“King Alaric has issued a decree,” Daciana says as she chews a turkey leg. “Each of the eight packs must send one female to serve as a mate to a warrior in another pack. I think the King is trying to encourage cross-mating ever since the Umbra Council’s divide.”
Selene and I exchange a look.
The Umbra Council is the highest authority after the royal family. However, in recent years, there has been a divide in the Council based on their ideologies. It is normal for shifters, or at least it used to be, to mate outside their own kind. The offspring that result from such matings have special abilities. Even cross-matings between packs have often produced gifts among the children. However, one faction of the Council does not like the idea of different abilities or changes that might lead our kind to evolve.
This has resulted in packs taking sides and a sharp drop in cross-matings between packs. But for the King to announce a mandate like this is strange. “I didn’t know King Alaric had chosen a side.”
“He has always been pro-unity among the supernatural beings,” Daciana explains. “The other faction wants to get rid of all hybrids, which is insane. Do you know how many of them are around? It would be a massacre.”
I shudder.
“Our pack has been ordered to send someone to the Blue Crest Pack,” she adds. “And according to the decree, it must be our most powerful female.”
The cottage falls silent except for the purring of Luna in my lap.
“That means Harper,” Selene says quietly, referring to the Alpha’s daughter. “She’s the strongest healer we have, the most magically gifted female in the pack.”
The Silver Stone Pack is known for producing both powerful healers and warriors, and Harper is the most gifted out of everyone. But if my mother were still alive, who knows?
Harper. Beautiful, talented, perfect Harper, who can heal mortal wounds with a touch and commands respect from every pack member. The thought of her being sent away to mate with some stranger in a rival pack makes my stomach turn, even though she torments me to no end.
Harper used to be nice to me when we were younger. She didn’t go out of her way, but she never joined in if I was being harassed in public. For me, that was nice.
Sometimes I wonder about my own standards.
“It’s going to be her, but her father is not happy about it. Neither is she. The only way out of the decree is if you’ve found your fated mate.” Daciana’s voice lowers even though it is just the three of us. “I think Alpha Gareth is going to summon all the eligible males in our pack to check.”
I exchange a look with Selene. “If Harper had a fated mate within the pack, she would have found him already.”
Daciana shrugs. “They’re desperate. I mean, who would want to send their daughter to the Blue Crest Pack? They’ll probably imprison Harper or torture her. They hate Gareth, especially since he denied their pack a healer when they were attacked and all of theirs were killed.”
I wince, remembering the incident from two years ago.
The Blue Crest Pack had been in need of healers desperately and had reached out to us, the pack that produced the most powerful healers, only to be turned away. Alpha Gareth’s reasoning was that the Blue Crest Pack hated hybrids and had sided with the faction of the Council that was determined to exterminate them. The Blue Crest Pack’s grudge has been festering ever since. Having Alpha Gareth’s precious daughter delivered straight to them will be their wettest dream.
I don’t even think they’ll care that she is a powerful healer. They’ll just want revenge.
My heart sinks as I gaze out the window.
This is not going to end well.
CHAPTER TWO
Astra
I tend to stay away from pack affairs. While I’m always up to date on the gossip because of my two friends, I hover around the outside. Therefore, although I feel sorry for Harper, I know this situation has nothing to do with me. Besides, knowing how sneaky and cunning Alpha Gareth is, there’s no way he won’t find a way to save his precious daughter.
Whatever happens, it won’t affect me. I’ll just keep doing odd jobs around the settlement, anything to make money and feed myself since I’m not allowed to partake in anything that belongs to the pack, not even the rations that every other pack member receives on a weekly basis.
Not that I’ve ever let myself get down over it.
Humming to myself, I stand at the edge of the forest, near the road that leads to the human towns. Our pack’s settlement is isolated within the mountainous forest because that is how our alpha prefers it. I know other shifter packs interact with humans, but ours doesn’t, at least not much. But I have to survive, and there are certain herbs that grow here that humans want and don’t have access to because of this being private land and all.
