Criminally Fated

Chapter One - Salome

As the morning sun stretches its golden tendrils across the Whitmore pack, I find myself at the edge of the forest seeking solace. The world beyond this thick tree line has been my sanctuary since I was a little girl. When my father gets mad, I don’t linger in the packhouse to find out why and that is just what has happened this morning. Something has gone awry already this morning and he is livid. The instant I heard him scream at my mother and heard the sound of his hand against her face, I knew it was time to go before he came and found me. He loves to make me his punching bag if he lays his eyes on me in one of these moods. Last time it took my wolf four days to fully heal me because he kept coming back to reopen the wounds. He is the only person on this planet I truly loathe.

Lucius Whitmore, my father, is not only the Alpha of the Whitmore pack, but he is also the head of the Whitmore Cartel. His organization specializes in arms deals and drug trafficking, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t dipped into other ventures. He is ruthless, cold, heartless, vindictive, and angry. I am his only child and, therefore, the heiress to his empire, but I’m not the kind of child he wanted.

First of all, I’m a female and, according to my nanny, that alone landed my mother with a beating while she was pregnant with me. He wanted a boy to take over his legacy of cruelty. Second, I am not feared by people in the way that he is. I was popular in high school. I am bubbly, intelligent, friendly, kind, and emotionally driven. People respect me and want to be near me, unlike him. People are terrified one wrong word will land them with their neck snapped or beaten to death. Most people in the pack try to avoid him. Myself included. I wear my heart on my sleeve and believe in absolute honesty, unless it is going to get me hurt by my father.

“Are you ready for a run, Aria?” I say to my wolf as I stand at the forest’s edge. The snow comes to my ankles and the temperatures are frigid, but I weather them with little complaint.

“Born ready,” she yips in excitement. I turn control over to my wolf, my body contorting and shapeshifting until a beautiful black wolf stands in my place.

Aria truly is a beautiful wolf. While I am a mere five foot ten inches tall with pasty, snow white skin, bright blue eyes, and long blonde hair; Aria stands six feet tall with golden eyes and shiny black fur with tufts of white fur on her paws. Her fur is also streaked with thin lines of silver, making her shimmer in the sunlight as if she were a black diamond. As beautiful as she is, she is faster than a speeding bullet. As soon as her magnificent body has completed shifting, she takes off into the forest like a bat out of hell. She takes her time, prancing around in the snow and rolling in it like a pup would before then displaying her expert hunting skills. Her eyes zero in on a rabbit moving obliviously through the forest.

“What is he doing out here with all this snow? I thought I’d have to accept a shrew or vole, but a rabbit works too,” she thinks, making me laugh.

“Aria, you know good and well there are always rabbits out here in the snow,” I say, watching through her eyes as she stalks her prey. "Hurry up and catch him, so I can go home and get ready for the day."

She moves quickly, locking her jaw around the rabbit's body and killing it instantly. The crunch of the bones makes me cringe as she finishes her meal, happily strolling back to the treeline where we started. The knapsack of clothes and boots rests exactly where I left it and I shift back, pulling on my undergarments, turtleneck sweater, and blue jeans. I slide my feet into the fur lined boots and make my way to the back door of the packhouse, walking through to the kitchen cautiously.

"Salome," my father's deep voice rings out from the dining room table. "Where have you been?"

"Just on my morning run with my wolf, father. She caught a rabbit this morning," I reply, trying to sound happy to be speaking to him.

"Hmph. Get in here and sit down. Your mother wishes to plan your birthday ceremony. An Omega will bring you breakfast," he tells me. I know better than to argue against his direct orders so I change my course, sitting on his right hand side across from my mother. I look at her with a small smile, pretending I don't see the purple and red bruise beginning to heal on the side of her face. Her smile is sad as she tilts her head to the side.

"Morning mama," I say quietly, reaching for her hand across the table. She reaches back and squeezes my hand, clearing her throat before she speaks.

