THE MOONLIT PACK

THE MOONLIT PACK A Dark Fantasy Romance Novel Written by Ambrosia Naidoo CHAPTER ONE: THE NIGHT EVERYTHING CHANGED There were three things I knew for certain about myself. One, I hated waking up early. Two, my best friend, Shayna, was a walking disaster disguised as a human being. And three, no matter how many times I told myself that my life was perfectly normal, something about it had always felt strangely incomplete. I just never imagined that the answer would be found in a forest full of wolves. But I'm getting ahead of myself. It all started on a Friday afternoon, with a missing hairbrush, a ruined shirt, and Shayna screaming my name from somewhere down the hallway. "LISA!" I closed my eyes. Not again. "WHAT?" I shouted back from my bedroom. "HAVE YOU SEEN MY RED HAIRBRUSH?" I glanced at the hairbrush sitting on my dressing table. It was red. It was hers. And it was absolutely not my problem. "NO!" There was a moment of silence before her bedroom door slammed open. "You are such a liar!" I burst out laughing as Shayna marched into my room, her long dark hair falling over her shoulders, the crimson-red streaks near the front catching the afternoon sunlight. She wore black jeans and an oversized grey hoodie, and her expression suggested that she'd just discovered the worst betrayal in human history. She pointed at my dressing table. "Explain." I followed her finger and shrugged innocently. "Oh, that brush." "Yes, Lisa. That brush." "I thought you meant your other red brush." "I don't have another red brush!" "Well, maybe you should invest in one." She threw a pillow at my face. I caught it, laughing so hard that my stomach hurt. This was our life. Arguments over clothes, stealing each other's snacks, staying awake until three in the morning talking about everything and nothing, borrowing things without permission, and then acting personally offended when the other person wanted them back. We weren't biologically related, but honestly, I couldn't remember a time when Shayna hadn't been there. We'd grown up together in the same home, raised by the same adoptive parents, sharing birthdays, holidays, punishments, and every ridiculous little moment in between. She wasn't just my best friend. She was my sister. And if anyone ever tried to hurt her, I'd make absolutely sure they regretted it. "Anyway," Shayna announced, snatching her brush from my dressing table, "we're going out tonight." I raised an eyebrow. "Are we?" "Yes." "Did I agree to this?" "No." "Then why are we going?" "Because I'm bored, you're boring, and we both need lives." I threw the pillow back at her. "Get out of my room." She grinned. "Love you too, sister." She disappeared down the hallway before I could respond, and I shook my head, smiling despite myself. If there was one thing I could count on in this world, it was Shayna. I just didn't know that soon, everything we understood about our world would come crashing down, and the people responsible would be waiting in the shadows. By six o'clock, the house smelled like roasted chicken, garlic, and the cinnamon candles our mother insisted on lighting every evening. Our adoptive mother, Eleanor, believed candles made a house feel peaceful. Personally, I thought they made the house smell like a fancy shop, but I kept that opinion to myself, mostly because she had a wooden spoon and wasn't afraid to use it when we were younger. Shayna and I sat at the kitchen island while she scrolled through her phone and I attempted to steal pieces of chicken from the serving plate. "Lisa," Eleanor warned without looking up. I froze with a piece of chicken halfway to my mouth. "Yes?" "Put it back." I slowly lowered my hand. "How do you even know I'm doing anything?" "Because you've been stealing food from that plate since you were eight." Shayna snorted. "She's not wrong." I glared at her. "Nobody asked you." Eleanor finally looked up, shaking her head with a smile. She was a gentle woman with warm brown eyes and dark hair beginning to turn silver at her temples. She'd raised us with patience, affection, and the kind of love that made our home feel safe. Our father, Michael, was quieter. He worked long hours and preferred reading old books in his study to watching television with us, but he'd always been there when we needed him. They'd adopted Shayna and me when we were babies. At least, that's what we'd been told. We'd never questioned it seriously. Why would we? We had parents who loved us, a home filled with memories, and each other. What more could we possibly need? "So," Eleanor said, placing a glass of water in front of me, "where exactly are you two going tonight?" Shayna and I exchanged a