(7 YEARS LATER) ***LUCIEN*** Quiet mornings are a thing of the past with 2 twins running through the house, a teen jamming in the bathroom and a 11 year old rummaging through the fridge to fill his stomach. My sweet Angelina starts her training today. Who knew that 7 years ago I would stumble upon children that were created from me without my knowledge. Now I have 4 beautiful children, and the most amazing wife there ever was! “Lucien, it’s almost time to go. I don’t wanna be late. Angelina needs to be there early to stretch!” I hear my wife call from the kitchen as our boys are running in circles around her feet, nothing but life is flowing through these halls. “Don’t forget baby, we have that meeting tonight with Leon. He seemed a little more uptight than normal.” I laugh when I hear her snort. “Well that’s nothing new. Alora is 8 and a half months pregnant with their second baby, and he is a total helicopter dad already and the boy hasn’t even been born yet.” I hear a second
***ANGELINA’S POV***A quick sprint to start because we are all eager and then my training kicks in. Steady my breathing. In through my nose, keep my pace even, out through my mouth. Keep your hands even, don’t flail them about.Don’t think too much about your footing, just let your legs flow as you keep moving.I see a few of my classmates near me, doing a buddy system jog. Those are fun until one person decides they can’t go on and then the other quits because they don’t want to run alone. Then you got the boy, it’s always the boys who joke about. Bumping into each other. Making jokes about who is faster, who is going to beat the other. Until one of them sprints off to show up his buddies and shows off for the girls. And then one of two things happens. One he trips over something, or runs into something. Or two, runs out of breath and can’t keep that pace up.Boys hate losing.And then there are training junkies like me. Who know how to pace themselves. How to watch the ground but
No one ever tells you that growing up in a world where you are the backup isn't living.They don't tell you that all the training, pushing and learning you go through. Put yourself through, hoping to be the best you can is only because you have to be a replacement in case something happens to the original first choice.You get loved differently. Looked at with a nose in the air. Talked about as if your hard work isn't enough because you weren't the original first choice. And all you really want is to meet the expectations of the people you love in your life.No one chooses you first. Not even the one made for you.Someone created by the Moon is supposed to love, cherish and adore you for eternity And even when they don't choose you first, but as a
**LUCIEN**Late nights that never end. That's what my life is.The smell of stale beer, warm liquor, and cheap perfume filling through the air. Nothing but slutty shewolves walking around in tight or hardly any clothing. Men with no mates, dead mates, or who don't care about their mates. slowly wasting away.Constantly churning in my stomach, sticking to me like a second skin. Embedding it's stench to me.I've literally spent my whole life trying to be the best of the best. Just to be told that it was for nothing. That it was just to be a backup plan. Number is what I'll always be."Lucien, you need to head back to the pack house. Your brother is trying to mind link you. He needs you there now." The bartender Chris tells me. I'm a regular he
**LUCIEN** -The Next Day- I am burning up. I feel like I am sweating to death. What is wrong with me? I flutter my eyes open. Feeling this heat, I almost thought I had died and finally made it to hell. Just kidding hell is what I have been living in. ‘Where the fu.ck am I, Ragnar? This isn’t my bed.’ I sat up, dusting what felt like dirt off of me. I can’t open my eyes, it’s way too bright here. My senses are coming back and I have this overwhelming and pounding headache. ‘We are in the woods. You went unconscious last night.’ He retorted. Like it was the most obvious thing in the world. ‘Why are you acting like I know what is going on?’
**LUCIEN** A whole damn month and I am slowly starting to enjoy this little town. I still drink. But not nearly as much as I used to. But still enough to smell it on me. The job I was given was in a butcher shop. Like here I am this huge, alpha blooded werewolf, chopping up meat for a living. Ridiculous. But it's nice when I can take some home. I have found my favorite thing to do is sit out on my deck where it overhangs with no roof, watch the stars, and listen to the wind dancing through the trees at night, downing a couple of beers. Sometimes I feel like I hear laughter or an angelic and melodious voice but then other times I feel like I'm going crazy. There is a hint of vanilla and caramel in the air. The sweet aroma always makes my whole body tingle and go crazy, like in ov
**UNKNOWN FEMALE** It’s been a few weeks since we have been out and about again. Feeling like someone was watching me really freaked me out. I was so scared that night that my husband had found me that I cried myself to sleep silently while my kids slept in my bed. Luckily here, it is summer time. So no school. And I had enough money saved up to keep me afloat until I found a new job. I saw some waitressing jobs posted in the windows a few places down from the park. The little plaza that has a water fountain in it, with all the little shops and cafes. It’s so homey and cute, it really warms a spot in my soul that I have never felt before. “Momma, what are we going to do today? It’s so sunny out, can we go to the park?” My daughter Angelina, called from the kitchen. The girl is f
**LUCIEN**I have been restless the last few weeks since only seeing the silhouette of the woman and her two children. The cutest little kids I have ever seen in my life.The little boy was brunette and looked smart for his age, always scanning his surroundings. And the little girl was so precious. Like a princess but a second mama all in one. And their mother, holding onto them for dear life. Worry shaking through her body. I want to find her. See her face.I wonder if I can find anyone around town that might know her. Just as I am trying to leave the butcher shop this Saturday afternoon we start to get completely slammed. We usually have a lot of boyfriends and husbands here getting a list of meats for their wives and households. They would say things like, “Only a man knows the correct cuts of meat. T