The knapsack is heavy on my shoulders, so I lower it to the ground, my heart thudding in excitement. After checking my watch, I lift my head to gaze down the road. Sure enough, a blue car is approaching.
My kind doesn’t rely on cars, not even in the big cities from what I know. We’re faster without them. I’ve seen several of these sleek machines in the human town I’ve visited but I don’t trust them. Inside one of them, all escape routes are cut off. I watch it reach me and my lips curve in anticipation.
It comes to a stop in front of me, and the driver’s door opens. A lanky, brown-haired man gets out, and the corner of his eyes crease when he sees me. “Astra!”
Before I can say anything, he bounces past the front of the car and wraps his arms around me. “It’s been weeks!”
I laugh, returning the man’s hug. “Two weeks, yes. You look good.”
When he pulls back, his sweet, brown eyes make my heart flutter just enough.
Andrew Crew is a human male in his early twenties, just a couple years younger than me. Normally, humans are not allowed to know about the existence of wolf shifters, but I saved Andrew’s life several years ago. He had been searching for the exact herbs that are now in my knapsack when he was attacked by a shadow bear. Fortunately, I was nearby and managed to save him, risking my own life in the process.
What started off as a hesitant friendship turned into a deep affection.
“Two weeks is a long time,” he complains, his arms settling around my waist. “Why don’t you just come back with me to Turnville? It’s not like you belong here anyway.” He pulls me over to the hood of his car and takes a seat beside me.
“If I leave, how will you get these herbs?” I question him, smiling. He always makes me smile. Being in his presence warms my battered heart.
I know Andrew cares for me. He has made it clear plenty of times, offering to take me away from here. As tempting as that is, it’s not possible. Typically, if a shifter mates a human, that human enters the pack. But for shifters like me, with latent wolves, while we are allowed to leave the pack, we can only do so if we marry a human. Andrew has never proposed marriage to me. And I have too much pride to ask him.
“Actually, I’ve been thinking about it,” Andrew says, his voice taking on a more serious tone. “About you coming to Turnville with me.”
I raise an eyebrow, studying his earnest expression. “Andrew—”
“Hear me out,” he interrupts, his hands gesturing excitedly. “I’ve been expanding the shop. Business is booming. People are desperate for natural remedies that actually work better than half the stuff the regular doctors push.”
My heart skips a beat at the excitement in his voice. Andrew runs an herbal medicine shop in Turnville, specializing in non-traditional healing methods. It’s how we met, really. It’s why he’d been searching for those special plants when that shadow bear attacked him.
“And you—well, you know more about herbs than anyone I’ve ever met. The way you prepare them, the combinations you create…It’s incredible.” His eyes light up with passion. “We could be partners, Astra. You could work with me at the shop. We could help people together.”
I feel warmth spread through my chest at his praise, something I’m not used to receiving. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying you wouldn’t have to risk your life in those damn woods anymore. No more shadow bears, no more dealing with people who treat you like garbage.” He takes my hands in his, his thumb tracing circles on my skin. “We could build something real together.”
The offer is tempting—more tempting than I want to admit. But reality crashes down on me like a cold wave.
“Andrew, it’s not that simple,” I say, pulling my hands away. “I can’t just leave.”
“Why not?” His voice rises in frustration. “What’s keeping you here? A pack that doesn’t value you? People who would rather see you dead than appreciate what you do for them? We both know how dangerous the woods are at night. They still send you into them. You’re the most vulnerable person in your pack, Astra. Nobody cares about you there.”
“Leaving isn’t as easy as you think.” I take a deep breath, and the words come tumbling out before I can stop them. “A shifter like me—one without a wolf—can only leave this world if they marry someone outside of it. A human.”
A silence stretches between us, and I can feel Andrew’s gaze burning the top of my head. When I finally look up, his expression is unreadable.