Chapter 1 Everything Changes

Two years later.

(Flashback)

Everything has changed since the night of Darien's 18th birthday party. After he left the party, people were talking in whisper tones. Most were shocked that Darian and Ana were not mated after all. He came back from running well after midnight going straight to Ana's room. He asked her to take him as a chosen mate.

" I will reject her Ana. We can be happy just as we were meant to be. You were meant to be mine. The moon goddess has made a mistake. " He told her, tears in his eyes. This shocked her. She had not known that Darien even felt that way about her. That he wanted to be made it to her.

" Darien, the goddess makes no mistakes, that means that my mate is out there somewhere. Cheyenne is a good person and will make you a fine Luna. We were never meant to be more than we are now, best friends. I love you, you know that, but not more than a friend. A brother, you know. I want to find my own fated mate. Everyone deserves to find the one meant for them." Ana said as compassionately as she could.

After her confession about her mate, Darien only then realized, being he had another as a mate, then she did too. No, this he could not allow. So, he told her that he understood then he left the room. ( End Flashback)

Ana couldn't begin to understand how her life has changed since that horrid night. She was now cold and locked in the attic room of the pack house, which had been soundproofed. That way no one could hear her cries for help. She kept reliving that night in her head, trying to understand what she had done. That was so bad, that she was treated in such a way. She cut her skin to drag her mind back to reality before she could dwell on it any longer.

" It hurts more than it used to." Ana told Aaliyah her wolf.

" It is because we are still in pain and injured from Darien's last visit with us. We can't heal like we should, for lack of nourishment to our body." Aaliyah explained.

It was just so hard for her to believe that the person responsible for her current circumstances, and torment was the one person she had shared all her secrets with ( well almost all of her secrets, there was one she had told to no one ) and told her dreams too. The one person that she had thought would always be there for her when she needed a friend. When she didn't shift at 13, Darien told her that it was OK not everyone had a wolf inside them. It was possible that she was just human, being no one knew where she came from originally. Reminding her she was found outside of their borders. No one mistreated her though, despite her handicap. They all loved her and treated her well, but the night of Darien's party everything had changed. When he came to her room, he returned a few hours later, dragging her from her bed, putting her in the attic, and locking the door. He told the pack the next day that she, too, had found her mate and ran away with him. That, her mate was Damien West and they had run away together. She has been trying to find a way to escape since Darian told her he'd told the pack and her friends that she had run away with her own mate. Ana had in that moment understood that no one but him would ever see her again, or hear her screams. Not being able to understand how her best friend had changed for the worst. She had cried all night that first night, and many nights after. She just could not for the life of her believe that her best friend was inside the monster that had broken and tormented her almost every day for the last two years.

They jingling sounds coming from outside the door made her mind take action; becoming fully alert, she cowered on the pallet that served as her bed now completely in the present. Because; only one person comes to see her, Darien had returned.

He entered the room, looking around as he did, noticing the fresh scratches on the walls and door. Darien knew this was her pointless attempt to escape him, which made him angry. Striding across the floor to her bed he grabbed her by the hair. Snatching hard, pulling her up from the floor to face him.

Ana stifled a sob, her body trembling with fear.

" Please don't Darien." She begged.

" You are mine. Understand that? Get it into your head. You will not escape me ever." He snarled at her, he was clearly maniacal

" You have a mate. Darien it's not too late, please stop this. Cheyenne is a wonderful girl. You just need to get to know her. You will love her if you allow your bond to fully form. You just have to try. Darien listen to me please." She pleads.

" What did I tell you? You are mine, not that bitch. Never that whore. You, Ana, you are mine. You are my perfect little mate. One day you will see that I am yours too." Darien said.

" NO!!" Ana shouted tears running down her cheeks.

