Prologue - Kit

Twelve years ago

The room was decorated and ready to go. At least, it was somewhat decorated. There weren't many to be found in a pack full of wolf shifters, and less for the one human among them. I wasn't expecting much of a turnout. Sandy and Jade were coming to have cake and watch dumb movies on the tiny tablet I'd convinced Papa Glen to get me years ago in the human village for a supply run. So, all in all, I was ready for a quiet night with my besties.

There was a reflection in the window, the sunlight coming in from the opposite side of the little building casting me in a yellow glow, and I inspected my appearance.

The dress was lovely. I'd snagged that from the human city, too, a pretty white thing with sunflowers all over it and ruffles. My hair was down around my face like it usually was, and I smoothed down a bit of frizz at the top where the chestnut-colored waves parted.

I still frowned, though. I wasn't like the others here. And yeah, that was very much because I lacked the DNA to be one of them. The wolves were all tall and lean and fast. I was…not.

Fat. That's what I heard whispered behind my back, even though the wolves knew I could hear them. I squeezed the locket that dangled around my neck, knowing the images of Papa Glen and Mama Tansy were inside. They'd been gone for so long now, and not for the first time, I wondered if I was doomed to have no family.

First, my birth parents died—killed by hunters going after Glen and Tansy—and then my adoptive parents themselves after that. Grayson hardly spoke to me when they were gone. He'd been kind enough as far as adoptive, untrusting brothers go. Still, once his parents fell to that horrible disease that was claiming more and more wolves, he pretended like I didn't exist.

Because somehow it was my fault.

I'd done nothing, but I was sure it was that damn Kaiden that was giving him ideas. You'd think as another child of adoption, he'd be kinder to me, but he was the golden boy, the unblooded son of the alpha, and fuck did he act like it.

His sister MacKenzie was all right, but she was always so busy studying to take over as healer for the pack, and no one among the teens here really spoke to her. We saw her during the homeschool lessons, but that was basically it.

"Hey, Kit!"

I turned, finding Jade walking in through the open door to this little-used activity room. Sandy was hot on her tail, coming out of a shift. It was still something else to see her do it. Jade tried to avoid it around me, knowing it only made those feelings of inadequacy worse. Sandy didn't seem to have good control over it, though.

The light brown wolf merged into Sandy's form, her deep brown eyes coming into focus from the shimmery copper of her wolf's. She reached out a hand, took the dress that Jade offered, and slipped it on over her head.

Sandy was as beautiful as they come, with perfect boobs, a small waist, and curvy enough without it being too much—like me.

"Damn, girl. You really need to get the hang of that. I can't just keep carrying around dresses for you."

With a cheeky grin, Sandy turned to Jade and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "What would I do without you?"

"Die naked, I suppose," Jade replied, a glint of humor lighting her near-black eyes. "I guess it's a good thing I love you."

Sandy kissed her again, and Jade swooned gently, rubbing her nose across Sandy's until they both realized they weren't alone anymore.

"Oops. Sorry." Jade rubbed the back of her neck, a deep flush flaring behind her bark-brown skin. "We are terrible."

I smiled, shaking my head. "It's fine. If I didn't like it, why would I hang out with you?"

"You have no one else to hang out with, so that's hardly a compliment," Sandy smirked, but then she walked up to me, giving me a hug, and I brushed off the joke easily.

"I adore you, Kit. And I swear, if you understood these damn hormones more intimately, you wouldn't be so envious of us. It sucks."

Jade came up to us, wrapping her arms around our necks, and we both smiled as she nuzzled between us. "Sandy is an early bloomer, they say. She'll be ready to have pups tomorrow if her wolf has anything to say about it."

"Too bad I want none of that. Plus, you don't have the junk for that, babe."

We devolved into a fit of giggles, and soon enough, they were cuddled up next to me, their higher-than-average body temperatures keeping me warm as we watched Pride & Prejudice on the tablet.

They'd snuck in a tiny bottle of Jade's dad's blueberry schnapps, which he was definitely going to notice, but we didn't care. This birthday was the big one for me, and as the youngest of the three of us, Jade and Sandy were determined to make sure I knew what it was like to be good and drunk—and likely dealing with the gut rot that came afterward.

"Bottoms up, Kit!"

I knocked back a large pull after Sandy's prompting, wincing as the burn of alcohol was only slightly dampened by the sugary taste of fake blueberry. The dizzy feeling set in pretty quickly, and after only a moment, Jade was making me do one more.

"Happy eighteenth birthday, Kit!" they shouted in unison.

Giggling, I leaned heavily on Sandy, grinning from ear to fucking ear. Yeah, the buzz was definitely happening. I was going to be so sad tomorrow.

Still, drunken regrets aside, I was so damn happy to be here with them. I adored my friends with everything I had, and they really were everything I had left.

