They were holding a bonfire party in my honor, or so Xander told me. The sun was now below the horizon, and a beautiful crescent decorated the night sky. Teary-eyed, I had watched my parents get chased away on the excuse that this party was 'pack-only', and was then made to join the huge gathering of werewolves to celebrate my joining their pack. So on a tree log I sat, surrounded by complete strangers who were making no effort to hide their blatant staring, feeling more alone than I'd ever felt in my entire eighteen years of existence.

Happy birthday, me. 

How utterly ridiculous. It wasn't like I was joining their pack willingly; the threat on my parents' lives had forced my hand. 

My eyes were fixed firmly on the roaring fire right in front of me. I was thankful for the warmth of the bonfire; the fact that I wasn't made to endure this all while feeling chilled was my only solace. 

I pretended not to notice the excessive staring. Had they never seen a human before?

I inhaled. 

Humans and werewolves.

Werewolves. 

The word felt heavy on my mind and tasted bitter on my tongue. I was still reeling from the shock of what I'd witnessed. A part of me was in total disbelief, refusing to believe what I'd seen with my very own eyes. Oh, but there was no denying it, no running away from it. 

How was it that freaking werewolves managed to hide themselves and coexist in an era like this without being detected or found out about? Wasn't technology advanced enough to expose them to the world? Or were they truly as powerful as the tales and stories dictated?

I dared to sneak a peek at Xander, who had his back to me and was putting on new clothes. The ones he'd worn earlier got torn during the... shift.

I looked away. It was all I could do not to start hyperventilating. I suddenly realized that my pulse hadn't calmed since I saw Xander change to a giant black wolf. It was still erratic and all over the place. Who could blame me?

"Here come the beer kegs!" I heard someone say to the loud appreciation of the crowd, and raised my head to see a guy about my age carrying a keg of beer on his shoulder as if it weighed nothing. He was totally naked except for the jean shorts around his hips. 

The party was gaining traction. The tension that had hung in the air began to evaporate as soon as my parents left, and while they were not exactly relaxed now, they were certainly much more at ease than they were before. They chatted and laughed together, huddled together in groups of four or five, either oblivious to my suffering or indifferent to it. 

My eyes returned to the keg guy. He set down the keg by the fire, then went to fetch more kegs. 

Somehow, he realized I was starting at him from across the bonfire and stopped to stare back. He surprised me by winking at me, and then he looked past me and his expression changed from playful to ashen in a heartbeat. Before I knew it, he was on the other side of the clearing, far away from me. 

I sensed him then. 

I looked over my shoulder to see Xander standing right behind me. I couldn't help the shudder that raked my body. But my reaction was completely justified; he had an expression that was a mixture between death and fury plastered across his face, and I was pretty sure his eyes were glowing and that it wasn't reflected firelight. 

I felt it again: potent, crippling fear that left me frozen in place. I brought my legs closer to my body, practically hugging them as I sat on the log. I was afraid he'd see how badly I was shaking, afraid that, like a shark, he could smell my fear, and would pounce on me at the slightest provocation or indication. 

He came to stand in front of me. Like the keg guy, he was wearing black shorts only. Here I was fully-dressed for the winter and still feeling the cold, while these creatures wandered around practically naked but for the flimsiest articles of clothing, paying the biting cold no heed. I supposed it was because of they were hot-blooded monsters. 

Against my better judgement, I looked up and met his eyes. It was all I could do not to look away; his golden gaze was intense, robbing me of words. Only moments ago I'd had a million things I'd wanted to say to him -you're a monster for tearing me away from my parents, I don't want to be here, I don't want anything to do with you- but no words came. 

"We're not going to hurt you."

I scoffed, holding back a sudden hysterical laugh that bubbled to my throat. "You will forgive me if I find that hard to believe," I said, glaring up at him with a wry smile pulling the corners of my mouth. Could he tell that I was holding back tears? Could he tell that I was on the verge of breaking, that I was beside myself with fear? 

Xander sighed and looked away. He brought his hands to his hips and seemed to consider what to say to me as he stared into the distance. 

But there was nothing he could say to make this better, except let me go. 

But it appeared that that was an impossibility. 

My mother's frightened words still rang in my ear: If you refuse to go with them, they'll kill us!

My hands and feet and very soul were tied. I could see no way out of this ordeal. 

"What do you want with me?" I demanded in a low voice that thankfully did not tremble, but it held a note of the fear that was consuming me nevertheless. 

He was silent a few moments to the point that I thought that I was going to be denied an answer to that question yet again. Finally, he said, "My father will be the one to tell you that."

"Your... your father?" At that, I frowned. I looked around for the sign of a man who Xander resembled, but saw many men that shared Xander's general features that I couldn't be too sure if I was looking at Xander's parent. 

Xander nodded. "Our Supreme Alpha." 

"A-Alpha?" God, this was straight out of Twilight. So there were betas and omegas too?

"I'll explain our hierarchy to you another time." 

"When will I meet your father?" I wanted to know what the hell I was doing here among this group of monsters posthaste. The longer I waited, the more my insides knotted, and the harder the arctic grip of dread tightened around the base of my spine. 

Out of nowhere, Xander grinned. Amusement glittered in his honeyed eyes. I was quite taken aback by his abrupt change in demeanor. 

It instantly made me wary -well, more so than I already was. 

The party suddenly quieted down from around us. Xander turned, giving me his back. My heart leapt to my throat. 

Oh God, what is it now?

I slowly got up from the log and peeked around Xander, who'd gone ramrod straight. His rigid posture alarmed me. If Xander, the werewolf, was tense about anything, then I could only imagine what that meant for me, a mere human being. 

The crowd parted for a man, er, male werewolf who came to stand in front of the bonfire not ten paces away from where we were standing. 

I now knew what Xander would look like thirty plus years from tonight. This had to be Xander's father, the Superior Alpha-

"Supreme Alpha," Xander corrected. 

"Right, Supreme Alp- Hey! Stay out of my head!" 

Every pair of eyes turned to look at me. Unfortunately, that had come out a little too loudly. 

Instinctively, I inched toward Xander, seeking to shield myself from view with his body, when I caught myself and jerked away from him like I'd been backhanded across the face. 

How easy it was to forget that he was a monster too when he wore the skin of a man.

I looked back at the Supreme Alpha and my heart somersaulted. Out of all the pairs of eyes, the one that rattled me the most was the Supreme Alpha's, Xander's father's. Our gazes collided. It pierced through me with his eyes the same way Xander sometimes did and I felt like every part of my mind was exposed to him, laid bare for him to see and probe at. It was all I could do not to bolt right out of the crowded clearing. Then his gaze swept across my whole body from head to toe and back again scrutinizingly. 

"You've grown well, Carly," he stated in a tone that belied an emotion akin to pride, the corners of his mouth titling up in a smile that looked very sincere. 

I was beyond confused. 

I opened my mouth to say something, but he turned around and faced the crowd, halting the words in my throat. 

He addressed the crowd, "Tonight, our celebration is twofold: we celebrate Carly's 18th birthday, and her joining our pack, something we've long waited for." 

Yet again, all eyes found me. I barely stopped myself from shrinking or trembling under their scrutiny. 

Don't show fear. Don't show fear. That was the mantra I was repeating to myself in my head.

Why the hell did they care so much about my birthday? So many questions, and so few answers, or people or things willing to answer those questions! 

A female stepped up to him and handed him a wine glass that he graciously accepted and raised in the air as he said, "And very soon, we will celebrate my son and Carly's mating. To Carly and my son's union!" 

Everyone -everyone except for Xander-raised their plastic party cups to the Supreme Alpha's toast and then drank heartily.