Scenery flew by as Sarai jogged down the street, her smoky black ponytail sticking to her damp neck. She wrinkled her nose and pried it loose, but didn't slow her pace. Lunathion was always warm, especially in the summer. It was autumn now, but that did little to quell the heat that plagued Valbara's southeastern coast.

    Lunathion, or Crescent City, as it was occasionally called, was built on a peninsula, and always bore the brunt of storms, heat, and everything else that came with coastal living. Sarai didn't mind the heat, although the occasional showers of rain were a welcome reprieve. She'd grown up in this city. All she'd ever known was heat, sweat, bloody fights, and loud parties. Being a Wolf afforded her those things; some, not by choice.

    Sarai had been privileged to be born a Wolf. She'd grown up in their prosperous district of Lunathion, Moonwood. She was an undisputed member of the House of Earth and Blood, one of the four Houses all Vanir were sorted into. She was Second in her pack, the Blood Moon Wolf Pack. But all of those things had been forced upon her. She had not chosen them for herself.

    If she had been allowed to choose, she would live near the Old Square, the central part of Crescent City. It was a poor and rough section of town, as mostly half-breeds lived there, but it was very touristic. Sarai had visited the area many times while accompanied by her friends, and she'd loved the Square since she first set foot in it.

    As for her House, she still would've chosen to be a part of the House of Earth and Blood. That was one premade decision she was happy with. After all, why would a powerful Wolf want to be a part of the House of Sky and Breath? Who wanted snotty Fae and pretentious Angels constantly looking down on them?

    The House of Many Waters was out of the question. Sarai wasn't cut out to live among Mer, and most of them were very prejudiced against land-dwellers anyway. The members of the fourth house, the House of Flame and Shadow, were unnatural beings that Sarai usually tried to avoid. She wasn't interested in becoming friends with Vampyrs or Draki, and no one in their right mind ever approached a Reaper. No, she was happy in her given House, and that was not about to change.

    Sarai measured her breaths as she rounded a corner. Moonwood's gun range was just up ahead. She was supposed to be there now, training with the rest of her pack, but today, she'd chosen not to give a fuck. Why should she? Her pack didn't want her and she didn't want them. The only reason she was Rafe Fenix's Second was because Sabine Fendyr, Prime Apparent of the Valbaran Wolves, had ordered it.

    Had things gone according to her own plan, Sarai would be a member of Sabine's daughter's pack, the Pack of Devils. Sarai and Danika had been friends for a long time. They trained together, partied together, fought together, and occasionally, almost died together.

    They had been planning for Sarai to join the Pack of Devils since college. Danika had promised to make Sarai her Second, as that was the rank that only a Wolf of her power levels could hold. As soon as Sabine caught wind of their plans, she intervened and stuck Sarai in Blood Moon, successfully separating her from Danika.

    Sarai couldn't blame Sabine for her apparent wariness. Danika was expected to inherit a sea of power greater than her mother's, and already showed the makings of a great leader. Many suspected her grandfather, the Prime of Wolves, would tap her as Prime Apparent and surpass Sabine. As such, it only made sense that Sabine would want to prevent Danika from gaining powerful allies, and Sarai was definitely one of those.

    Sarai jogged past the gun range and turned up the music that was currently blasting through her headphones. Most would say it was stupid to listen to music this loud in any district of Lunathion. There was danger everywhere. Sarai knew that, and if she was running anywhere but Moonwood, she would heed the warning.

    But here, no one would dare attack her. She would scent them coming from a mile away. She could see a bullet and track its course to the exact point of impact almost as soon as it left the muzzle of a gun. She could feel the vibrations in the air left behind by the blow of a fist or the swing of a sword.

    She was Sarai Ilerion, whose firstlight could have powered all of Crescent City alone for five months. Whose Drop had been so rigorous that she'd made it back into her body with only seconds to spare. Whose future held such a dark secret that the Oracle summoned her to offer a warning. Who instilled such wariness in Sabine Fendyr that she separated her from Danika.

    She was Second in the Blood Moon Pack. She was a respected leader in Lunathion's Auxilary. Perhaps one day, she'd even become the Right Hand of the Prime of the Valbaran Wolves.

    Sarai took another running step, but skidded to a halt the next instant. Rafe Fenix stood before her, arms folded over his broad chest and a perpetual scowl on his handsome face. He pointed to his ear and Sarai begrudgingly removed her earbud. "What?"

