The Millennium Wolves novel Chapter 1

FOUR YEARS AGO...

Sienna

When somebody smiles in public, all by themselves, for no apparent reason, without a c are in the world, that can mean only one thing: they‘re in love.

That was what I saw when I looked at Emily, my best friend, sitting by the bus stop, waiti ng for me, kicking her shoes absentmindedly. A big goofy grin on her face.

“Em!” I yelled out, waving.

She turned, shaken from her daydream, and got to her feet. She smiled at me, but it was a different smile. A more subdued, familiar smile.

Not even close to the radiance of the she kept to herself.

“Hey, Si,” she said, giving me a quick hug. “So what‘s on the agenda for today?”

“A new gallery I‘ve been dying to check out. C‘mon!‘

I figured I‘d interrogate her on the way. Give her a second to catch her bearings first. After all, love was not much of a priority in my life these days.

I was only fifteen years old. The Haze wouldn‘ start for another year. Nothing in the world could wo rry me now.

But that didn‘ mean I wasn‘t curious. As we made our way through a scenic shortcut in t he middle of the town, I found I couldn‘t contain myself any longer.

“So,” I said, looking at Emily, “you have something to share, Em?”

“What?” Emily said too quickly. “I...don‘t know what you‘re talking about.”

Hardly convincing. Her red cheeks and darting eyes betrayed whatever secret she was hiding

“C‘mon, Em,” I said, nudging her. “It‘s just me. You know you can tell me anything.

Emily sighed, eyes to the ground, kicking a pine cone. But I could tell she was going to c ave. We were best friends. We never kept secrets. Why would Emily start now?

“You swear not to tell anyone?”

“On my life.”

) And I meant il. Emily‘s eyes finally met mine,

and I saw a hint of that radiant smile sneak up in the corners of her mouth. She could hardly contain herself.

“Remember how I told you I wanted to sleep with someone before we start Hazing?”

“Yeah,” I said. “So it‘s less of a shock, right?”

“Right. Well... I think I might have... met someone.” I stopped, jaw dropping, grabbing Emily‘s arm.

“Are you serious?!”I exclaimed. “WHAT? When? How? Who? I want details.”

“I‘ll tell you everything, Si.” Emily laughed. “One thing at a time.‘

I‘d known, from that look on Emily‘s face earlier, that there was someone. But I never w ould have expected it to be...that kind of someone. The kind you lose your virginity to. “Just tell me one thing,” I said, growing serious. “Are you sure he‘s the right one?”

“No,” Emily admitted. “But he‘s older. More experienced, which I like. Because that mea ns at least one of us will know what we‘re doing

We giggled for a second and kept walking. But I had so many questions.

“Wait. How much older, Em?”

“Ten years?”

“Woah. You weren‘t kidding.”

“But it doesn‘t matter. He‘s tall and handsome and so confident, my God. When I talk, it‘ s like he really listens. With such... intensity.

And I could see from the look in Emily‘s eyes, from the smile on her face, that she was ri ght. His age didn‘t matter one bit.

My friend was falling in love.

And I was gonna be there for her.

I grabbed her hand. “I‘m so happy for you, Em.”

“I mean, we‘ll see,” she said. “Who knows if he‘even wants the same.”

“Look at you, Em,” I said, shoving her arm playfully. “How can he resist?”

“You dominants,” she said, rolling her eyes.

And now we were both laughing, hand in hand, on our way to wherever the afternoon would take us, our plans to see the gallery long forgotten.

The two of us were unstoppable. Together, we‘d make our mark on the world.

***

I woke up with a start, head still cloudy with memories. My hand immediately shot to my neck, swollen and bruised.

Shit. Emily may have been a dream, but this mark wasn‘t. This was a fucking nightmare.

A torrent of texts lit up my phone as it started vibrating like crazy. Michelle

girl!

Michelle answer your damn phone already!

Scanned with CamScanner

Sienna Ughh Michelle, it‘s so early

Sienna What is it?

Michelle u have some explaining to do

Sienna

???

Michelle get ur ass to winston‘s

FIL

Michelle we‘ll all be there

Michelle

I rolled over in bed, groaning. The last thing I wanted to do was face an interrogation from my friends. After last night, after being marked by the Alpha…

Oh God. How was I going to cover it?!

When I took a look in the mirror, the sight alone was enough to make me gasp.

The bite was a massive, bruised blue spot across my neck, bigger than any bite I‘d ever seen before

It didn‘t hurt. In fact, it almost tingled with a carnal sensation. Every time I touched it, I could feel Aiden Norwood‘s teeth again.

I shook off the feeling and started getting dressed. I grabbed the largest scarf I could fin d and wrapped it around my neck.

At the very least, seeing Michelle and the girls would get the Alpha off my mind.

EU

A distraction was exactly what I needed right now.

***

When I arrived at Winston‘s, our group‘s go–to brunch place, I saw that the entire crew was already assembled.

Michelle, who had a new partner every

Haze, was chatting to the girls about her latest conquest. Right now, I think the lucky gu y was...

Ralph?

Russell?

No, Ross. That was it. Hard to keep them all straight when it came to Michelle,

Don‘t get me wrong. It wasn‘t like Michelle was a floozy