"Vin?" I panted from running through the woods with my little legs to reach the training fields. But I didn't care. All I cared about was the only person close to my heart in the whole pack was leaving me.

My step-brother's cold silver gaze fell on my small form standing in front of him. But I could tell those eyes weren't as cold for me as they were for others.

"Little butterfly? What are you doing here? Didn't I forbid you from wandering too far from the packhouse?" The dark thick brows of his furrowed. He was always concerned about my safety. Only him.

Tears formed in my eyes, my lower lip trembled. Sniffling, I looked down at my hands. "U-uncle Donovan said, y-you are leaving for Alpha training tonight?"

Gripping my chin gently, he made me look up into his silver eyes. A muscle of his jaw ticked. "Is my little butterfly scared?"

My nod was slow. Another tear fell from my eyes as I stepped closer to him, clutching the hem of his shirt in my fists. "W-who will protect me from mean people? I-i can't live without you here. Please…don't go. Don't leave me."

He was my everything in this cruel pack. People said he was my brother, but he never liked to acknowledge the relationship. He was more of my guardian angel, my best friend, than my step-brother.

A tight smile tugged at his lips. Holding my gaze, he took my hands in his bigger and rougher ones. "I will never leave my butterfly even if it's the end of the world. Don't forget that. I will always protect you even if I'm away. This separation is only for some time, sweetheart. So I can be powerful enough to always keep you beside me."

The last sentence came out much as a growl. Something flashed across his silver eyes. I didn't understand the emotion, but the determination in his voice comforted me.

My Vin wasn't leaving me for good. He would always protect me. 

I wiped my tears and blinked. "S-swear on me you will come back soon? Pinky promise?"

His lips curled up into a smirk as he wrapped his finger around my small one. "Pinky promise. I will come back soon, to claim what is rightfully mine."

A loud pounding on the door made me jolt awake on my bed. Squinting my eyes, I glanced at the door.

I was dreaming again…

"Is the Cinderella done with her beauty sleep? Get downstairs now!" Aunt Jude's harsh voice came through the wooden door, making me flinch. "Come down and make breakfast this instant! We don't feed you for being a sloth!"

"I'm up, Aunt! Give me two minutes," I replied in a low voice, knowing her werewolf ears could hear me just fine.

"Fast! Ophelia is going to come downstairs soon for breakfast. You don't want to anger her again."

Even the mere name of the Beta's daughter put my nerves on alert. Her characteristics were polar opposite to uncle Donovan.

My eyes roamed over the scattered letters beside my pillow. The letters I received from him…From my Vin.

My heart clenched as my eyes burned with unshed tears.

Since he left for his training when I was eleven, he always used to send letters to me every month filled with sweet words, questions about my whereabouts and orders to stay away from troubles, especially boys. I used to wait for them eagerly every month.

Until one day, all of it stopped. As if… he stopped caring for his little butterfly. The last letter I got from him was on my sixteenth birthday three years ago. I didn't receive any more letters from him since then, nor did he answer any of mine. I didn't even know if he even read them.

But I still waited. Hoped that he might be busy and his letter, filled with his sweet words and promises, would arrive soon. But it never happened.

Did you really forget about your butterfly, Vin?

The weak presence of my wolf in the back of my mind whimpered.

I miss you Vin…

"Aurora!"

Flinching from Aunt Jude's shout from downstairs, I quickly wiped my tears and carefully hid all the letters under the bed sheet. Scrambling out of the bed, I rushed to the small bathroom attached to the room I lived in. The room I was allotted at uncle Donovan's house out of his kindness and…HIS order. The place Vin deemed safe for me, away from the Alpha family.

Once I was downstairs, I was surprised to see the whole pack buzzing with excitement and rushing around.

Was there any special occasion today?

"Is my breakfast ready, Rory?" Ophelia's tall and curvy structure climbed down the stairs. Rollers were pinned in her blonde hair as she tied her pink satin robe. "Hurry up! I need to go to the salon and get ready for the function!"

Aunt Jude soon appeared in the room. Kissing her daughter's cheek, she took her seat and started working on her phone. Always too busy with her beta female duties.

"Y-yes, give me a second." Plating their breakfast which consisted of two eggs, two toasts with maple syrup and some fruits, I served the plates before them. Ophelia's always hot temper was nowhere to be seen today. Instead, an excitement glimmered across her blue eyes. "Here you go." I shot her a smile. "Uh, is there any celebration tonight, Ophelia?"

One of her arched brows raised at me. "You don't know?" A snort. "Of course, no one must have bothered mentioning to you about such an important matter. As unimportant as you are."

I lowered my head, preparing her black coffee. The pack members, especially her, never forgot to remind me of the pathetic life I had. Being the Alpha's illegitimate child, I was nothing more than a maid in the pack. Plus, even at nineteen I didn't shift yet.

