"Stop. Stop, please." I sob as the whip comes down on my back once more. "Shut up yo-" my tormentor's words are cut off by a ferocious growl. I sense another masculine figure in the dark room, but can't make out a word he's shouting. The burning and searing pain that I'm experiencing is just too much. A sickening snap is heard and something drops onto the cold, stone flooring. The chains around my wrists and ankles are broken along with the tight metal collar around my neck. "Mate." my rescuer growls, gently cradling me in his arms. ********************* Charlotte Beck has been tortured and abused by the Red Stone pack ever since she turned eight. She doesn't know why they hate her or how she ended up a lower rank than the Omegas; no one even bothered to label her as a slave. She has never known the true meaning of love or how it felt like, all Charlotte knows is that her pack surely doesn't feel that way about her. Finding a mate was a dream that was thrown out the window long ago; all of the verbal abuse led her to believe that she didn't deserve one. It's not until she attempts to escape again that she realizes that she has a chance of living a better life, one where abuse isn't an everyday thing. Xander Reynolds, Alpha of the Lunar Shadow pack, finds her when she's taken to his cells as a trespassing prisoner. Known as the strongest Alpha in the continent, he does everything he can to protect his mate. The only problem is that she's too emotionally scarred to allow him to. His dark and violent reputation is the only thing that Charlotte knows about him. The memories of their childhood together beaten out of her mind. Traumatized and high on fear, she struggles to let down her walls. Her real home is with a man who she cannot remember and a brother who she wishes she remembered. Can Xander get his mate to love him? Or will Charlotte let her past keep them apart?

"I don't want to be your mate." she tells me. "Why don't you want to be my mate, sweetheart?" I ask, wincing when she growls at me. "Don't fucking call me that." she snaps. "Why?" "Because I can't be Luna." she whispers. Just for a split second, I see pain in her eyes, but the emotion disappears as soon as it came. "You live in a nice house, you have food on the table everyday, and..." My mate shuts her mouth as if she had spoken too much. "Finish what you were going to say." I urge. "I can't." she whispers, tears forming in her eyes. "It's... It's a secret." ************ Josephine Mancini has been abandoned by her family when she was just fifteen years old. Now a senior at her local high school, she tries her best to ignore her family's absence and move on with her life. Archer Stone is the Alpha of the Blood Moon pack, the strongest and most feared werewolf pack in North America. He's known for his merciless ways and violent persona. Everyone thinks that he's incapable of feeling love, but in reality, he's just been saving himself for his mate. The only problem when he meets his mate is that Josephine tries to reject him on the spot. Ever since her family left, she hasn't felt the need to have anyone's love or support. She believes that having a mate will only hurt her in the long run and that Alpha Stone will only use her to provide an heir, then dismiss her afterwards. Over the years, she has grown accustomed to living an independent life. Archer wants to begin his first romantic relationship with his mate, but he has to prove to Josephine that not everyone she loves will abandon her before they can start dating. She doesn't believe that she's fit to be Luna and that her reputation will cause problems. Lunas don't get failing grades, work three jobs, or struggle to pay rent. Will Archer be able to show her that love isn't always a bad thing? Or will Josephine keep her financial and family problems to herself?