Chapter 1: The News

AsaLynn

Laying in my bed, reading my latest romance novel, I jump when Erin bursts in, waving an envelope while squealing like a mad woman.

I cannot hold back my groan and blatant eye roll at her over dramatics.

“What's this about now, Erin?” I huff, annoyed that she interrupted right before a good, spicy scene.

Erin flaunts a letter, fanning herself with it.

“Oh, you know… just a letter.” She giggles before continuing again.

“....From the royal pack.”

You would think this would be exciting, but I'm already the daughter of our pack’s Alpha, and to be honest, I could care less about wolf politics.

“Get to the point, Erin.”

Erin's grin grows even wider, and she holds it out to me.

“And it's addressed to ~you!” ~She squeals again.

My eyes furrowed in confusion.

I delicately take the envelope from her and see my name on the front written in luxurious golden calligraphy, and the back bears the royal wax seal.

“W-why would I get a letter from the royal pack?” I question myself aloud.

I don't know anything about the pack other than The King of all wolves, Alpha King Leviathan, rules it.

Every story I have heard of the Alpha King starts and ends the same way. Once you have his attention, you are as good as dead.

The man knows no mercy. He kills first and doesn’t ask questions.

My fingers move over the wax seal, and I feel my wolf, Cypris, begin to stir restlessly.

~“Calm down, Cypris.”~ ~I link.~

I hear her huff at me in response.

In all my years, she has barely ever made a peep or said much to me, and now she is acting cagey.

“What does it say!” says my sister, Erin, as she plops beside me on the bed.

“Does it look like I have opened it Erin?” I growl, annoyed.

I toyed with the envelope for a moment, afraid to open it.

“Do you think it’s from the Alpha King?” she squeals. “I hear that he’s built like a God!” I turn my head and glare at her.

“Isn’t he like 1,000 years old? Do I need to tell your mate you’re saying this?”

Erin laughs, “I don’t care how old he is. The rumors say he is a salt and peppered hunk.”

Handsome or not, the Alpha King would never send a letter to a nobody like me. This letter is probably just an announcement from his envoys.

“What are you waiting for?” Erin asks. “Open it already!”

I carefully slip my nail under the waxed seal of the letter and begin to read the words. They’re handwritten in jet-black ink. My jaw drops when I get to the bottom. ~This couldn’t be…~

Right at the bottom of the page is the signature: ~Alpha King Leviathan~

As my eyes take in his name, I feel Cypris pep up again and begin to whine.

~Since when does she whine? Honestly, my wolf is a bit of a bitch…~.

I shake off my wolf’s odd behavior and divert my focus back to the letter in hand.

It’s practically unheard of to receive a letter from the Alpha King directly.

“Assssa,” Erina whines. “What. Does. It. Say?!”

She is practically jumping up and down with anticipation. Her eyes are wide and wanting, waiting for my answer.

I scan the letter over again before I respond, thinking that this must be a dream or a nightmare…

“I-It’s an invitation to the mating ceremony,” I finally reply, trying to calm my nerves.

I’m so shaken I have to remind myself to breathe.

“Yes. What about it? You get those every ten years. Why did the Alpha King send it this year?”

“This year it’ll be at the Alpha King’s Palace,” I pause. “In Australia.”

“When is it?” she practically screams with excitement.

Of course, her noisiness knows no boundaries, and she snatches the letter from my clammy grip.

“Asa,” she gasps. “You leave tomorrow!”

***

I hate the stupid mating ceremony. I’m already 199 years old. I have been to nine of these things already and have yet to meet my ~fated~.

I’m going to be a spinster, and I accepted the fact years ago. Just leave me to my books. I have never been a social butterfly like my sister or really like any of the other wolves.

Erin found James at her first mating ceremony, and our brother found his while out on a mission to destroy some rogue who was terrorizing a pack.

Lucky asshole never even had to attend even one of these things.

Yet I have gone to them over and over again. The first four times, I was hopeful, but I gave up on that hope the next five times. It’s depressing.

I get up from my bed, knowing who I have to tell next.

I knock on the door of my father’s office, unsure of how I am feeling about this myself.

“Come in,” I hear his voice from the other side of the door.

“AsaLynn,” he says, a glimmer in his eye. “Have a seat, sweetie.”

I sink into the seat opposite him and push the letter toward him.

“So, you have been summoned to the royal palace for this year’s mating ceremony,” he winks.

“Yes,” I reply. “But I won’t be attending,” I say flatly.

~Why go just to have to be disappointed again?~

A hush falls over the room. I can feel the air as it seems to thicken while a serious expression settles on my father’s face.

“There is something I need to tell you, Asa.”

His face is scarily serious and full of concern.

“What is it?”

I am not used to seeing such graveness in my father. Despite being the Alpha of our pack, he has always been light-hearted and joyous around me.

“This year you turn 200,” he states matter-of-factly.

I knew this information, but hearing it out loud made me shudder. Though I am 199, I appear like a human’s late twenties.

“Yes,” I roll my eyes. “Thanks for the reminder, Dad,” I scoff.

A quick flash of annoyance flashes across his face before he sighs, and his posture deflates.

“There has been something I have been meaning to tell you. I probably should have done this long ago, but I hoped you would have found your mate by now.”

~Yeah, I get it, but let’s not pour salt in the wound, Dad.~

My thoughts must have shown on my face because he spoke up again.

“I need you to take this seriously, Asa. The thing about being the child of an alpha is that after you turn two hundred, you can no longer find your ~fated~ mate.”

My heart drops to my stomach, and I feel a lump form in my throat. It’s one thing to joke about being forever alone and another thing entirely to know that there is a possibility that you really could never have your other half, the rest of eternity without the one the Moon Goddess created for you.

“W–what d–does that mean?” I can barely push out the words.

The reality of the situation starts to settle.

“Well,” my father sighs. “It means that this mating ceremony will be your last chance.”

Suddenly, the weight of the world seems to fall right on top of me. It feels like a boulder is sitting on top of my chest with the finality of it all.

My wolf growls at the words, angered.

I notice my breathing has sped up from the fear, and I force myself to calm down, pulling the anxiety back.

I sit there in silence for a few moments before looking back up at my father. His face still shows the sadness and worry.

“Well then, I guess I need to go pack,” I choke out in a hushed tone.

I take back the letter and head back to my room.

Plopping down onto my bed, I grab the letter again, my eyes falling over the name ~Leviathan.~

I can feel Cypris pacing inside my consciousness.

I don’t even realize that my fingers have begun to trace his name until I feel a small, almost electric, buzzing sensation flow under the skin of my fingers.

I jerk my hand back, dropping the letter to the floor, freaked out by the foreign feeling.

“What the fuck was that?!”

I look down at my hands, yet nothing looks to be different.

In confusion, I rub my fingertips where the sensation was moments ago.

~Static electricity?~ I think, trying to put some reason behind it, but I know that isn’t it. That felt like an actual electrical current.

I shake my head, figuring maybe I am just worked up about everything and feeling things that aren’t there.

My eyes glance back to the envelope, and I huff, now thinking again about my luck in the previous ceremonies.

~Why does this have to happen to me?~