Cassie started unloading the truck with her sisters. Everyone was working hard to get ready for that night’s festivities, and she definitely couldn’t be seen slacking. Tonight marked the beginning of the Harvest Moon festival, and her pack, Sableridge, was hosting for the first time in 19 years, the last time being the year of her birth.
Evelyn carried in the extra decorations, while she and Nora brought in boxes of plates and flatware. There was a nervous energy in the air, full of wary excitement. The last time that their pack had hosted the festival was marked as the beginning of a great upheaval for them and all of the packs in their country. A war had broken out between all those assembled. That was when they were born - Cassie and her sisters are triplets, the only children born to the Alpha and Luna of their pack. They were born in a shelter where their mother, Luna Helena had been hiding with the others who were unable to fight. It was there, aided by the older women of the pack, that she gave birth to their three daughters. It was rumored that the rush of power their father, Alpha Brahm, felt from their entrance into the world was what gave him the edge to defeat the other warriors and maintain this land, and more, for his people.
There was a lot of excitement surrounding the festival, chief amongst those, the hope that the three sisters might find their mates that very night. It was well known that one had the best chance of finding their one true mate at the annual festival, when most of the packs came to celebrate together, with the hope to form new, and more powerful alliances. Cassie, for one, wasn’t particularly moved by this thought. She had no immediate desire to find her mate and settle down. To attain and manipulate power, bring forth children and continue their family line. She knew that was what was expected of her, Evelyn and Nora, but she couldn’t find it in herself to get too jumped up about it.
As they helped move tables, hang decorations, and make sure that the caterers had everything that they needed, the sisters talked excitedly about that night’s festivities. Nora desperately wanted to find her mate. “Don’t you just want to know what he’s like?!” She sighed. The idea that some handsome, brooding stranger was going to show up tonight and change her world, was practically all that she thought about.
“Please…” scoffed Evelyn. “The only thing that these wolves care about is power. They’re hoping to arrive, be mated to one of us, and take over the pack from father. I don’t have time for any of their false promises. I hope to God that I’m not mated to anyone foolish enough to show up here and think that they’re immediately going to rise to power.”
Nora whined, “Come on Evie, don’t ruin it! Cassie, tell her how amazing it’s going to be!”
I wanted to help my lovelorn sister, but all I could do was shrug. “I’m honestly not that fussed about it, sis. Whatever is going to happen tonight is out of my control. I’m not actively searching for anything, I just hope that everything goes well and that no one dies because of anyone’s power-crazed madness.”
“You’ve both gone bananas.” Nora said with a heavy eye roll. “No one is going to die tonight, why are you so morose? Not everything ends in a war.”
“How can you be so naive?” sneered Evelyn. “We were literally born during a war that broke out during the last time we hosted this insanity. I’ll be more shocked if nothing of consequence happens, and it all goes smoothly.”
Before they had time to let the smoldering of their argument ignite into a full-blown inferno, a booming voice brought them to attention.
“Girls! Not more bickering, I hope.”Alpha Brahm stood at the back of the room, blanketing all of them with his aura of domination. Broad, and easily 6 and a half feet tall, he cocked an eyebrow at his daughters as they resigned themselves to abandoning their varied differences of opinion, at least for the time being.Evelyn took a deep breath and plastered a grim smile on her face, “Of course not father, just trying to talk some sense into my lovesick, dingbat of a sister.”“What the hell, Evie?!” Nora roared as their father chuckled and Cassie shook her head. Alpha Brahm held up his hand, a silent signal to stop their foolish quarreling immediately. “I don’t think that I need to tell you how important tonight is to our pack, but I will do my best to impress it upon you anyway.” The sisters drew a collective deep breath. “Powerful warriors, friends and foes alike are arriving in our town as we speak. We would do well not to fan the flames of infighting, and do our best to present a
Cassie trudged up the hill with her sisters, the massive packhouse looming before them. The three of them weren’t particularly tall, but they were strong. With thick auburn hair and hazel eyes. Their faces, arms and legs were largely covered in freckles. A gift from so many days spent out in the sun with the rest of the pack. The sun was fading now, as they walked through the main room and up the stairs to their families’ wing of the house. They shared a kind of suite, with three bedrooms branching off of a small sitting room. The large bathroom could accommodate all of them, but there always seemed to be a fight over its use.The girls fell into a silent, methodical rhythm as they got ready for the party that evening. Moving effortlessly from one room to the other, swinging in and out of the bathroom, and examining the party dresses that their mother, the Luna, had sent up for them to wear.They all had long, fitted silk gowns, with the fabric so keenly draped as to make them look ef
The tents outside were a soft twinkle from afar, that escalated into an explosion of color, lights and sound as you approached. There were 3 huge marquees set-up in a beautiful grove, surrounded by pecan trees, an area big enough to hold the hundreds of wolves that had shown up to revel in the excitement and represent the 5 other major packs in their region. Wildpaw and Brokenmane, the more vicious warriors came from the south and east of this land, respectively. Moonvalley, whose residents were known to be especially beautiful and full of knowledge about the history of their clans, came from the north. Wintercrown from the north west, were particularly skilled with forging tools and weapons, skills passed down through the generations, constantly evolving as the world around them changed as well. Last but not least, was Swiftcrest. Their pack was the one most closely aligned with Sableridge, their land bordering each other, and their members even working together on matters of securit
