Chapter 2

Sybil walked through the double doors of the pack house with a smile on her face. After talking to her best friend, Harley, she felt better. She buried the words of the council members in the deep recesses of her mind. But she would prove them wrong. She would do that by being the kind of alpha they said she would never be.

The smile on her face didn't linger. One look at her surroundings, and it died down like a candle left in the open. Men and women, especially omegas, moved in and out of the pack house. Some carried huge baskets of flowers, food, and fabrics for decoration. The smell of roses, dahlias, and tulips perfumed the air. She glared at everyone who dared to come close to her. Their smiles died down once they saw the expression on her face.

Her mother's sing-song voice stuck out over the chatter. Sybil walked towards her. She was deep in conversation with the beta's wife, Maurine. A short woman with auburn hair. They smiled at each other as if the whole thing was funny.

A few omegas were cleaning the living room, and they left the moment they saw her bounding towards the unsuspecting women.

"Sybil! I was just about to come look for you," her mother said. Maurine excused herself, preferring to talk with the other people scattered all around. Sybil fixed her glare on her mother. Adolphine's smile morphed into a frown.

"You should be happy I'm doing this for you."

"I don't want this."

"I'm not your enemy here. You should be thanking me for going through all this trouble to find you a mate. If you find your mate, it will stop the council from spitting their nonsense all the time."

To Sybil, she didn't need a man for the pack to accept her as their alpha. Yes, finding a mare would help, but getting approval from the council because of a man rubbed her the wrong way. She swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue, choosing the safer ones instead.

"We've done this before." Another ball wasn't going to help find her a mate. This wasn't the first one, and she doubted it would be the last. Why couldn't she give it up? If she found her mate, the council would leave her alone. But why did she have to depend on a man to take what rightfully belonged to her? Most of all, when will her mother accept that she didn't have a mate at all?

"In the Blackwood family, we do not give up. Let's not give them what they want. Let's fight." Sybil opened her mouth to protest, but her mother beat her to it.

"Go for a walk with your sister. It will help clear your mind." As if her mother's words had conjured her from the air, Erin appeared, wearing a black dress that had white flowers dusted around the skirt. It swept the ground when she walked. Her brown hair, the same shade as her father's, was tied in a loose ponytail that had other strands escaping it. Red coated her lips. The way Sybil resembled her mother, Erin resembled their father.

She smiled, flashing perfect white teeth. Without a word, she grabbed her sister's hand, waved at their mother, and soon after, they were out the door.

"If you don't let go of me—"

"Save your threats for someone else. I know a place that would make you feel better." She didn't complain as Erin dragged her away from the pack house. Erin waved at a couple of people who waved right back at her. She was the sunshine of the pack; everyone loved her more than they loved their future alpha. At times, the realization unsettled Sybil just a little.

"See? I told you it would help." Sybil nodded, her gaze fixed on the horizon. The warmth from the sun and the breeze washed over her. If only it could take her troubles away. They sat at the edge of a cliff. Beyond the cliff, lay a land covered in huge trees. Wolves howled in the distance, causing birds to fly out from the confines of the trees. To anyone who didn't know the land pretty well, they would call it a wasteland. But everyone in the Mystic Pack knew what lay beyond the woods—other packs.

To the north of Mystic Pack lay the pack led by the brutal alpha of the Silver Claw Pack—Gavin Howling. To the south, they had the Silver Dawn Pack led by Javier Savage, one of the few friends Sybil had in the world. To the east, they had the Moon Shine Pack led by Cyrus Barker. This pack was known to keep to itself, and in the 25 years Sybil had lived, she had met the alpha two times. To the west was the Dark Moon Pack, led by Marius Nightfire. The Mystic Pack stood in the middle of all these packs, surrounded.

Other parts of the world were dominated by other supernatural beings. The vampires had their own kingdoms. The magic wilders lived in places where, if you wanted to find them, it would be a chore.

The rest of the world after that was only a wasteland. No one ventured that far, the stories said not to.

"Do you ever wonder what's really out there?" The question drove Sybil out of her thoughts.

"I've read the books together with the rumors. Being safe is better than trying to find out for myself." It made her sound like a coward, but she didn't care.

"Sometimes I feel like they're just stories."

"There's some truth in it. I believe so," Sybil said. "Besides, is this your idea of a relaxing conversation?"

"I'm always curious about these things. I believe people can change things to suit their perspective."

"It could be true." They sat in silence after that, watching the scenery before them. As she stared into the distance, she thought she could see the gleam of the lake just beyond the trees, but how could she when she was this far?

"You will find your mate. Don't worry."

"I'm not worried," Sybil said. Her sister smiled, but the look she gave her, Sybil doubted Erin believed her. "Tell me again, what does it feel like to have a mate?"

"The best feeling ever. Like I've said, it's hard to explain."

"Try," she pleaded, feeling that if her sister explained it, it would be the closest she would feel to finding one.

"It's like coming to the warmth of your home after battling a storm. Like knowing nothing will ever hurt you in this life. It's knowing that whatever you go through, you won't face it alone. Your soul is connected to them. You can hear what they're thinking. Feel their emotions.

You're basically one."

"It sounds like a chore."

"You get used to it. You can smell it when you find them. Others feel it. They say your whole world stops spinning for a second. All you want is to walk up to them, touch them, kiss them, make love to them. Most of all, all you want to do is love them, to protect them."

"I see," Sybil muttered. As she did so, the thought of Lucian crossed her mind. Those honey-coloured eyes appeared in her mind. She had known the man for three years now, and she wondered why she was only noticing him now. What had changed?

After a few hours of talking, they started for the pack house again. Dried leaves crunched under the soles of their feet as they moved through the silent trees. Their surroundings had gone quiet, as if the trees were holding their breath, and that's when Sybil saw him.

He stood in the distance, his hands safely hidden behind his back, his eyes glowing as if he was about to shift.

"What is he doing here?" Erin questioned, but her sister wasn't listening. Sybil ran her eyes over Lucian's body, noticing how the black t-shirt he was wearing clung to his muscles. How the muscles of his arms bunched with the slightest movement. She noticed everything. The soft curve of his lips, which she suddenly wanted to run her tongue along. Suddenly, her hands tingled with the need to run them over his body.

Heat rushed to her cheeks, warming them up at the thought.

"Sybil." She felt a hand touch her bare shoulder, and that's when she realized what she had been doing. The place where Lucian once stood was vacant. She frowned.

Where did he go? She thought, throwing her eyes all around them, wanting to look at him one more time.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," she whispered. A strange feeling lingered inside her long after they made it back to the pack house. It made her heart pound, her cheeks flame while heat warmed her lower stomach.