glance. That was never a good sign. "Just out," Shayna answered sweetly. Eleanor narrowed her eyes. "Out where?" "To see some friends." "What friends?" "The ones we have." I kicked Shayna beneath the counter. She kicked me back. Eleanor sighed. "Girls." "Fine," I said, holding up my hands. "We're going into town for a little while. We'll be back before midnight." "Eleven," Eleanor corrected. "Eleven-thirty." "Eleven." "Eleven-fifteen?" "Lisa." "Fine. Eleven." Shayna pressed her lips together to hide her smile. But when Eleanor turned away, I noticed something strange. She was staring out of the kitchen window, not casually either. She was watching the tree line beyond our garden, where the forest stretched for miles beneath the fading evening light. Her expression had changed. The softness had disappeared from her face, replaced by something I couldn't identify. Fear, perhaps, or recognition. "Mom?" I asked. She blinked and turned back to us. "Yes, sweetheart?" "Is something wrong?" For a moment, she didn't answer. Then she smiled, although it looked forced. "No. Nothing at all." I wanted to believe her, but as Shayna and I left the kitchen, I heard her whisper something into the telephone. A name I'd never heard before. "Blackthorn." I stopped walking. Shayna nearly collided with my back. "What are you doing?" I held up a finger, listening. Eleanor's voice was low, almost desperate. "They're getting closer. I don't think we have much time left." A pause followed. Then she said something that made the blood in my veins feel strangely cold. "The girls must never find out." My heart began to pound. Before I could hear anything else, Shayna grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the stairs. "Lisa," she whispered, "what are you doing?" I looked at her. "Did you hear that?" "Hear what?" I hesitated, then shook my head. "Nothing." I didn't tell her what I'd heard. I didn't know why. Perhaps because some part of me understood that whatever our mother was hiding, it was bigger than a conversation overheard through a doorway, and perhaps, deep down, I was afraid of the answer. By the time the sun disappeared, Shayna had changed her mind about our original plans approximately seventeen times. First, she wanted to go into town. Then she wanted to visit a café. Then she wanted to meet a friend who cancelled at the last minute. Finally, after standing in front of her wardrobe for twenty minutes, she announced that we were going to the forest. I stared at her. "The forest?" She nodded while applying lip gloss. "The forest." "At night?" "That's generally when darkness happens, yes." "Shayna, I'm going to need you to explain why you think wandering around a forest in the middle of the night is a good idea." She turned toward me, wearing a black jacket over her outfit. "Because there's a clearing on the other side where people sometimes have bonfires. Apparently, there's going to be one tonight." "Apparently?" "Yes." "Who told you?" "A girl I know." "Do you trust her?" "Not particularly." I stared at her. She smiled. "Come on, Lisa. When was the last time we did something exciting?" "Last month, when you convinced me to climb onto the roof because you wanted to see whether you could touch the chimney." "And we survived." "Because I practically dragged you back down by your ankle!" "Exactly. Teamwork." I should have refused. I should have stayed home, put on my favourite pyjamas, and watched a terrible romantic comedy until I fell asleep. Instead, I grabbed my jacket, because apparently, I had a death wish when it came to my best friend. The forest began just beyond the old road at the edge of our neighbourhood. During the day, it was beautiful, filled with towering trees, wildflowers, and birdsong. At night, it was an entirely different place. The branches twisted overhead like crooked fingers. The wind whispered through the leaves, and the moonlight fell in pale silver patches across the narrow path. Shayna walked ahead of me, humming, while I followed with my phone flashlight turned on. "Remind me why we're not taking the road?" I asked. "Because this is faster." "You said that twenty minutes ago." "And I stand by it." "You also said you knew where you were going." "I do." She stopped. I stopped behind her. We stared at the path ahead. It split into three separate directions. Shayna tilted her head. "Huh." I slowly turned to look at her. "Shayna." "Okay, before you say anything—" "Shayna." "I may have underestimated how well I remembered the path." I closed my eyes. "I'm going to kill you." "No, you're not. You love me." She laughed and looped her arm through mine. "Come on. We'll take the path on the left." "Why?" "Because