Ciara's POV
I look at them in shock. Then, my mouth moves before my brain can catch up to stop me. “Wait… Isn’t Alpha Mars… like ancient old?”
Behind me, I can hear Noah and James burst out laughing. “No! Muttonhead, he just turned 28 last month.” Noah pokes me in the back of the head.
“Well… The rumors make him sound like he’s been around the battlefield block a time or two. Plus, Hazel will just turn 18, so that’s a pretty significant age gap,” I say annoyed as I cross my arms in frustration at being called names. “And I’m not a muttonhead, you single-brain cell monkey.”
I whisper the last part because I don’t want our father hearing me, but no luck. Our father growls at us to stop acting childish. ‘You are 25 and 20 and you are the representatives of our Beta family. Act your age!’ He minds-links us privately. My mind instantly went to act your age not your shoe size, but this time I was smart enough not to sing that out loud.
“You know very well that werewolves treat age differently than humans. I’m 26. and my goddess-given mate, Lilly, is 19. I can’t be any happier. She’s perfect for me.” James reaches out and pats me on the head. I frantically wave his hand away from my hair.
‘Why does everyone treat us like some sort of house pet?’ Ember growls in my mind.
“OK but that’s Goddess-given mates, not chosen mates.” I say. “But still… This is some news…” I trail off, my mind swirling from the bomb that was just dropped. Of all the things they could have said I wasn’t expecting a mating contract between Mars and Hazel! Alpha Mars is considered one of the most ruthless, bloodthirsty Alphas in the last few centuries. He isn’t known as the future Alpha King of War for nothing. Heck! He probably eats rogue werewolf casserole for dinner!
‘He’s probably part vampire since he loves blood and killing so much.’ Ember snorts.
I mentally nod my head in agreement with her. No wonder Hazel was engrossed in all that Luna stuff while in the bar lounge. She’s always wanted to be the Luna of her very own pack, and now she’s going to be the Queen Luna? There’s no deflating that head of hers now. Queen Barbie Luna and her… What? King Ken? HA! HA! More like Little Red Riding Hood and the big bad bloodthirsty wolf!
The rumors about Alpha Mars are absolutely insane. One of the rumors is he eats the hearts of his victims, which can’t be sanitary. Another one is he rescues damsels in distress just to have sex with them and then pushes them off a cliff. To me, that seems like a lot of work just to get a lay in the hay, so I don’t believe that rumor.
Now that I think about all the different rumors about him, Hazel is a goner. Don’t get me wrong, I am on decent terms with Hazel, but I am pretty sure Alpha Mars is going to eat her for breakfast with a side of buttermilk pancakes. Or maybe he’s a waffles kind of guy… If that’s true what a shame that would be. I’m Team Pancakes!
I can’t help comparing Hazel and me since we have grown up together, but we are treated differently. Since I am usually either training, patrolling the border, running drills or working out, I don’t have a lot of time to mingle with people and be the picture-perfect popular girl like Hazel. She’s all model ready and I look like I rolled out of bed 10 minutes ago.
The pack knows me as Beta Leon’s adopted kid. No one ever tries to get to know me because they think I’m strange. To say it hurts my feelings is an understatement, even though I’m use to the strange looks, I still feel a small sting of resentment. They tolerate me because of my father, which I have unwillingly accepted.
“Hey! Muttonhead!” Noah breaks me from my mental conversation with myself. “You’re zoning out again.” He laughs, poking me again. I turn to glare at him just as our father growls in our direction and we both sit up straighter in our seats.
After a few minutes of silence, I finally speak what has been bugging me since the meeting started. “So… what does this have to do with me?” Hopefully we are getting to the anticlimactic scene of this awful sitcom called ‘Mars and Hazel, The Chosen Mates Show.’
Alpha Radar gives his Beta a knowing look. I can see they are mind-linking to each other. Must be about me again. No surprise there. Honestly, I always considered it rude to mind-link in front of others. Just text like normal people do.
“Dad. Just tell CJ.” James speaks up to his father.
With a heavy sigh, Alpha Radar gives me an unreadable expression. “As part of the official first meeting, the Blue Eclipse Pack will be bringing an entourage of pack members and warriors to join us to celebrate Hazel and to announce the union between the two packs. They will also be staying several weeks so they can participate in the Summer Moon Festival and Moonlight Run. We also decided that since this is no longer a pack-only party, we invited members of the Evergreen Alliance to join the festival as a sign of extending an olive branch of goodwill in hopes that many of their pack members will find their mates.”
