Chapter 1 ~ Unexpected Summons

Wintertime for me is both a happy time and a sad time of the year, because, at that time, I lost my mother and my twin brother.

Yes, I was born due to complications during childbirth.

My name is Zarina. I am a 17-year-old girl who lives in Northern Canada along with my family.

You would think that my father might hate me because I survived and his true love and only son died.

But you would be wrong.

My father just does not care what happens to me. The only thing my father seems to care about that I can notice is that I do not die and that once I come of age and turn twenty-one, I will be married off to the Beta's son. He has been chosen for my arranged marriage.

The reason my father is waiting until I turn twenty-one is that we are werewolves. And until the time we turn twenty-one, we are unable to shift into our wolf form. But when we turn eighteen, we can at least connect with our wolf spirit. Wolves are known as our other selves because they have names, personalities, and feeling just like you and me. Our wolf usually connects with us three years before our first shift so that a bond can be established in advance before our first shift occurs. To protect us because our first can be very traumatizing to a young shifter.

From the time I was born until I was sixteen, I had only one friend, Rosa, who I affectionately have called Rose.

I was born when Rose was six, she was assigned as my personal maid by my father to help care for me, however, our relationship was less of her being my maid and more friend and big sister, Rose has always been a truly kind and caring individual. Rose has lived in the Alpha mansion since she was just a baby, her father was the original Beta of our pack my father's second in command and her mother was his mate.

When Rose was only three months old during the harsh winter months the beta and his mate had to travel to another pack to talk about a pack treaty between the two packs. On the return trip from the other pack both of her parents were slaughtered by rouges, this was a few years before I was born. My parents decided to adopt Rosa because they had no children yet and there was no one to take in Rose and raise her, so Rose continued to live in our mansion as the adopted child of Alpha Lucan and Luna Yvonne.

Only the people in my pack know that I am the only blood daughter of an alpha.

Oh, btw, only Rose and I know that I have already established a bond with my wolf.

I was shocked when it happened.

Rose and I were in my room celebrating my sixteenth birthday. Suddenly, there was another voice inside my head...

My wolf's name is Ivory, she is loyal, kind, and is always there for me as a listening ear.

Anyways, on my birthday that year, I double the number of friends I had now I had Rosa and Ivory.

When I was six, my father chose to get remarried and take another mate. He could not stand to look at me anymore and needed help to take care of me so that he would not have to acknowledge my existence.

At first, when my stepmother came into our lives, she seemed kind and sweet. But after she and my father had tried to have more children, my stepmother Luella began to change.

This may be because all her pregnancies seemed to end in miscarriages.

By the time I was ten, they had tried multiple times and had at least six miscarriages. After the last one, Luella began to resent my existence and treat me poorly.

However, she only did this when we were alone. Even though my father ignored me, he did not want me to be harmed.

So now I refer to Luella as Lu because she hates the nickname as according to her it is too masculine sounding, I disagree but I do not like her, so I do it anyway.

As the years have gone by, Lu has increasingly gotten more and more aggressive towards me. She has started to abuse me physically and mentally, only Rose and Ivory know about the abuse. They both feel so sad for me and tell me I should report it.

I always say no.

I do not believe anyone would believe that the "kind" Luna would do such a thing to the Alpha's daughter.

I have not been sleeping well of late due to the weird dreams I have been having.

When there is a knock on my bedroom door, I groggily wake up and check my phone on my bedside table.

It reads 6 a.m.

I yell at the door in frustration.

"Whoever Is at my door at 6 in the morning better have a good reason to disturb my sleep! If not, come back at 7! I am going back to sleep!"

There is another knock on the door even louder this time.

Ivory reminds me.

"Just get the door to get it over with."

"Fine," I grumble under my breath.

"Whoever is at my door at this ungodly hour better have a damn good reason! Or, I will ring your fucking neck!"

As I finish my word, another even louder knock comes from the other side door which infuriates me even more.

I rush to the door and open it aggressively.

On the other side of the door is one of my father's younger warriors, I am not sure which one he is, I just glare at him in anger.

"What the fuck do you want?"

The warrior raises his eyebrows at my sudden outburst.

He looks up and down at what I am wearing, and that is when I realize that, in my rush to get to the door, I forgot to grab my robe.

I am currently only wearing a white sheer camisole and thong!

I try to not let the warrior know that I am annoyed by the fact that he can see everything I have to offer.

Oh, I do notice the warrior has a mate mark on his neck!

I clear my throat to get his attention.

he looks up, and I say.

"I think your mate may have an issue with you looking at anywhere but my face."

He blushes and whispers shyly.

"The Alpha and Luna would like a word with you in his office on the third floor at 7 in the morning."

"Ok."

I slammed the door in his face.

I proceeded to gather myself after the embarrassing situation at the door when I might as well have been naked in front of that warrior.

I wonder and ask Ivory.

"What do you think they want to speak with me."

Growling slightly Ivory informs me,

"I am not sure. The Alpha hardly shows you any attention. And your Stepmother only ever wants to speak with you to belittle you."

"I agree. but it is an Alpha summons, so I have no choice in the matter. Let's just get this over with."

I sigh and start to get ready for the meeting.

I go to the dresser and pull out a pair of black leggings, and a white off-the-shoulder knitted wool sweater. I complete the outfit with socks, a thong, and a lace bra. All black. I go into my private bathroom and place the clothing on the vanity.

As I do I notice my reflection in the mirror other than the bags under my eyes. But I also see many of my mother's features. The pale blonde hair and fair skin. But that is as far as it goes because my eyes are a combination of both my parents' grey outer ring and striking bright blue in the middle.

I sigh, and turn to heat the water for a quick shower.

Once I have showered, I get out dry off, put on my outfit, and put on minimal light makeup.

I go back to my room and grab my phone from my bedside table and see that it is already 6:40.

"What should we have for breakfast after the meeting Ivory?" I ask.

"I think we should have blueberry, pancakes, and whipped cream for breakfast." Ivory informs me in excitement.

"We can do that but first let's get this meeting over with. And then we can have Rose join us for breakfast."

I head out of the room.

The Alpha's home is large and there are five floors and a basement. The basement is for laundry, cleaning equipment, and holiday decorations. The first floor is where the kitchen, dining room, and the two living rooms are located. The second floor is where the Omegas that cook and clean the house live. The third floor is where the three rec rooms and meeting hall, as well as the offices, are located. The fourth floor is where the beta and delta live there are also extra rooms for any visiting guests from other packs.

Then there is the fifth floor where the Alphas family resides which now consists of the Alpha, Luna, Rose, and me.

I head toward the stairs. As I come to Rose's room, she comes running out in a hurry.

I call out to her.

"Rose where are you off to in such a hurry?"

Rose turns and sees me, and she gives me a radiant smile.

Rose is what you would call classically beautiful.

She has brown hair with natural red highlights, and brown eyes with flecks of amber but only if you look closely, she also takes care to make sure she works out enough so she can manage herself in a fight.

"I am heading to talk to the Alpha and Luna. I was summoned to his office."

"So was I! Now that is weird. They want to see us both! Now I'm even more curious."

"So am I! but on another note, how did you sleep last night? You said that your sleep was restless the last 2 nights."

As we are heading to the Alphas office, I tell her.

"Not good again, Ivory says I will understand soon. I am not so sure."

"Ivory is probably right. Just wait. I'm sure it will be ok. If you want, later we can discuss your dreams."

"Yes, I would. How about over breakfast of blueberry and pancakes?"

We walk up to the Alpha's office door and pause. I check my phone. It says 6:55.

I knock on the door.

I hear a muffled sound of the Alpha beckoning us to enter.

"Come in."