Page 2

I wake to someone lightly shaking my shoulder. I groan and push the hand away. "Go away," I groan again into the pillow. I smack the hand away again as it continues its assault on my sleep.

Laughter erupts in the room. "No can do, Jade. Now, get up!" The person yells a battle cry of some kind and I feel a huge weight land on top of me.

I make an 'oomph' sound as all the air leaves my body. I gasp for air and struggle to get the weight to get off. "Get off me you heavy beast, I can't breathe," I demand. Eventually, the beast that is my brother rolls over with his body still draped across mine.

Jason gasps in mock horror. "I am not heavy," he defends in a sassy voice which I would normally laugh at, but cannot due to his crushing of my lungs. I put my feet under his back and kick him off me, finally getting air into my lungs. Seconds later, I hear a thud followed by a loud groan.

I peek over the side of my bed to see Jason rubbing his buttcheeks. I smirk smugly and start laughing hysterically. "That's what you get, you jerk," I laugh out.

After my laughing dies down and Jason gets over his butt injury, he looks at me and clears his throat. "Well, you need to get ready because the Alpha King and his entourage will be here within the hour."

I sigh heavily and pull myself out of bed. "Fine," I moan, disdain dripping heavily from the word. Jason leaves me to my own devices and I step into the shower.

I do my business and get dressed in a simple outfit of a white shirt, black jeans, and a black leather jacket.

Once I've done my make-up and tamed the curly mess atop my head, I grab my phone and head downstairs to meet Jason at the front door.

"Hey, Jason," I greet my brother as I come to a stop next to him and Jake.

"How's your face, Jakey?" I ask in mock concern.

He rolls his eyes and ignores me. I chuckle and share an amused glance with Carter, Jason's Delta.

Moments later, we walk outside and wait for the royal pain in the ass to get here.

After fifteen minutes of uneventful waiting, I groan.

"If he was coming to bother us, he could at least be on time," I mutter petulantly under my breath, causing Jason to flick my ear. I glare at him and he shakes his head.

"Remember, Jade, best behavior," he tells me seriously.

I do a quick two-finger salute to Jason. "Sir, yes, sir," I say sarcastically just as a black Ram truck pulls in followed by a blue BMW and a red Mercedes-Benz. Hmm - fancy. A black van follows in behind the three vehicles and I glare knowing his Royal Highnesshas just arrived.

I feel my wolf get a bit restless and it puts me on edge. She has always been very calm and in control.

My attention is drawn away as two tall and muscular men step out of the two cars.

A group of equally strong-looking men and women then file out of the van and make their way over to the two guys.

Guards, I'm guessing. The taller of the two begins conversing with the group before they all make their way to surround the black truck.

Tension builds in the air as we wait for the final person to join us.

The dark tint covering all of the windows makes it impossible to catch a glimpse of this mysterious person.

Unsure as to why, but nerves bounce around my insides, making me more on edge about this meeting than before.

About a minute later, the driver's door finally swings open and a heavy silence floods the courtyard.

Even the birds are silenced by the overwhelming sense of power that has stepped onto our land.

My eyes are instantly locked on the man, curiosity clawing at my brain with a thousand different questions about him and why he is here.

One of the guards says something to the truck guy and he nods. It's not hard to point out that he is the Alpha King, the aura coming off of him is strong. He displays his power so that people will know his rank and strength.

They start to make their way over to us.

I look to the right of the King to his Beta, Evan Hendrix.

He courts dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes.

On the King's left is his Delta, Sean Laney.

His hair is dark brown with some lighter brown patches and green eyes.

Finally, the King himself, Ryder Mathews.

He stands tall and walks steadily with his shiny black hair.

His face is stern and his jaw is set firm with a resting frown on his lips.

As I focus on his eyes, I see they are a dark blue that becomes lighter as they get closer to the pupil.

I look over the three slowly and my guard is immediately up.

They come to a stop in front of us and we all bow our heads in respect as it is the way of our kind.

We raise our heads and Jason greets them.

"Hello and welcome to the Lunar Shadow Pack, King Mathews.

I am Alpha Jason Collins. This is my Beta, Jake Simmons, and my Delta, Carter Jenkins.

And this is our pack's strongest warrior as well as my sister, Jade Collins.

" Jason says while pointing at each of us in turn.

