was not human! All this time he had thought of her as a measly human! That howl – that painful howl was her. His own wolf confirmed it when he whimpers at the sound of her painful calls.

Not too far away, just before the borders of the pack – on the top of a cliff, Grace’s majestic black wolf stands tall yet broken. She yowls in pain, but also finally gives away her secret. She eventually hears a howl, her mate calling out to her in his yearning howl. But both, Grace and Jinx, were set on their plan. Jinx lowered her head and gently picked up the teddy bear, taking one good look at the pack’s mansion before turning around and crossing the pack’s border.