Chapter 1
Two years ago, at the Ghost Shadow pack on the fourth floor of the main packhouse, there was a knock on the door. Someone is opening it while still knocking. Christos walks in. “Well, the most handsome twin is here.”
Christian turns around from the balcony, smirking, and winks, “Oh, thanks, little brother." He rubs his chin.
“Hey, I was talking about me. Besides, you're only four minutes older than me." Christos straightens his bow tie.
“Yeah, but I’m still the oldest. Don't you ever forget it.” Christian laughs, patting Christos’s shoulder, “Come on, let's get going to the ball.”
“That is something that I won't ever forget. If I did, I'm sure you'll be there to remind me." Christos chuckles for a minute, then he frowns a little. "Do you and Cyclone feel as if something is going to happen? Because Hurricane and I have been feeling a little on edge since we woke up. He hasn't ever acted this way before."
Christian nods, “You know Cyclone has been acting a little peculiar. I had to block him for a while earlier in the day.
“Hurricane is the same way. We might just get what we have been dreaming of since we were eighteen. Damn, I can’t believe we’re twenty-eight now and still haven’t found our mates or mate." Christos picks up the car key and sighs.
“There are days when Cyclone goes off or complete silence. He feels that we may never get what we have been waiting for, far too long. That’s to find our mate and hopefully have some pups running around here soon. Can you see us running behind some pups? Damn, man. I can’t wait, and I know you can’t either." Christian is looking at some of the pack members as they are walking to the car.
“Hell yeah, tonight is the night we meet our mates.” Christos speeds down the driveway.
****
At the annual mating ball, two blondes with green eyes and their hair in messy buns are walking around the ball. They’re Evie and Tessa, the daughters of Henry Gentry, the Alpha of the Edge tail pack.
Evie and Tessa are discussing all the unmated men as the men walk through the door. Tessie winks at one of the Alphas. Evie is talking to her, and when she doesn't answer, she looks to see what has her attention. "Handsome as hell, but no chance." She waves the man away and pokes Tessa's arm, Don’t forget to keep your eyes on the prize. No matter who our mates are, we’ll reject them. We'll accept the Alpha or Alphas of Sabre Fur Prowlers only. I don’t need you wandering off wherever your damn mind takes you in that small brain. You need to focus, damn it."
Tessa pouts and folds her arms. “Oh, Evie, come on now, I’m twenty-three with no mate. Hell, your ass is twenty-five. We’ve come all this way to find our mates. Don’t you want pups? How do we know if the Alpha or Alphas of that pack don’t have a mate or mates? s**t, we could be left out in the cold. Girl, the Moon Goddess, we might not give us a second chance, mate."
Evie steps in front of her and grabs her arm. “Nothing but trouble. That’s what you have always been.” She drags Tessa out the closest door and down a path. "Look here, nutty, you better not mess this up. You know the plan. If you do one damn thing wrong, I'll tell Mother. We both know that she'll tell Father. Now, do you want to disappoint our parents?” She’s squeezing her sister's arm.
Tessa huffs while rolling her eyes, “No, but I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
"That's what I thought, sister dear. We need this; it's the only way, plus it'll help the pack. Do not do anything stupid. Now stay alert, get that little flying saucer out of your head, and come back to earth. Let's go.” Evie throws Tessa's arm down and walks back inside, but both stop, looking wide-eyed and smiling.
Meanwhile, Christian and Christos arrived and walked to the double doors. “They turn to look at each other and smile.
“Well, now, do you smell that?” Christian inhales and smiles.
Christos inhales, “Hell yes, so sweet. Tonight is the night."
Christian points in the direction of the sweet scent he's smelling. The twins start walking toward the back, where they smell the most mouthwatering scents.
The two sisters are breathless when they come face to face with two handsome 6’3” blue-eyed blondes slaying a messy quiff with short sides.
"Mate," all four are staring at each other.
Evie smiles, but it doesn't take her eyes off the handsome Christian for a few minutes. “Damn, he is handsome. Oh my.” Until she remembers her and her sister's plan, she looks away for a second, then looks back at Christian before she looks at her sister.
Christos is staring at Tessa, and she's smiling at him shyly. Evie clears her throat and gives her sister an evil eye.
Tessa drops her head and frowns, and thinks, Sometimes I wish she would just die. Damn it, just die.”
“How about we take a walk in the gardens and get to know each other?” Evie looks at Christian.
“Sure, that would be nice. He takes her hand, and he and she both jump a little when they feel a tingling sensation going through their bodies.
Christos takes Tessa's hand, walking behind them. Tessa keeps taking little glances at her mate, and she loves the tingling this handsome man is giving her.
Once they reach the garden, the twins turn to face their mates. “Let me introduce us. That’s Christos, and I’m Christian Lord. We’re the Alphas of the Ghost Shadow pack.”
“This is my baby sister, Tessa, and I’m Evie Gentry of the Edge Tail pack.” She looks at her sister and sits on a bench.
Tessa looked at Evie and knew where the rest of her night was headed. She was surprised when Evie started talking to Christian.
“Good, she changed her mind. Our mates are handsome. Any woman rejecting them would be two fools,” she thinks as Christos starts talking to her.
After about thirty minutes of getting to know each other, Christian and Christos stood in front of the sisters. “I, Alpha Christian Lord, and I, Alpha Christos Lord, accept Evie Gentry and Tessa Gentry as our mates and our Lunas.