They all nod in acknowledgment and King Mathews begins to speak.

"Thank you, Alpha Collins. I see you already know who I am.

This is my Beta, Evan Hendrix, and Delta, Sean Laney.

" Jason shakes hands with all of them as do Jake and Carter.

I feel eyes travel to me expectantly. Like hell am I shaking hands with them. I bowed, that should be enough.

I glance at Jason and he seems to realize I don't plan on moving. He clears his throat and claps his hands together. "So, what do we owe the pleasure of visiting Royals?" Jason asks, taking the attention off me. I roll my eyes and feel someone burning a hole into the side of my head.

I look over to see Ryder Mathews' eyes are the ones holding the flame. His stare sends a tingling feeling through my spine and makes Jasmine even more restless. 'Jasmine, what's wrong?' I finally ask her through our link but she ignores me.

I mutter a few colorful words in my head and exhale sharply. I don't like being kept in the dark and my wolf damn well knows that. What is she hiding?

A voice cuts through my thoughts. "We are here to evaluate the strongest pack in the kingdom, besides the Royal Pack, of course," Beta Evan said.

I bite back a scoff at his arrogance, but a smirk finds its way on my face, which does not go unnoticed.

I look to the Beta's left to find that the Alpha King has seen my slip-up.

His face is emotionless, but his diverted attention notifies Jason of my actions.

Jason nods and gives them a friendly smile. "Of course." Jason glances over at me and his eyes are sending a message that I know well: Control yourself. "Well, let me show you to your rooms," Jason diverts.

"We'll only be here a day or two, but thank you," Delta Sean adds. I scrunch my eyebrows together in confusion. What the hell is the point of only staying here for two days? I don't believe they are here for an evaluation. I stare suspiciously at the three men and the guards around them.

They follow Jason into the pack house and everyone bows as they pass, everyone except me. Now that I know they are lying, the werewolf tradition has taken a backseat to my instinct. I just curiously watch them as they walk by.

Once again, the Alpha King notices this and looks at me.

Not bowing to a higher authority figure was a sign of disrespect in the werewolf community, but I was always taught real respect still has to be earned.

King Mathews growls lowly in my direction, barely even a rumble in his chest, but he continues to radiate even more power now that he is closer to me.

He stands just in front of the doorway, looking me directly in the eye, trying to make me submit.

I fight back the urge to smirk, but underlying in my mind is the curiosity of how I could defy the Alpha King.

I push myself off the wall I'm leaning on and walk into the pack house.

I walk past Jason, and he grabs my wrist, letting me know he was privy to the scene that just occurred.

I look at my wrist, to him, and back to my wrist. He squeezes my wrist, and I snap my eyes to meet his again.

"Jade," he mutters in a warning voice.

"Jason," I warn in the same tone.

Jason offers a quick smile over my shoulder to the King and pulls me further inside by the wrist still in his grasp.

After dragging me behind him several feet, I plant my heels on the ground, causing Jason to abruptly stop and turn.

Jason narrows his eyes at me and attempts to keep his voice low.

"We talked about this," he whispers harshly.

I snatch my wrist from his grip and glare back at him. "What do you want from me, Jason?" I ask him, my voice just as low. "I stood there, I bowed the first time, and I kept my mouth shut."

Jason takes a step closer to me and his eyes burn into mine as I hear his voice in my head.'Calm yourself down, or I'll do it for you.' A slight shock runs over me and my lips part in a small gape. Did he just threaten me?

However, my shock is rapidly overpowered by my building anger.

Unlike the rest of my kind, my eyes lighten to bright, metallic silver, and I know they are lightening from their original blue at this very moment.

Due to my increasing anger and the fact that we have company, I keep the conversation between us.

'If you have to change who you are because some Royal assholes show up, what kind of brother - no, what kind of Alpha does that make you?

' My heartbeat rises as the negative emotions and memories overtake me.

In a deep part of me, I envy Jason. Somehow my brother can see past his grief, but mine continues to cloud my view of the world and I feel like I'm constantly taking misguided steps into a foggy abyss.

Jason returns with a glare and his eyes reiterate his threat.

I scoff and shake my head. I lick my drying lips and form a tight smile.

"Sure thing, Alpha. I'll be sure to correct my mistake," I say sweetly, making my voice sound genuine, though that couldn't be farther from the truth.

