Rejected Fate - Chapter One
By: Elena Forest
Release Date: January 4th, 2023
Synopsis:
I was the pack’s shameful secret… until the day my twin was killed by a monstrous wolf and I was forced to take her place.
Born powerless and without a wolf, no one knows I exist. Which means slipping into my sister’s world while I hunt for her killer should be easy enough… except when it comes to Hunter Weston—heir of our rival pack, my sister’s chosen mate, and my number one suspect.
Broodingly mysterious and sexy as hell, Hunter is as unreadable as he is observant, and he knows there’s something off about me. His rejection will be swift and severe if he discovers the truth. With danger right on my heels, and new powers awakening within me, there’s a very real chance he might.
But the more I get to know him, the harder it is to stay away, and that poses a problem. With war looming on the horizon between our packs, our mating is the only thing keeping it at bay. Unless my father, the Alpha, decides to retaliate before I can prove Hunter’s innocence… or guilt.
If I don’t find my sister’s murderer soon, there will be more blood spilled... starting with my own.
Chapter One
Madison
If there were one thing the Alpha of the Stormborn pack hated most, it was my disobedience.
Eluding the enforcer he had posted outside my cottage and sneaking through the forest in the middle of the night was the pinnacle of defiance. Especially since I’d been warned my entire life to stay out of sight, out of mind.
I doubted that meant waltzing right up to the Alpha’s estate as if I lived there. Given that I was one of his daughters, it should have rightfully been my home.
Unfortunately, fate was a fickle mistress.
The anger that typically rose whenever I thought of my father got the best of me, and I grimaced as I stepped a little too hard.
The ominous crunch of forest debris that littered the ground easily gave away my position.
Shit.
The breath caught in my lungs and my body froze while I waited to be found. I didn’t want to think about what the punishment would be for my offense, but if I could pull this night off, the risk would be worth it.
Sadly, I wasn’t that lucky. Powerful footfalls thundered through the trees, and the unmistakable, elemental scent of a Stormborn wolf—the petrichor of a fresh rainstorm and the sweet, yet sharp, aroma of damp earth—had fear shivering down my spine. My fight-or-flight response kicked in, but there was no time.
Born no better than a human, with no wolf or magic, I was a disgrace to my father's lineage and the outcast of the pack. I would never be able to outrun the wolf shifter heading directly toward me.
Think, Madison. What would Kenna do?
My identical twin sister, Makenna, or ‘Kenna,’ as most everyone called her, was crafty, cunning, and confident. If personality alone could dictate what we shifted into, she would undoubtedly be a fox.
Thinking like her gave me an idea. Though it was a long shot, I hurriedly pulled down my hair and combed my fingers through the light blonde tresses until it settled softly around my shoulders, flowing down my back.
Straightening my posture into something I hoped appeared confident, I continued walking toward the Alpha’s lodging. My steps were nearly silent, but the steady thrum of my pulse wasn’t as easy to hide.
Glowing blue eyes emerged in the darkness, and the low, menacing growl of the enforcer made the fine hair on my nape stand on end. If I had a wolf inside of me, she would have growled right back and asserted her alpha dominance. Instead, I drew to a halt, threw a hand over my heart, and feigned a laugh to cover the spike of fear that released a burst of adrenaline into my bloodstream.
I hated that reaction, but as the lowest member of the pack without any of the benefits a wolf would have provided me, this guy could royally kick my ass.
Thinking quickly, I noted the unique pattern of sky-blue markings on his grey coat and the black shock of fur that created a “sock” on his back left paw. If there were one comparison to make between being exiled and being the pack princess, it was that my sister and I both knew the merry-go-round of enforcers stationed to watch us twenty-four seven. Except they guarded me like a prisoner while they protected Kenna like a precious gem.
“Damn, Reynolds. You scared the shit out of me,” I scolded, pleased with the note of confidence that filled my voice.
The wolf yipped, but it wasn’t a happy sound. Stormy magic enveloped him. Much like the charge that filled the air just before a wicked thunderstorm, unmistakable electricity tingled over my skin as he shifted. Tiny mountain ranges of goosebumps erupted along my arms, but I resisted the urge to rub my hands over them in an attempt to smooth them back down.
At the sight of the naked man standing before me, I averted my eyes quickly, trying not to wrinkle my nose in disgust. It wasn’t that the enforcer was ugly, because he wasn’t, but no one needed to see his flaccid bits bobbing in the wind.
“Madison,” the gravelly voice of the newly shifted wolf snapped. The cross-body bag I’d seen the enforcers wear to keep their clothing with them during shifts ruffled, and a zipper sounded. Blessedly, he stepped into a pair of sweatpants, saving his modesty and my eyes. Then he went right back to scolding me. “What the fuck are you doing out here?”