it looks promising." "That's not a reason." "It's the only one I've got." We continued walking. For several minutes, neither of us spoke. The farther we went, the colder the air seemed to become. Then I noticed something. The forest had gone quiet. Completely quiet. No insects, no birds, not even the usual rustling of leaves. I slowed down. "Shay?" "Hmm?" "Do you hear that?" She stopped humming. "Hear what?" "Exactly." She stared at me, and I stared back. Then a branch snapped somewhere behind us. Shayna grabbed my arm. "Please tell me that was you." "It wasn't me." Another sound came from the darkness, a low, deep growl. Every muscle in my body tightened. "Lisa," Shayna whispered. "I hear it." "Lisa, I really don't like this." Neither did I. I turned slowly, lifting my phone. The light swept across the trees. Nothing. Then two golden eyes appeared between the trunks. My breath caught. A wolf stepped into the clearing. Not a small wolf, not an animal I'd ever seen at a wildlife park. This creature was enormous, its black fur blending into the shadows, its muscular shoulders rising nearly to my chest. Its eyes shone like molten gold beneath the moonlight. I couldn't move. Shayna's fingers dug into my sleeve. "Don't move," she whispered. For once in her life, I had absolutely no intention of arguing with her. The wolf took one step forward. I took one step back. It took another. I stumbled over a tree root and nearly fell. "Okay," I whispered, holding up my hands. "Listen, Mr Wolf. I'm sure you're a lovely animal, and I'm sure you have a very nice family, but we're just going to leave now." The wolf tilted its head. I swallowed. "That means we're leaving. You stay here. We stay over there. Everybody wins." Shayna made a strangled sound beside me. "Are you negotiating with a wolf?" "I'm trying to be polite!" "IT'S A WOLF, LISA!" "I KNOW!" The animal suddenly lifted its head. Its nostrils flared. Then, to my absolute horror, it looked directly at me and let out a low, almost mournful sound. It wasn't quite a growl. It sounded more like recognition. The wolf stepped forward again, and something strange happened inside my chest. A sharp warmth spread through me. For a single moment, I felt as though I knew this creature, not personally, not in any way I could explain, but in a place deep inside me that my thoughts couldn't reach. My hand moved before I could stop it. I reached toward the wolf. "Lisa, what are you doing?" Shayna hissed. "I don't know." The wolf's ears suddenly flattened. It turned its head toward the trees. A second later, it lowered its body and disappeared into the darkness. I stood frozen, my arm still stretched out. "What just happened?" I whispered. Shayna shook her head. "I have absolutely no idea, and I would very much like to keep it that way." Then a man's voice cut through the darkness. "Step away from her." We spun around. Three men emerged from between the trees. The first was tall, with dark hair, a hard expression, and eyes that seemed almost silver in the moonlight. He wore a black jacket and moved with the quiet confidence of someone who had never needed to ask permission to enter a room. The second had dark hair with a few lighter strands and an expression that suggested he'd rather be anywhere else. The third was slightly shorter, with tousled brown hair and an amused look that seemed entirely inappropriate for the situation. The tall one looked at the spot where the wolf had disappeared. Then his gaze shifted to me and stayed there. I felt suddenly uncomfortable beneath the intensity of his stare, not because he was frightening, although he was, but because there was something else in his expression. His eyes moved across my face as though he were searching for something he had lost a long time ago. The amused man glanced between us. "Well," he said, "this is unexpected." The tall stranger didn't respond. His jaw tightened. "Who are you?" he demanded. I stared at him. "Excuse me?" "Your names. Now." Shayna straightened beside me. "Wow. Do you always introduce yourself like a police officer in a bad television show?" The second man made a quiet choking noise. The tall stranger turned his attention to her, his expression completely blank. "Do you always talk this much?" "Only when I'm around rude people." "Then you must never be quiet." Shayna's mouth fell open. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. The stranger's gaze returned to me. "Your name." I folded my arms. "Why?" His eyes narrowed. "Because I asked." "And I asked why." For a few seconds, we simply stared at each other. The air between us felt strangely charged. Finally, the brown-haired man laughed. "Oh, I like her." "Nobody asked you, Jake," the tall stranger snapped. Jake raised both hands. "Just making an observation, Xavier." Xavier. So that was his name. I decided immediately that I disliked it, not because there was anything wrong with it, but because it suited him far too well. He had the sort of face that belonged on the cover of an expensive magazine, with sharp cheekbones, dark hair falling slightly over his forehead, and storm-grey eyes that seemed capable of freezing someone where they stood. He was handsome, annoyingly handsome, the sort of handsome that made you want to throw something at him just to restore balance to the universe. And he knew it. That was the worst part. "Lisa," I finally answered. Something changed in his expression. It was subtle, but I noticed it. His shoulders stiffened, and his eyes widened slightly. Then he took a slow breath through his nose, as though he were trying to convince himself that whatever he was sensing couldn't possibly be real. "What?" I asked. He didn't answer. Instead, he stepped closer. I immediately stepped back. "Stay where you are." He stopped. For the first time since he'd appeared, he looked genuinely surprised that someone had given him an order. Behind him, the dark-haired stranger was watching us with a strange intensity of his own. His gaze had settled on Shayna. And unlike Xavier, who looked as though he'd just seen a ghost, this man seemed fascinated by the girl glaring at him. Shayna noticed. "What are you looking at?" He blinked. "Nothing." "Then stop staring." His mouth twitched. "You're rather demanding." "And you're rather annoying." "Edward," Jake interrupted, grinning, "I think she likes you." Shayna made a disgusted noise. "I would rather swallow a handful of dirt." Edward laughed softly. For some reason, that seemed to surprise him more than anything else. But Xavier wasn't laughing. He was still staring at me. And the longer he looked, the more uncomfortable I became. "Who are you people?" I demanded. Xavier's expression hardened. "You shouldn't be here." "Funny. We were just about to leave." "Good." "Wonderful." "Then go." "Gladly." I grabbed Shayna's hand and turned toward the path. We had taken barely three steps when Xavier spoke again. "Lisa." I stopped. I hated that I stopped. I hated even more that the sound of my name in his voice sent an unfamiliar shiver down my spine. "What now?" He stared at me for another moment. Then, in a voice so quiet that I almost didn't hear him, he said, "How long have you been living here?" I frowned. "All my life." "With whom?" "My parents." He looked as though I'd just confirmed something terrible. "Your biological parents?" The question struck me harder than it should have. I turned around fully. "What did you just say?" For the first time, Xavier seemed to realise he'd said too much. His expression closed. "Nothing." "No. You don't get to ask me something like that and then pretend you said nothing." "Go home, Lisa." "Who are you to tell me what to do?" His eyes flashed. "Someone who is trying to keep you alive." I stared at him, then laughed, not because anything was funny, but because the alternative was admitting that his words had frightened me. "Right. Well, thank you for your concern, stranger, but I'm perfectly capable of keeping myself alive." I turned away again. This time, he didn't stop me. But as Shayna and I hurried down the path, I could feel his eyes following us. Somewhere behind us, Jake muttered, "You're in trouble, Alpha." Xavier didn't answer. He was still watching the place where I'd disappeared, because the scent lingering in the air had confirmed what his wolf had already recognised. The girl he'd spent years searching for had just walked into his territory, and she hated him already. By the time Shayna and I reached home, my feet hurt, my nerves were shot, and I had approximately a thousand questions running through my head. Naturally, Shayna had decided that the most important thing to discuss was Xavier's face. "Okay," she said, kicking off her shoes as we entered the house, "I need you to be honest with me." I dropped my jacket onto the sofa. "About what?" "Xavier." I groaned. "Oh, for heaven's sake." "Lisa, that man was ridiculously handsome." "He was ridiculously rude." "Both things can be true." I gave her a look. She grinned. "I'm just saying, if he hadn't been acting like he owned the entire forest, I might have considered being slightly less annoyed by his face." "You're unbelievable." "And you're avoiding the question." "What question?" "Did you feel something weird when he looked at you?" I stopped. For a moment, neither of us spoke. Then I looked away. "I don't know