Ciara's POV A few seconds tick by, and then it hits me like a tidal wave. “NO!” I yell standing to my feet; making a sweeping look around the room at all the men who are staring at my outburst. I move towards the Alpha’s desk. “You promised me!” I slam my palms down onto the wood surface as my body begins to shake. My dark gray smokey eyes begin to shift to black as Ember works her way to the surface. She is angry just as much as I am because she was hoping to find her mate. Alpha Radar slowly stands up from his chair and towers over me, matching my position with clenched fists on the desk. Using his alpha aura to keep me in his control, he forces me to look into his eyes as he speaks. His wolf, Delta, flashing in his eyes. “Ciara, you will have to understand; you can’t go to the festivities now. No one can know about you and your abilities. Very few know already, and we want to keep it that way. If the Royals find out that you were created by the Dark Alpha, they will think you are
Ciara's POV “Alpha if I may offer up a suggestion?” A smooth deep voice breaks the momentary silence from the corner of the room; we all turn to look at the sudden interruption. It was Maximo. I completely forgot he was here in the meeting. He’s usually quiet during meetings unless he has some valid point to make, and then everyone stops to listen.Maximo leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his broad chest in a nonchalant manner, acting as if this meeting was completely pointless. He has a bad-boy rockstar meets classic Cary Grant look about him. Devilishly handsome smile, dark hair and eyes, tall and built like a Greek god.Alpha Radar nods for him to continue.“Why not allow CJ to be at the important parts of all the events but in her owl form? She can sit in the banquet hall rafters or in the surrounding trees, view the events, but stay out of sight, even if it’s just for speeches and important moments. There will be enough warriors on patrol, and you decided to cut dow
Alpha Radar’s POVI watch as Ciara, Noah, James, and Maximo leave my office one by one after that horrible meeting we just had, leaving my Beta and me to sit in silence.“Well, that didn’t go so well, but I knew it wouldn’t.” I say as I rise from my chair, head over to the liquor cabinet, and pour myself and Leon each a glass of whiskey.“Did you have to use the cuff on her?” Beta Leon said, glaring at me in annoyance. “You said you would never use it to command her against her will.”I huff at Leon but what can I say? I knew if I didn’t use the cuff to control her rage then she probably would have snuck into the events, and I couldn’t have that.“I didn’t have much of a choice… Ciara is so head-strong when she wants to be.” I trail off.Beta Leon chuckles. “Don’t I know it! I raised that girl since we found her in the lab. She is the most absent-minded, stubborn, loving, and unique young lady I have ever had the privilege to know. When she gets an idea in her head, she doesn’t let it
Ciara's POV Once at the library, I threw myself onto my favorite lumpy oversized bean bag chair that’s against the wall-to-wall windows in the back of the library. The windows stretch from one end to the other, offering a breathtaking view of the magnificent Crystal lake that our pack is proudly named after. With my face buried in the cozy fabric, I couldn't help but emit a muffled grumble. I lazily rested my arms on either side of me, closed my eyes, and surrendered to my sulky mood.‘Another promise broken…’ I comment to my wolf.Ember scoffs.‘The other spirit animals agree this sucks’, she growls back.Ember is the only one who can communicate with my other animal counterparts. I have tried multiple times to link them even in different forms, but with no success. The only thing I can do is call upon them at will and shift between them.When I was younger, I asked my wolf if my other animal forms had names, hoping that knowing what to call them would make them my friends, just lik
Ciara's POV I collect my stuff and the new book before swiftly leaving the two love birds behind. I head out of the packhouse to where my bike is parked. To my surprise, I find Hazel standing next to my bike. She’s staring at her phone, scrolling through something that has her undivided attention. One of her stiletto toes is tapping annoyingly on the ground.“You need something Hazel?” I ask as I grab my helmet from the top of the bike seat.She jolts back to reality as she doesn’t hear me approach. “Oh, my goodness! You scared me!”“Well, that’s what happens when you miss training class 101 to get your nails done and miss the section on always pay attention to your surroundings…” I say and give a fake smile just to irritate her. Actually, I really shouldn’t talk… During that lesson, I slept through it at my desk because I was up all night trying to kill zombies on the gaming console with my brother.I start putting my stuff into the small bag I have attached to the back of my bike,
Ciara’s POVAfter the ride to my house, I park my bike in the garage and then make my way through the back door. “Anyone home?” I yell. “I’m in here…” My mom’s sweet voice calls out to me from the direction of the kitchen. I walk in and see my mom wiping down all the countertops and cleaning up after dinner. “How was your day?” She doesn’t look up at me.“OK.” I walk over and give her a quick squeeze as she leans her head against mine, continuing to scrub a small speck of what looks like sauce off her kitchen counter. “Where’s dad?” I ask. Mom continues to scrub the counter. If she isn’t careful, she may scrub a hole in the wood. “Oh, he just leave with Noah after we ate dinner. They had some Beta work to do this evening with some of the warriors. He will be here later.”“I see.” I am glad my dad wasn’t here. I was still pretty mad at him for siding with the Alpha. A small amount of betrayal lingered when I thought about my father.“I heard about the parties. I am sorry it didn’t wo
Ciara's POV “Are you spending the night?” I say once I return to my loft with a plate of mom’s homemade chocolate chip cookies.“Naw, I got to be up early to get to the University lab. My thesis professor said he may have found an anomaly in the werewolf DNA we have been testing.” About an hour away is the Wolf and Human University, which many high school graduates from the surrounding packs attend. Some of the professors and administration are werewolves to help keep the wolf students in check. That was one of the current Alpha King’s special projects. To have werewolves integrated into human universities so those who want a higher education can apply. I attended college classes online, and I graduated a few months ago with a Bachelor’s degree in Language Arts since Bachelor of Badass Warrior wasn’t available… But I don’t need a degree for that. I was born a badass… Once my warrior days are behind me, I’d like to work in the pack library with Patrick.“Sounds… Interesting?” I bit in
Alpha Mars’s POV‘This is fucking bullshit!’ I say to my wolf, Asher.I put all my energy into each punch and jab I throw as I work the punching bag to get out all my rage. Bang! Bang! Bang!Every part of my body is burning, and my knuckles are becoming raw with blisters from hitting the hard fabric of the bag, but I don’t care. My wolf has taken over and it’s better that I hit a bag than certain people. AKA the elder council and my parents.I have been away fighting rogues for months for the smaller packs under our protection just to return to my life signed away to some fucking marriage contract. No fucking way! This morning, I walked into the family dining room for breakfast, just happy to finally be back home. I see my mother and father sitting at the large formal table with my brother, Liam, and younger sister, Olivia, eating quietly. I take the seat next to Olivia and she pecks me on the cheek with a kiss grinning ear to ear.“Coffee as well.” I say to the Omega server as she p