Prologue
Eighteen-year-old Grace Sloane watches her younger brothers run as wolves in the Forbidden Forest. It is almost midnight, and the two have the sudden urge to run. Grace refuses to join them,as she rests her back on the trunk of a tree. For an ordinary human, the whole scene appears dark except for a faint illumination. However, for her and her brothers, everything is brightly lit. Their humanity contributes the colors that an ordinary wolf will otherwise not distinguish. As she settles for a night of boredom, a memory of her and her brothers as children suddenly hits her.?
"Gregory is going to be Alpha one day," little Grace declared. "I will be a rogue witch, and Gannon will be my familiar."
Her parents had laughed appreciatively. They were one happy family.
They still are.?
As children, she has always thought of Gregory becoming Alpha one day after their father, and he looks the part now. At sixteen years old, her middle brother is already six feet three tall. He just needs some bulking up to do, but his lean body is several times stronger than a human. Their twelve year old brother Gannon is still young, but his shifts are controlled and regular. His enthusiasm provides him with an endless fount of energy.?
Grace and her family never expect anything typical out of the siblings. After all, mom Riva is a rogue witch-werewolf hybrid, while dad Gideon has always been an Alpha. The two not only inherited their traits but have worked hard to topple an evil regime to get to where they are. They're not like some of the pack wolves that use and abuse their power, and have not even fought wars to prove themselves.?
As for Grace, her shifts disappointed her at first. She thought that she would be more witch than werewolf, but here she is, just like her brothers. A werewolf. Of course, she also has witch's powers, not the kind she wants but she can learn other skills. Her mother's coven friends have promised her that it will happen. It's not like she's not proud of being a werewolf. She just wants to have a lot more. She's a little greedy, she has to admit even to herself.?
"You are a scent witch. You can manipulate scents. Add the fact that you are a werewolf, you have uncanny senses," her mother said.?
"I want all my senses to be strong," Grace confessed. "I don't want to be just a scent witch. I know I can see better, taste, and touch better than humans. But I want to be able to control them, too."
"There's no competition, honey, but I understand you. When I was young, I learned how to fight and to do all kinds of spells. The werewolf in me came later. Much later."
"So, maybe, the rest of my senses will come later?"
?Her mother chuckled at that, but she didn't answer. Grace is still waiting for an answer. She has been spending hours learning spells and even making up some of them.?
"Grace! Grace! Why didn't you run with us?" Gannon calls, putting his shirt on over his jeans. He has more likely shifted back behind some of the trees.?
Grace groans. She stands up, and tries to wipe off as much of the wet grass sticking on her jeans and blouse.?
"I don't want to."
"You're a wolf, too, you know."
"I know, Gannon," she replies kindly.?
Not long after, Gregory joins them. The three walk back to their Forbidden Forest house, which their mother inherited from her parents. They also have a home somewhere in the city, where they live like normal humans. When they are near enough, they notice that all the lights are on.
"What the fuck?" Gregory exclaims.
"Language," Grace warns. She is the oldest and is supposedly the voice of reason among the siblings.?
"We must have a visitor," Gannon says quietly. Grace can see that he tenses to get ready for a fight.?
"At this time?" his older brother wonders, and Grace can't help but agree. Why would anyone visit them at midnight? The last time that happened was five years ago. His father's friend Alpha Leon's pack was attacked and needed some place to hide for a little while as they regained their strength for the next battle.?
Grace hopes that no such attack has happened. It's why she hates her werewolf side. It's so wild and unruly, sometimes controlled by moonlight and what she feels is a baser nature. She knows that even her parents have rebelled against the typical werewolf lifestyle. They still do. While both claim they are fated, they also say they believe in freedom of choice. What a mess.
There's also the fact that Grace hasn't heard her inner wolf yet. She knows her dad heard his later on life because of the drug suppressants given to him by his dad. Gregory already has Helos, and Gannon may transform but he hasn't heard anything yet. The difference between her in Gannon, aside from their six years apart, is that Gannon is confident he will get his inner wolf soon.?
"Hello?" Grace calls out before she pushes the door open.
"Why the hell would you do that for? If there's somebody out to get us, they would know we're here," Gregory complains.
"The lights are on, Gregory. It's not like they're hiding. If these are wolves, they would have smelled us from a great distance. If these are humans, we will try to handle the whole thing nicely. If they're here to hurt us, then we'll show them what we can do."
"Okay, then, big sister," he says, giving her a mock salute.?
The three enter. They follow the sound of voices to the dining area. There, Gideon and Riva are seated by the dining table with an older woman. Her hair is short and black, with some streaks of white.?
"Come over here, the three of you," Gideon beckons to his children.?
The three look at each other apprehensively but obey, anyway.?
"Say hello to your great-aunt Domino," Riva says in a cheerful voice. All three almost breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.?
"Hello," Gannon greets, waving his right hand a little. He suddenly looks shy.?
"Well, we're going to cut to the chase," Gideon begins.
Husband and wife look at each other, increasing the feeling of unease among their children.?
"Aunt Domino is here to ask for our help," their mother says. "She said that the Scent Wolves of Opium Hills are dying out."
"How can we help with that?" Gregory asks, his face scrunching with distaste. The Opium Hills wolves don't exactly have a great reputation. They are wild.?
"Grace can," the older woman says, turning to the three. "She's a scent witch-werewolf hybrid. The young wolves of Opium Hills have been looking for mates. Their females have been dying, well getting killed actually. The first young werewolf I could think of is you, Grace."
Grace stares at her great-aunt in horror. Why does she think she would want to live more like a werewolf? She is a witch! She is also nobody's fated mate. She doesn't believe in that crap.?
