Chapter I

The piano keys felt cold underneath my fingertips. It brought goosebumps up my arms as I played. It was a normal crisp spring morning in the mountains of Tennessee, cold in the mornings and fairly warm by noon.

I hummed a soft tune as I let myself play with random keys on the piano I recently got for my twenty-first birthday last week. I could not stop thanking my parents even though Josh, my brother, should have been the one who got it. His brute of friends was the ones who broke my keyboard in half after-all. They decided to dive onto it during a very secret house party Josh had while my parents and I were away on a trip to the Royal Crest Pack the weekend before. The Royal Crest Pack is the home of the werewolf kingdom. The King, the Queen and their court live there. They invited me for try-outs to sing at the Annual Mating Gala, which is a gigantic ball in the castle for higher-ranking wolves, twenty-one and older, to find their mates. He saw it as the perfect opportunity to throw a "banger" as he would call it. It is easy to say he is still training day and night to make up for it.

"Ev," my Mother called from my closed door. "Dinner is ready and the mail just ran. I figured you would want to go get it."

At this, I pulled the wooden case over the keys and hurried to my door with a smile. I swung it open and she could not help but to smile at my grin. "Of course! I will be right back to eat!"

My feet carried me past her and straight down the steps to the front door. Not bothering to throw on my shoes, I raced to the mailbox, opening it in a swift motion.

As I was about to shove my hand inside, Josh appeared from nowhere, grabbing the mail and holding it over my head. "Hey little sis, waiting for something?"

He knew I was. I was waiting for two things to be exact, my invitation to the Mating Gala and the results of my try-outs. This was an enormous deal for me. This was my first Gala and if they handpicked you to perform there, it would open so many doors for any career in music.

"Josh! Come on!" I growled out, jumping to grab it from his hand.

He let out a breathy chuckle and ruffled my hair. That, mind you, takes me two hours to get straight every morning. "Someone is eager. I bet you can not wait to be whisked away by prince charming and live as a housewife, huh?"

I scoffed at this. Yes, I would love to meet my mate. Yes, I would love to move out of my childhood home to start my own life. But I am not the type to just gush at a man's feet or forget my own personal goals because he blinked at me. "I am a perfectly capable she-wolf, Josh. There will be no whisking and I would rather die than be a housewife."

"Right." he rolled his eyes before handing me the mail. "We will see about that."

"You males just believe females will be putty in your hands just because we are mates. It is quite disgusting." I say, flipping through the papers. My heart nearly jumped from my chest when my green eyes landed on a light brown envelope with a blue waxed stamp holding it closed.

Everly Ford

It read on the front. I gulped as Josh grabbed his invite from my shaking hands. My eyes flicked to his for a moment and realized that it was thinner than mine. I instinctively licked my lips as I always did when I was nervous and opened mine. There was a white card that I grabbed from it first. The cardstock was lined in gold vines, acting as a frame for the text.

King and Queen Cyprus invite you to the 243rd Annual Mating Gala. It will be held April 21st at 7 p.m. at the Royal Crest Palace.

Dresscode: Formal ball

Plus ones: Not allowed

It was a standard invitation that everyone got that would be attending. A huff of air came from my mouth, placing the invite in my other hand. Moment of truth, what else was in there?

I looked at Josh for a second and he gave an encouraging nod moving to my side to read what the next piece of paper had to hold. I inhaled and pulled it out. Its folded state surprised me but I wasted no time opening it up to reveal a handwritten letter on a blank sheet of tan paper.

Everly,

The court, my husband, and I were quite impressed by your voice. As soon as the court played us the recording they took of you, we knew you were the exact one we wanted to sing at the Gala to end the night. I am very excited for your performance and I can not wait to meet you in person. We are humbly requesting you to join us at the palace on April 18th so we can prepare the song you will be singing. Of course we will be providing your attire for the Gala as well. It is going to be wonderful, Everly.

See you soon,

Queen Fallon Cyprus

"Holy shit, Everly!" Josh exclaimed as I continued to stare at the paper. "The fucking Queen hand wrote you a letter and you are performing at the Gala!"

Not even trying to contain his excitement, Josh picked my small frozen frame up and began running to the house. "Mom! Dad!"

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