Laurel should have never been born, and yet she exists. A tragic event led her to a path of darkness, revenge, blood, and death. Allies turned into foes, and hell soon consumed her.
Friends became family and helped her heal and live. She left a pas...
James Campbell was the Alpha of the Blue Moon pack. He had a younger sister whose mate was his Beta. He had to take over the leadership of his pack the moment he turned 18. He was preparing for this his whole life and, yet, he wasn't prepared enough for all the difficulties he would face.
His people were loyal to him and trusted him, and he had created a strong, intelligent team of people to whom he could trust his life. When a werewolf turns 18, he's ready to meet his mate. Sometimes their mate belongs to the same pack, but sometimes the werewolf might spend years, or even decades, in some cases, until he finds his mate.
Five years had passed without him finding his. His parents were worried. An Alpha without a Luna and an heir wasn't considered strong. James, though, proved to be one of the brightest of his generation. He didn't need a mate to lead his pack, make alliances, or attack his enemies. His future mate was something sacred for him, and under no circumstances could he compare that person with the lust for power. Finding his mate didn't mean more power for him. It meant finding true love, the person that would always love him, the person for whom he would always worry and care.
His childhood wasn't bright. His father was never around to talk to him or play with him. He was always in his office or somewhere around the world securing his pack's growth. The best thing that his father taught him was how to be cruel when it came to business. Indeed, James knew how to make the best deals, and his fame traveled soon all around the world.
His mother was usually sick, always complaining of headaches and retreating to her room. James and his sister had to learn how to take care of themselves. Young James knew his parents had problems. He could figure out when his mother was faking her smile, and he was the first to notice that his father was sleeping on the couch of the office. He always thought that mates were never supposed to fight or argue, but his parents were the example that made him doubt.
Luckily, he had his sister, Liz. She was three years younger than him, and she was smarter than most kids at the pack. Somehow she always had the correct answer to their problems or worries. He also had his best friend: Alex. His father was the Beta. Therefore, they all lived together at the same huge house with dozens of rooms. James, Alex, and Liz were inseparable: together at training, at school, at studying... They were always together.
When he learned that his two most favorite people in the world were mates, he got happy and hopeful. Especially after seeing them together, he started hoping again that living with your mate was to be fulfilled, completed, loved without limits.
The day he met her for the first time, he had a dream, as if the goddess of the moon herself told him to go to that place. He could spend thousands of years dreaming about his mate, but once he saw her, he knew that it would be pointless. How could he ever imagine a creature that beautiful and that elegant?
She turned around, and they locked their eyes. He thought that he could give away his entire existence to stare at her dark, smart brown eyes. She started walking, nearing him. His body tensed. How could she know? But she left, and she was already gone when he realized what had happened. He spent the next days walking around, waiting in the café, trying to smell her, but it was pointless until one cloudy evening.
He had to go back to his pack, they needed him, and he had, for the first time in his life, abandoned his cases. He was walking for the last time when suddenly the air changed, and a silent fire started burning inside him. Turning around, he saw her. He wouldn't let her go away. Touching her silky skin, he introduced himself but only received a cold response. How could she not feel the same? It didn't matter that she was human. Wasn't she attracted to him? Was something wrong with him? He was afraid that the story was repeating itself, and he dreaded to believe that he was meant to have his parents' life.
He spent the next days thinking about her running away from him, but he had a duty. Later, the night at the club, he saw her, and she stared back. He couldn't give a reason behind it, but he knew she felt something. He became certain when he saw her above the vampire, his heart inside her hand, her eyes shimmering with pleasure.
Who was she?
He spent all night searching. How could a werewolf conceal his smell? He came up with nothing. He got up, left his packhouse, and went to the campus. The sun had just risen. He found her where he had seen her the second time.
''I knew you would come,'' she said when he approached her.
''For once, you wait and don't run.''
''You need to stop it.''
''What? Trying to talk to my mate? You knew from the first moment who I was, and you chose to hide it. Why?'' he demanded to know.
''Because I was trying to avoid what's happening now. Look, it's not personal. Don't blame yourself. I don't want a mate,'' she said, getting only inches away from him, never dropping her look.
''That's...'' he tried to say, but no good question came out of his mouth.
''I'm sure you will find someone nicer, someone, you deserve.''
''I want you,'' he said, finally realizing what she told him.
She tried to breathe slowly and focus. She couldn't show weakness.
''James Campbell,'' she said.
Lyra was screaming from the inside. ''You can't do this! Stop it! '' she was shouting, but it was pointless.
James took her hands and held them carefully as if they were fragile precious stones. His touch creating small flames where he touched her.
''I know you feel it. I don't know why you deny it, but it's real. It is happening. Let me help you. I can see you are struggling with something.''
She looked down and saw their hands being interlocked, matching together. The grass slightly moving from the wind, their feet close together. She swallowed her pain and looked at him again. She felt her eyes getting watery, and she knew it was now or never unless she wanted to break down.
''James Campbell, I, Laurel Creed, reject you as my mate,'' she managed to say.
His look changed immediately, his eyes getting darker, his hands were now burning her skin like acid. She felt as if she had ripped her heart. As if someone had taken it and left her body without it. Lyra had stopped speaking.
He let his hands fall heavy and leaving hers. He wanted to shout and scream until everyone in the world listened to him, but no sound came out of his mouth. He was burning, a wolf alone in the world, floating on a shipwreck.
''I had to,'' she said and kept herself from falling to the ground.
''Don't you dare come anywhere near me again,'' he said finally and left her.
Laurel hit hard on the ground.
''What have I done?'' she said desperately between her tears with a broken voice.
James headed to the woods. He didn't know how long he had walked, but the sun was now high up in the sky. He rested his back on a tree, and only then he looked at his hands. His claws were out. They had torn the skin of his palms, and he was bleeding. How could he notice it when there was, now, a hole left in his body?
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