Prologue + Chapter 1

Prologue.

My name is Elizabeth Mannering, and I was born eighteen winters ago to Alpha Greyson and Luna Victoria Mannering of the Crescent Moon pack.

And I am a werewolf.

My pack was situated deep within the Lunar woods, surrounded by the Lunar Mountain range. It was small, barely consisting of three hundred members. A border pack, lying quite close by the human kingdom of Reincast in the continent of Maqori. The Lunar woods were where the supernaturals lived, while Reincast was where humans lived. Humans weren’t quite aware of our existence, but they were wary of the Lunar woods as they felt that something was off in it. They rarely ventured in, and when they did, they’d face dangers that were beyond shifters, were the Lunar woods hosted all kinds of supernatural and paranormal creatures such as druids, witches, dwarves, dryads, nymphs, centaurs and many, many more. Shifters such as my pack were only a small part of the mosaic.

I was the first-born of the Alpha of the Crescent Moon pack, which meant that my birth was celebrated throughout the pack. But only a few days later, while attending a hunting trip, my pack’s wolves were ambushed by a group of humans, soldiers of the human king. There had been a battle, and eventually, the wolves overpowered the humans, even with their bizarre weapons that could kill after an explosion.

But not before the humans killed one wolf. My mother.

The pack mourned my mother, and because I was still only a weapon, my father had no choice but to remarry. And the woman he chose to be his second Luna was Carol. Carol was one of his friends, a Delta who already had a son of her own, three years of age at the time called Easton. After my father married her, she took his surname and became a Mannering. But she kept her son’s original surname.

And so, the Alpha’s family was completed once again. Carol, for the most part, treated both me and her own son as siblings. She was a good stepmother, a good woman. She cared for my father, which was a feat considering how my father wasn’t the easiest man to get along. But they worked, somehow. They were aa good Alpha and a Good Luna.

And just like that, eighteen years passed.

Chapter 1.

Elizabeth.

There is nothing better than the smell of fresh-cut grass against the damp earth.

Not.

I think distantly in my mind as the wind rushes underneath me, and my opponent slams me face-first onto the grass-softened ground that had been moistened with rain all throughout the last night. I snap my head away just in time not to eat dirt, but unfortunately, my cheek takes the impact of the attack.

“Goddess!” I swear as I arch off the ground, writhing, “Can you not do that, please? The rain doesn’t make the ground as soft as you think it does!”

My opponent, Maeve, a strapping young woman three years older than my own age bursts out laughing, her great frame shaking with mirth.

“This is wrestling, sweetheart,” Maeve points out, “There is no place for softness in wrestling.”

Maeve might just be the most musclebound woman I would ever see in my life. She was the wolf in charge of training the pups in wrestling, a talent that is deemed necessary for pups to have as we are not yet capable of transforming to our wolf forms, much less fighting in them. There were other fighting skills we had to learn as well side by side without academic education; they were archery, swords-fighting, hand-to-hand combat, spear-fighting, daggers-fighting, etc. along with horse riding.

As today was a Saturday, school was not taking place, hence I’d bounded down the rocky path that led to the Training ranges in the Crescent Moon pack and entered the wrestling arena. I have to say I wasn't much of a fan of wrestling, which is why I’ve been lacking in it. I’d rather prefer non-contact fighting methods such as archery. I was caught slacking by Maeve who’d decreed that if I wouldn’t attend at least three sessions with her on Saturday, she would tell on me.

To my father.

Now, I love my father. He was my only living biological parent; he is the man who helped in creating and raising me after the death of my mother. I respected him, although I didn’t approve of many of his methods. While he wasn't all that violent towards me, he was absolutely unforgiving with his pack. The smallest crime was given the harshest of punishment, effectively eliminating any sort of crime in the Crescent Moon pack as well as instilling a deep fear within the pack members about their Alpha. He also had a tendency to be obsessed with himself. That got very annoying at times as he believed that everything must be done in his way as he knew the best. Compromise was not a word in my father’s vocabulary; in fact, I don’t think he even knew the meaning of it.

He was a hothead, he was vengeful, and he was strict. And a little bit narcissistic.

But he was my father, so I loved and respected him as such.

So, when Maeve threatened to tattle on me, I immediately fell in line because I knew she would follow up on it.

Which leads to now.

With disgust evident on my face, I get up from the muddy ground, wiping flecks of wet soil and green off my cheek. I am going to feel that impact later today. I was going to have to ask a kitchen maid to retrieve some ice from the ice rooms if there was any available. It was the middle of the summer, and much of the ice we’d stored in the ice rooms had almost run out.

“I think you dislocated my shoulder,” I wince as pain shoots from the said shoulder as I roll it, and Maeve steps towards me. Then, without so much of a warning, she reaches out, grabs my shoulder, and gives it a shake.

I yelp.

“No, not dislocated, you’re just whining,” She decrees with a pleased expression on her face, “This just shows how much you need to build your upper body strength. You’re like a bunch of twigs from the waist up. Your body has to be strong throughout, lass, not just in places. Your brother was the same at your age but look at him now. Plenty of practice will help your form immensely.”

My stepbrother Easton was a muscular beast right now, and I had no wish to be like him. Although most people didn’t believe it, I liked the size of my body. I may be too slight in werewolf standards but that was okay with me.

“My body is strong enough, thank you very much,” I retort back, still rubbing my aching shoulder. Oh, it’s going to need ice too, “Besides, I don’t know why you’re pressing about wrestling so much. I turn eighteen tonight, and soon I would be able to transform into my wolf form. I won’t need to spar in human form after that.”

Why would I use my twig-strong limbs to fight instead of my claws and teeth, when I’m clearly aware which of them can inflict the most damage?

Today was my eighteenth birthday. In a few hours into the evening, I will become an adult. Finally, I would not be referred to as a ‘pup’ anymore, which is the word wolves gave for their younglings. Anyone under the age of eighteen was considered a pup, and to be lumped with mere babies at the age of seventeen was not very dignifying.

But today it ends. And better yet, tonight there is going to be a Midnight Ceremony in the honor of the pups who’d turned into adults in the month leading up to the Full moon!

The Midnight ceremony was one of the most special moments in a wolf’s life because it would be the day that they will be able to finally meet their wolf. Or more precisely, the spirit of the wolf that lives within their soul and would trigger the human to animal transformation. This will be the moment a newly minted adult wolf would truly feel complete.

Literally.

There is a void deep within me, one that could only be filled with my wolf. I’d been told the experience of turning into your wolf for the very first time is magical, intimate, and free. Like a bird taking flight, like a flower blossoming. Hearing your wolf’s voice in your head was said to be solacing.

Because for the first time in your life, you would stop feeling alone.

“Aye, your wolf form would be great, and addictive the first few times. But remember, you are human as well. There will come times when you would have to fight in your birth form. A wolf must be ready for anything. Don’t underestimate hand-to-hand combat,” Maeve lectures me, “Especially as a Crescent Moon pack daughter who is bound to be the Alpha.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to demean,” I put my hands up and reply in a sincere voice, “I was merely joking.”

“I know. You’re a good lass, Eliza,” She gets into her position with a mischievous smirk on her face, “But a tad bit lazy. Now, again.”

I groan and crouch, making up my mind to taste damp earth yet again.