Cassie looked at her sisters, “You know Dad would want us to mingle. You know…show that we’re a good ally, make friends?” Evelyn nodded grimly, “Alright. We’ll split up and smile like the good, obedient daughters we are (Cassie rolled her eyes), but 15 minutes tops, and then we meet up again by the food. Not to be crass, but I’m hungry enough to eat one of these wolves, and not in any way they’d enjoy.” “Don’t be gross, Evie,” Nora grumbled while averting her eyes, as if by not looking at her sister, she could pretend that she hadn’t said anything offensive at all. “We’ll meet by the food in 15 minutes. Go pretend to be charming, surely you can manage that for such a short amount of time.” Evelyn grumbled something under her breath, but grudgingly agreed, and they all went their separate ways with Nora floating over to a group of men from MoonValley, while Cassie and Evelyn moved with less purpose in another direction.Cassie had barely taken 5 steps when something hard jolted her fr
Her run across the room probably only took 30 seconds, but felt like an entirety as she collided with Evelyn as they both strode to reach the person who had shrieked in such terror.The sight before her was striking. The group of ethereal looking men from MoonValley stood, fists clenched, looking haughtily up at a small army of brutal looking warriors. At the very front of this army stood the largest, most savage looking man Cassie had ever seen. Easily six and a half feet tall, broad and blatantly strong. His gruff features partially obscured by long black hair, his eyes, dark as coal, glistened, ready for a fight, and his gigantic hand was grasped around the comparatively tiny wrist of Nora. Her already large eyes seemed impossibly magnified on the man in front of her. She trembled as though petrified, but there was something else there, Cassie couldn’t quite sniff it out, but there was a gentleness to the man’s touch. In spite of his ferocious appearance, Nora seemed startled, but
Brutal looking men were turning into even more vicious looking wolves everywhere you looked. Nora was already gone, swallowed up and protected by her new pack. Cassie was determined to get to her sisters. They came into this world during a war, and she refused to lose them during another one.About 10 feet to her left, she saw a small amber colored wolf leaping around and ripping out the throats of everyone she could reach. Clearly Evie was ready for a fight. Taking her cue, Cassie transformed as well, joining the fray. She couldn’t see anyone that she recognized except for Evie. Not her dad or his beta. None of the comforting and familiar faces from Swiftcrest, just angry wolves, desperate for power and out for blood.Cassie leapt over the mass of gnashing teeth and claws to join her sister, her paws landing on the hard earth, keeping an eye out for Nora, sniffing hopefully at the air around her for her sister’s scent. It wasn’t there, but there was something faint…apples. She didn’t
Cassie awoke with a low, pitiful groan. Her whole body ached, but her head especially was pounding, not surprising with how many times she was thrown against the floor as she was dragged from the festival… The festival! She sat up with a start, immediately regretting it as dizziness overwhelmed her again and she laid back down. She settled for slowly opening her eyes and taking in her dimly lit surroundings. She was alive, that was good, but everything else was very troubling. She was lying on a bed in an unfamiliar room. There weren’t any windows, and the room was stark except for the bed. Also, she was naked. Normally this wouldn’t be much cause for concern - wolves were often bare around each other as they can’t transform back into their human form and immediately have clothes on. However, given her current circumstances, closed up in a space she didn’t know, having just watched her father perish coupled with not knowing the fate of her two sisters…it was just one more thing to pu
Cassie awoke with a low, pitiful groan. Her whole body ached, but her head especially was pounding, not surprising with how many times she was thrown against the floor as she was dragged from the festival… The festival! She sat up with a start, immediately regretting it as dizziness overwhelmed her again and she laid back down. She settled for slowly opening her eyes and taking in her dimly lit surroundings. She was alive, that was good, but everything else was very troubling. She was lying on a bed in an unfamiliar room. There weren’t any windows, and the room was stark except for the bed. Also, she was naked. Normally this wouldn’t be much cause for concern - wolves were often bare around each other as they can’t transform back into their human form and immediately have clothes on. However, given her current circumstances, closed up in a space she didn’t know, having just watched her father perish coupled with not knowing the fate of her two sisters…it was just one more thing to pu
Brutal looking men were turning into even more vicious looking wolves everywhere you looked. Nora was already gone, swallowed up and protected by her new pack. Cassie was determined to get to her sisters. They came into this world during a war, and she refused to lose them during another one.About 10 feet to her left, she saw a small amber colored wolf leaping around and ripping out the throats of everyone she could reach. Clearly Evie was ready for a fight. Taking her cue, Cassie transformed as well, joining the fray. She couldn’t see anyone that she recognized except for Evie. Not her dad or his beta. None of the comforting and familiar faces from Swiftcrest, just angry wolves, desperate for power and out for blood.Cassie leapt over the mass of gnashing teeth and claws to join her sister, her paws landing on the hard earth, keeping an eye out for Nora, sniffing hopefully at the air around her for her sister’s scent. It wasn’t there, but there was something faint…apples. She didn’t
