Chapter 1 – When Taken by the Dark Fate Free Online

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As a Zodiac Wolf,my fate was tied to the stars. Too bad my stars were more crossed than aligned. Being the outcast of the Cancer pack had taught me that all too well.

The sea lapped up to meet my bare feet like an eager puppy trying to gain its owner’s affection. I dug my toes deeper into the cool sand and looked out over the water. It was beautiful, I couldn’t deny that, but not in the way the rest of my pack said it was. Members of the Cancer pack talked about its call, like something deep inside of them being answered. For me it was a pretty picture, nothing more. I could photograph it all I wanted, but I never seemed to capture the essence of what they were talking about.

My only hope was the upcoming Convergence, which would unlock my wolf. If I could feel the connection to the sea that the rest of my pack did, maybe they would start to feel like my own people as well. Right now, they were no better than strangers. Sometimes, more like enemies.

I shoved the loneliness aside. It could easily consume me, if I let it. Instead, I focused on the dark ocean once more, trying to frame a shot. The moon just brushed the horizon, casting out reflections onto the water that shifted with every breath of the sea. It really was peaceful, and even if I didn’t feel a pull to the sea, I did feel it toward the moon. That alone let me know that I belonged in the Cancer pack, even if nothing else did. Not that anyone else in my pack agreed with me.

I lifted my camera, deciding to try and snap a few pictures before the moon rose higher. I should have been home packing for the Convergence, but here I was, taking pictures instead. I’d use any excuse to get out of the house for a while.

I held my breath as I took the shot, trying to get it crystal clear. I snapped another one in quick succession, just to be sure, and lowered the camera so I could look at the tiny screen. Before I could decide which photo was better, a rustle from the bushes alerted me that I wasn’t alone. I turned away from the water, trying to see what had caused the disturbance. For a moment, nothing moved and I figured it must have been an animal.

Something dark burst out of the brush, and I took an involuntary step back. A large gray wolf bounded toward me, and three more dark shapes joined it in a rush of fur and claws. Damn. It was too late for me to run, and I didn’t have shoes on, besides. While it was fine to run around on the sand barefoot, I couldn’t say the same about the sharp rocks above. If I wanted to make it to safety, I’d have to cross them.

The four wolves surrounded me like I was their prey before shifting back into their human forms. Their leader, Brad, was muscular and intimidating even when he wasn’t in his wolf form. With blond hair and blue eyes, he would be handsome if he didn’t look like he was always about to pick a fight with someone. The other two men were his thugs, Owen and Chase, and they sneered at me from their much less attractive faces. Brad’s mate Lori made up the fourth member of their group since she always clung to him like a barnacle. They were all naked after their shift, but none of them were bothered by that, and they displayed their Cancer symbol proudly—their Zodiac pack marks. Brad had his mark on his chest, while the others had them on their arms. Then there was me—I didn’t have one at all.

“Ayla,” Brad said my name like a snarl. “What are you doing out here all alone?”

A pang of anxiety went through me. Brad was never friendly, and he wouldn’t be talking to me at all if he didn’t want something. Being the son of the Cancer beta, he looked down on me. I was technically above him in rank, but no one cared.

Lori giggled and tossed her perfect strawberry blond hair. She stood at Brad’s shoulder, a possessive hand on his arm. As I tried to gauge my chances of escaping unscathed, Owen and Chase leered at me. They all ran in the same circle, the sons and daughters of the most influential Cancer pack members. I was the only one who wasn’t invited, even though I should have been at the forefront, being the daughter of the alpha. Having human blood made me the outcast of the pack instead.

“I asked you a question, mutt,” Brad snarled, kicking sand at me.

Swearing under my breath, I held my camera higher, trying to avoid getting sand onto the lens. Wesley had just bought this lens for me the last time he’d visited, and I couldn’t let these idiots mess it up.

“I’m sorry,” I snapped back. “I didn’t realize your stupidity required answering. Anyone with two eyes and basic brain function can see what I’m doing. But you’re obviously missing one of those. I’m still not sure which one.”

Brad moved too quickly for me to counter, shoving me to the ground. I hit hard, my elbow taking the brunt of the trauma as I held my camera up in an attempt to save it. This was exactly why Mira told me to keep my mouth shut, I thought as I tried to roll away—and directly into Chase’s foot. Shit. He kicked me hard in the stomach and pain shot through me as I instinctively curled in on myself.

“Where’s your Cancer armor?” Chase asked as he kicked me again. “Oh right, you don’t have any.”

I gasped in air, trying to catch enough breath. “Thanks for the reminder, asshole,” I managed to get out.