"What's shaking, bitches!"

A loud boom sounded as the door to the activity room kicked open and slammed into the wall behind it. We jumped and looked over, immediately recognizing the voice. Dammit, why was my dumb pseudo-brother here?

Grayson shoved into the room, knocking the door back when it started to close again, which made a massive dent in the wall.

"Hey!" I shouted, feeling a little braver than usual. "I signed up for the room. Leave. Plus, now Jet's going to yell at me about the hole. Thanks."

"Yeah, so what?"

My stomach clenched, and it was seriously considering throwing up those shots right then and there. The voice that followed Grayson's was also familiar, and it meant that my birthday was now at serious risk of being the absolute worst.

Kaiden.

I looked at Jade and Sandy, my eyebrows pinched together as I shook my head. "Please. Please get rid of him."

Sandy was the first of them to stand up, which made sense, as the bravest of us. She walked over to Kaiden, jabbing a finger in his chest as he sneered down at her. "Get out, Kaiden. We don't care that you're Jet's pup in training. This is Kit's party, and she reserved the room."

Kaiden stepped around her and looked toward me. His black eyes locked on me, and the jet black of his hair was tussled, no doubt from a run with Grayson. The two were inseparable, and damn, it would be so much easier if the two of them were mates like Jade and Sandy.

Then maybe…well, maybe I wouldn't let him push me around like he did. Maybe he wouldn't care enough to do it then.

"If she wants me out of here so badly, she can say it to my face."

Heat swelled in my cheeks as Kaiden sneered. He was too damn beautiful, too damn mean, and fuck, this night was supposed to be about me. It was supposed to be fun, not just another evening of me dealing with his relentless teasing because he was hanging out with Grayson in the family trailer off the main house.

Sandy shoved back at Kaiden, but he didn't budge. He'd already gone through his first shift, and his muscles had exploded. He was bigger than Grayson now, though I had a feeling that wouldn't last. Grayson was tall for a pre-shift wolf, and chances were he was going to get taller when he did finally shift for the first time.

I stood up, my legs a bit shaky. But dammit, I was going to take back my party. This was my eighteenth, and I needed to learn how to stand up for myself. As I walked over toward Kaiden, he met my eyes, smirking as he nodded toward the side of the room and started walking in that direction.

Okay, well, at least he was being private about it. Not talking right in front of everyone.

When he posted himself up against the wall, his foot planted and his arms crossed, I stopped in front of him. The dew and fallen leaf scent of him was strong in my nose, and despite everything, my thighs clenched. It was the best thing I'd ever smelled, and I needed to remind my subconscious that there was no way he would ever give me the time of day. If he was poking fun at me for being a human—and a rounder one at that—he wasn't interested. Which made it doubly pathetic that I still had a crush on him.

"Kaiden, you need to leave, please."

He snorted out a laugh. "Wow, is that it? That's you telling me off. Fuck, that's pathetic."

I ducked my head, embarrassment making my entire body flame up and tremble.

"And come on, I want to stay. We could have some fun. You drink up that schnapps, and I'll take you for a ride on my wolf. How ‘bout that, Kit?"

My eyes flared wide, and that heat in my cheeks tripled. Was he fucking flirting with me?

"I…umm…are you…" I stammered, the words nowhere near coming out.

Kaiden reached out a hand, and he moved it slowly and liquid-smooth through the air until he brushed the curl by my cheek, tucking it behind my ear. As he shoved off the wall, he stood before me, leaning down so close that the only thing I could smell was the dew and leaves. It was everywhere, something sweet tinging the smell like caramelized sugar, and my eyelids drooped.

"Can't even talk right now. How cute."

His face moved in closer, and I could feel my heart in my chest. The pounding just got worse as he lowered his mouth toward mine, hovering just over my lips. Oh God, what's happening? Are people watching right now?

"Maybe it's because you're a dumb human who doesn't belong here."

My stomach dropped again, and I reeled, pulling inward like he'd actually hit me. Burning welled in my eyes as I looked up at Kaiden. He just smirked, laughing to himself like it was the funniest fucking thing on the planet.

"You should just go, Kit. You'll never be able to keep up with us. Not with that body. You're not a wolf, and all this pretending is going to get you killed."

My world slammed to a stop, and a terrible sob tore free from my chest. The tears started immediately, and they didn't stop. How could I let him…I'm so stupid .

"Fuck you, Kaiden!"

I heard Sandy and Jade's voices call out after me as I turned away and ran out the back door. My name left them over and over, but I wasn't stopping. Not until I could get to the small trailer I'd been staying in all the years before anyone came looking.

Because the truth was, I didn't belong here. My adoptive parents had to fight for me to even be allowed in as a baby, and they'd been relegated to the fucking double-wide to keep me away from the pack.

Well, fine. They want me away? I'm gone, and I'm never coming back.