“Madison?” I scoffed, playing up the righteous, mildly offended tone my sister would use from being misnamed. I propped my sweaty palms on my hips. “Reynolds, you must be getting old.”
The jab made his glower deepen, and he sauntered closer. I held my ground, seemingly unaffected by his presence. I was naturally wary of the enforcers. Over the years, I’d learned to have a healthy respect for the power they held. While I wasn’t that scared little girl any longer, I tried to keep out of trouble and off their radar. Their priority was the pack’s safety. Even from me and the weakness I apparently represented.
Shaking the bitter thought away, I raised my chin and stated boldly, “I’m clearly Makenna.”
I hoped the power of suggestion worked, because I was clearly not.
My sister and I might be twins, but our upbringing made us as different as fire and water.
Reynolds’ gaze dropped downward, sliding over my old clothing and slip-on tennis shoes. I didn’t look bad, by any means, but I certainly wasn’t wearing name brands like my sister would’ve been. My shorts and tank top were modest finds from the local thrift store, but I doubted the enforcer knew anything about fashion. Still, my heart beat faster and I swallowed, praying to the moon above that he was a few fries short of a Happy Meal and wouldn’t notice the differences.
Raising a brow at his clear assessment of my body, I did my best to play the part. I waved him off, dismissing him and heading on my way as though I hadn’t a care in the world. Kenna was always poised and self-assured, so I tried to be the same. Honestly, I’d always wondered who I’d be if fate had dealt me different cards.
What would it have been like to grow up alongside Kenna? To have her power and influence? To be loved and cherished by the same pack who ostracized me without ever questioning my father’s orders?
“Makenna?” Reynolds repeated, sounding confused as he trailed after me while I tried to remember which path to take through the woods. It’d been so long since I’d made this trek, a handful of times over the years at most, but I couldn’t let him see my indecision. If he figured out I was lying to him, it wouldn’t bode well for me.
The enforcer’s towering six-foot-five frame dwarfed my own. I was an entire foot shorter than him and vastly outmatched.
As Madison, the knowledge of just how much damage he could do to me if he caught me in a lie was intimidating, but Makenna had never been cowed by the enforcers.
Why would she? They’d never hurt a hair on her head. Me, on the other hand? I’d only tested the boundaries my father had set a few times, and I’d quickly learned to pick my battles carefully.
Tonight was one I’d gladly fight. While the risk was high, it was necessary, even if it meant I got caught and roughed up in the process.
Reynolds inhaled loudly behind me, and I wrinkled my nose at the idea of being so blatantly scented. Call it my human sensibilities, but there were certain things I would never understand without experiencing them myself, and the importance of scent to the wolves was one of them.
My senses were better than the average human’s, but scents were just smells to me. Wolves, however, used them to identify individuals and packs, and up until our kind had been cursed, to find their fated mates.
His sniff just made me want to do a pit check to make sure my deodorant was working in the summer heat of early June.
But Makenna would never, so I trudged on, climbing over a fallen log and weaving between some trees, growing tired of how the enforcer matched my pace. He stayed only a foot behind me. Oppressive body heat warmed my back. I was on the verge of telling him off when he called me out.
“You don’t smell like Makenna. What shit are you trying to pull, Madison?” The way he spat my name sounded dirty. Like he’d rather eat a lemon than wrap his tongue around the syllables.
I ducked under a branch, pulling it back so it wouldn’t snag my hair, then promptly released it, enjoying the huff of annoyance from behind me where it’d hit Reynolds in the chest.
“I was just visiting her. Why do you think Madison’s scent is on me?” I knew for a fact that our scents mixed whenever my sister and I were near each other. We were too alike, and though anyone who had spent significant time around us knew our signatures to be distinctly different, those less familiar may not pick up on the nuances.
In Reynold’s case, I just needed to plant the seed of doubt, then water it until it grew and he left me alone. The sooner, the better, before he shifted back to a wolf and called for reinforcements, or worse, hailed the Alpha.
“If you are Makenna, and I’m not saying I believe your story, you shouldn’t be out here so late. You know your father doesn’t approve of you visiting your sister.”
No shit, Sherlock. Why did he think we had to sneak our visits? Even at twenty-one years of age, the Alpha controlled our lives. Any freedom he granted us was kept on a short leash.
“I was just saying ‘goodbye.’” The imposing silhouette of the Alpha’s house appeared through the trees, the white siding almost glowing under the midnight moon. Sighing, I turned to face the enforcer. “She’s my twin,” I retorted, as if that explained everything. To me, it did, but other people rarely understood the bond between siblings who had shared a womb.
“I don’t know.” Reynolds scrubbed a hand over his face, and I knew I’d gained a little ground.
I snagged a flower growing nearby, needing to fidget with something before I screwed up and did something decidedly ‘Madison’ that would give me away. “Surely you can let this slide?” Tucking the flower into my hair like I’d seen my sister do many times, I turned on the charm. “It can be our little secret.”
