Chapter One

2145 Words
Alvira's P.O.V. Tick. My eyes clenched shut, and I winced at the heavy sound. Tock. Faster than the sound of the clock, my pen was tapping against the open pad of my notebook. Tick. I was trying to focus, but- Tock. Goddess save me; if that damned ticking didn’t stop soon, I was liable to snap. I took a deep breath, letting the stale air of the classroom fill my lungs as my English professor droned on about the passage we were supposed to be reading. By now, I was certain that I couldn’t even remember the last ten words she said. The persistent sound of the second hand on the clock caught my attention about fifteen minutes before and had been driving me absolutely insane ever since.  Something in my chest felt tight, uneasy. I could feel my wolf pacing in my mind, keening and itching to shift and run. It was something that she only really felt when we were in danger, tense, or supposed to be somewhere else.   A quick dart of my eyes to the right, and they locked onto the back of my brother Alban’s head. My twin. Older by only ten minutes, but one of the most laid-back young males in our pack. He was a sweetheart and the future Alpha of our pack. My eyes narrowed as one of the females a year younger than us leaned in just a little too close for comfort to whisper something to him.  Her hand had been resting at the middle of his back, and I saw his neck tense.  'You look tense,' I said to him through the mind link. 'You okay?' 'These she-wolves won't leave me alone, Vi!' 'You know why.' 'Yeah...I know...' I saw my brother wince again, and a soft growl reverberated in my chest that I couldn’t quite control. But when I caught it, I let it roll into a sigh and closed my eyes tight. I’d always been a touch protective of Alban. He was old enough to make his own decisions, and I had to trust him. But he was still unmated. We both were. And it was no surprise that the other she-wolves flocked to him like flies to honey. After all, they wanted to be the Luna for the Alpha of the largest wolf pack in the Appalachian mountains. Alpha. Right. Our fates were set in stone the moment we were born, but something about it always felt wrong. My sweet as sugar, kind soul of a brother was supposed to be commanding and dominant over this entire pack once his training finished with our father. It didn’t feel natural for him. Or even me, for that matter. We felt like polar opposites in our demeanor.  Alban was loyal and kind, but he was also hesitant to enter into confrontations. Yes, he had the personability down to a science. But he hesitated too much in the training pit, always slightly afraid of causing others harm. And as evident by the daggers that I was staring into the back of his deskmate’s head, I was certainly much more apt to cause a fuss.  “Vira,” she hissed, trying to settle me back down almost unbeknownst to me. My distraction had been brought to my attention by a sharp knee jammed into the side of my left thigh. With a faint hiss of pain, I looked to my left and met the warm brown eyes of Nell, my long-standing best friend. She gave me a look that I would only tolerate from her. No sooner had I met her eyes did something else catch my attention. “Miss Lundine,” I barely heard the professor’s voice call over the persistent thrum of a migraine beginning at the base of my skull. “Miss Lundine!”  The second call was more forceful and was followed by a brief chorus of snickers from the few students who had actually been paying attention. “Perhaps you would be kind enough to read our next passage,” she said, not quite a question. It was clear in her stern brown eyes that she’d caught me ignoring her lecture.  “Of course, Professor,” I said more than a bit hurriedly. When directed, I stood. I could feel the eyes on me as I read through the paragraphs in the textbook, judging stares from both males and females alike who had so far only been tolerant of my rising attitude problems because my father was the Alpha.  I closed the book once I was finished reading and watched as the professor at least looked pleased. With that done, I huffed back down into my seat and almost kicked the desk leg with how quickly I hooked my backpack over to toss the textbook inside. Professor Rowan seemed none too happy with it, but something in her stare seemed to show an understanding that I didn’t quite get.  A hushed comment to my right made my ears prick up and twitch, and the glare I shot to the male I could see holding his hand just over his lips was punctuated with the sharp snap of my book as it shut in my grasp. He pressed his lips into a smirk and made a kissy face at me.  I growled again, lowering my gaze with a harsh and ferocious look. He didn't let up, though, until the Professor called him out for his own distraction, leaving me to try and settle the fire raging in my chest. Goddess, why was I so irritable lately. I hadn’t even been like this the summer before my first shift. Something deep in my gut felt so unnervingly wrong. That second little outburst had caught my brother’s attention, and he subtly looked around at me. Our matching green eyes met, and the poor boy looked so sorry. It was almost as though he could feel my pain and feel my struggle. I gave one soft shake of my head, and Alban nodded in understanding. He knew we would talk after dinner. I knew that before I could talk to him, or anyone else for that matter, I had to hit the training gym and let off some steam. I was nowhere near the strongest of our warriors; that glory would have to go to Dad’s Beta, Stephan. But when I began my combat training at eighteen, I was one of the quickest females to take to the rigorous course.  