As he kicked me again, I curled around my camera, trying to protect it and the softest parts of myself. The others joined in, and I gritted my teeth and resigned myself to the beating. It wasn’t any different than other beatings I’d endured. I closed my eyes and tried to breathe through the pain. Soon it would be over. They wouldn’t kill me, no matter how much they hated me. For better or worse, I was still pack.

That plan was shattered the instant my camera was ripped out of my hands. My eyes flew open, and I struggled to my feet, pushing Chase and Owen away as Lori dangled the camera in front of me.

“You like taking pictures, don’t you, little mutt?” she asked.

“No!” I yelled, reaching out for my camera, but she tugged it back and out of reach. “You can do whatever you want to me. Just let me have that back.”

Lori dropped the camera into the sand. “I don’t think so. The mutt needs to learn her place, once and for all.”

A handful of blows from Brad came, hitting my back and sending me to my knees. I could only watch as Lori stomped on the camera with her shifter strength. The sounds of glass and plastic breaking were worse than the sounds of flesh on flesh.

Something inside of me broke. That camera was my only connection to the outside world, to a world where no one judged me for my half-breed heritage or for being born under the wrong stars. It was the only thing that brought me joy and gave me the smallest semblance of freedom.

I snarled, baring my teeth at the four of them, ready to fight. They must have sensed the change in my demeanor because they stepped back and fell into defensive positions. I couldn’t take all of them—hell, without the Cancer crab armor they had, I could hardly take one. But the rage that boiled in my blood wouldn’t let me just walk away from this like everything was okay. Something dark inside me woke up and rose to the surface, something wild and dangerous, just begging to be released. A power I’d felt before, that was always just out of reach. Maybe now was the time. Tension simmered in the air, snapping back and forth between all of us, waiting for the perfect moment to break.

“Hey!” The shout was distant but enough to distract all of us.

Lori turned away from where she still had her foot on the broken shards of my camera and snarled something unintelligible. My best friend Mira ran toward us, long black hair streaming behind her like a curtain. She had her bikini on as if she were coming to swim. Really? I couldn’t help but think. At a time like this? I knew she loved swimming, but we were all getting ready for the Convergence.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Mira asked, coming to a stop beside me. Her eyes were on the other wolves, but I knew the question was for me.

“Stay out of it, Aquino,” Brad snarled. “You’ll walk away from this if you know what’s good for you. We’re teaching the mutt the lesson she’s been begging for from the moment she was born.”

“No way,” Mira said. Stubborn, loyal Mira. She never knew when to back away from a fight, especially when I was involved. She had my back, even if she didn’t agree with why we were fighting.

I was one to talk. I’d do the same for Mira under any circumstance. Still, she shouldn’t have come here. This was my battle to fight, and she could get in serious trouble if she was seen standing up to the beta’s son. She’d already been punished once by the alpha—she didn’t need another mark against her.

“Mira,” I said under my breath. She twitched, so I knew she’d heard me, but didn’t turn to acknowledge me. “You need to go,” I continued, though I knew she wouldn’t listen to a word I said. “Please.”

“If you have a problem with Ayla, you have a problem with me, too,” Mira said, and dropped into her own defensive stance. She really wasn’t going to let it go. I sighed and followed suit, raising my fists again.

Brad looked between us for a moment and laughed. “Neither of you would win. You don’t even have your wolves yet.”

“Yeah, but we’ll still whoop your asses a little bit,” I said, forcing the words out through the lingering pain with a wild grin. Then I let my eyes drop. “I bet at least one of us could get a knee to the balls, with yours just hanging out like that.”

Brad growled at me and his hands shifted into claws. Mira glanced over at me like, Really? I shrugged. She was going to get on my case about being mouthy when she was almost as bad?

She rolled her eyes but then turned to Brad and added, “Do you really want to risk it right before the Convergence?”

Lori ground my camera into the sand a few more times before stepping back over to Brad. “It’s not worth it,” she murmured, just loud enough for me to hear. “I think she got the message.”

Brad looked between the two of us, and then back at Lori. “You’re right. She’s not worth our time, and with any luck, she’ll soon be some other pack’s problem.”

He shifted back into a wolf and the others followed him, then they sprinted back up to the rocks and into the bushes. Just like that, the tension bled from the air, leaving my entire body throbbing with pain, and a broken camera all I had to show for my smart mouth.

My shoulders sagged, and before I knew it, my knees were giving out. I searched around in the sand to examine the shattered pieces of my camera, but there was nothing salvageable. I let them all slip through my fingers as I blinked back angry tears.

Mira crouched beside me, resting her hand on my back. “Goodness,” she muttered as she took in the bruises forming on my arms. “What did you say this time?”