"Good morning, baby. Are you excited about your birthday party?" she asks with a genuine smile. Anything that has to do with me always brings her so much joy. She loves me so much and I love her just the same.

"I'm glad I got my wolf early so I don't have to shift in front of everyone. I was thinking a pack run might be good though. What do you think?" I reply curiously, pretending that my dad isn't sitting between us.

"I think that's a great idea, dear. We can do a pack run and then come back for food and dancing," she replies, my father clearing his throat. Her eyes snap to his, a silent conversation being spoken between them as he glares at her big, innocent doe eyes. "W-What do you think, love?"

"I'll have to think about it," he responds gruffly, going back to his newspaper and coffee.

"O-Okay. Would you like to come to my office after school and work on other plans, Omie?" she asks with a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. I don't think she ever has or ever will call me Salome. I was a toddler trying to learn my name and called myself Omie for months. That's just my name now if you ask my mom.

"Yeah, mom. I'll come straight there when I get home," I reply with a tight smile as an Omega puts my plate down in front of me. I mouth a thank you, the girl nodding in acceptance to avoid drawing my father's attention. I eat as fast as I can without making a scene, blowing my mom a silent kiss and telling her I love her through mindlink before exiting the dining room.

I stop at the front door, grabbing my backpack, purse, and car keys then leaving the mansion-style prison for the last day before winter break. The drive to the school doesn’t take me very long. The most time consuming part of my drive being my stop at the local pack owned coffee shop for a coffee. I pull into the parking spot, noticing the boards of people lingering around to see if I scent out my mate. I am the most sought after mate because of who my father is. They just want the power and the wealth, they don’t care about the abuse, the murders, the drugs, the wars, and the guns.

“Sally girl!” One of my best friends, Raven, says cheerfully as I exit the car. “Happy birthday beautiful!”

“Thank you, Rae. Where are B and Leila?” I ask curiously.

"They're on the way. Leila took too long getting ready for me, so I left," she shrugs and links her arm with mine as we walk towards the school. The hallways are full of teenage pack members wishing me a happy birthday, even ones that I have never met. I smile and thank them all as I push through the crowd to my locker, finding it decked out in pretty decorations. "Better not let your dad find out about this."

"No kidding. Last thing I need is my mom taking another beating because she gave birth to a bleeding heart of a she-wolf," I reply, taking a picture of the decorations before taking them down and shoving them into the locker.

"We're here!" Bianca says in a sing song voice, Leila following right beside her. "Happy birthday, baby! Did you get a picture of the love before you took it down?"

"Yeah. I don't need my dad seeing that," I reply, all three girls nodding in agreement. Bianca is the Beta's daughter, Raven is the Gamma's daughter, and Leila is the Delta's daughter. All four sets of ranked members were unlucky enough to only give birth to females and they let us know about it every chance they get. Our moms didn't raise us with the same ruthless mindset our fathers would have if we were males, which makes us quite popular at school for being genuinely kind and good people.

"What are the birthday plans?" Leila asks, unlocking her locker and gathering her books. "I know we're having that party for you, but like... what are the four of us doing?"

"I was thinking we could go to that new supernatural bar in the city. A night of drinks and dancing with my best friends sounds like exactly what I need," Raven chimes in, all of us excited for the idea.

"Let's do that. Big pack party obligation and then off to the bar for a night of ACTUAL fun," I say, closing my locker in excitement. "I gotta get to class right now though, so I'll see you guys after school. I'll be in my mom's office party planning if you wanna join. Goddess knows you and your moms would enjoy the peace from our fathers."

The four of us hug and kiss each other on our cheeks before parting ways for the school day. Raven follows me to class while Bianca and Leila head in the opposite direction toward their class. AP Calculus isn't exactly the greatest way to start the day, but when we signed up for all advanced classes we knew what we were getting ourselves into. The teacher starts talking and I start daydreaming of a world where I have a loving mate that takes me away from my father and his criminal enterprise.