Chapter 1: The Attack

Vanessa came out of the bathroom very excited, her hair neatly combed. It was her eighteenth birthday, and she couldn’t wait to celebrate with her family and friends.

Vanessa was like any other youthful werewolf, eagerly anticipating the moment she would meet her fated mate. Her parents, Craig and Yvette, had told her that it was customary among werewolves to meet their fated mate upon reaching eighteen.

All of a sudden, Vanessa could hear loud growls and howls from outside. She got afraid immediately. She could sense a looming danger. Before she could understand what exactly was going on, her mother barged into her room.

Vanessa hastily asked her mother, “Mum, what’s going on out there?”

“We need to leave now; it’s unsafe here currently,” Yvette, her mother, replied immediately. “Hurry up, Vanessa! We need to look for a place to hide for now,” Yvette stressed.

Vanessa and her mother ran through the growing chaos. Snarling and howling grew louder as smoke rose in the distance, a result of the ongoing destruction and anarchy.

Vanessa’s whole body was consumed with fear as she breathed heavily. She couldn’t believe that a day would come when she would run for her dear life.

“Mum, where are we running to?” she asked.

“My child, we are going to the vault. Nobody can locate us there,” Yvette replied.

As they ran through the destruction, Vanessa sustained an injury to her leg, blood oozing from the wound. Despite the pain, she pressed on, determined to reach the vault and escape the anarchy at all costs.

An enemy from the attacking pack spotted them as they were escaping. Just as he was about to pounce on Vanessa, Yvette lunged at him with all her power and knocked him down with a powerful swipe. “Don’t you dare touch my daughter!” Yvette yelled, her voice filled with protection.

Upon reaching the vault, Vanessa held onto her mother tightly. The walls reverberated with the sound of the ongoing battle, but Vanessa and her mother found temporary refuge from the ongoing anarchy.

Lynx had led his soldiers into Vanessa’s pack. The moon’s light dazzled brightly on the werewolves, casting a glow on their strong frames. Looking fierce and aggressive, they moved into their rival’s domain to strike. Lynx and his pack were known to be brutal and ferocious, and they had never lost a war. The battle raged on violently. Amidst the chaos, Lynx caught a scent that made his heart beat quickly: the scent of none other than his mate.

“Halt!” Lynx commanded and turned to his soldiers.

“I can perceive the scent of my mate in this pack, and I have to find her to know who she is. Remember, no prisoners, no mercy!" His soldiers obeyed instantly upon hearing their Alpha's order.

Lynx maneuvered through the ongoing havoc, dodging all of his rival’s attacks. His focus was on finding his mate. The scent became more intense as he moved closer, increasing his resolve to find her. He seemed to be completely under the influence of the scent.

He eventually got to the vault and saw Vanessa cloaked around her mother’s arm, looking terrified.

Vanessa was horrified and tried to figure out who might have discovered them, even in the hidden vault.

She looked up, and her eyes met a pair of piercing green eyes that she had never seen before. She was terrified before, but she unexpectedly felt calm. She couldn’t stop the shivers running down her spine.

“Mate…” Lynx uttered.

“Mate…” Vanessa replied.

Yvette immediately stood up and moved Vanessa behind her. “This can’t be possible... Vanessa can never be your mate, never!” Yvette voiced.

Vanessa wasn’t listening to what her mother was saying; instead, her eyes were fixed on Lynx, and she couldn’t believe what was happening.

“Who is this tall, muscular, and good-looking man?” she whispered to herself. Lynx's presence exuded authority, and he had a predatory demeanor that made him both alluring and menacing.

Vanessa was thinking that the best day of her life had arrived as she had finally found her mate after years of waiting. She couldn’t wait to go home with him, different thoughts about him racing through her mind.

She could tell from his cloak that he was not just a regular man. She had momentarily forgotten about the ongoing battle. All she could think of was the unknown man who had found her in the vault. “What a good-looking man he is,” she whispered to herself once again.

“Lynx Vance!” Craig shouted as he rushed into the vault with Vanessa’s two brothers.

Craig grabbed Vanessa and pulled her behind his back. Vanessa’s two brothers, Kai and Vic, stood in front of their mother, Yvette, ready to fight. Vanessa’s father, Craig, was the former Alpha of the Crescent Moon pack, but as Kai got older and more powerful, Craig made the decision to step down and transfer the title to Kai.

“Are you okay?” Craig asked Vanessa, but she was too astonished to speak. Her eyes were still fixed on Lynx, trying to understand what was going on, only to realize that her mate, Lynx, and her family were enemies. Additionally, the Crescent Moon pack and the Blackwood pack had been bitter adversaries for a long time.

“How could the Moon Goddess choose someone like Lynx for her? A direct enemy of her pack?” Kai yelled angrily.

Lynx has a reputation for being the continent’s most dreaded and ruthless Alpha, and he had just attacked Vanessa’s pack all of a sudden. He had spies around, which made it easy for him to gather information and launch a sudden attack.

Vanessa’s eyes were filled with tears as she realized that her mate was an archenemy of her pack.

“Why must it be an enemy? Why would the Moon Goddess do such a thing?” she cried, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Lynx, leave my pack now and never come back!" Craig yelled.

Lynx looked unfazed. “I’m not leaving this place without my mate. Many of your men have been killed by my soldiers, and you wouldn’t want me to continue the killing, would you?”

“We’ve taken down your men too,” Kai replied.

“I came to this place knowing how I can destroy all of you,” Lynx said angrily. “You are all surrounded by my men, who are awaiting my orders to destroy you all. Hand over my mate to me and I will spare your lives.”

“You son of a bitch! My sister is not leaving here with you, bastard!” Kai cursed as he began to move towards Lynx, looking at him with disdain.

“You are getting on my nerves, and trust me, I don’t have that much patience. You can't defeat me. My initial plan was to destroy you all, but upon seeing my mate, I changed my mind. I need her right now, and I am leaving this place with her,” Lynx said fearlessly.

Vanessa became confused about what to do – either she followed Lynx or watched her family perish in front of her.

Vanessa was trembling in fear, with different thoughts running through her mind. What if Lynx destroyed and killed all her loved ones? How would she live knowing that her pack was destroyed because of her? “I won’t forgive myself if my loved ones perish because of me,” she whispered as tears rolled down her cheeks.

Kai moved towards Lynx, anger visible in his eye. However, Craig immediately blocked him.

"Kai, we need to give this some thought," Craig said, his voice laced with worry. "We might not like the situation, but Lynx is Vanessa’s mate."

"But how can you trust this fiend with Vanessa? He is a sworn enemy, Father!” Kai lamented.

“Father has a point, and you need to listen to him,” Vic said as he placed a hand on Kai’s shoulder. “Most of our men have been lost in this sudden attack, and it would be detrimental to us if we lose more,” Vic continued.

With so much anger, Kai still moved towards Lynx, ready to attack him, ignoring what Craig and Vic had said. All he wanted to do was to rip Lynx apart.

“Stop!!!” Vanessa shouted, her voice jittery as tears rolled down her cheeks.