“They just came out of nowhere,” I said. “Even if I’d been nice they still would’ve gone after me for something.”

“You know, if you didn’t torment them, they’d probably leave you alone in the first place,” Mira said. “I keep telling you this.” She helped me stand, leaving her hand on my shoulder as I swayed, trying to catch my breath and balance.

“I can’t help it.” I wanted to pick up more pieces of my camera, but what would be the point? Lori had broken it beyond repair. “They say such stupid shit. They’re practically begging for me to call them out on it.”

“They shouldn’t be talking about you like that. You’re the alpha’s daughter, and they need to answer for that.”

“Yeah, right. You know my dad’s even worse.” I glanced down at my arms. The new bruises only added to the fading ones from the alpha. As long as I could remember, he’d been making bruises all along my body. Never my face, though. He did have appearances to keep up, and beating your daughter didn’t lend itself kindly to the gracious alpha persona he worked hard to protect. But everyone knew he treated me like an outcast, and he didn’t care when people like Brad behaved the same. Mira was angry for me, but I’d long since accepted the fact that I’d never be the daughter he wanted. It was my lot in the world, and I tried to take it in stride.

I knew why he beat me, even though it didn’t make any logical sense. I hadn’t asked to be born half-human, but Dad loved to punish me for the affair he’d had with my mother, even though I’d had no say in the result. Everything about me was a constant reminder to him of his mistake. My birthday outside of the Cancer sign dates, my lack of Zodiac mark, and my absence of pack abilities made it easy for him to hate me.

His mate, Jackie, even seemed to find my red hair offensive. I fingered a strand of it, whipping around in the light breeze. It set me apart from everyone else in the family and served as a constant reminder that Dad had screwed up and gotten some human pregnant. I’d tried to say that one time, when I’d been angry and my mouth had—once again—taken over. All it had earned me was a shot to the face from Jackie.

Mira was still focused on the bruises, fretting over them like the mother I’d never had. “They should look better before the Convergence,” she decided finally. “You’re lucky that I decided to come have a swim before we leave tomorrow. Who knows what would have happened if they had their way with you.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said, shrugging and making my way back over to my shoes and jacket. “The bruises just prove that I’m not a true Cancer. I could call up the armor if I was.” The crab armor was a Cancer ability all pack members had from birth, allowing them to protect themselves. All except me. I sighed. “At least once I get my wolf, I’ll heal faster.”

“Lots of things are going to change after the Convergence,” Mira said softly.

The Convergence happened twice a year, at the summer and winter solstices, where all twelve Zodiac packs gathered to discuss issues, recognize new pack alphas, and bless newborn babies, among other things. This Convergence was at the summer solstice, the day before the start of Cancer season, and it would be in Montana, in the Sun Witches’ territory.

Mira and I would finally get our wolves at the Convergence too, now that both of us were twenty-two and considered of age. We were the only Cancers getting our wolves at this Convergence—all the other pack members got theirs at the winter solstice. Except me, of course. I’d been born in March, another sign that I didn’t belong in this pack.

As for Mira, she should have gotten her wolf at the winter solstice too, but she’d been forced to wait another six months, all because her father had challenged the alpha on something he didn’t agree with. Mira hadn’t been involved at all, but Dad knew punishing her was a blow to her entire family. It wasn’t fair, but that’s how our alpha worked. And when he gave an alpha command, we had to obey.

There was one other event at the Convergence too, the mating ritual, when anyone who had gained their wolf could try to find their fated mate. I hoped beyond hope that my mate—if I had one—would be from another pack. I’d do almost anything to get away from my dad and the rest of the Cancer shifters.

“I hope we’ll get mates from the same pack,” Mira said, her thoughts following the same vein that mine had. She’d said it so often that I almost expected it. I made a noise of affirmation but didn’t say anything. I wanted to stay with her, of course. But if she ended up having a mate in the Cancer pack and I didn’t, it wouldn’t make me too sad. Getting out of here was top priority.

It was the one thing my father and I agreed upon. He wanted me gone just as much as I wanted to leave. “I hope you’ll end up as some other pack’s problem,” he’d started saying the moment I’d turned twenty-two.

Thinking of my father sent my mood spiraling. I had to get back before he sent someone to get me. I turned to Mira and gave her what I hoped was a convincing smile. “Whatever happens at the Convergence, we’ll always stay friends and never lose touch.”

Mira hummed happily, taking my hand in hers and leading us back up the beach. I knew she meant well, but once she settled in with her mate, things would change. They always did. We’d drift apart, even if we did end up in the same pack, and the thought sent a shiver of wrongness through me.

I glanced back at the ocean and the scuffed sand where Brad and his gang had come after me. Will I ever feel like I truly belong anywhere?