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Prologue

I heaved a deep sigh as I folded the last of my clothes and packed them neatly into my suitcase. Looking around my bedroom, I felt a wave of sadness knowing that today would be my last day not just in this room, but in this house. I walked towards the mirror on the wall and gazed at my reflection with a sense of hopelessness. My pale, tear-stained face with tired, ash-grey eyes and long white-blonde hair hanging limply around my waist stared back at me. At 16, I was petite for my age, lacking the curves of most girls. My pale complexion came from spending endless hours hiding in my room beneath the duvet covers, reminiscing about the good times when my Mom was still alive. I rarely went outside, except for school, and as a result, I had very few friends and was a favourite target for bullies at school.

My mum passed away suddenly last year after taking her own life. My dad has since remarried, and we are now moving into his new wife's house. My mum was a beautiful woman, and her death came as a complete shock to us because she never seemed unhappy or down. I remember the morning of her death vividly. She kissed me and my dad goodbye as she left the house for her weekly gym session, but she never made it there. After reporting her as missing to the police, her body was never found, but her belongings and a suicide note were discovered on top of a cliff at a well-known suicide spot. The note expressed her sorrow for what she was about to do and her hope that one day we would forgive her.

Every day I missed her like crazy and couldn’t believe that she had gone and that the sea had claimed her for its own. She wasn’t just my mother but my best friend. It felt like a massive part of me had been cruelly ripped out of my heart and trampled on in the dirt. I loved my Dad endlessly, don't get me wrong, but he couldn’t replace my Mum, and neither could his new wife, no matter how sweet and kind she was. Silently, I turned around and grabbed my suitcase before dragging it out of my room and down the stairs, towards the front door where my Dad was waiting patiently, beside our car, packed full of our belongings.

"Are you ready, pet?" he asked gently, bending down to my level and hugging me tightly before wiping my eyes with his finger. "Come on. Let’s go. Julianne will be waiting for us at the new place. Please don’t cry, my love. You will love it at the new house with Julianne and Louisa."

Louisa was Julianne’s daughter. She was the same age as me, but she was a lot taller and had a fuller figure. She wasn’t fat, but she had large perky boobs, curvaceous hips, and a toned flat stomach. Her wavy, long brown locks fell around her waist like a chocolate waterfall, and her piercing blue eyes shone like polished sapphires. I knew Louisa from school, and even though she wasn't one of the kids who bullied me, she never stood up for me or stopped the nastiness, despite knowing that I was going to become her stepsister. She would just stand and watch with her group of giggly girlfriends, snigger gently, and then walk off towards class and out of sight.

I nodded silently at my dad, tears starting to leak down my face once more as I turned around and looked back at our now-empty house before climbing into the car. Glancing out the window as the car began to drive away slowly, I noticed the for-sale sign now had a large "SOLD" sign nailed over it. Dad had sold the house for a large cash sum, and he was ready to move on with his life and make new memories with Julianne. I begged him not to sell the house, but he said that the house was too big for just me and him. And that Julianne also didn’t feel comfortable moving into a dead woman’s house. Before I knew it, the house where I spent my childhood, filled with countless cherished memories, was suddenly gone. It had been purchased by a profit-driven developer who intended to demolish the house and transform the land into a trendy bar and restaurant.

"After my mom passed away, my dad struggled and turned to alcohol briefly to cope with his grief. I couldn't cheer him up, so I let him spend time at the pub. That's where he met Julianne during a pack meeting, and from the moment they met, they were inseparable. Julianne was a close friend of my mom's, so she knew my dad and me well. She appeared to be a positive influence on my dad, swiftly leading him out of his downward spiral of alcoholism and helping him recover.

Although I was delighted to see my dad happy and smiling again, I still didn't want Julianne to become my stepmother. While she was kind and caring toward me, it didn't feel the same as having my mother. I longed for my mum to return so we could be a true family again. Julianne wasn’t my dad’s true mate, so we would never be bonded by fate.

My dad, Julianne, and I are werewolves belonging to a pack called The Eclipse. We are the second biggest and strongest pack in Great Lake City. Our pack controls the farming and food trade within the city, making us very wealthy and powerful, with immense influence over the smaller packs. The largest pack is the Midnight Sun pack, which holds power over banking and telecommunications, making them more important than us. Despite our size and power, we all live in harmony with the other packs. The great werewolf war of 1972 led to the werewolf council creating a new law that prevents us from fighting over territory, money, power, and pack members. Enough werewolf blood had been spilled and to conserve our numbers, there was to be no more pack fights.

The war started when a large group of rogue wolves attacked the city, threatening to kill any tame wolf that didn't leave their pack and join the Free Wolf Movement (FWM). Many wolves remained loyal to their alphas and refused to leave their packs, so the rogues started launching attacks, targeting lone or defenceless wolves one by one.

In the end, all the packs had had enough of their members being slaughtered in cold blood. They came together to finish the rogues off once and for all. After many hours, the city finally fell silent. The mangled bodies were scattered as far as the eye could see. The rogues suffered the most damage, with casualties and fatalities all around. When the rogues realized that they were outnumbered by the packs, they stopped fighting, raised their hands, and quickly surrendered. They were swiftly rounded up and held in the Wolfsbane Correctional Centre (WCC), chained with silver chains in silver cages, unable to shift into their wolf forms or see the light of day again. "It has been said that being chained up in silver for a long time can prevent a werewolf from morphing into their wolf because the silver weakens them. Additionally, being kept from their wolf for too long will eventually drive them mad." There were rumours that many of the incarcerated criminals committed suicide to escape the harsh prison conditions. In response, the werewolf council proposed that if we could unite to eliminate the city's criminals, we could all live together in harmony.

As I regained my composure, I glanced out of the window and saw that the towering grey skyscrapers and bustling shopping malls had transformed into peaceful residential areas with long suburban streets, lined with lush, green parks where joyful children played and an abundance of well-trimmed hedges and trees. As we pulled into a quiet estate on the edge of the city, I felt the car slow down. The Great Forest loomed eerily nearby, marking the edge of our territory. The semi-detached houses snaked gracefully down the road, with their bright red front doors standing out from the brilliant white paintwork. Neatly mowed green front lawns lay under the dazzling blue sky and scorching sun. Dusty cars sat silently parked on tidy driveways, while the street buzzed with joyful children playing noisily on bikes and scooters.

Dad drove to the end of the cul-de-sac and parked next to a charming little house with well-kept flower beds and neatly lined lawn edges. As he turned off the engine, a tall, slender woman with long red hair and bright green eyes quickly opened the front door. She was wearing a pair of black leggings, flip-flops, and a long smock dress. She was a pretty lady, but there was no comparison to my mom and her beauty. I could feel the woman’s eyes burning into mine as she watched curiously while I climbed out of the car before bursting into a wide, friendly smile. Behind her, I spotted Louisa peering over her mother’s shoulder, and she smirked as she locked eyes with mine. Walking briskly toward me, Julianne extended a perfectly manicured hand, which I accepted gingerly as Dad looked on happily. "Welcome to your new home, Libby!"

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