Evie gives Tessa a hard, cold stone stare and moves her head from left to right. Tessa nods her head. Evie looks at Christian.” We, Evie and Tessa Gentry, reject Christian and Christos Lord as our mate.” The two young ladies walk away. Evie smirks, “ It's nothing personal; we just have to be mated to the Alpha, whose pack is number one, and it's not yours."
Christian and Christos are looking at the two ladies in disbelief while trying to keep their wolves from surfacing, then two of the loudest howls pierce the sky.
Tessie looks at Evie, and the two women run inside and peek out, and see two huge ass black wolves staring at them.
“I don’t think that was a good idea.” Tessa is looking at Hurricane, glaring at her.
Cyclone is staring at Evie, and he growls at her.
Evie jumps and grabs Tessa's hand. "We did what we had to do. I refuse to settle for being the Luna of the second-largest pack. Neither will you. Now get that sour look off that face of yours. Sometimes I wonder if we even share the same blood."
Tessa walks away, thinking, "We're going straight to hell. I hope my evil sister is on my side of it, and I'm on the other side, so I don't have to hear her mouth."
Cyclone and Hurricane run into the woods and don't stop until they reach the lake in their territory. The two wolves shift and slide on shorts.
"How dare they do this to us. Our pack is just as good as the Sabre Fur Prowlers. No one even knows what the damn Alpha looks like. Since the old Alpha was killed in battle some years ago." Christos growls.
Christian is battling Cyclone. He's trying to keep him from emerging, then a loud howl and growl. “I should have known my mate was trouble from how she would look every so often. But I never expected either of them to reject us."
Christos is about to say something when he hears footsteps running their way. Christian stood up, looking in the direction that his brother was looking. Both brothers sniff and look at each other, "rogues." They shift and run toward their packhouses.
When they arrive, they see a tall, thin man standing in the middle of their yard. Their wolves shift and slide on shorts.
“The tall, thin man is looking around at the pack that has shifted into their wolves. “Where are your Alphas? I am only here to talk with them, and I want to offer them a deal.” Then he sees two men walking through the wolves.
“Asshole, we don’t know who you are. But you picked the wrong f*****g night to come here.” Christian is looking at the man as he and Christos are now standing in front of their pack.
Christos slides his hands into his pockets. “Yeah, Sticks, you should listen to my big brother. Tonight isn’t the night.” He shook his head. "Nope, not at all."
“My name is Dexter Flowers, and I represent a large company that wants to buy your winery. I was told not to leave without an answer.” The tall, thin man folds his arms and narrows his eyes, looking between Christian and Christos.
Christos looks at Christian. "Do you want to sell? Because I sure as hell don’t.”
“Neither do I,” Christian shook his head, but was still looking at the man. “Hey, Sticks, our winery isn’t for sale. You have your answer. Now get your skinny ass off of our land.”
The man looks at Christian. “My name is Dexter, not Sticks, damn it. We’re not leaving this spot until we have agreed on a price. Damn it, I hate dealing with f*****g airheads."
“Airheads, that's a good one." Christian smirks, nods, and points at him.
"Well, stick it as if this is where you will die. My brother and I gave you and your nasty, funky, ass-smelling rouges a chance to leave. Now you all will be leaving our way,” Christos growls as he shifts into Hurricane.
Christian has also shifted into his wolf, Cyclone.
“Oh boy, I didn’t mean for this s**t to happen. My mother always told me that I talk too much." Dexter mumbles, looking at two angry wolves walking his way. "Attack you fools. Attack! He yells while looking at Cyclone and Hurricane. Then he shifts into a small, pruney white and tan wolf and starts walking backward, looking at the two Alpha wolves ripping heads off of two of his friends.
Hurricane drops the wolf's head on the ground and leaps at another wolf that's about to attack one of his she-wolves. He lands on the wolf's back, sinks his long, large teeth into the wolf's shoulder, and rolls on the ground, crawling over the wolf while his teeth are still on the wolf's shoulder. The wolf howls right before Hurricane pulls half of his shoulder off. He spits out the chunk on the ground and looks around for Stick.
Cyclone has a wolf in its mouth by its stomach. He bites down harder and looks into the wolf's eyes as he swings his huge, sharp claw across its neck, disconnecting half of the wolf's head from its neck. He drops the lifeless wolf and walks over to his brother. A rogue charges at him. Cyclone rams the wolf's head, sending him into a tree. The wolf tries to howl but can't. he gasps for air, but the limb has gone through his neck, and he dies slowly.
Hurricane and Cyclone see the little wolf trying to sneak behind the wolves who are fighting. They both run through the fighting wolves until they reach him.
Sticks look up into Cyclone's eyes, step backward, and bump into Hurricane. He looks around, thinking about running to the left, but he lets out a loud howl. Hurricane has sunk its teeth into his back and slams him to the ground. Now, Sticks is on his back, looking at Cyclone's wide-open mouth coming closer to his head. He starts swinging his claws at the giant wolf, but it's caught in Cyclone’s mouth and ripped off. He howls, and Cyclone covers his head with his mouth, and he’s in darkness until Cyclone tears his head off.
Christos and Christian are trying to take control of their wolves and change back, but Hurricane and Cyclone refuse to give them control and run into the woods.