Darien growled at her, punching her in the face. Ana would have fallen, if not for his hold on her hair. She spit blood from her Cut lip out of her mouth. His fist so large against her face that he had split her lip and bruised her cheek at once. She was definitely going to have a new bruise she thought. After seeing he had caused her to bleed once more, he let go of her hair. Ana falling to the floor in a heap winced at the pain. Due to her lack of food, it would take a few days instead of a few hours to get rid of that bruise, this she knew. Darien stood over her, looking down at her. Even in this state, she was still beautiful. Darien smiled ruefully, why couldn't she lose her beauty, and good heart. He thought no matter what he did to her, she was still the brightest thing in the room. Oh well, it didn't matter anymore. He had her locked up so tight no one knew she even existed and those who knew she did exist were either dead or in his pack, and they all thought she had run away long ago. Every smile and every tear Ana put on her lovely face was from that point on, only for him, smiling a little at the thought. Her face was soaked in tears and blood as she begged him to let her go. It did hurt him every day to know he caused those tears, and the blood that now dripped from her mouth. The knowledge that she wanted to one day find her mate pissed him the fuck off. The asshole, whom ever he was, would have all of the smiles, and laughter, HE, WOULD HAVE.… EVERYTHING… he himself loved about her that HE would have EVERYTHING that once was only his angered him beyond his need for control. He grabbed her face harshly. A face that was no more than skin and bones due to his own personal torture of her. Thinking that if he starved her enough, beat her enough, broken her just enough, then she would no longer be beautiful. If she was an ugly sack of bones, any mate, she might have once she found him would simply not want her, but no, she was still the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. There was no fucking way that he would ever allow this woman to be gone from his life. NO, absolutely not. She was he is. Nobody else's. Looking down, his beauty was begging at his feet to have pity for his wants friend and release her.

" Darian please let me go. We used to be friends best friends. What happened to you? Please let me go." Ana bag over and over at his feet. Though Ana was begging him and using his name in a familiar way, she never raised her eyes to meet his own. She was always looking at the floor. Oh, how did he wish she would look at him. Look into his eyes and talk to him, as though he was the lucky bastard that would be her mate, but she never did, not even when he told her to. Why couldn't she see that he loved her?

With so much disgust and anger in his voice, he replied.

" You are staying in this room Ana. You will stay until you fucking die. Do you hear me? No one else will have you, not ever. Stop asking me to let you go bitch. It… will…. never … happen." Darien told her gritting his teeth, spacing the last four words, hoping to get his point across.

" No! Please don't do this to me, just let me out. You don't have to do this anymore. We can go back to being what we were. I will tell people that I could not love my mate, that he was cruel, so I came back home. No one will know of this. I swear." Ana look up, donut in his eyes, never that. Pleading with him.

Anger washed through him. Why machine always beg for him to let her go? She still wanted to leave him. They thought pissing him off even more. He drew back his hand, slapping her so hard her face hit the floor. She screamed in pain, louder than she had meant to, as her face hit, feeling the bone in her cheek crack. Her crash broke his heart, they really did. He wanted nothing more in that moment, then to go to her, hold and sues her. Why miss you make him treat her in such ways? He wanted their time together to be more like a couples time should be. Not him, forcing his time on her, not spent with her begging for him to allow her to be set free. He just didn't want it to be this way. He really and truly loved her. He just had no choice in the matter. He could see no other way to keep her with him. Locked in here, she would never meet the bastard destiny he had chosen to take her away from him.

" you will stay here in this room. Ana, you will stay with me for as long as I want it to be this way." Darien glared at her as he said this. He truly look evil now.

" as punishment for making me hit you again, you may not have anything to eat for another week." with that said, he turned on his heel, and walked away. Locking the door behind him.

Ana, now left alone in her (A.K.A attic room) play crying and praying for her mate to come. He would come and take her out of this hell she now called her life. Ana close your eyes, with that as her last thought before she fell asleep.

Cheyenne looked up as Darian walked into the room where she was. She had been doing paperwork for the pack all morning. She turned her head to the side and frowned at the scent coming off of her mate. he'd had the same scent clinging to him for a while now. The weird part was she didn't recognize it at all, and she knew the scents of everyone in this pack. She wondered briefly if he was cheating on her. No, he couldn't be. She would have known with which female he had lain. Not to mention if he had cheated, she'd have felt that, she felt something from time to time, but nothing like he was having intercourse. Then where the hell was that sand coming from, and what was it? She had asked herself this question many times over the course of the last two years. This man, she just couldn't understand him. He had lain with her multiple times before his 18th birthday. Since he found out they were mated he had a flat refused to be with her. It didn't matter that she was his soulmate, for he has never slept in their bed. He absolutely would not mate and mark her as his. She did not understand the difference between then and now. All that had changed was now they knew she was his true mate. Not just a whore he would go to and fuck someone he's used to ease his male starvations. Someone who wasn't his Ana. Goddess knew he'd rather die than to taint his precious Ana. Yeah, she knew all too well about that little secret of his.

