Amira

I slam my pillow down on my head as I hear yet another scream. The Alpha's son was changing tonight, and he couldn't be louder about it. I live in the first perimeter around the Alpha's estate, because my dad is a guard for the 'royal family', which is why I can hear him so vividly.

Personally, I don't like the kid. Granted, he's not a kid anymore. He turned twenty today, which is why he's changing. Big deal, I am turning eighteen tomorrow, but no one will even care because tomorrow night is the Alpha's Ball, right after the loud ass son gets 'officially enthroned'.

I've never seen an official Alpha ceremony before. The last Alpha had been enthroned before I was born.

Another scream finds its way through my window and I push the pillow harder onto my head. I know The Changing is supposed to be painful, but the Beta's son had undergone one only two weeks ago, when he turned twenty, and I didn't hear him all night long.

I glance over at the clock and groan. It is past midnight. Wasn't this thing supposed to be over by midnight? Why is he still screaming? Honestly, I only met the guy once, but I know he is a jerk. He sleeps around all the time, which makes me feel bad for his future mate. Whoever is mated to him must be hated by the Moon Goddess. He's cocky and ruthless. I feel bad for anyone who upsets him even in the slightest, because mercy isn't exactly a word in his vocabulary. I overheard some kids at school last week talking about two packs already building up a stronger military, preparing for his reign as Alpha. He is estimated to become top Alpha of all packs in the Northern U.S. within the first year of holding his title.

Alpha Caine: About to destroy the world, one pack at a time.

That had been the headline in a newspaper article from the Whitefire Pack. 'Harmony is important' my ass, they are all just hypocritical. I was somehow lucky enough to be born into the Obsidian Pack: note the sarcasm. They tried to make it sound nice, but realistically, all we are supposed to believe in is revenge and retaliation. That is literally our motto, "Revenge and Retaliation". Nothing else, just that. Not like the Valentene Pack: "Love is not with the eyes, but with the mind." They stole it from some old amazing human writer; Shakespeare, actually. How original.

Another deep, animalistic scream floats into my room and I groan in frustration before sitting up in my bed and glaring out the window. This time it is my turn to scream when I see my best friend outside of it with a smirk on her face. I walk over and unlock the pane to slide it open.

"What the hell? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" I ask as Jade crawls into my room with a laugh.

"Calm down, Mira," she pulls her dark hood down revealing her vibrant red curls.

"I hope the Alpha actually breaks loose and kills you for being out of the house, since that's exactly what they told us we shouldn't do."

"Alpha-to-be. Don't worry, Caine isn't going to break loose," she rolls her eyes and sits down on the foot of my bed while she inspects her nails. "I actually came here to try and convince you to sneak out with me." I raise an eyebrow at her as another scream rips through the night.

"You're officially psychotic."

"I've always been psychotic, honey. But seriously, come on. Caine is still changing, let's go watch. I always wondered what a changing looks like," she glances at me with an excited expression across her face.

"The estate is extremely guarded, especially tonight. There's no way you're sneaking on those grounds."

"Come on, Amira, live for a night. I heard they have him chained in the cellar."

"Why," I scrunch my face. Jade has always been a fan of Caine. I always thought he was arrogant and annoying, but I think I stand alone with that opinion. I don't mind the Beta, Brayden. He was gorgeous before he changed but, especially now, he is just beautiful. He is super nice, too. I've only talked to him a few times, when the two used to go to school with us, but he is still always really sweet. I wouldn't mind being his mate.

Tomorrow night I could possibly finally find out who my mate is, if he is eighteen as well. Sadly, I won't find out until around midnight. 11:47 to be exact, but the elite of the pack will be at the Alpha's estate for the Alpha's Ball, so unless he's from another pack, a lower rank wolf, or not eighteen yet, he should be there. I would completely be fine with meeting Brayden's gaze and having him instantly fall in love with me. I heard every time mates touch, sparks fly, but I wouldn't know if it was true. Jade kicked my leg and I realize I am spacing out.

"Sorry, what?" I ask. She rolls her eyes.

"I said, let's go," she throws a black hoodie at me and grabs my hand, trying to drag me to the window.

"No- no way. I am not getting in trouble. I don't want to deal with Caine's wrath."

"He's not even our Alpha yet, don't be a goody two-shoes, let's go," I still hesitate and Jade pulls me up. "When was the last time you did something that got your adrenaline pumping?"

"Not since you made me come with you when you 'accidentally' set that shed on fire."

"And did we get in trouble for that?" Jade raises her eyebrow at me.

"Well, no, but that's because they somehow never figured out it was us," my best friend isn't the best influence on me.

"Exactly, and we're not going to get caught now, either."

"I heard that a person's senses are heightened when they're changing. Caine would smell us coming from hundreds of miles away."

"You live a mile away, that means our scents are already flooding his nose. Come on. It'll be fun. Plus, Caine has bigger things to worry about than some girls sneaking around his house."

"Jade, we're going to get caught," I argue with her.

"So what? Then we get caught and 'face Caine's wrath'. We can probably just seduce him out of it."

"I don't ever want to seduce someone like him," I scrunch my nose in disgust.

"That's not the point, let's go before he's finished!" Jade tugs on my arm once again, but I don't budge.

"What if he breaks loose?"

"He's not going to break loose! Come on, Amira, I'll buy you that dress you've been eyeballing for the past week. You can wear it to the Alpha's Ball tomorrow." Damn, now she got me. I really want that dress, but I don't want to ask my parents for the money for it. It is kind of expensive. Jade's father is one of the best pack lawyers, so money is never a problem for her. Being the daughter of a royal guard, we have more money than we need as well, but Jade's family has more. I look into her anxious eyes and sigh.