Tilting my head, I tried to jut out my bottom lip in the pout Kenna was famous for. Would it look the same on me? Or did my face look scrunched up like a pug’s? I hoped for the former.
“I’ll be gone tomorrow, anyway. Daddy doesn’t need to know.” It nearly killed me to call him ‘daddy.’
You’re just acting, I reminded myself even as my stomach churned from the wrongness of it.
“Fine. Go, and I’ll watch your return from here.” Reynolds widened his feet and crossed his arms, looking like an immovable wall of human flesh among the trees.
“Thanks, Reyn.” I smiled sweetly, using the nickname I’d heard others call him before hightailing it out of the woods.
A breath wooshed from my lungs, and I counted my blessings that I hadn’t been found by someone else. Someone like Juno or Crenshaw. I’d never have pulled that stunt off if it had been one of the more astute enforcers.
Goddess above, I half-cursed, half-prayed and looked at the waxing gibbous moon in the sky. I never want to do that again.
I hurried around the house, figuring Reynolds would assume I was using the front door, since it was closer to ‘my’ room. The shadows covered my advance, and I timed my steps to avoid the other enforcers lounging nearby. Smoke from their cigarettes wafted in the evening breeze, helping to disguise my scent, and their low chatter told me they were distracted.
I didn’t know this group very well; the perimeter enforcers were different from the ones my father stationed to guard his private dwelling. Luckily, that would work in my favor. If they caught my scent, they’d most likely think it was my sister’s, even if their deeper instincts told them something was off about it.
It took longer than I’d have liked to sneak along the front of the house—if you could even call it that, given the place was the size of a mansion—but I finally rounded to the far side and breathed a sigh of relief. I was close. Studying the landscape, I tried to remember the layout of my sister's home from the last time I’d been here. Though it’d been years, not much had changed.
Slipping beneath Makenna’s balcony, I searched the ground until I found what I was looking for. Crouching down, I snatched up a small pebble from the landscaped beds surrounding the massive house, then hid in the formal garden just beyond. The stone was cool and smooth in my palm. I tossed it in the air a few times, testing its size and weight, then took aim and let it fly.
The ping on the glass door was flawless. Ducking back down again, I stayed out of sight while I watched the familiar flowery curtains that obscured my view inside. I waited for the telltale flutter that told me she was opening the door, but a minute passed, then two more. Still nothing.
Did I dare throw another? What if someone else heard the small clink from inside? Once wasn’t suspect, but twice?
Normally I’d have admitted defeat, rather than chance getting caught by my father, but tonight was different.
Kenna was officially moving to live with her future mate’s pack tomorrow, and I wasn’t sure when I’d get to see her again. I hadn’t come this far, risked this much, to fail now.
Not tonight of all nights. Besides, this was the day every year she snuck out to see me. It was tradition, fifteen years in the making.
My fingers dipped into my pocket to retrieve the note she’d sent asking me to meet her here tonight with a hastily drawn map to remind me of the best paths to use. It was definitely her handwriting, and I confirmed I was in the right place. Shoving it away, I stared up at her room.
Biting my lip, I made the decision. Sneaking back to the walkway, I scooped up a small handful of pebbles before bleeding back into the shadowed garden. Rolling them around in my palm, I selected one and let it sail. Warm, yellow light flicked on in one of the downstairs rooms. It’d been so long since I’d been inside the house I wasn’t sure which room it was or who might be inside.
Barely breathing, I ducked out of sight once more and stayed as still as possible.
Dammit, this is a bad idea.
After a solid five minutes had passed and nothing happened, I dared a peek over the flowery bush I was hiding behind. Those same curtains sat unmoving.
My fist tightened around the stones, branding them into my palm, and I pursed my lips. This had been our plan, and I knew deep down she wouldn’t blow me off. We never missed a chance to see each other, our visits all too short and sporadic as they were. Since we were separated as children at the age of six, she’d faithfully gone against our father’s wishes and snuck out to see me.
So where is she?
Unwisely, I threw one last stone, convincing myself I’d leave if this one didn’t get her attention. The outside floodlights flicked on, the pool of warm yellow light infiltrating my hiding spot. I cursed, backing deeper into the shadows of the garden.
A cell phone chimed in the distance, cutting off the happy chatter of the enforcers as they answered. Deep in the woods, wolves began to howl, their echoing cries blending into a haunting melody.
My heart dropped to my feet, and anxiety reared its ugly head. I knew who’d made that phone call, who’d alerted the perimeter wolves of a potential threat, and yet, I couldn’t stop staring at those overly cheerful curtains.
My sister was one of the only people who meant anything to me.
Something was wrong. It had to be.
Before I could wrap my mind around that thought more fully, a large hand clamped over my mouth, and I was hauled backward into a hard body on a muffled scream.