I had this raw ferocity that Alban didn’t, and it wasn’t long before I outshone him in our sparring matches. Dad was certainly far from pleased with that. But over the past three years, it had only gotten worse. My wolf had been growing increasingly irritable, and so was I.  Once our professor dismissed the lecture and other students were shuffling back out into the hallways, there was a relief that washed over me. But that didn't stop the judging stares and the harsh whispers of my peers. The wolf who had been making mocking eyes at me sneered at me as he left, purposely ramming his leg into my arm as I was leaning down to grab my bag. Nell hadn't seen it, but she knew that I was upset by how I was shaking.  I felt Nell’s steady hand on my shoulder when we were leaving the lecture hall. “Vi, what the hell was that?” I could feel the worry in her tone and in the way her fingers lightly dug into my shoulder.  Brown curls fell over my shoulder as I shook my head at her question. “I dunno, Nell,” I finally said after pushing those same curls back from my face. “It’s been getting worse. The mood swings.” I shouldered my bag and made to stand, thumbing towards the door. We could talk while we walked. There was combat training to get to, after all.  “You’re kidding me,” Nell said. She shuffled her feet a bit as she moved to catch up to me. “I thought you had that under control after-” A warning growl cut off her train of thought, but I immediately felt like a massive tool for the uncontrolled outburst at her. Thankfully, she could see as much in my eyes and the slump of my shoulders when I shook my head. “Two of the Elders have been meeting with Dad every night for the past week,” I finally admitted once we passed a larger group of people talking amongst themselves about the lab they’d just exited. “They want him to start Alban’s training early.” “Early?” she parroted with a scoff. “But he’s not supposed to start that until you guys turn twenty-one at the end of the summer.” As we rounded the corner to head down the stairs, Nell tripped and almost went tumbling. My arm shot out and yanked her back almost on instinct. “s**t, thanks, Vi,” she said, rubbing at the back of her neck once she regained her balance.  “Hey, no thanks needed. Just watch your feet, yeah?” I pulled her close enough to plant a friendly kiss on her cheek before fully slinging my arm around her shoulders. “But,” I sighed. “You’re right. Al’s training isn’t set to start until September.” “Then why-”  She couldn’t even get the question out before I was shaking my head. “No clue.” Nell was my best friend. We were as thick as thieves, even if she was this girly waifish little thing. She was there for me at seven years old after I knocked down one of the schoolyard bullies tugging on her pigtails near the monkey bars. Every day, we ate together at lunch and walked home together with my brother from the schoolyard. I could tell her anything and everything about my life.  She was even there for me after my first shift at sixteen. My mother had called her in desperation after I locked myself in my room in a panic. It was only Nell and Alban that could calm my wolf and me down after that first run. Just the memory of it sent a spark of anxiety rushing through my chest, and there was a heaviness to my breathing that I was sure would have given me away.  It did, of course. Nothing could get past her.  Nell heaved another sigh as we exited the building out into the warm early May air. Only a few more classes, and then our final year of college would be behind us. “Does Alban know?” She asked after a short measured silence. “About the Elders, I mean.” She hooked her thumbs into the straps of her backpack as we made for the main road. "Is Elder Duke at least one of them?" My affirmative nod was enthusiastic. I liked Elder Duke, and Nell knew it. He was the former Alpha of the Agate pack and one of the younger, more progressive Elders currently on the council. But when the topic shifted to Alban, I smiled softer.  “Yeah, he knows.” The little half-smirk I gave her may have hinted at me having been the one to fill him in, but who could say. “I think he’s just as nervous as Dad is, honestly. Between that and neither of us finding our mates yet….” I just shook my head. “Mom’s been running herself ragged with worry.” But speak of the devil. I paused, holding up my hand as I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. “I swear, she always knows when I’m talking about her.” Swiping the call open with a laugh, I nodded back to Nell that my mother was on the phone. “Hey, Mom.” “Hi, Luna Katherine!” Nell said excitedly, leaning in so my mother could hear her while I playfully pushed her away. But mid-push, I stopped. Something was off about Mom’s voice. She was shaking, and it was obvious that she’d been crying.  “Alvira.” My mother had used my full first name, something she only ever did when there was bad news or if I was in trouble. “Come to the pack house.” I met Nell’s eyes with a breath half-caught in my throat, waiting for my mother to finish her sentence.  “You and Alban… You may be in danger..” My hand found Nell’s as I nodded like my mother could see me over the phone. Honestly, I don’t even remember if I said anything other than a vague and soft “Okay.” Maybe my wolf’s intuition wasn’t off the mark after all.  
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