My wolf was too weak for that. Maybe, I was just like my mother? An omega? A mother I didn't even remember I once had until she left me with a father who didn't care about me.

"There is going to be a grand party tonight. Every Alpha and Betas are invited from across the country. It's a sudden decision. Luna Ralph is making sure everything goes according to her wish from last night," Ophelia filled in, chewing on her toast with poise.

My eyes widened. A grand party?

Aunt Jude's lips pursed. "Yeah, I'm doing all the work and that bitch will take all the credit later." Her dislike towards Luna was a secret from the rest of the pack.

"All of a sudden? I-is there any special reason behind that?" I bit my lip, too afraid to anger her with my queries. I didn't want to get burnt again from her hot coffee.

Ophelia rolled her eyes. "What will you do knowing the reason?"

Wiping the side of her mouth with her napkin, she pushed her unfinished food away.

"You just start preparing my clothes, shoes and jewelry while I'm at the salon. I want everything to be perfect today, Aurora." Her hard gaze held mine. "Tonight is very important for me. Who knows, I might meet my mate tonight. A powerful Alpha most probably. So, be careful. I want to look my best tonight."

The warning hidden behind her eyes didn't escape me. A fear rolled through me.

"Not just any Alpha. Alpha Vinson. Your target is him, don't forget that." The beta female's voice was sharp towards her daughter.

The name snapped my eyes to her.

V-vin?

Did that mean…he would be here tonight?

My heart started to race. V-vin, my Vin was coming? My hands trembled with an uncontrollable happiness blooming inside my chest.

Ophelia's eyes glimmered with excitement. "Yes, mommy. How can I forget that? This is my main goal. I'm sure I'm going to turn out to be the mate he is waiting for. Vinson Salvatore Rustov's Luna. An alpha needs a strong Luna, and that's going to be me."

Her words seemed to agitate my wolf. My chest burned at the image of Ophelia standing beside Vinson as his mate and Luna. She had always been after him.

I took a discreet breath, composing myself before anyone could catch the secret I had been harboring in my heart for years. The forbidden feelings I had for my stepbrother, my protector. No one knew what his letters, his gifts meant to me. I still read all of them every night to soothe the emptiness of my heart. I didn't know when it happened, but I was secretly in love with my stepbrother for as long as I could remember.

A love that had no future. He was the alpha and I was an Omega. Most importantly and unfortunately, he was my stepbrother. He would never see me as anything else other than his little weak sister who always needed his protection.

Something clenched in my chest, making me blink my tears away.

"I pray you two are mates. I don't want to stay just as a beta female in this pack forever, living under Ralph's commands for the rest of my life!" Aunt Jude gritted her teeth.

"I-is Vinson returning to the pack tonight? That's what the celebration is for?" I asked, an eager smile spreading across my face.

Their eyes turned to me.

"It's Alpha Vinson for you," Aunt Jude snapped. "Yes, he is coming. It's his coronation night tonight. And I don't want you anywhere near the party. Is that understood?"

Something flashed across her eyes as she cast a look of distaste down my body. She never liked Vin's care for me, just like the alpha and Luna.

My heart fell at her words.

Ophelia threw me a glare. "Don't get all excited now. Alpha Vinson isn't the seventeen year old boy anymore who would stick around you all day and night. He has got a pack to handle now, he doesn't need his little step-sister to jinx his coronation night. And don't forget about Luna Ralph. You aren't allowed near the Alpha manor, remember?"

I bit my lip, holding back my tears that threatened to fall. He was going to be here after years, and I wasn't allowed to go and see him.

My wolf whimpered in my mind. A desperation surged through my chest.

Before leaving to see the party arrangements, Aunt Jude threw an evening gown in my arms.

"Go and get it dry cleaned. I'm gonna wear it tonight," she ordered. "And yes," before stepping outside, she gave me a sinister look, "I don't want you anywhere near the Alpha manor. Tonight is very special for Ophelia, don't you dare ruin it by your jinxed presence! You better stay home and do the chores."

A tear rolled down my cheek the moment she left. My grip tightened on her gown. A helplessness rose into my chest. I wanted to see my Vin, but how? No one wanted me there, especially Aunt Jude, Ophelia and Luna Ralph.

As much as uncle Donovan cared for me, his wife and daughter never accepted me as one of them. With him being busy most of the time with pack business, he didn't have much idea about the days I had spent without food or getting other punishments for the tiniest mistake. I endured everything silently, because they gave me shelter after all. I was grateful to them.

But I couldn't obey Aunt Jude tonight. No matter if I got punished, I had to see Vin, be there to welcome him. He would look for me, wouldn't he?

Maybe, just maybe he still remembered and cared for me? Maybe I was still his little butterfly?

A determination formed inside me. I would go to the party.

And I knew who could help me.

