I’d forgotten to take off my makeup.
“Damn it, Natasha!” Ryker growled, gripping my jaw firmly and turning my face from side to side to look closer. “Why do you defy your uncle like this? Take that garbage off your face before he sees you.”
“I didn’t do it to defy him,” I defended, hating that I got caught because of my carelessness. Slowly, I pulled my face away from his fierce grasp and lifted the bottom of my white shirt to my cheeks, beginning to wipe them. “It’s only a little makeup, Ryker, and I just do it for me. It makesmehappy… Why do you all hate human things so much? They are harmless.”
Once again, my gaze fell to the ground.
“You don’t need makeup to ‘feel happy’, you have me. And they are not harmless,” he sneered. “You are degrading yourself by using that human crap. We are above them, Tasha. You are the descendant of an ancient, magical race of Wolf Shifters. You are not human, so stop acting like one.” His hand flipped the lock of hair that fell over my shoulder with disdain, showing the colored extensions, and then pulled on my sleeve. “And take those ridiculous clothes off too, before he sees you.”
“Ryker!” Our Alpha’s voice sliced the air behind us, and we both stiffened in response.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Damn it,” my future mate growled under his breath while pinning me with a furious stare that said I was going to get him in trouble too, then turned to face our Alpha—hiding me behind his broad back before lowering his eyes. “Yes, Alpha.”
“Good job leading the Hunters out there, you are becoming the leader I want you to be.” Pride effortlessly exuded from his words, as though he were praising his son.
Ryker’s chest puffed up in response, satisfied by his accomplishment. “Thank you, Arnoldt.” His voice didn’t even twitch when he called our Alpha by his given name. He was the only one ever allowed to do so.
“Where’s Natasha?”
Unfortunately for me, he walked around his Beta, finding me there. Rage immediately ignited his irises the same dangerous yellow all our shifters experienced from the ancient magic within.
“Natasha! How many times do I have to tell you that the world below these mountains is not meant for you?!”
The change in his voice told me exactly what awaited me. It wasn’t the first time my name was distorted by his rage. Too many times to count, actually, but I was still trying to find a way to change that… To prove to him that I was worthy.
It may seem stupid, yet makeup was the only way for me to connect with a world I desperately wished I was part of, and yet, I was strictly forbidden to explore. Thankfully, he didn’t know about the vlog Isis had created for me in the eutubee—where she uploaded my videos each week—or about the thousands of people who looked forward to my videos and valued what I had to say, even enjoyed what I created. Who knew what our Alpha would do if he ever found out about it.
No, I wasn’t human, but sometimes I wished I could be.
“Sir, I already reprimanded her, there’s no need to punish?—”
Pushing Ryker out of the way, our Alpha’s hand viciously wrapped around my arm, and he pulled me toward the house, ignoring his Beta’s attempt to save me.
I had defied the Alpha… No one could save me from what was coming now.
2
The door slammed against the opposite wall with the force of our Alpha’s shove, splitting it in half, and the loud crack battled the pounding echo of my own heart. He yanked me into the room while fearful murmurs, gasps, and even sounds of praise for the leader’s actions rose behind us—they, too, knew what was coming.
Isis’ suitcase was still opened on the floor, filled with trendy outfits, and hair accessories. Contents of my makeup bin were spread all over the small bed—from when I searched for the new lipsticks she’d bought for me to share in the vlog. Worst of all, the cellphone was still set up on the desk, hooked to the small tripod, recording.
The sight only fueled our Alpha’s wrath.
“What is the first rule of theShadow BornPack?” His breath felt scorching against my cheek as he sneered the question at me.
“Never defy the Alpha…” My voice didn’t sound quite like my own as it left my throat, but I willed it to steady. I wasn’t really afraid. I’d been the focus of his wrath far too many times to fear it, but the wolf inside me was still submissive to her Alpha. All Wolf Shifters were. It was our nature.
“What is the second rule?” he seethed.
“The human world is forbidden to us,” I answered too low for my benefit.
“I can’t hear you!” Sharp claws dug into my skin when he tightened his vicious hold, eliciting a whimper from my wolf, one I swallowed.
“The human world is strictly forbidden. Only the Hunters may join it,” I forced myself to reply loud and clear, although the rule seemed like a contradiction to me. We were their guardians, meant to always keep them safe. Why couldn’t we just visit, learn from them, maybe even be their friends?
“Does that include human objects?”
