Chapter One
1348 Words
Olivia's POV
The girl in front of the mirror was supposed to look confident, but the eyes betrayed her. Her fingers pulled on the linings of the silver dress for this particular night. It was her eighteenth birthday, the very night she was to be named Luna of Silvermere Pack, and Alpha Leo himself was to mark it.
She had practiced and read and been waiting her entire life for this night. Any girl in the pack would have given anything to be in her position. But dread was the one thing that Olivia experienced.
What had been the prophecy? Suppose that everything came to ruin!
The ringing of the door pulled her out of her storm of thoughts.
What are you still doing in here, Olivia? The sharp voice of her mother came in to fill the room with furrowed brows. All the people are waiting at the packhouse.
"Mom... Something bad is going to happen-- I feel it. I just-- I feel it.
"Stop this nonsense." Her mother shook the words off. This is what you have been training for all your life.
"But what if Leo is not my mate?"
Her mother's voice hardened. "What foolish talk is this? You are going to be Luna. Do you hear me? After the moon is up, you will change, and he will notch you. That is final."
But, Mom,--but--but--but--but--but--but--but--but-.
The patience of her mother was gone. "Enough, Olivia!"
She turned her head away, saying, under her breath, Okay, Mom.
Silence hung between them. Olivia's lips parted again. "Do I... do I look nice?"
Her mother looked at her carelessly. "You look the same as always. Now move. Insecurities are not the order of the day.
Olivia had tears behind her eyes, which she had to push away. Her makeup was not going to smear. She had wished--once only--to hear kindness. But it was always the same. She was no daughter to her mother; she was a name.
This had not been the case with her father before he died. She could never be a child to them, but only a symbol.
After her mother left in the car, she followed her.
"Wait here," her mother said, going back into the house.
With her baggage under her arm, she came before omegas.
What is happening to my things?
"Mrs. Miller instructed us to pack them," said one as he loaded the trunk.
Olivia was confused and turned about as her mother came into view, holding her little bag.
"Mom? What is your reason for packing everything?
Tonight you are going into the Packhouse. You are the Luna now. You will no longer have a home in this house.
Her voice trembled. "But... Not yet even am I marked. What if—"
"There is no what if," her mother interrupted, hard and cold. "You will be marked. You will be Luna. Now get in the car."
Her tones were so caustic in their impact on Olivia that she was left in shock. She got in slowly without another word.
Her smile and a wave made her feel warm, as they were so innocent.
On arriving there the entire pack was seated in a big circle, lanterns blazing, the music falling away as they gazed upon the stage. Alpha Leo was enjoying the company of the elders, and their faces were illuminated by fire.
The mother of Olivia walked next to her with her head in the air. Olivia felt every stare. Some faces showed warmth. Others bore vanity, and she was well aware that she had gained their admiration through her more diligent effort than any other, even prior to this evening.
But others... their eyes told her she was spoiled; she was spoiled, and they gave her everything.
Then came the children, who were all gaping with awe and whispering and smiling at the girl they had been hearing stories about all their lives. The chosen one. Leo Stead-Brown stared at her in the crowd.
And then—his eyes.
He was smooth in voice and disarming in smile. Her breath was arrested, and her breast trembled. The knot in her stomach relaxed immediately.
"Olivia." She was encouraged by the smile that Leo smiled at her.
"I have," said Alpha Leo, and kneeling down, sat next to him. Her blush was on her cheeks, and she looked down.
Elder Percival stood up and roared. A new era of the Silvermere Pack begins this night. We meet to see prophecy come to pass and usher in prosperity!
The crowd erupted in cheers. She felt pride inside her, and the nerves knotted, tightening.
Hours were spent playing, laughing, eating, and dancing. For a time, it felt almost easy. To the high moon and then to the moon's peak.
The crowd hushed. All eyes turned to her.
Bones broke by twisting and reformed.
She came into the middle and took off the ceremonial dress until she was wearing just her underclothes. She shut her eyes and surrendered herself to her wolf.
Pain passed through her. Here she was, alone in front of everyone, and the night air was painful with the humiliation. Fur spread across her skin. Nails were sharpened into claws, and teeth were lengthened into fangs. Pain and ecstasy were so mixed that she fell on her knees, and the wolf came up inside her.
The crowd gasped. Whispers spread.
Something was wrong.
She tripped down to the pond and stood.
Her mirror was a wolf half as big as the others. Small. Weak.
No. This was impossible. She was not small. She was tall and strong. So why--
"Well," a voice full of mockery said. This is the wolf of the chosen one?
Beatrix. The omega who had despised her as long as she could remember. Olivia did not have to look at her face to know.
Leo left the stage. His gaze became dark as he gazed at her.
"I am sorry, Olivia. You cannot be my Luna."
The language is sharper than any beak. Even her wolf whimpered at the rebuff.
Elder Percival started to his feet. "Alpha, you cannot refuse her. She was chosen by prophecy."
Leo's gaze snapped toward him.
"She must be Luna," Percival thought and spoke the words with nervousness. It is our only hope to have a future.
The voice of her mother was shaking with anxiety. Olivia will be a source of good fortune. She was born for this." The rest of the elders nodded their assent in a frantic protection.
Leo's lip curled. "Her wolf is small. What will be the future of that? A different Luna would prove more useful.
"And bring ruin to us all?" Percival countered. "I have heard of rare cases. There are some wolves that at first are small, though they become large. She could be one of them."
"Yes indeed," another old man responded. The others followed.
Olivia wished that the earth would tear open and swallow her up. Shame scalded her like fire.
Leo's shoulders stiffened. His voice turned hard. "Fine. For the future of the pack."
He turned back to her. "Shift back."
With trembling body she obeyed and came back to human form. His voice was creeping into her head like ice.
Through the hand that had clasped her neck, Leo made his eyes hard and stern. She threw her head back and silently gave her neck. His fangs pierced deep. Pain tore through her.
But there now came something still worse.
An outburst of feeling that was not hers.
Hatred.
She opened her eyes and looked, and his eyes seared upon hers. It was him. The hatred was his.
Leo hated her.
Sliding into her head, his voice was as icy as ice.
"I will never love you. You are to me nothing but a hideous burden.
Her heart was broken, and her body was shivering by the power of what he had to say.
Was it the commencement of her fate... or the commencement of her woe?
So what would have happened had the prophecy been false?
- Writer
