**Jarin**
Had I not been waiting, I would have appreciated the beauty in this meeting place. We had been told by our informant to wait in the ancient forest by the oldest oak tree. It was late summer, and there were already signs of autumn decay. A wet earthy smell permeated the air and I took a great lungful of it in an attempt to calm my nerves. The informant had been a lone wolf who we believed to be mostly trustworthy. But you could never tell with lone wolves as they always had their own agenda.
I paced the glade impatiently, gripping my sword so tightly I was sure my fingers were going to go numb. Realizing this wouldn't be any good if I actually had to use the sword, I loosened my grip. Where was this fucking seer? The lone wolf who had arranged the meeting said she would be here before sundown, but the sky was already bleeding from pink to dusky blue. Seers were accurate in their prophecies, but that didn’t stop them from being sly. You could trust them to give you a correct seeing, but you couldn’t trust them to be loyal. They always went to the highest bidder.
What if this a trap? An attack arranged by the vampires or mages? Sensing my unease, I felt my Beta, Atlas mind link with me despite only being a few feet away. “Would you like me to shift, Alpha?” Part of me wanted to say yes, but instead I replied- “No, the contact was very clear about us being in our human form.” “Yes Alpha, understood”.More time passed, and the sun had all but left the sky, I was on the verge of sending a message to Atlas to shift and retreat back to the kingdom, when a strong smell of herbs and spices reached my nose. It was the seer. She was finally close. Sure enough, I heard soft footsteps making their way towards me, and minutes later, she stood before us.
The seer was a slight woman dressed in a dark green cloak. Her dark hair was braided and pulled to the nape of her neck. As with all seers, it was impossible to tell their age, as they looked both old and young at the same time. However, the most striking and unsettling part of a seer was their eyes. They were entirely white, with no iris or pupil. They looked at me now, I held her gaze not wanting her to know how disturbing I found her appearance.
“You may think I'm late Alpha, but I assure you I am not.” Her voice was odd. It was as if it was more than one person speaking. Internally shaking myself I was reminded of the reason I was here. “As long as you give me the answers I need, that won't matter” I stated boldly. A wry smile appeared on the seer's lips. Her amusement angered me, and I felt my wolf stir. “Tell your dog to stay, or I will leave without giving you the answers you seek” she said sharply. Her words insulted me, but I pushed the anger down, knowing what was at stake. “Better, now if you would be so kind as to deliver the rest of the payment” sarcasm dripped from her mouth, “I will gladly listen to your questions”. I mind linked with Atlas “Do as she asks, Atlas”. I saw him step forward and hold out the purse and chest to the seer.
She took both from him, pocketing the gold first and then opening the chest. She looked inside “Yes, this is adequate”. She closed the lid and redirected her attention back to me. “Go ahead Alpha, ask your questions”. Before I could stop myself, I spat back “Shouldn't you already know them”. The smile appeared back on her face. “Yes, but you need to speak them aloud in order for me to be as accurate as possible”. I straightened myself, and then all my questions came pouring out. “What has happened to my race? For the past decade, we can rarely produce children, our strength is not what it was, we are taking longer to heal. What is the reason for this? How can I fix it? How can I save my race from extinction?” The seer breathed deeply and closed her eyes, on her next out breath her eyes flew back open, and I could see that they had changed from pure white to cloudy grey. “I cannot reveal the cause of your races decline, but I can tell you the way to save them. The King of werewolves as the Alpha of the Imperial pack must join with and sire children with a hybrid. A union of this kind will restore strength to the werewolves and promote fertility in the packs.” The seer took another deep breath, and closed her eyes. When they opened, they had returned to white.
I waited for her to say more, surely that wasn't it? This was my last hope and that was all the information I was going to get? “It is time for me to go, Alpha” As she started to walk away, I shouted to her “You haven't answered all my questions!” I walked towards her and put my hand on her shoulder to stop her from leaving, my wolf growling quietly inside me. She looked at my hand and then into my eyes as if shooting daggers into them. “You will remove your hand at once before I remove it for you!” The tone in her voice was deadly, and I knew it was not an idle threat. I heard Atlas growl softly behind me but I raised my hand off her shoulder and motioned for him to be quiet. “Why can't you tell me the cause of my peoples suffering? Will this hybrid even be my mate?” There was more desperation in my voice than I had intended but I needed more details. Her white eyes bore into mine. “This is how my sight works. We are done now, Alpha”. And without another word, she turned and disappeared into the trees.
