Chapter 1

The sound of a hand striking dried wood filled the entire room. It bounced off the walls, silencing the people sitting around the withered oak table. Sybil Blackwood, the future alpha of the Mystic Pack, curled her hands into tight fists under the table. If this weren't the council, she wouldn't tolerate the blatant disrespect they threw at her father. Speaking of her father—Olcan Blackwood—he placed his palm on her fists, using his thumb to chase away the tension in her muscles. She relaxed a little, letting the rage she felt inside her ebb away. Her eyes fell on the man sitting directly in front of her. The hand he had slammed on the table was still sitting on top of the table; his knuckles were folded to the point they looked like they were about to pop.

She tightened her hands into fists again, her jaw clenching, and as if Lucian Nightshade knew the thoughts passing through her mind, his lips turned at the corners. The mocking smirk almost sent her to her feet, but she stayed in place.

"Your daughter is unfit to rule this pack. I suggest we find someone capable—someone who can rise to the position," Pierce declared. Sybil looked away from Lucian to him. She took him in. He was a small man with slicked-back black hair dusted here and there with greying strands. His skin was pale. His eyes were a dull brown. Like Lucian, he smirked at her. For years, Pierce had been against the idea of letting Sybil take over after her father. And over those years, he had come up with different reasons as to why he found her incompetent. It once broke her heart. Now, his biases meant nothing to her.

"I agree," Aaron chimed in. Sybil didn't spare Aaron's smug face a look. Instead, she started plotting her next alternative. The council, this she knew, would never let her become the alpha she was born to be. They will always be against her, and it was only a matter of time before they took things to another level. She didn't have a mate, and that was one of the reasons.

She turned to her father, but he was oddly silent. He folded his hands tightly on the table, his jaw clenched, while his brown eyes looked like they were about to glow, signaling that his wolf was near to the surface. She reached out, placing her hand on top of his, just like he had done a thousand times to her. He sighed when her hand touched his. With that, he pushed the strands of his long brown hair to the side, took a deep breath, and levelled every man in the room with an icy gaze. No one moved, and it surprised Sybil why the men hadn't turned into stone already.

"Whether you like it or not, she will rule this pack. It's her birthright. Anyone you can find will never live up to her potential."

"But that decision lies with us. If we say no, she will never be alpha." Sybil's eyes closed on their own accord. If only these men knew the power she held, they would respect her. If she wanted to, she could bring them to their knees. She was their future alpha for a reason, which meant they were all beneath her.

"All because she is a woman?" The alpha questioned. Pierce and Aaron nodded eagerly. Though they had tried to deny it for so long, everyone knew where their hatred stemmed from. In their eyes, a woman was unfit to rule them.

Lucian didn't nod; he remained quiet, as if he disagreed with his minions. But how could he when he stood in the middle of all this? Sybil watched him, watched the indecision that washed through his honey-coloured eyes. Could it be that he didn't believe in all this and was just following the others? She refused to believe it, but was it bad to wish?

Besides, if that were the case, she could use his indecision to deal with the council.

She continued watching him. Pierce said something she missed. Though she ought to be listening, something clouded her mind. As she stared at Lucian, something drew her closer to him. Something powerful. A force she couldn't fight. It called to her, urging her to leave her chair and fall into his lap. The warm, potent feeling snaked through her veins, warming her from head to toe.

"Sybil," her father called. Shaking her head, she came back to the present.

"Is everything all right?" She nodded, and when her eyes collided with Lucian's, he was looking at her strangely, as if he knew what had her attention all this time.

"Let's continue," Pierce said. As she listened to him and her father disagree. The feeling hummed beneath her skin, becoming an incessant need, she couldn't quench. When the useless meeting ended, she rushed out of the room, gulping down the chilly morning air. She hoped it would clear her mind and body of the strange feeling, but it didn't.

Lucian, together with Pierce and Aaron, walked down the cobbled path towards the pack's settlement area. People wandered around the grounds. Everywhere he looked, smiles and shouts of happiness greeted him. The morning sun in the sky shone down on him, though a chill remained in the air. Mountains and trees stood in the distance, turning the scene into a dreamscape.

Though everyone around him was happy, he couldn't find it in him to share their joy. He couldn't even remember the last time he had felt happy anymore.

"I don't understand the mind of that bitch," Pierce started. His words caused Lucian to come to a halt. In the three years he had known the man, he had never heard him call Sybil that word before. Yes, they were against her becoming the next alpha. In the eyes of everyone, they had the same motive. In reality, though, his motivations were different. Peirce's motivations were rooted only in his deep hatred of women. Lucian knew Pierce despised women; he had never asked why, but that didn't mean he would disrespect her in front of him.

"Bitch? Who are you referring to exactly?" He knew; he just wanted to know how far his supposed friend would take this.

"You know who we're talking about. Who does she think she is?"

"Let me tell you this…" He let the sentence hang in the air. Pierce flinched away from him. Perhaps it was the threat in his tone, or something in his eyes. He would never know, because he hadn't intended to ask. "If you ever call her that again, I will kill you where you stand. We're here for one reason alone. Don't stray from it."

He held the gaze of the scrawny man a second long to get his message across, then he walked away.

Anger simmered beneath his skin. He was right to walk away from them before he did any damage. Defending her like that would cause alarms in their heads, but when someone disrespected his mate like that, he couldn't take it lying down.

My mate, Lucian, thought. The very thought left a sour taste in his mouth. He hated it. He had hated the games fate had been playing on his life ever since he was young. Games so cruel he wondered when they would end.

Shaking his head, he walked down the cobbled pathway that took him to his wooden house. The house stood squashed between a row of other houses of the same design. He glared at it. Sometimes it looked like it would collapse on him.

Good thing it wouldn't kill me, he thought as he walked towards it. He fished the keys from his pocket, thrusting them into the keyhole and turning. The door groaned as he pushed it open. Glancing at the street one more time, he walked inside. Everything was dark as if it were the middle of the night. The curtains were closed, preventing light from trickling in.

He flicked his hand in the air, and a few candles burst to life, bathing the small living room in an orange, warm glow. Lucian brought his hands in front of his eyes. He stared at them, thinking of the horrors they could unleash if he were to use every ounce of his power.

Destruction isn't all they were capable of; they could mend things, too, but he never wanted to do that. When life had dealt you a cruel hand, all you wanted to do was to destroy it.

The only thing keeping him in check was her—his mate. The one woman destined for him, but one he could never have.

It pissed him off.

Tucking his hands into his pockets, he walked to the only small chair in the room. A shelf of books stood near the window, and that was all he had in the room. He dropped into the chair, his eyes closing of their own accord.

It was during times like these, when he was alone, that the voices in his head became too loud. He could hear everything that had happened 25 years ago as if he were living in the moment again.

He could taste the fear of his people on his tongue. The battle cry of his father as he charged forward into the battle—the very battle that had put an end to his life. He could hear the last painful gurgle his little sister made as the life bled out of her. Worst of all, he could hear the last agonizing scream his mother let out as she used the last of her power to save his life.

Lucian had only been 8 when he witnessed the massacre of his family. The man Sybil called father had delivered the blow.

He hated him. No, he loathed Olcan Blackwood.

When he came here, all he wanted was to seek revenge. Lorraine, his aunt, had warned him of what would happen. He had taken a precautionary measure, but it all crumbled the moment he saw her.

His quest for vengeance was put to a stop. So, he had slowly infiltrated the pack; now, he was where he needed to be. For all the pain Olcan Blackwood had made him feel, he was going to make him feel it ten times more.