Steel. She did the duties of the pack Luna to be, somethings she knew his parents were responsible for, even though she was not officially the Luna and waiting. She would not have that title until her mate, fully excepted her, mated and marked her.

" Where have you been Darien?" She asked without Showing the least bit of the attitude she felt.

" Nowhere. " he snapped

" you have a strange sent today. Have you gone to visit someone that I don't know or recognize? Have you changed colognes since we have mated?" She asked. Trying to get to the bottom of the fragrance thing he had going on lately.

" do you need to know everything I do, and everywhere I go?" he snapped at her again. Smirking at her choice of words. Mated, we were not made in nor would we ever be mated. He thought to himself.

" I am only asking Darian, you seem upset. I am trying to figure out what is stressing you so much she replied, carefully, trying not to piss him off anymore than he already appeared to be.

" If you have a problem with my stress levels, mate. Do not ask questions I don't want to fucking answer. " he growled at her, causing her to flinch.

It was this attitude, the way he was mean to people just because he didn't want to do something that kept his parents from turning the pack over to him. Something that should have been done a year ago. At 19 he should have been announced alpha. The power of the Alpha should have passed on to him as his father stepped down. He was at this time restricted from this rule, as he was not behaving like a mature man, let alone the leader of a pack. She was his mate, and though she knew Ana had left and run off with her own mate, she also knew that her mate was still in love with the shewolf. Ana had seen her for the person she could be, not the person that she actually was. Ana had a way of seeing the good in everyone. even when there was no good in them, she found something to praise a person for. It was because of that she hated the jealousy she felt toward the girl. She couldn't help it though. Her mate had given Ana the love that was meant to be hers. All along, refusing to give her even a fraction of it. That really hurt her, deep inside, her bitchy heart, where she had not allowed any to dwell, no one, except for Darien. He was the only one that could hurt her in such away.

Cheyenne Did not want to be a cruel and uncaring person anymore, gone were the days of fucking around to prove that she was worth something to someone, anyone really. That she was wanted and saw after. Was she had gone to Darien's birthday party and learned that she was his mate, all the days of her being a whore were left behind her. She had worked hard to be excepted in the new role that the goddess had given her, she had worked hard to change her personality, to one of respect and caring. It was not easy, but for her it was either change, or be a whore, the rest of her life. To her credit, as well as her character, she had not chosen the latter.

" Your father called while you were out" she stated flatly.

" What did he want?" Darien asked with little or no interest at all.

" He is stuck in a meeting. You are to hold the feast for the visiting, alpha, and his warriors that are coming to help us with the rogue situation we are currently having." She told him.

" NO, you can do it, or he can come when my father gets back. I have better things to do than babysitting a stupid ass, Alpha in my fathers stead." Darian replied. Still behaving like the child he was, instead of the future alpha he is supposed to be.

" It's alpha Ezra Black. I dare you to say that to his face Darien. Act like your title for Goddess sake. It is getting tiring taken care of all your bullshit, as well as my own. Simply, because you don't want to do it yourself. No one speaks that way to him, everyone respects him. What's more, he has earned that respect Darien. " She commented. Like this ass hat of an alpha was the shit, in comparison to everyone else in the world. This also angered him. It felt like she thought the other Alpha was better than he was. She had said that shit to him, and now he was watching her back as she walked away from him. Really making the point that she did think exactly that.

Alpha Ezra was a well-known name in our world. He was the boy that had ruled his own pack at the age of 12, and wiped another pack, clean off the face of the earth at 15. Learning everything he could to make sure his pack thrived, and didn't succumb to the same fate it had in the past. It didn't matter that everyone thought the silver crescent moon pack, would perish under the rule of a child. That child not only ran the pack, he expanded it. Now it's the strongest pack in the world, notwithstanding the royal pack that was ruled by our Lycan Alpha king and his Lycan Luna queen it is currently being run by their son. The gossip around packs, though is that he could take even the royal pack. He didn't of course, he was happy, just as he was. It's no wonder his made out the boy was better than he was, his own father, thought the same shit. If a boy, the age of 12 can run a pack what is your excuse son?" His father kept saying. Ezra's pack was the most reliable ally. His father could have had. Any pet that could get his help was better for it. In fact, if he managed to fuck this up, he would most definitely find his head on a pike outside the pack house. his own father, being the one who put it there. Sighing he took himself into the kitchen to speak to the head cook, Madeline.

