Chapter One
About Four Years Ago
Emma
The cool April breeze blew, rustling the leaves and low branches hiding us, but it couldn’t calm the heat running through my body. Aidan sat next to me, and I stared into his gorgeous golden eyes that always held a faint glow—evidence of his strong wolf inside.
“I hate that I can’t come to your birthday party.” He ran his fingertips across my cheeks, and his piney scent filled my nose. “Turning fourteen is a big deal.”
Fourteen years ago, my adoptive parents had found me here, and I’d been drawn to this spot ever since. Then, one fateful night, two years ago, his wolf had brought him to me. We’d been coming here at least three times a week around midnight ever since, and I was closer to him than anyone else. But it didn’t matter. Our packs were not friendly due to a feud that went back so far that no one in my pack remembered the cause. And though it didn’t matter, the pack would still frown upon him coming to the party.
“I hate it too.” My blood always buzzed inside me, though it amplified around him. But, hell, it could have just been the butterflies flitting about inside my stomach. I’d always enjoyed his company, but these past few months, my feelings for him had been strengthening. “I’d do anything to have you there,” I’d whispered, and his wolf hearing picked up each and every word.
“One day, they won’t be able to tell us what to do.” He cleared his throat and scooted closer to me. He tugged at his black shirt as his shoulder touched mine.
“Until then, we at least have these moments together.” I always counted down to these moments when we’d sneak out of our homes to come here and spend a couple of hours together under the moon.
His gaze traveled to my lips.
I wanted to yell at him to kiss me, but I was also relieved he hadn’t. I’d been practicing with my mirror since I’d never been kissed before. He was the only boy I’d ever held hands with. I wanted him to be my first everything.
“I know it’s not until tomorrow, but I have something for you.” He leaned away from me and reached into his jeans pocket. He pulled out a leather cord with a wooden heart painted red dangling from it. “It’s not much, but I wanted you to have a piece of me there with you.”
My fingers brushed the warm, smooth surface before I took the entire heart in my hand. “I love it.”
He nibbled his bottom lip. “I made it for you. No matter where you are, my heart is yours.” He stiffened as the words left his mouth, and he watched me out of the corner of his eye.
My heart beat a little faster. “You have mine, too.”
He blew out a breath and took my hand in his. “Really?”
“Yes.” The weight of the moment hit me hard. He felt the same way I did about him.
“May I …” He nibbled his lip again as his eyes landed on mine. “Uh … kiss you?”
Unable to form words, I nodded.
A grin spread across his face as he slowly leaned in. He paused for a second as he stared into my eyes. “I love you, Emma.”
Before I could respond, his lips touched mine.
I closed my eyes and followed his lead. He deepened the kiss, and my heart hammered so hard it rang in my ears.
This was better than anything I could’ve ever imagined. He tasted of minty toothpaste, and it was now my favorite taste in the world.
Our lips parted, and he gave me a huge smile. “Can I put the necklace on you?”
“Huh?” It took a second for the words to make sense in my head. “Oh, yeah. Please.” I handed the necklace back to him and turned around.
I moved my long blonde hair aside and waited for him to place the necklace over my head. When he didn’t, I looked back.
His brows were furrowed, and confusion filled his eyes.
“Are you okay?” He’d been here with me a moment ago, but now he was miles away.
“Uh… yeah.” He stood in a rush and brushed the grass off his jeans. “I’ve got to go. I’m sorry.” He turned and walked away, leaving me behind.
Aidan
My eyes had to be playing tricks on me. Did the girl I love have the mark of my enemy?
The confusion in her eyes hurt, but I had to leave. I hid in the woods and turned around to see her gorgeous gray eyes locked on where I’d disappeared. Her body tensed as her hand clutched the heart I’d just given her.
There was no way she could be bad… or a monster. Even though my wolf howled deep within me, I knew what I had to do. I needed to stay away to protect her.
Emma
The party felt like it would never end. The entire pack was here, in the large open clubhouse at the center of the neighborhood, to celebrate my birthday. People were dancing like they didn’t have a care in the world.
Even though we weren’t sure when I was born, we celebrated my birthday on April eighteenth, the day my parents found me abandoned in the woods. Apparently, there had been a dead shifter in wolf form right beside me. They believed it was my father, but no one knew for certain.
My parents had been trying for a child for so long they hadn’t hesitated to take me in. They’d seen it as a blessing, and it had seemed like fate since I was a wolf as well. The Rogers pack accepted me as if I were their blood. Even though none of them threatened me, I was ready to lose everything at any second. How could these people love me when my own parents hadn’t wanted me?
Even if the wolf had been my father, it didn’t change how I felt—I needed to be the perfect daughter and wolf for my parents and the pack.
I sat at the table closest to the cake and watched as people laughed, smiled, danced, and talked to one another.
“Hey, Emma.” Jacob sat next to me. He was the alpha’s son and the guy all the girls in school and in our wolf pack wanted. “Why are you on the sidelines? It’s your birthday. You should be out there with Libby and Grace, dancing.”
Libby and Grace were my two best friends in the entire world, and I probably should have been dancing with them, but I just wanted to see Aidan. He’d left in such a weird way last night, and I was panicking. Maybe I was a horrible kisser and I’d ruined everything between us.
“Earth to Emma.” Jacob touched my shoulder. His chocolate-brown eyes found mine through his shaggy hair.
“Yeah, sorry.” I had to stop stressing. Mom had already called me out for acting off tonight, and now Jacob. “I guess it’s surreal. I’ll be a freshman next school year.”
“Ah, so you’re feeling old.” He chuckled and winked at me. “Don’t worry. Age looks good on you.”
Oh, ew. I hadn’t expected that. If I wasn’t all caught up in Aidan, I’d probably be into Jacob, but he paled in comparison. No one else in the world was meant for me. “Uh… thanks?” I hadn’t meant for it to come out as a question.
“I mean it.” He grinned. “I’ve been trying to get you to notice me for a while, but you’re always so distant.’
“You’re in high school.” Thankfully, that came out instead of the real reason I didn’t want to be with him. The last thing I needed to do was upset him and his father.