"Fine, you win. But if we get caught and Caine kills us, I'm telling him to kill me first so you have to watch."

"Wow, really feeling the love, Mira." I get up and pull the hoodie over my head, concealing my dark brown hair, before cautiously following her out the window.

****************************

It didn't take us long to get to the Alpha's estate. We are hiding in the trees and peering at the multitude of guards surrounding the large mansion. There are already white tents and lights set up everywhere. Wooden floor tiles and potted plants are placed inside and around each tent. They have been preparing for the Ball for months now, and it is worth it. It looks like it is going to be truly beautiful.

"I can't believe I let you rub dirt all over me," I pick another leaf out of the corner of my mouth.

"Shh! It covers your scent," Jade scans the yard. Every werewolf has a special skill that the Moon Goddess blesses them with at birth. For some people, like me, this special skill isn't discovered until later in life. Jade was stealthy, which she found out when she was sixteen and sneaking out of her house. She is able to mask her scent and muffle her heartbeat, therefore she didn't need to roll around in mud, unlike me.

She picks up a rock and throws it farther away in the woods. The guards cautiously walk in that direction and Jade quickly pulls me towards a massive brick wall.

"Where's the cellar?" I whisper. Another scream cuts through the silence nearby and Jade raises her eyebrow before pulling me in that direction. Further down the wall, on the side of the mansion closest to the woods, we find a small window with metal bars near the ground.

"I'm guessing that's it," Jade drops to the ground and crawls towards the window as I follow her. Growling and panting grow louder the closer we get. I can smell sweat and blood and suddenly I realize how bad of an idea this is. Jade reaches the window before me and peaks into it, her jaw hanging open. I cautiously follow suit and feel my own jaw fall open in shock.

I can see the feet of who I assume is Alpha Elijah and Beta Brayden outside of the gate of the cell, but that's not what catches my eye. The moonlight from our window is shining directly onto Caine inside the cell. His wrists and ankles are in heavy chains that are connected to the strong, brick walls. An additional chain is dangling next to his head with a broken collar on it. Already I notice the much added muscle and height to him. He wasn't small before, but now he is just surprisingly large, no doubt going to be one of the biggest alphas there was. The sweat glistens on his skin and he turns his head sharply to spit out blood onto the ground next to him. A low growl starts from deep in his throat before he screams and throws his head back, his spine cracking as his lower body pushes forward. He is practically folded in half backwards. He is naked, which makes me want to look away, but the way he is positioned doesn't reveal anything to us. Seeing your alpha naked is probably forbidden in one of our laws. Instead of looking away, I focus on his face. I had never seen him show any sign of pain before, but now he looks defeated.

"Oh my God," Jade covers her mouth. They won't hear her over Caine's screaming, but I still raise a finger to my lips. Every muscle in his back clenched as he howls in pain. Suddenly, he roughly pulls his arms back before thrusting them forward, throwing them to the ground. The two chains around his wrists break and he falls to the ground with a loud thud.

"Shit!" Brayden shouts his distress before quickly picking up another chain and adding it to those wrapped around the lock of the metal door.

The wooden pedestal Caine is standing on cracks under his fists. From behind, all I can see is his hunched figure, panting heavily. Part of the moonlight on his back disappears and I quickly turned to Jade, pushing her away, but it was too late. Caine slowly turns his head over his shoulder and his frigid blue eyes lock with mine. They had changed colors, but that's what happens when you're an Alpha, your irises turn the sharpest color of your pack, no one has eyes like them. I quickly duck out of the window and pull Jade back into the woods.

"Oh my God! Oh my God!" Jade pants as we finally get to my house. I crawl back through my window and she follows. "Did you see him break those chains? Do you think he got loose?" Jade is worrying about him getting loose, but all I can think about is his cold stare meeting mine.

"He saw me," I mumble.

"What? How do you know?"

"I know."

"Oh my God, Amira," Jade slaps me, "How could you let him see you?"

"I didn't do it on purpose! What is he going to do to me?"

"I don't know," Jade shrugs, "He probably didn't even get a good look at you, don't worry about it. I have to get home, my parents will kill me if they come in my room tomorrow and I'm not there," she crawls out of my window after saying goodnight and I walk to the bathroom to shower off the mud that is caked onto my skin.

"Moon Goddess," I pray, "If you're up there, please help me avoid death by Caine."

*******************************

Caine

I thought I saw someone outside the window. I know the light from the full moon disappeared, so someone was there. I quickly blinked away the sweat that was blurring my vision and looked towards the window again, but no one is there. I try to channel my newfound, stronger scent sense and, through struggle, I am able to pick up a faint smell, although it's not much. My senses are so messed up right now I can't focus enough on things like that. I wouldn't even be able to keep the nonexistent Delphian Pack's alpha from attacking. I hear metal scraping against metal and my head whips back to the door. I raise my lip and snarl at Brayden wrapping a chain around the door. There is no part of me that is human right now. Looking down at my wrists, I realize that I am free and launch myself at the door as Brayden stumbles back, falling in the process. I don't make it far and am pulled back by the chains that are still around my ankles. Growling angrily, I move my hands and pull on the thick metal cuffs around my ankles. I get one to snap in half and move to the other before heat floods my body and I am forced to stop. My wolf was about to take over again.

All I want is blood. I want to kill. The urge has never been stronger than it is right now. My body quickly twists and I'm my wolf again, fur finally jet black.

"Those chains aren't going to hold him much longer," Brayden lifts the hem of his shirt, preparing himself to change into wolf form in case I break loose. He would be the only one able to stop me, The Changing had transferred most of my father's power over to me. My father puts his hand on Brayden's chest, stopping him.

"It's almost over," he says from the other side of the gate.

Good, I can't wait for this hell to end.