I stood there motionless for a second. It was now dark and Atlas and I needed to get home before any other creatures decided to target us. I nodded at Atlas, signalling my command for him to shift. My large white wolf tore out of me, relived to be let out after being made so angry and frustrated by the encounter with the seer. I raced through the night, closely followed by Atlas's black wolf who I could tell was also happy to be released. I went over the seer’s words in my head. Hybrids were very rare as the races of supernatural beings hated each other. If hybrids did occur, they were outcasts and viewed as the lowest of the low. Sometimes they were even killed. How could someone like this be the future mother of my children? As the future Luna of my pack? My people would not accept her command, and I wouldn't blame them. What if this hybrid wasn't my mate? How could she be? The more I thought about it, the more questions I had. What other choice did I have but to try though? I had no other way to save my people. Once we had gathered full speed I linked with my Beta. “Atlas, when we return home tonight you need to get some rest. Tomorrow I need you and a small number of members to find out where a hybrid might be” “Yes Alpha, we will begin at first light. Do you want to inform the rest of the kingdom about the meeting?” I considered his question. “No, not yet, let’s keep this between our most trusted people.” We continued on through the night, both of us grateful our sight in wolf form allowed us to dodge any obstacles despite the lack of light. I felt Atlas speak into my head “Alpha, do you know why the seer wanted the skeleton of a captured rouge?” It was a question I had also asked myself. “I don’t know Atlas, they are odd creatures and apparently ask for a lot of odd things when providing prophecies”.
We arrived back without any enemy encounter and shifted into our human form. I looked at the castle, the place we called home. It was an old sandstone structure, and was said to have been built by the first werewolf King many centuries before. It was situated on the edge of the ancient forest, and was so big that our vast gardens were contained within its centre. I personally thought it was beautiful, even at night when the battlements torches were alight.
Atlas saw me studying the castle. “Is everything okay Alpha?” I sighed. “Yes Atlas, I was just thinking. If this last plan with the hybrid doesn’t work and we continue to be defeated by our enemies…how terrible it would be if this castle was ever destroyed” He put his hand on my arm. “I will do everything I can to make sure that doesn’t happen” I gave him a genuine smile “I know I can count on you Atlas”. We walked through the gate’s entrance into the first courtyard, nodding to the guards on the way in.
I noticed a rather beautiful red head waiting on the left-hand side by a stone pillar and thought it was odd that she was out here so late. Then I saw her smile at Atlas. Ahh. Another conquest. He turned to me “Do you need anything else tonight, Alpha?” I couldn’t help but laugh. “No Atlas, I think I can manage. Besides, I wouldn’t want you to be late for your…meeting” He grinned at me wickedly and went over to the woman. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Atlas was dedicated to his work, but he was also dedicated to bedding women.
**Atlas**I woke up groggily. It was instinctive for me to wake up early, as it wasn’t unusual for me to undertake work at this time. I remembered I wasn’t alone. Urgh. Why had I let her stay? It was always worse getting rid of them when I let them stay.I unceremoniously removed the girls’ arm from my chest. This action woke her, and she made a dissatisfied moan. What was her name again? Lana? Anna? I couldn’t remember. She’d been average in bed, but nothing special. She certainly hadn’t been worth the lack of sleep. I decided I wouldn’t want to repeat the experience.“You should go, I have work to do” I said. She rose up on her elbow pulling the sheet around her chest. “But it's so early, the first bell hasn't even been rung” she pouted at me “come back to bed&rdqu
**Atlas**My mother, Agnes, had always been a little different. She had been well liked when she lived amongst the pack, although everyone had thought her ideas were quirky. I remember as a small child she had taken me into the human villages. No one else did this. She told me it was important to respect and understand everyone and everything in our world.The pack had indulged her odd behaviour and strange ideas on how the pack should operate. But the last theory she’d expressed before leaving had caused problems. The other pack members had started to shun her, and my position as Beta was being questioned because she was my mother. Because of this, five years ago she decided to leave the pack and become a lone wolf.There is a difference between a lone wolf and a rouge. Rouge’s are often thrown out of packs for being disloyal or breaking pack rules. Lone wolfs are a lot rarer be
**Thea**I winced as I gently pulled my dress back over my head. I had been cleaning the wounds as best I could with fresh water from the well for the