Cheyenne Walt into the kitchen the next morning to check on the preparations being made for the arrival of the Silvercrescent moon, pack Warriors and their notorious alpha. Madeleine was cooking up a storm, along with three other Omega's. Cheyenne smiled, thinking that Darian had taken the responsibility of preparing this place for Alpha Ezra's arrival seriously.Until, she noticed the food that was being prepared and frowned.

" Madeline! Where is the menu that is to be prepared for our guests that are arriving today?" She asked kindly.

" Menu, ma'am? She asked worriedly.

" We were told to prepare as usual. Alpha Darian told me to prepare more than the normal amounts of the evening meal, as we have guests coming, Luna, Cheyenne. Why, is that wrong?" Madeleine asked, looking confused.

" Yes, but it isn't your fault, do you know where Darien is right now?" She asked the Cook.

" No miss, he said he'd come in to check on the prepared food at some point today, he has not been in this morning yet though."

" Madeline, the guest, we are having will not eat this food. They are from Alaska and only eat the things from the sea and groan from the land as well as wild venison." She told her.

Madeline's eyes grew wide and she became terrified all of the sudden.

" Luna, I cannot prepare those things. In truth, none of us can. We were not talk to make search, cuisines ma'am." She told her shakily.

" It's all right Madeleine. I will go find Darien. He can find a way to fix this mess. He has going on in here." Cheyenne stated with as much kindness as she could muster. In truth, she was actually so pissed off she could see red.

" Darien had not even taken the time to do any research on Alpha Ezra. Why must he behave so irresponsibly all the damn time?" She muttered to her self as she left the kitchen. When she turned down the hall toward the front room, she ran right into someone. Knowing who she had run into by the sparks dancing along her skin.

" Darien, there is a problem in the kitchen. A problem that requires your attention right away." She said glaring at him.

"What problem? Why couldn't you take care of it. Seeing as how you obviously are aware of it, where I am not?" he asked.

" I can't take care of it, you told Madeline and the others to prepare as usual, but to make more than normal however, Alpha Ezra, and his men only eat specific food. Something you would have known had you done your homework to prepare for his arrival. He and his men will be here in about eight hours, and we have nothing to feed them!" She shouts at him, not caring if it pissed him off. She was done babying him.

" what are you on about Cheyenne? It's not a big deal, just give the cooks the correct menu. Then have them start preparing the food right away, there, big crisis averted." he said, smugly like he had just solve the problems of world domination or something.

" Do you really think I hadn't thought to do that already smart ass?" She shot back at him.

" The young cook's we now have, Sir Darien. Have absolutely no idea how to prepare the food that Alpha Ezra will eat." she smarted off all while bowing to him. She knew she was being a bitch, but she didn't care. He should have taken the time to know who was coming and how to feed them. It's what a responsible alpha would have done.

"And what would that be exactly?" he asked, seeming annoyed.

" They only eat things from the land around them Darien. What is provided to them by our creator, you know sea animals, and the animals found in the woods that surround them, as well as the crops that are grown from the Alaskan soil. There are a few exceptions, but still fresh, and not many. " she told him, though he only looked more confused.

Rolling her eyes at him she continued with her rant.

" I will tell you what exactly they eat. Seeing as how you can't even be bothered to get this meeting with them right, because I know you are capable, you just don't care. So, meat wise, they eat things like bear, in this category are black, grizzly, and polar. They prefer bison over beef. In fact, they hate the taste of beef all together. Moose, caribou, muskox, mountain goat, salmon, fish from the sea ( not like fish), snowshoe, hair, Sitka, deer, arctic, ground, squirrel, crab and lobster, even wolverine, walrus, and orca meat, the only outside alternative being wild venison. All of these things have to be prepared and cooked in specific ways. The veggies they eat, aren't any easier to cook and prepare Darien." she told him.

