Chapter Two

Her little body was blue from the cold, she was wet from the rain that had been falling on and off for the last few days and had curled up against a tree trunk looking for some shelter. She had been barely conscious and whoever had left her must have known it was unlikely she would be found, no one ever came this way, except the Miners. In the seven years they had lived there they had never seen any other person and as they kept themselves to themselves, very few people knew of their ranch. Which was just how they liked it until they found the tiny angel who took over their lives. She had been left there to die, a tiny azure blue-eyed angel, who could be evil enough to leave such an innocent to perish in such a cruel way.

The Miners had tenderly cut her free wrapping her in their jackets and carried her to their cottage warmed her up, fed her and it wasn’t really unexpected that she had become ill with a fever. Hardly surprising since she had been left in those freezing conditions for hours in nothing more than a tiny blue cotton dress. The men had taken it, in turn, to care for the little girl, Doc had managed to procure antibiotics and paracetamol from his first aid post at work. Gradually the fever had abated and she had recovered a tiny silent ghost who stared up at them with her wide azure blue eyes.  They had searched far and wide looking for any clue as to where she had come from but no one claimed a missing child. All the little girl knew was her name she was Lumi Blanca, she said nothing else too deeply shocked by her treatment to speak further.  They did not push her, instead they left her to come to them showing her they would not hurt by cuddling her when she woke up screaming from her nightmares each night and feeding her titbits off their plates when she came into the dining room at meal times. They had tried sitting her at the table and putting a plate in front of her but she had panicked and fled in fear she was a severely traumatised little girl and their gentle kindness and understanding were just what she needed to heal. Slowly as the weeks passed she began to follow them around the ranch dressed in the fluffy sleep-suits they had bought her.  When they researched her name they discovered it was of Finnish origin, and it meant Snow. White The seven of them had sat looking at each other when Bashful, who was their resident computer whiz kid had shown them what he had discovered. They had discussed it far into the night and in the end, all seven agreed, it was fate, they had been nicknamed the Seven Dwarves by their workmates and now they had their very own Snow White so the little girl stayed.  They encouraged her to come out on their walks and for the first few weeks, she had refused to leave the ranch screaming and crying when they tried to take her outside. Lumi was a very young child and they were tougher than they looked, the Miners replaced her fear and nightmares with kindness and love and she began to smile and she began to talk. It soon followed that she grew bored inside the ranch and the sunlight enticed her outside, they found her out in the garden sitting on the grass making a daisy chain the sunlight dancing on her blue/black hair. After that, she happily joined them on their walks but never ever went near the place she had been abandoned.  

That was five years ago and Lumi was now almost an adult, they did not question how it was possible for her to have grown up so quickly, they just believed she was small for her age. They believed that they had wrongly judged her to be about five human years old when they found her but clearly, she had been older. So they did not question it they just put it from their minds something told them they would not like what they found if they looked harder

As she had grown up she had taken over looking after them, she did the washing, tidied up, and cooked for them when they got home.

They had not asked her to do this she had volunteered telling them it was the least she could do to pay them back for all they had done for her.

The men could not help but notice how beautiful she was becoming as she became an adult. Lumi was totally unaware of it but her azure blue eyes, stunning blue/black hair, porcelain skin, and perfect figure made her very desirable. They were men and although they fought it hard as they had brought her up as a daughter, they could not help becoming attracted to her. Lumi was very innocent, she had never mingled with anyone other than her seven ‘Fathers’ as she thought of them, She knew she wasn’t their daughter, they told her the story of how they found her in the woods often but she loved them all devotedly, they had saved her life. They had educated her from home, at first because they were afraid if the Authorities found out she would be taken from them. Then as the years passed she had never expressed any interest in going to the local school and being with children her own age she had never been socialised like almost all children are. So she had no friends but with seven ‘fathers’ she was hardly ever alone and she never asked to go into the town or meet other people. She was happy pottering around the cottage, doing whatever she could to help. She was different and did not need anyone else she told them, she had them and she had her friend Tyka, whom she had been speaking to ever since she began to talk. The men had found it endearing when she was a small child the way she talked to her ‘imaginary’ friend but as she had grown up she soon realized it made them uncomfortable talking to them about Tyka. They thought she should have grown out of ‘imaginary friends’ and she overheard them discussing it they had been thinking about taking her to a Psychiatrist in the big city. Tyka explained they were worried about her mental health because Tyka was not real to them and she had warned her that would be disastrous. They seriously thought her mental health had been affected by her being abandoned. Lumi took Tyka’s advice and stopped talking out loud to her and when she saw how relieved her ‘Fathers’ were she knew they had made the right decision instead she spoke to her only when they were all alone. Tyka was not ‘imaginary’ she told Lumi frequently that she would meet her very soon when she reached her maturity when Lumi asked when that was Tyka had been vague telling her it was different for everyone.

The Wolves patrolled the area around the cottage at the Alpha's command, if anyone came near they were captured and taken to the Pack House and interrogated. If they had no idea of who Lumi was they had their minds wiped by the Pack’s Witch and were released back in the city. Those who knew of her were tortured for their knowledge and then disposed of, Alpha Damon was determined to keep the Princess for himself. He knew about her, he knew who she was and her destiny and he had watched her since those Miners had picked her up from the woods. She had been meant for him, he knew it to his core, he knew no one ever passed that way except his Wolf Pack,

‘How had he not known of the Miners?’

He had been furious when he found the cut rope just a minute after they had rescued the tiny child and now they protected her so he had to wait for his chance. He stepped back and kept watch, saw the tiny angel blossom into a beautiful young woman and the time was coming when he would take her and claim her.

Lumi was getting restless, she had wild dreams that made no sense, always she was running but she had no idea what from or why. She hardly slept, the moonlight drew her like a magnet and she would sit on the porch watching the stars.                                                                                                                    Something was calling her.                                                                                                                           Tyka held her back, Lumi wanted to run through the trees, feel the earth beneath her feet, and embrace it especially when the moon was full. Her body was on fire and she was desperate to run and feel the cool night air when she heard the howling her whole body responded.

‘It is not your time’

Tyka told her,

‘You must suppress these feelings if your Fathers find out they will restrain you’