    "Gun range," he growled. "Now."

    Sarai cursed the small part of her that wanted to grovel to the power in Rafe's voice. She lifted her chin and crossed her own arms, mirroring his stance. Sweat gleamed on her copper skin. The heat wasn't treating Rafe much better, if his damp hair was any proof. He'd pulled all of his long dark locks back into a ponytail today. Usually, he only wore half of it up.

    "I'll shoot later," Sarai said. "I'm being productive now. Isn't that enough?"

    The muscles in his neck strained as Rafe bit back a snarl. Her gaze darted to their pack signet which was tattooed on his golden-brown neck. The tattoo was a horizontal crescent moon with a teardrop in the center of it. The teardrop was actually meant to resemble a drop of blood. On their insignia, the entire marking was a blood red color. As a tattoo, it was just filled in with plain black ink.

    Sarai tugged her ponytail over her shoulder, hiding her own matching tattoo. Every member of their pack had one. It was how other Wolves knew which pack they belonged to. Each pack had a unique signet. The Pack of Devils' was a grinning, horned wolf. Moonwood had an insignia as well, a single oak tree, and they were also represented by a sapphire gem.

    "You'll shoot now because I told you to," Rafe answered. "Besides, we both know you have plans later. You'll be out drinking yourself into oblivion and smoking every drug you can get your hands on."

    Sarai tensed, a growl rumbling in her throat. "That's not true and you know it."

    "Really? What else do you do with your friends then? You hang out with the fucking Party Princess, as the Angels like to call her. Are you honestly telling me that the entire time you've known her, Danika hasn't gotten you high on at least one drug?"

    "I didn't say that," Sarai scoffed. "But I don't drink myself into oblivion and I don't do every drug available to me. I have limits and Dani respects them. Wish I could say the same about you."

    Rafe narrowed his hazel eyes, anger hardening within them. "Get your ass in that gun range before I drag you there."

    "I'd like to see you try."

    Rafe visibly bristled and again, that primal instinct urged Sarai to yield. To bow her head and back down. He was her Alpha. She was only Second. Sarai smothered the instinct as best as she could. I could've been an Alpha, she reminded herself. I had the instincts. I had the power.

    It was yet another reason why Sabine had been so quick to place her in Blood Moon. Being forced to submit to another had suppressed her own instincts. If she'd been older and stronger before joining, if she'd already made the Drop, she would've challenged Rafe. She could've won and become Alpha. Now, she was forced to fight herself and him on a regular basis. But she wouldn't let herself be reduced even lower. She wouldn't give Rafe and Sabine the satisfaction of seeing her like that.

    "You're not just shooting because I told you to," Rafe snapped. "It's an Aux requirement and you know that. Fifteen hours of practice every week. You've only got ten, and inspection is on Saturday. Do you really want to fight with Sabine over such a trivial matter?"

    Sarai rolled her brown eyes, but took out her second earbud and switched off her music. She wrapped her earbuds around her phone and pocketed it, then started towards the gun range. Rafe followed close behind.

    It's not like I had a choice in joining the Aux either, Sarai thought. It wasn't that she didn't want to serve and protect her people. She did. She just wished she could've chosen this job herself.

    Every Wolf had to serve in the Auxiliary, one of Lunathion's elite law enforcement groups. Fae also served in the Aux, although they could do so by choice. The Aux was separated into different divisions based on species, so there wasn't much trouble with mixed species and Houses. Sarai was glad of the fact. Wolves and Fae had never really been on good terms, so the separate divisions helped keep them apart even while working.

    Sarai pushed her thoughts aside as she entered the gun range. She left her phone in a locker and grabbed someone's long sleeved leather jacket to wear over her tank top. Bins of safety glasses and noise cancelling headphones sat near the stairwell. Sarai grabbed a pair of each and started down the stairs. Already, she could hear the crack of shots being fired.

    She put the safety glasses on and fitted the headphones over her ears before pulling a small handgun from the waistband of her skintight leather pants. A box of ammunition was hidden in her boot. Sarai loaded the gun as she walked. By the time she reached a vacant lane, she was ready to fire.

    Sarai released the safety and took aim, aware of Rafe's lingering gaze. She envisioned his face on the target before her with a cruel grin. Sarai squeezed the trigger, blowing a hole right between Rafe's imaginary eyes.