past two days. But I was worried about infection. Especially since I couldn’t see where I was washing. I replayed the scene in my mind. Gurtar bursting through the kitchen door. The man still screaming and calling me every name under the sun. She had taken me by my hair and dragged me outside. After being thrown on the ground, she grabbed a horse bridle and began whipping my back. The pain had been indescribable. My screams had attracted some of the villagers to come and watch. None of them had intervened. I had been shocked when Tess, who had never once come to my defence, had interrupted Gurtar’s violence. Of course, she said it was on the pretence of not wanting Gurtar to cause injury to her arm from the re
**Atlas**Doran’s dark brown wolf came into view. I watched him go behind a nearby tree and emerge in human form. We were around a mile away from the village where my mother said the man was staying. This way we could walk in as humans and not cause too much suspicion. As we joined the main road, we began to discuss the conversation I’d had with my mother.“Surely we haven’t already found a hybrid after a single day of looking? We were expecting this to take months, maybe longer” I shrugged in his direction. “Maybe they are more common than we were led to believe.” Doran shook his head. “I don’t understand Atlas, I thought all of the supernatural species hated each other. That can’t be the case for all of us if we are producing children”. I agreed with him. I was as surprised as he was. “Well, it must take place mustn’t it? Otherwise we wo
**Jarin**What if she's not my mate. It’s a question I'd asked myself again and again over the last few days. I was 26, and I had not found her yet. I felt it was very unlikely this hybrid would be my mate. What if I instated her as Luna, and I then discovered my true mate? I didn't want to think about it. At this point my own happiness had to come second to the survival of our community.A mind link came through from Atlas “Alpha, I’ve got some news” “Please come to my chambers as soon as possible”. I felt him accept my request. While I waited for him to arrive, I went to my drinks cabinet and poured myself and Atlas a glass of mead. I needed something strong and sweet to calm me. I looked at myself in the mirror hanging by the cabinet. I kept my blonde hair short, and allowed some stubble to form on my chin. I had brown eyes, that were pretty ordinary. I
**Atlas**I hated horses. Not only did they smell, they were also a lot slower than me in my wolf form. We didn’t keep many of them, as they were hardly ever used. However, on rare occasions when we needed to stay human, they were the best option for travel. My wolf wasn’t happy that I wasn’t letting him out, but I didn’t have a choice. I clumsily saddled the black stallion. He almost appeared to be looking at me with the same apprehension I felt. I checked the packs, enough food for two people for a couple of days, supplies for the horse and some blankets. I sighed at the sword inside its sheath on my hip. If I wasn’t able to shift, it would be my only protection for the duration of my journey. I wasn’t a bad swordsman- it was a skill we practiced despite being able to deliver more damage in our wolf form. However, I still hoped there would not be a need to use it. I took a breath and reminded myself why
**Jarin**I walked out of the castle gates followed by Asher and Doran. The rest of the pack would stay and protect the castle, in case it was a trap to draw me out and attack. We stood at the edge of the trees and removed our clothes, stuffing them into the packs that Asher and Doran would carry in their mouths after we shifted. If we were going to talk with the vampires, we needed to be in our human form. Once we were ready, I nodded in Asher and Doran’s direction to signal them to shift. The familiar pain surged through my body. It was strange. It hurt every time we shifted, but the pain almost became like an old friend. It was reassuring. Asher and Doran collected the packs, and I started running in the direction of the Eastern Outpost. This was the closest place to where our territories met. Some years ago, it was further away, and the werewolves occupied more land. However, with our
**Atlas**I stood up to look out of the small parlour window. It looked out onto the market place of the village. I reflected again what a dingy place it really was. All of the buildings looked like they were in various states of disrepair. Everyone that roamed the streets look miserable. The only people that looked like they might have money were clearly traders. If she really was a hybrid, it would be the last place I would think she would be.I heard footsteps approaching so I turned and watched the door open. Gurtar came in followed by…my breath hitched. The girl had dark curly auburn hair that was messily pulled back. She was dressed in literal rags, and her face was dirty and pale. She was clearly underweight and looked fragile. Despite this, she was the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. A strange feeling stirred within me. I had never felt like this before. My wolf made a desperate cry insi