Chapter 1

• Monday 7th September, 2020
• The castle loomed before me. It was perched precariously on Mount Viper, the highest point on the Viper Moon pack lands.
• Like most teenaged members of the Viper Moon Pack, I attended Viper Moon Academy, an elite boarding school located on the top of Mount Viper but unlike most members of my pack, I was not able to afford the tuition and boarding fees. I was a scholarship student there. Our pack was known for two things: its incredible wealth and our deadly venomous bites. I had neither. I was from one of the few poor families in our elitist pack and I was in the ten percent of venom-less wolf families in our pack. I sighed as I trudged up the vast sloping driveway, keeping my eyes downcast on the smooth dark pitch. I was wheeling my suitcase along behind me. It contained my few possessions, namely several well-worn articles of clothing and a few dog-eared books I had read over and over.
• I tried not to look at all the Glossy People arriving via limousines and sports cars while I arrived on foot. I drowned out the laughter and loud music of those excited for senior year by keeping myself focused on the pitch. I reached the stone steps that led to the huge double doors of the castle. The school had been built in 1836 and it was all grey stone with domed towers, pointed roofs and stained glass windows. It was breathtaking to behold. I especially loved how it looked during autumn and winter. We were at the brink of autumn. Summer’s flowers wilted as the green leaves turned yellow and orange and cascaded to earth.
• I tried to hoist my suitcase up the steps and as usual, I could barely manage. I was petite for a she-wolf at only five feet and four inches. I had golden skin and dark brown eyes with waist-length loosely curled brown hair. My name was Hannah Star but my few friends called me Star. I looked around, hoping to spot Jillian or Toby but no such luck. I sighed.
• Before I could attempt to lift my luggage again, a strong-looking hand grasped the handle. I jumped, startled, looking up to find one of the Quadruplet Alphas. The Quadruplet Alphas, or the Quads as they were called, were set to inherit the Viper Moon Pack. They had yet to take over from their father Alpha Quaid Quinn but they were still referred to as Alphas in the interim upon their request. They were dashingly handsome and obscenely rich and they knew it too. They were identical, all six foot four inches of lean muscles. They had thick light ash brown hair that almost reached their shoulders, astonishingly green eyes and chiseled faces with high cheekbones, thick eyebrows, long lashes and strong jaws. They had slightly full lips and straight, pointed noses that were often up in the air while everyone else’s noses were up their butts. They were coddled and spoilt by the entire faculty at the school upon their parents request and the student population fawned over them too, especially the she-wolves. Their names were Jonah, Noah, Elijah and Isaiah Quinn.
• Needless to say, I was shocked to see one of them lifting my suitcase up the stone steps for me. He carried it effortlessly. He was in a navy blazer with a white fitted tee shirt underneath and navy pants with designer shoes. I was sure the clothes were designer as well but I was not too great at recognising high-end logos. I was not familiar with most of it. I scampered after the Quad, glancing around for his other three brothers. He put my suitcase down on the doorstep and turned to face me.
• “Where to?” He asked smiling as though I were a lady of the house and he was my butler.
• “Um, I…, I’m going to my dorm,” I said sheepishly, suddenly feeling self-conscious about the runs in my black stockings under my grey tweed skirt. I had paired the skirt with a similar blazer and a white shirt underneath. My dark brown curly hair hung loose all around me. I knew it was tousled and windswept. I tied to smooth it hastily.
• “Lead the way,” he said.
• I scurried forwards, opening heavy doors for him as we went along and trying to ignore the looks of disdain and envy many she-wolves gave me. I led him up a winding staircase past some oil paintings. The castle’s ceilings were extremely high and it was a bit chilly in the later months of the year. I was on the first floor girls’ dormitory near the very end of the hallway. I shared a room with another scholarship student, my friend Jillian. I knocked on the door in case she was there already and changing.
• “This is where I leave you, then,” said the Quad matter-of-factly, putting his hands in his pocket.
• I looked up at his face. Now that we were standing still I could really appreciate how much he towered over me. I took a step back. He had a powerful alpha aura despite having not claimed the position yet along with his three brothers.
• “Thank you! Thank you so much!” I said, truly grateful.
• He turned to leave.
• “My name is Hannah!” I called down the hallway.
• “Noah!” He called back, grinning.
• My heart fluttered. I grinned nervously and waved as he turned around and walked away.
• The door flung open and Jillian launched herself at me. She was pale with strawberry blonde hair in loose ringlets down to her shoulders. Her eyes were a light haunting blue. She was dressed in a pink sweater and jeans. She was even tinier than I was at only four feet and eleven and a half inches. She constantly reminded everyone of that half of an inch. I followed her into our dorm. Her side was entirely decorated in all things pink and fluffy. My side was adorned with every shade of purple I could get my hands on.
• “What took you so long?” She whined.
• My grandmother could not afford to give me enough money for the bus or a taxi so I had to walk most of the way. Thankfully it was too chilly out to make me sweat and a good samaritan in his off-roading vehicle gave me a lift up the mountain. I couldn’t tell Jillian all of that.
• “You know I walk slow,” I replied with a dull excuse.
• She shrugged.
• “There’s gonna be a party tonight you know!” She said excitedly.
• I was certainly not into parties.
• “It would be a great opportunity to meet our mates! All the young Viper Moon men will be there!” She shrieked, beside herself with excitement.
• “I can’t find my mate just yet. I’m not eighteen yet,” I reminded her.
• I would turn eighteen on the 12th of September which was this coming Saturday. A lot of students at the school had lavish, excessive birthday parties especially for their eighteenth birthday as that was when one could realise who your fated mate was. Werewolves mated for life so it was a very special and significant birthday. Gillian was already eighteen and had yet to find her mate but she was openly a hopeless romantic. I, on the other hand, hid and buried my feelings.
• “We’re going ok.That’s final!” Squeaked Jillian. I sighed outwardly but smiled inwardly.
• I wore a mini red velvet dress with long lantern sleeves and opaque black tights with black velvet ankle boots. I bundled up in a black coat. We were getting a ride with Toby, our other friend. Tobias picked us up in his car. He was not a scholarship student like Jillian and I were. His family owned a potato company that sold their produce to all the big potato chip brands. He loved to dance and sing karaoke and party till dawn, the complete opposite to me. He was only an inch or two taller than me with big blue eyes under round-rimmed glasses. He had light brown almost dark blonde wavy hair.
• “Girls!” He squealed excitedly as he got out of his jaguar to greet us near the school’s entrance. We hugged and all piled into the car.
• “Whose party is it?” I asked, suddenly realising I should have asked that from the moment Jillian brought it up. Tobias looked at me in the rearview mirror. His baby blue rimmed glasses matched his blazer and pants. He had a pastel pink tee shirt underneath. Jillian looked back at me, her shimmery gold crop top catching the light. She had paired it with pale skinny jeans and high heels.
• “Angelique’s,” she mumbled quickly.
• “Stop the car!” I said.
• “Star!” Chastised Toby.
• “Stop it right now!” I yelled.