Darien just rolled his eyes and sighed.

" vegetables, such as peppers, corn, zucchini, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, turnips, radishes, rutabagas, daikon radishes, and eggplant. The alternatives there being things they get in trade. Things like turnips, squash, kale, mustard, greens, collards, brussels sprouts, spinach, cucumber, okra, and kohlrabi. Then there are the herbs and spices they use, which I am not going to recite for you, and without them, the food taste like shit and it's bland. Do your damn homework on the Alpha Darien." she told him, almost out of breath. She was talking so fast.

" Now do you understand the big crisis(making air quotes with her fingers at him) as you so delicately put it." she asked him with her eyebrows raised.

" Expensive, picky little bastards aren't they?" he replied smartly.

" Maybe they just know what they like. Maybe he has earned the respect of the packs he helps, and can demand such treatment. Alpha Ezra is the youngest and most feared, alpha in the world Darien. He became alpha after his pack was almost wiped out. He was only a child having to pick up his Alpha mantle. He had to protect what was left of his pack, keep them from going hungry, or being slaughtered by bigger packs. He had to behave like a full grown man fighting off the stronger packs, all while making sure his people survived , him being no more than a boy of 12. Effectively destroying the boy he should have been, and the childhood he should have had. He took that pack from a ruined heap, kept it alive, safe, built it up, making it the strongest pack around. He can demand whatever he wants to and guess what Darien he gets it." She told him disgusted with how she had basically pointed out her own mates feelings. Without actually calling him a failure.

" And just where the fuck do you suggest I find such things on such a short time span. You should have told me all of this when you told me I had to plan this stupid meeting." he snapped at her like it was her fault he was going to fail.

" In the storeroom and freezers, your father ordered the stuff when Alpha Ezra called and said he was coming to go over the ledgers. It was at that time your father told him of the attacks on our pack. The man agreed to help us since we are allies. The problem you have is that there is no one here that can prepare the food properly. Good luck with your father when he returns baby." she smirked and walked away, mumbling something about it, being a crying shame for him that Ana had run away.

Darian held his head in his hands, knowing he had totally fucked up. He knew he had miss handled the training of the staff, because of this oversight, and complete negligence on his part, the new Omega's were not trained like the older ones his father had been in charge of. With the overwhelming amount of rogue attacks, they had suffered over the last 18 years. They really had lost a lot of members, either through death, or, they just ran off. Fearing the pack could no longer protect them. The attacks have gotten a whole lot, more frequent in the last 24 months. He guessed that was why his father had asked this asshat of an alpha for his help. He had always taught his fathers training of the omega element of the pack was just plain overkill. A waste of time that they could be cleaning something. Why teach them anything outside of maid services and well, you know, to please the higher ranking wolves of the pack. That was what they were for right? Well, he guessed he understood it now, because of this, he was going to have to let her out. That did not bode well for him if anyone saw her. With these thoughts on his mind he began walking, cussing himself for everything he could think of. There was no one left in this pack, who could cook those foods anymore, no one, but Ana just as Cheyenne had said (though the bitch thought she was gone) Ana had been trained to know all the alphas and their preferences. She had been head of the kitchen staff and the head chef since she was 10. The woman was incredible. She had always been the smartest person he knew. She finished all of her general schooling and college before she was nine. I know it's impossible, but that's how it happened. She had done her studies from home and never lagged in those or her daily chores. She would know exactly how to cook the food, and all he'd have to do is hand her a menu for the dinner meal, and let her in the kitchen. He could not believe he was going to have to let her out just to cook some food for this spoiled ass Alpha, he sighed and began walking up the stairs to the attic, he would not even be considering this if he wasn't afraid of the asshole. Alpha Ezra was a monster who wiped out entire packs. He was ruthless and coldhearted, he hated omega's, killing them on the spot. No questions asked. Those were the rumors anyway. Either way, Darian was glad the bastard didn't come here very often. Even his father was terrified of the boy, hell everyone was afraid of alpha Ezra, so he really had no choice. He couldn't afford to fuck this up and piss off that particular spoiled ass Alpha. Unlocking an opening the door that keeps her in, and safe in his world, he walked in looking around. There was a pallet that serves her bed, that much he allowed her. There was a door to the right that had a toilet and running water in the sink, although it was cold water, at least she could wash her self. He allowed her three tops, three bottoms, and no undergarments. She looked lovely without them, and he could fantasize that she didn't wear them not because she didn't have them, but because she wanted to tease him. There was a large window in the wall across from the door that gives her light. Since the attic was basically the fourth floor, he never saw a need to bar it, he only screwed it shut , preventing her from opening it, and calling out for help. She knew better than to allow herself to be seen in it anyway. She had tried it once just after he locked her up here, and he beat her damn near to death. He had played hell convincing the young warrior, who saw her that day, that he was seeing shit. He had told the young man that the door to the attic had been sealed years ago to keep the pups from going up there and getting trapped or falling from that very window to their deaths. Now there was a rumor going around the pack that the pack house is haunted, fucking haunted. Really? Oh well, he let it go simply because it kept people from coming up here. Darien smiled at that thought, walking over to the pallet he looked down at her sleeping form. She had changed in the two years that she had been up here. She was older, of course, but she was thin, goddess she was so thin. Her once beautiful, black hair was dull and stringy. It was much longer now reaching down past her ass, not that it was ever short. Her lovely face now had shadowed features, her cheeks hollow, no doubt from the hunger he forced on her. Her once nicely rounded body was nothing more than skin and bones. Closing his eyes, he wiped the tears building there, he knew he had done this to her. Sitting on the floor quietly, so he wouldn't wake her up, he just stared, thinking of all the things he had heard the other pack members say about her.

