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Chapter One
Madilyn
“Wow, Madie, is this where we’re staying?” Diego’s eyes sparkled with wonder at the Rigel Packhouse, its towering silhouette cutting a majestic figure against the dusky sky. “Wow, it’s colossal! Makes our place look like a cubbyhole!” His voice echoed a mix of awe and a hint of longing, reflecting the grandeur before us.
I chuckled from the driver’s seat as the young beta-to-be pressed his nose against the backseat window for a better view of the house before we turned into the underground parking provided by the pack.
Here we were, embarking on a new chapter—me, diving into the rigorous beta training I had been gearing up for, and Diego stepping into the junior ranks at the prestigious Rigel-Crete School for Excellence. It was a place where young wolves and witchlings, much like us, honed their abilities, weaving the fabric of our magical world.
I hadn’t even known they offered a program for potential betas-to-be like Diego, but leave it to Nyte and Paige to find out. After all, Diego will be Baer’s beta when he becomes the next Alpha King of So-Cal.
“Don’t worry, Diego,” I smiled at him as I found the parking space marked for the beta pack members. “After a week, this place won’t feel so big. You’ll know it all by heart, including the secret passageways.” I gave him a wink as his eyes widened with excitement.
“There are hidden passageways here! Sweet!” He pushed the door open excitedly and met me at the trunk to collect our bags.
“There you two are,” Rigel Beta Eduardo said from the elevator doors. “We were beginning to worry you got lost.”
“Not a chance,” I said as I pulled the handle of my rolling bag up. “It’s only been seven years.”
Eduardo met us halfway, took Diego’s bag from him, and ruffled his head. “Yes, well, you weren’t driving then, were you?” He laughed at the face I made as he gestured to the elevator. “Come on, Ama is waiting for you.”
As I stepped into the elevator and the doors shut, I couldn’t help but groan at the elevator music. Eduardo chuckled, though he didn’t comment on my apparent disapproval. Instead, he talked to Diego about the school he would attend starting Monday and how his mom had cooked a feast for our arrival, with homemade churros for dessert.
I smiled at the young boy’s excitement for the homemade sugary treat when the elevator door opened, and I was engulfed in the most amazing scent I had ever smelled. At first, I thought it was the feast Eduardo had described, but as my brain began to process the scent, I knew it wasn’t from the promised meal.
The scent was sweet, but without a hint of cinnamon in the aroma, ruling out the churros as the source. It reminded me more of honeysuckles on a warm summer’s day, sweet iced tea, and snow cones—all the sweet things about summer wrapped into a scent that touched all the nostalgia this packhouse held from my childhood visits with my grandmother before she passed.
I stepped out of the elevator in a daze. It took all my self-control not to abandon Diego and Eduardo to follow the scent. However, the closer to the dining room we came, the stronger the scent grew.
“Well, this is a surprise.” Eduardo stopped just ahead of me, his body blocking my line of sight. “Wasn’t expecting the alpha family to join us for dinner. Where are Liberty and Xander?”
He finally stepped aside, and the scent overwhelmed me as the source of the sweet scent was revealed. My eyes widened as I looked upon Brady Rigel-Crete, and I felt as though my entire world had been knocked off its axis.
Just as he looked back at me, his eyes widened. He parted his lips in awe and took a step towards me, and I felt myself step back nervously; I barely registered his parents at his side.
“We were informed that our guests had arrived,” Alpha Orion said, drawing my gaze from his son to him.
“Yes,” Diana added. “And we weren’t going to let you all hog them to yourselves. Welcome back, Madie. We’ve missed you!” She walked over and pulled me into a motherly embrace. When she released me, she bent down and shook Diego’s hand with a smile. “And welcome for the first time, Diego. We are so excited to have you joining the Junior Beta program. Your classmates are eager to meet you.”
“Liberty and Xander are taking an early night to themselves with Sasha. They’re all going to Mexico in the morning with their friends,” Orion said to Eduardo, who nodded in understanding.
As Diego expressed his gratitude, my mind wandered, not fully present. Each step towards the table felt automatic, a ghost driven by the echoes of a past life. The warm haze of nostalgia, evoked by Brady’s unmistakable scent, clashed with the jagged edges of childhood memories—his words, sharp as thorns, burrowing deep. The boy who once embodied my childhood admiration had transformed into the source of my deepest scars.
All the happy memories were dashed as I caught his brown eyes on me, and my knees grew weak.
‘No, no, no,’ I thought to myself as the word echoed in my head with our gazes locked.
Mate. Of all the people in the world, of all the people in this pack, in this house—why him? Fates, why?
A memory of Paige and me in my room came to mind as she told me her cards had something they wished to tell me. The tarot cards had a clearer meaning today compared to that day when we were flipping them over on my bed.
He opened his mouth as if he were about to say something to me, but I quickly turned away to look at his parents as they chatted with Diego. I tried my best to focus on the young pup as he excitedly talked about his future alpha and how loyal he already was to the infant Baer. However, no matter how much I tried to focus on the conversation, that sweet scent of summer continued to overwhelm me.
“How about you, Madie?” Alma asked.
My name caught my attention, and I glanced at Beta Eduardo’s mother, who watched me with patient eyes. All eyes were on me, and I blushed in response.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I think I’m a little jet-lagged. What did you ask?”