Jason's brows pull together in confusion, but I give him no time to question my antics.

I spin on my heels and walk evenly over to the Royal posse now standing in my foyer.

I keep my eyes cast down to the ground so as to not accidentally disrespect someone with improper eye contact. Enter sarcastic eye roll here.

When their legs come into view, I stop. I cross my legs and offer them the deepest curtsy I can manage in these jeans.

I stare disdainfully at the tiled floor, already tasting the bitterness of the words about to leave my mouth.

"Please forgive me, Your Highness. I present you my sincerest apologies and pray I haven't caused you offense.

" I almost want to laugh at the formalness of my tone, but I hold it together and rise back to my original stance.

Keeping my eyes on the ground, I continue.

"If it pleases His Majesty, I will take my leave and leave the Royals in calmer company," I say, making sure to emphasize the word calmer as a subtle dig to my brother's warning.

Silence floods the space, but I refuse to look up and instead wait for him to respond.

That would be the respectful thing to do, I think bitterly to myself.

"You may go," King Mathews finally says, his voice sharp with a hint of agitation.

I don't wait any longer, I quickly walk around the group and through the open door.

I definitely don't stop when I hear Jason's faint voice call after me.

I get to the woods and run a little deeper before pausing and shifting.

My bones break and dance roughly under my skin.

Soon, I'm standing on all fours in wolf form.

I'm bigger than normal werewolves. Hell, I'm bigger than an Alpha, including Jason.

My fur is all crisp white besides the black fur circling the area of my left eye.

When I shift, my eyes glow silver with a blue ring around them.

I first shifted when I was three. That's when my family and I discovered I am a Yin Yang wolf.

This meant that my mate would be a Yin Yang wolf as well, wherever in the world he may be.

I start running as a way to try to extinguish the fire burning my chest right now.

Jason's mad at me because I don't trust the pack that I hold at least partly responsible for our parents' deaths.

I growl fiercely at the thought and run faster, jumping over fallen trees and dodging large boulders.

I run until I reach the Cliff. This is my hideaway, where I come to calm down.

I stand on the edge and let out a powerful yet angry growl.

I hear a sad howl in return echoing in the distance and I know it's Jason. He must have shifted and tried to follow me. I hide my scent so that he can't track me.

Supposedly, powers are a perk of being a Yin Yang Wolf, which I guess carries some merit.

From the very little research I was able to find on them, Yin Yang wolves are extremely rare.

There are only two in existence every millennium and they are destined to be mates.

I found an old book when I was younger that mentioned something about my kind being elemental wolves, but I wasn't able to read any further than that because the book had been too badly damaged.

Despite what the book said, I have only the "power" to hide my scent, plus shifting back dressed with whatever clothes I had on before I shifted.

I stay at the Cliff for a couple of hours, give or take a few since it is dark when I decide to head back. I run back quickly and shift into the same simple outfit. My hair was now its normal curly mess again, courtesy of the running and the weather.

I get back to the pack house and spot my brother standing on the porch.

Jason quickly jogs over to me and wraps me in a tight hug.

"I'm sorry, Jay. Please never take off like that again," he rushes while squeezing me into the hug tighter.

I can't help but think his anguish of my short disappearance is due to the fear that I might not make it back home.

..just like our parents didn't...and Cameron.

That thought makes me feel guilty for just leaving and hiding my scent.

I sigh heavily and hug him back. "I know. I'm sorry too. I let my anger get the best of me...again," I admit to him.

He pulls back and smiles softly at me. "Why don't we go get some sleep and deal with everything else tomorrow?" Jason suggests. I nod, ready to put this day behind me.

Jason pulls me into another hug and kisses my forehead. "Goodnight, Jay."

"Night, Jason," I say and jog upstairs to my room.

I see King Mathews walk out of the room across from mine and I mentally cuss Jason out.

This is so his revenge for earlier.The Kingnotices me and looks into my eyes with a hard stare.

I roll my eyes in response and bow lowly.

"Your Highness," I say sarcastically, not as interested in putting on a formal show this time.

I walk into my room, slam my door slightly harder than necessary, and lock it.

I change into some black shorts and a red tank top before I hop into my soft bed. The tension immediately melts away from my body and relief sets in now that this day is over. I roll around until I'm comfy and snuggle down into my covers, wondering what tomorrow will bring as I shut my eyes.