Heart of a Beast

Chapter 1 | Crystal

Death crept through shadows, through the darkest corners of the mind and society.

It was merciless and cared not who it took as its prey. The old, young, weak, and strong—it didn't matter. If Death wanted you, then Death would claim you.

Darkness fell swiftly two hours after they crossed into Wisconsin from Minnesota.

They left a few hours behind schedule because Brooke insisted on shopping at Mall of America for a bit, asserting that they couldn't go all the way to Minnesota and not go to Mall of America.

For a strong female warrior, the twenty-five-year-old werewolf sure loved to shop.

Crystal, not so much. She didn't like crowds and noise—they made her anxious. Their mother, thankfully, took her to an art gallery nearby for a bit before meeting Brooke at the mall.

Brooke hadn't been anticipating the multiple construction zones outside the city when they left because she forgot to take her phone off silent from the wedding yesterday and didn't see their father's message. Their father and older brother, Justin, left earlier that day to return home to Chicago and reported back an extra hour drive total because of it.

Sometimes, Crystal felt like the Moon Goddess had turned her back on her.

Justin became the Beta of their pack, the Lancaster Pack, two years ago when Alpha Jackson turned twenty-five. Justin and Jackson grew up together, were best friends since they could walk as their parents were the Alpha and Luna and Betas of the pack. Justin and Jackson were very athletic and won awards and trophies in the various sporting events they took place in.

Her older sister, Brooke, two years younger than Justin, became a warrior and was just as successful in athletics as Justin.

Although her sister hadn't found her mate yet and Justin did seven years ago, they were both successful and grew into their positions in the pack well before the time they finished high school.

Crystal felt like the black sheep in the werewolf pack.

She lived in the shadows of her successful and highly respected older siblings, and what did she have to show for it? She wasn't athletic. She didn't win trophies and ribbons and make her family proud.

She was eighteen years old and had no wolf.

How could the Goddess be so cruel?

She only had a few months left to shift into her wolf for the first time—otherwise, she never would. She would have no role to play in the pack beyond menial work because that was the fate for those born with no wolf. If she didn't shift by her nineteenth birthday, she would become an omega. A pack member to protect and pity for their helplessness.

No one wanted to become an omega. Their pack of fifty-eight already had two omegas—a brother and sister whose mother was a human and their father was born from a werewolf and human union. Their bloodline was too weak to give them a wolf, but Crystal was of a strong, beta bloodline. An omega was never born of a beta bloodline.

The shame hung heavier on her shoulders every day since she became a teenager and didn't shift into her wolf.

Instead, she had seizure-like panic attacks that often came out of nowhere.

The car shuddered on the highway and her mother cursed.

After spending the last four hours listening to music and staring out the window, Crystal pulled the headphones from her ears as she gripped the handle of the door with her other hand. While looking around, her mother eased the shaking car to the side of the road.