Chapter 1


    Jara


    “This entire process is archaic and barbaric!” I say for the hundredth time.


    “Sweetheart, we agree with you. But there’s nothing we can do. Your father and I have tried everything.


    After M…,”


    I sigh. I know my parents tried everything. After the death of my sister by her mate’s mistreatment, they


    tried to have me removed from the iming pool. But the elders wouldn’t hear of it. They insisted that,


    as thest unmated Alpha female, I had to participate in the annual iming.


    Title of the document


    “We won’t let what happened to M, happen to you, Jara.” Seth, my brother, says to me. He is going


    into the iming this year as well. Since he is not eligible to hunt for me, he is guaranteed a spot for the


    Beta female that is in the running this year. He could choose to be in a im for one of the omegas, but


    we all know he chose the Beta’s iming.


    Of all the years for me to turn 18, it had to be a year where there are more than double the normal


    contestants and a Beta female as well as myself. Every unmated male in the country will be at this


    year’s iming.


    While all she-wolves are ced in the first iming after they reach adulthood, males entering the


    annual iming are generally between 18-25 years of age. After that, a male werewolf, especially an


    Alpha who hasn’t taken a mate, will go feral and have to be put down. However, any werewolf who has


    lost their mate, is also eligible to enter the iming.


    Because there are so few females, hundreds of malese to the iming event every’ year. It is the


    only legal way to im a mate. Any male, regardless of rank, that tries to im a female outside of the


    iming will be put to death or, if he marked the female, he will be imprisoned, and the female will be


    ced in the next year’s iming. Since my im will be open to everyone, it has the potential for over


    200 savage wolves to try and hunt me down.


    The only positive is that not all of those will be Alphas. My im will be open to any eligible male. And


    while they may try to catch and im me. my Alpha aura will make it easier for me to fight any male


    who isn’t an Alpha.


    “And how do you n to keep it from happening to me, Seth. Not every Alpha is like you. They don’t all


    want a mate to love and cherish, like I know you will. Some of them will only see me as a breeding


    machine and a way for them to look good if I pop out a lot of pups for them.”


    He puts his hands on my shoulders, looking into my amber colored eyes with his sage green ones.


    “We’ll find a way, Jara. I promise. My word as an Alpha, if you are imed by someone that will


    mistreat you, I’ll get you out.”


    N?vel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive ? material.


    I sigh. It’s a nice sentiment and one I know he means, but it’s not possible. The werewolfws in this


    matter are absolute. If a male legitimately ims a mate during the annual iming, then she is his.


    My father walks in from getting the mail.


    “It came.” He says, holding up an envelope. Today I will see exactly who and how many males will he


    entering my im. This gives me a short amount of time to n for how many Alphas I will have to


    outmaneuver during my im.


    I can already tell that the envelope isrger than it has been for thest three years. Larger than it has


    been since my sister went into the iming pool. That means that I was right, every eligible male has


    entered this year’s event.


    “How many?” I ask as I sit down at our dining room table. My mother and brothere to sit on either


    side of me as my father sits across, opening the


    “Two hundred and thirty-six.” I s*uck in a breath.


    “Eliminate Seth and three more, a*s*suming Seth ims his mate, and that leaves me with two


    hundred and thirty-two. How many of those are Alphas?” I ask. This is already more than my sister had


    at her iming. She only had 175 males to contend with, and I thought that was a lot.


    My father looks at the stats before looking up at me. “Fifty-three.” My stomach clenches. Fifty-three?


    My only possible chance of getting out unimed is if they kill each other.


    “Does that include Seth?” I don’t know why I bother to ask. Fifty-three or fifty-two, it’s still too many for


    me to take on. I was hoping for five.


    “Yes, so fifty-two.” He hands the papers to my mother, and he puts his head in his hands, nibbing his


    face.


    “Maybe we could run.” He says, looking up at me.


    “Dad, if we did, Seth would suffer. He’d lose the pack, lose his title and not be eligible as a imant. I


    can’t do that to him. I’ll just have to be better than every male in the hunt.”


    “I’ll spar with you, every day, twice a day until it’s time to go in, Jara. I’ll do anything I can to help you


    get out unimed.” Seth says to me.


    I reach over and put my hand on top of my brother’s hand. I hope he gets his mate. He’s older than I


    am, but he’s still a few years from worrying about going feral. However, this year is his best opportunity


    to get a mate. He is automatically eligible for the Beta’s iming because he’s not eligible for mine.


    “Many of these Alphas are older. I recognize their names. They have lost their mates and areing in


    for another chance for a mate.” My mother says, looking up from the papers and looking at me. “I see


    ten so far that are mine and your father’s age. You could easily oust them, Jara. You’re a powerful


    she-wolf and you have a strong aura.”


    “Well, that drops it down to forty-two, so at least it’s moving in the right direction to be manageable.”


    I’m running through the contenders in my head when my mother s*ucks in a breath.


    “No.” She whispers. “It can’t be.”


    All of us turn our focus on her. “What, mother? What is it?” I ask, scared to know what has my mother


    reacting like this. Her eyes are wide, and she looks up at me, terrified.


    “Alpha Typhon is in this year’s pool of imants.”


    Alpha Typhon. The Alpha that imed my sister. Then he bred her and bred her until it ultimately killed


    her. We knew from our conversations with her that the doctors told him to wait, to give her time to heal,


    but he wouldn’t listen. He insisted on having an heir, on beginning the repoption of our race.


    In the end, my sister lived less than two years before dying in childbirth. We were told afterward that


    Alpha Typhon had her child cut from her body in an effort to save him. But he was toote.


    He lost both my sister and his child and now, he wants to im me as well.