Her run across the room probably only took 30 seconds, but felt like an entirety as she collided with Evelyn as they both strode to reach the person who had shrieked in such terror.The sight before her was striking. The group of ethereal looking men from MoonValley stood, fists clenched, looking haughtily up at a small army of brutal looking warriors. At the very front of this army stood the largest, most savage looking man Cassie had ever seen. Easily six and a half feet tall, broad and blatantly strong. His gruff features partially obscured by long black hair, his eyes, dark as coal, glistened, ready for a fight, and his gigantic hand was grasped around the comparatively tiny wrist of Nora. Her already large eyes seemed impossibly magnified on the man in front of her. She trembled as though petrified, but there was something else there, Cassie couldn’t quite sniff it out, but there was a gentleness to the man’s touch. In spite of his ferocious appearance, Nora seemed startled, but
Cassie looked at her sisters, “You know Dad would want us to mingle. You know…show that we’re a good ally, make friends?” Evelyn nodded grimly, “Alright. We’ll split up and smile like the good, obedient daughters we are (Cassie rolled her eyes), but 15 minutes tops, and then we meet up again by the food. Not to be crass, but I’m hungry enough to eat one of these wolves, and not in any way they’d enjoy.” “Don’t be gross, Evie,” Nora grumbled while averting her eyes, as if by not looking at her sister, she could pretend that she hadn’t said anything offensive at all. “We’ll meet by the food in 15 minutes. Go pretend to be charming, surely you can manage that for such a short amount of time.” Evelyn grumbled something under her breath, but grudgingly agreed, and they all went their separate ways with Nora floating over to a group of men from MoonValley, while Cassie and Evelyn moved with less purpose in another direction.Cassie had barely taken 5 steps when something hard jolted her fr
The tents outside were a soft twinkle from afar, that escalated into an explosion of color, lights and sound as you approached. There were 3 huge marquees set-up in a beautiful grove, surrounded by pecan trees, an area big enough to hold the hundreds of wolves that had shown up to revel in the excitement and represent the 5 other major packs in their region. Wildpaw and Brokenmane, the more vicious warriors came from the south and east of this land, respectively. Moonvalley, whose residents were known to be especially beautiful and full of knowledge about the history of their clans, came from the north. Wintercrown from the north west, were particularly skilled with forging tools and weapons, skills passed down through the generations, constantly evolving as the world around them changed as well. Last but not least, was Swiftcrest. Their pack was the one most closely aligned with Sableridge, their land bordering each other, and their members even working together on matters of securit
Cassie trudged up the hill with her sisters, the massive packhouse looming before them. The three of them weren’t particularly tall, but they were strong. With thick auburn hair and hazel eyes. Their faces, arms and legs were largely covered in freckles. A gift from so many days spent out in the sun with the rest of the pack. The sun was fading now, as they walked through the main room and up the stairs to their families’ wing of the house. They shared a kind of suite, with three bedrooms branching off of a small sitting room. The large bathroom could accommodate all of them, but there always seemed to be a fight over its use.The girls fell into a silent, methodical rhythm as they got ready for the party that evening. Moving effortlessly from one room to the other, swinging in and out of the bathroom, and examining the party dresses that their mother, the Luna, had sent up for them to wear.They all had long, fitted silk gowns, with the fabric so keenly draped as to make them look ef
“Girls! Not more bickering, I hope.”Alpha Brahm stood at the back of the room, blanketing all of them with his aura of domination. Broad, and easily 6 and a half feet tall, he cocked an eyebrow at his daughters as they resigned themselves to abandoning their varied differences of opinion, at least for the time being.Evelyn took a deep breath and plastered a grim smile on her face, “Of course not father, just trying to talk some sense into my lovesick, dingbat of a sister.”“What the hell, Evie?!” Nora roared as their father chuckled and Cassie shook her head. Alpha Brahm held up his hand, a silent signal to stop their foolish quarreling immediately. “I don’t think that I need to tell you how important tonight is to our pack, but I will do my best to impress it upon you anyway.” The sisters drew a collective deep breath. “Powerful warriors, friends and foes alike are arriving in our town as we speak. We would do well not to fan the flames of infighting, and do our best to present a
Cassie started unloading the truck with her sisters. Everyone was working hard to get ready for that night’s festivities, and she definitely couldn’t be seen slacking. Tonight marked the beginning of the Harvest Moon festival, and her pack, Sableridge, was hosting for the first time in 19 years, the last time being the year of her birth.Evelyn carried in the extra decorations, while she and Nora brought in boxes of plates and flatware. There was a nervous energy in the air, full of wary excitement. The last time that their pack had hosted the festival was marked as the beginning of a great upheaval for them and all of the packs in their country. A war had broken out between all those assembled. That was when they were born - Cassie and her sisters are triplets, the only children born to the Alpha and Luna of their pack. They were born in a shelter where their mother, Luna Helena had been hiding with the others who were unable to fight. It was there, aided by the older women of the p