Chapter 1 – Secrets Under Moonlight

Screams echo through the community, there is fire spreading through the houses, werewolves are afraid of fire and in the fifteen years I have lived I haven’t seen a single fire in the pack lands. Not even during the winter because our body temperature allowed us to tolerate extreme weather conditions. “Dad!” I called out looking for any sign of my father, but the Alpha of the Moon-crest pack was nowhere to be found. I ran to my house, it was one of the few that were still standing. “Mom!” I screamed, soon I found her tending the hurt wolves of our pack, there were so many of them. All with different kinds of injuries, I scented her soon enough. She was tending to a weeping child who had multiple burns and gashes. “Mom!” I called out, she immediately turned around, she was beautiful for her age, with brown hair and green eyes. Werewolves lived for a long time, but we weren’t immortal. I have got her emerald green eyes and my father’s jet black hair. “Nat!” she wrapped her arms around me, holding me as if I might disappear any moment. But before I could ask her where my dad was, she pulled me towards their room, where she kept a small jewellery box. It was so dear to her, that she never let anyone open it or touch it. “Mom?” I asked again, puzzled about what she was doing when she handed it to me. “I kept this for last resort Nathaniel, she’s our only hope, you must find her! we will be okay.” She held me tight for a moment then pulled away, “leave the community ,make sure they do not follow you.” Her eyes filled with love and determination, “there is no time for questions, I know you must be having many but you will get answers, run now, don’t stop the search until you find her.” A tear ran down her cheek, “we love you honey, we are so proud of you.”

That was the last time I saw my parents , after that I kept on moving following my instincts. I still remember the day I opened that letter, it was many weeks after I had left them.

My beloved son Nathaniel,
If you are reading this letter , that means the time has come too soon that I haven’t told you something important. When you were born there was a prophecy foretold to us, it said the hunters were finally coming for us, to make sure that werewolves were wiped out forever and a new supernatural race will be created to replace us. They were known as shifters, mortals who can change their form into an animal, more like us. But they were not affected by silver and they did not cry out to the moon. There is a power hungry man behind all of this destruction, and we will fight him. The prophecy said that there is only one way to defeat this man and that is where you come in. I know your father told you that you might not meet your soulmate for a long time, but our positions have changed and I believe it is time you meet her. Your mate is the lost daughter of our high alpha king, destined to rule the supernatural world for the next century. But because of the conflicts happening about she was delivered for foster care somewhere in Idaho some time after her birth. You will have to search for her, she likely might not know anything about who she is and remember she is one year younger than you so she might get her wolf later than you do . So protect her and teach her our ways, when time comes we will soon meet again.
Love you to the moon and back,
Mom.

So I continued my search , so far I have tracked down various wolf trails but none of them ended as I expected them to. It was clearly very frustrating, because my mother said that the high Alphas daughter might be in Idaho. I tried checking around to find any strange sightings of wolves. That’s when I noticed a sign in a café that there have been constant wolf attacks during the past few weeks. This was my first clue that I might find answers here, so I rented a house , money wasn’t a big deal. I had plenty of pack savings to use , but since I was on my own, I spent it wisely. The house was closer to the forest for a quick escape if I was spotted by any hunters. Tomorrow I was going to the local high school. I hoped that I might get some clues about her.

But right now , my wolf was restless , he was extremely bored and did not care that I had to settle in. He wanted action, he wanted to find our mate as soon as possible. When we do find her, then we know for sure that she is safe. That way we can slowly get things back to normal. Then my mind went back to my mom’s letter, telling my wolf that our mate did not know anything about us , so we had to be patient to make sure that we do not scare her away. But he urged me to patrol around anyway. That’s when I finally gave up, shifting and giving him control. My bones snapped and pure black fur coating my body. We ran around the forest , searching for any clue when suddenly I kept my front paw on a circular pattern. My wolf found it very interesting and before I could stop him he pressed on it a little harder. Suddenly my paw was caught on a claw-like structure , I immediately knew what it was. But my wolf was panicking , he tugged on it only to get himself more trapped. Blood was oozing from where the teeth had sunken in. sharp pain shot through my body. The more he tugged the more I got heart , but finally it came out loose. It was a narrow escape because my sensitive ears picked out voices coming towards me. Without thinking about my wounded paw I ran blindly through the forest. I could hear shouts and dog barks coming closer. My heart was pounding against my ribs , fear made me run faster it did not matter how tired I got.

Finally the forest ended , opening out to a clearing. There was a large house covered with a fence, and my sensitive hearing sensed three people sleeping inside. Without thinking I jumped over the fence, I wince when my wounded paw meets the solid ground. My instinct told me that I was safe, no , that the hunter would not catch me . I sighed in relief, but the relief was short-lived when I realised that all the noise I caused had woken a member of the house and they were coming out to explore.