After completing the chores I was given, I left for the cafe where I worked as a part time waitress. It belonged to my best friend, Mia's family.

"Here is your mocha with no sugar. Anything else, Martha?" I asked the old lady gently who lived two houses from uncle Donovan's.

She just shook her head before sipping on her coffee. As silent as she always was after she lost her mate years ago.

"Aurora! Attend table number five! See what they want!" Sarah, Mia's mother, who ran the cafe, yelled out from behind the cash counter.

"Sure…" My voice trailed away as soon as my eyes fell on the customers occupying the table. The top notch bullies of the pack. Ophelia's best buddies.

I gulped.

They could never hurt me until Vin was around. But after he left…

Mia sent me a look of concern as she attended another customer.

Taking a deep breath, I nodded at her in assurance before approaching them.

"H-hello. What would you like to order?" I stuttered, keeping my eyes on the ground.

*Gosh! What's that smell? That's why I told you not to come here, Sam. I hate these lowlife omegas!" Kate, the most beautiful and brutal girl in the pack after Ophelia, scrunched her nose. I could feel her glare on me.

"I wonder how Ophelia tolerates her in her house every day," Gina, another girl from their group, said with mockery.

I bit my lip at the insult, it irked my wolf. But I stayed quiet.

Sam, Kate's boyfriend, and Gemma's son, eyed me up and down. His lingering gaze made me uncomfortable. His eyes were getting bolder with each passing day.

"Let her be, babe. Even omegas need to earn money to live, don't they?" He ran his hand through his dirty blond locks, his gaze never leaving me. "Get us our regular, Aurora."

The way he slowly uttered my name made me cringe internally, but I didn't let it show. His wandering eyes never escaped Kate's gaze. The look of wrath she gave me was deadly.

Not wasting a second, I rushed away to get their orders, away from them.

"Hey, you okay?" Mia asked, her warm brown eyes watched me closely. Her thin and tall figure stood some inches over me. "Don't mind them. They are always…"

"Forget about them. I need your help, Mia." I grabbed her hands, taking her out of everyone's earshot. "Your mom is catering to the party tonight, right?"

She nodded, well aware of the fame her mother's cooking had across the pack.

"She will be needing helping hands there to serve, right? C-can you please help me get into the party, Mia?" I whispered, hoping she would agree. "I-i need to attend the party."

An understanding etched across her features. "It's for Alpha Vinson, isn't it?"

She had some ideas about my forbidden feelings for my stepbrother. But she never judged or questioned. 

I nodded. "I want to be there when he arrives."

The mere thought of seeing him again after so many years sent butterflies to my stomach.

"But Luna…" She hesitated.

"I will deal with it. I just need to be there. Please help me, Mia."

Letting out a sigh, she smiled. "Okay, I will convince Mom."

A face-splitting smile spread across my face before I threw my arms around her. "Thank you so much, Mia. I will forever be grateful for this!"

I was finally going to meet him!

"Alright. Let's get ready for the party then. We have only two hours in hand before the guests start arriving."

***

After two hours, I found myself inside the manor of the alpha family in a waitress uniform. Mia stood beside me as we both stared in awe at the dazzling decorations across the huge hall.

The aura of Alphas, betas and their mates made the air heavy for me to comfortably breathe. Their power rolled in waves in the ambience.

The atmosphere buzzed with serious conversations and clinking glasses. Tall and powerful figures roamed around the hall in expensive clothes and stiff postures. While I was far away from Luna, Aunt Jude and Ophelia's eyes.

But one person was missing there.

My Vin. He wasn't there yet. The whole party was waiting for his arrival.

The man who was rumored to be the most powerful uncrowned Alpha across the country.

"Be careful. Don't get into the guests. The Luna, Alpha, or the beta family shouldn't notice you. Just stay here and pass me the drinks," Mia whispered, eyeing the slender figure of Luna Ralph from across the room. We stood at the back of the hall.

In a royal blue gown, with her thick brown hair held in a high bun, she looked no more than thirty being in her early fifties.

Werewolf aging.

I nodded, glancing at the main entrance, eager for the sight of a certain man. "Don't worry. I will be careful."

I wondered how he looked after so many years? Would he…recognize me?

As I gave Mia the tray of drinks for her to serve them to the guests, avoiding my nervousness and the look of disdain of some passing pack members, a loud roar of a car engine reached my ears. My eyes snapped to the main entrance.

The air charged with buzzing whispers and excited murmurs from the crowd. My wolf stirred inside me, a weird shiver rolled through my body. My heart started racing.

"He is here!" Someone shouted from the main entrance.

"Alpha Vinson is here!"

Chapter one is here! So is our notorious Alpha! What do you think will happen now? Aurora will get back her love? Or new problems and heartaches are waiting for her?

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It wasn't boring, was it? Let me know about your thoughts. Which character do you love and hate the most?

With love,

Eva Zahan.