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The walk back home left me feeling defeated and less optimistic than when I left that morning. My coffee was fed to the grass, the book was barely held together in my hands, and my spirits were significantly reduced.
With a sigh, I stepped into the small kitchen and hunted down a roll of clear tape from one of the drawers. Knowing it would bother me until I at least tried to fix it, I got to it and laid the paperback out on the counter.
As I went to rip off a chunk, something moved in the corner of my eye. Glancing over, I realized it wasn’t anything in the room but in my peripheral vision. That darkness bordered my line of sight, and that familiar sensation cloaked me as images appeared before me.
With no chance of stopping it, the premonition snapped me into place. Into what seemed like watching a memory that hadn’t happened yet.
I was on the pack grounds, surrounded by familiar houses and public buildings. Everything was layered with a ripple-like texture, and rather than watching through my eyes, I felt more like an outside observer.
Most of the pack was gathered, and Sam’s expression had an unmissable fear laced within it. But nobody was looking at me. They were watching a newcomer and his pack.
At first, his figure was blurry, yet there was no mistaking the sheer size and strength he gave off. As the image cleared, a sense of familiarity struck me. It was him. I did not doubt it.
That domineering form, paired with hazel eyes and brunette hair. Rugged to an extent but proud enough to put some semblance of care into his appearance. It could only be Levi Ramos.
The entire pack was shrouded in fear as he approached with several others behind him, just as muscled and prepared for a fight. He could wipe everyone out and barely break a sweat if he wanted to.
A chill scurried down my spine.
He was dangerous—an outcast looking for trouble.
A devious, knowing grin moved across his lips as he stared Sam down, challenging him. “You should’ve known this was coming.”
As my heart raced, the vision shattered, and as the fragments left my sight, I blinked as my kitchen came back into focus.
Using the counter for support, I heaved in several deep breaths as my heart raced, and my skin went cold at the realization.
Levi was planning something, and I had the feeling we wouldn’t have long before he took action. He was going to challenge Sam.
Looking at him in that premonition consumed me with those old feelings I tried to hide. But the dread, fear, and anger were too great to ignore.
Levi was among the first kids to bully me when we were younger. His mocking was relentless, and I usually tried my hardest to ignore him. Watching him move up the ranks and be prepped for the alpha title was so hard. Knowing he would one day lead us always put my stomach in knots.
I hated him. I hated how he treated me and how the others always tagged along. But in a way, it was almost like my silent pleading for him to leave had been granted when everything happened.
Sam had caught him shifting in front of a human, and because of it, he had killed her in cold blood. Both of those things went against our pack rules, and his claim was challenged.
It turned out that he was more devious than any of us could have imagined. He was cold, heartless, and cruel, and because of this, Sam exiled him.
We hadn’t heard from him ever since, and while I wanted to think things had been better since he left, that wasn’t entirely true.
Catching my breath, my gut shouted to tell Sam what I saw. To warn him.
But the doubt came trickling in, convincing me it was probably nothing. My mind was likely playing tricks on me because the harassment I had faced earlier was reminiscent of how Levi once treated me.
Regardless, nobody in the pack ever took my previous premonitions seriously. I tried before to warn people after I’d seen the visions, but they’d only laugh, and I learned to bury them instead. If I kept quiet, then nobody would mock me.
So that was exactly what I did. I swallowed back the lingering dread and returned my attention to the ripped paperback on the counter.
Despite how hard I tried to forget about Levi and his cruel treatment towards me, it was burned into the back of my mind and felt all too relevant, still thanks to Riley and her friends.
Her smug smile and abrasive words echoed in my thoughts, and even in the solitude of my home, my cheeks burned. That embarrassment was impossible to wash away, and I knew it would take a lot for me to find a suitable distraction.
As I patched up the book she had ripped, I couldn’t understand what I had done to deserve that kind of treatment—to always feel like an outcast, no matter what.
Chapter 3 - Levi
The shifter cried out in pain as I bent his arm back hard enough for it to crack, fisting his hair in the other hand to keep him in place. He heaved in several shallow breaths as fear and pain moved through his eyes as he refused to look at me.