what you're talking about." Shayna narrowed her eyes. "Lisa." "What?" "You're a terrible liar." I sighed and sank onto the sofa. "When I first saw that wolf, I felt something strange. And then when Xavier looked at me, it was almost like—" "Like what?" I struggled to find the words. "Like I'd met him before." Shayna slowly sat beside me. "But you haven't." "I know." "Unless you've been secretly meeting handsome strangers in the woods without me." I threw a cushion at her. She laughed, and for a moment, everything felt normal again. Then we heard a sound from the hallway. A door closing. Our smiles faded. Eleanor stood near the entrance to the study, her face pale. Behind her, Michael was holding an old wooden box. A box I'd never seen before. "What are you two doing home so late?" Eleanor asked. Shayna glanced at the clock. "It's only ten." "That's not what I asked." Something in her voice made me sit up straight. "Mom, what's wrong?" Her gaze moved from me to Shayna, then to the wooden box in Michael's hands. I followed her eyes. "What is that?" Neither of them answered. Michael stepped forward, his expression grave. "Girls, we need to talk." My stomach tightened. "About what?" He hesitated, then said something that made the room seem to tilt beneath my feet. "About the night we brought you home." Shayna's hand found mine. I stared at him. "What do you mean?" Eleanor's eyes filled with tears. "We should have told you years ago." A cold sensation spread through my chest. "Told us what?" Michael placed the wooden box on the table and opened it. Inside were two silver pendants, a collection of old photographs, and a folded letter sealed with dark red wax. I reached for one of the photographs. It showed two young women standing beneath an enormous full moon. One had dark hair and eyes that looked strangely familiar. The other wore a necklace identical to the one resting inside the box. On the back, someone had written two names: Lisa and Shayna. My fingers went numb. "Who are these people?" Eleanor covered her mouth. "Our daughters," she whispered. I looked up sharply. "We're your daughters." "You are," Michael said immediately. "Nothing will ever change that." "Then what does she mean?" Silence followed, the kind of silence that made every unanswered question feel like a threat. Finally, Michael drew a shaky breath. "You were both brought to us as babies. Your biological parents asked us to raise you somewhere safe, away from the world they belonged to." Shayna's voice trembled. "What world?" Michael looked toward the window. "The world of the wolves." I stared at him. Then I laughed. It was a small, disbelieving sound. "No." "Lisa—" "No. You're telling me that the giant wolf we saw tonight was somehow connected to our parents? That Xavier, that arrogant stranger, knows something about us?" Eleanor closed her eyes. "You met Xavier?" My blood ran cold. "You know him?" She didn't answer. And suddenly, I understood something far more frightening than the existence of werewolves. Our parents hadn't been surprised by the idea. They'd been afraid of it. Michael unfolded the letter. "There is something else you need to know." I looked at Shayna. She squeezed my hand. Whatever happened next, we would face it together. We always had. Michael began to read. "'To the people we trust with our daughters, if this letter has reached you, then the protection surrounding our children may no longer be enough. Keep them away from Blackthorn territory until the time is right. Their blood carries an ancient bond, and when the Alpha recognises his mate, the truth will begin to awaken.'" My heart stopped. The Alpha. Xavier. I remembered the way he'd stared at me, the way his expression had changed when I told him my name, and the strange warmth in my chest. Then I remembered the single word he'd almost seemed afraid to say. Mate. I looked at Shayna. She looked just as horrified as I felt. Then Michael read the final line. "'Whatever happens, do not allow the brothers to discover the girls' true identities until you know whom you can trust.'" Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Outside, somewhere beyond our garden, a wolf began to howl. And for the first time in my life, I wondered whether the home I'd always known had been built around a lie. I squeezed Shayna's hand. She squeezed mine back. We were sisters. Whatever our blood said, whatever the wolves wanted, that would never change. But as I stared at the letter, one terrible thought refused to leave my mind. If Xavier was looking for his mate, and he'd already found me, what would happen when he discovered who I really was? And why had our parents been so afraid of him?