Ana was like no other in this world. She was kind and loving, even to him, even now when he has been her tormentor. She had a smile for everyone she met. Ana saw the good that she insisted was in everyone, "even the most evil of beings has good in them Darien", she would say. Without even knowing she was doing it, she had his whole heart in the palm of that tiny little hand of hers. She did beg him to release her and grant her, her freedom, but she never called him all the terrible things he knew he deserves to be called for what he has, is, and will continue to put her through. He thought about getting up and leaving the room . She was too important to him. How could he risk letting her out? What if someone saw her? This is why he was always so hard on her. No one could take her away from him. He would die if she was removed from his life, she was his. No one has ever held her in their embrace,( the only other ones that had is now dead, and feeding the worms, he thought, coldly). No one else will ever be allowed to touch her in anyway. It could only be him. Darien groaned as he stood up. Seeing no help for it, he woke her. Cheyenne had been right if he didn't keep this ass hat happy and he left without lending us aid, my father would turn me out in force me to go rogue.

" Ana!" he shouted at her.

Ana was jerked from her dreams of a peaceful life when she heard Darien scream her name, which really hurt her already aching head.

"What!" She yelled back, before she thought better of it.

" Do not take that tone with me Anabella Caulder!" he shouted at her.

" I'm sorry, Darian, sir, alpha, but you startled me." she stuttered, standing, as she talked, clearly flabbergasted.

" I will forgive it. This time only." he told her, winking one eye as he tapped a finger on her nose, smiling at her.

" Thank you Alpha." she said eyes pointed at the floor.

" I want you in the kitchen in 20 minutes, no sooner and don't be late. I am going to leave the door unlocked, if you run, or try to alert anyone to your presents here, I promise you, Ana, my love I will kill you myself. Do you understand and agree? He asked sharply.

Ana, could see the playful moment had passed. Darian was the same man that had locked her in here now, commanding and forceful.

" Yes alpha." she replied, still looking down at the floor.

"Alpha?" Ana asked, not looking up at him.

" May I ask why you are letting me in the main house, in the kitchen. I mean won't someone see me there? She asked not wanting him to change his mind, but she also didn't want to be killed.

" Are you questioning your alpha Ana? Do you not want to come out?" he asked with one eyebrow raised.

" No alpha. I mean, no, I am not questioning, my Alpha. Yes sir, I would like to come out." she stated.

" OK. Then be in the kitchen in 20 minutes, understand?" I he said walking from the room.

Ana Anna walked over to the closed door list. Someone tried to come in. Not that they would. The door had been locked for the last two years. She was just afraid someone would see her and Darian would make good on his promise to kill her. Fear does strange things to people she thought.