Chapter 1

I could not believe it. For 17 years I had been lied to. I couldn't understand why they hadn't told me sooner. I guess it did explain a few things that I had always thought were odd. The obvious one being I look nothing like my parents. My deep blue eyes and chocolate brown shoulder length hair were in stark contrast to their mousey blonde hair and brown eyes. My height and curvy figure the opposite to their short and narrow bodies. I remember asking why I looked so different and was told that I took after some distant ancestor. But it wasn't just that, I knew there was something different about me, about everything. My classmates often teased me, calling me freak and a nobody and would often ask why I didn't look like my parents. I would usually ignore them. But now I have the answer. I'm adopted.

After they told me I sat there staring at them. Why was all I could think as my mind wondered over the last 17 years of my life finally piecing the clues together. I wanted to ask them a million questions. Who was my Mother and Father? Why did they adopt me? Where was my family? Why did they wait so long to tell me?

"Darling, say something."

I looked up at the woman I thought for 17 years was my Mother. But all I could do was stare.

"Poppit, are you ok?" The man I thought was my Dad, came towards me, reaching an arm out. I jumped up before he could place its once loving reassurance on my shoulder.

"No!" I yelled and ran up the stairs two steps at a time before racing down the upstairs hall to my room. Slamming the door, I threw myself onto my bed and screamed into my pillow. WHY! I was too angry to cry so I lay there trying to make sense of everything. Without realising it I could hear them talking downstairs.

"Should I go up and speak to her?" She said through sobs.

"No, we need to give her some space. She needs to come to terms with it on her own." While talking he had pushed what sounded like one of our dining room chairs.

How could I possibly hear them if they were downstairs in the dining room at the other end of the house?

"We should have told her sooner." She cringed through gritted teeth fighting back another wave of tears.

"You know as well as I do that it was too risky, Mary. We had promised each other to protect her and that's what we've done. We couldn't risk them knowing." He sounded angry.

What were they talking about? She was now crying almost hysterically.

"But what if they find her? What are we going to do!" she cried out.

"Hush Mary. Just relax. We can keep her safe. This was bound to go one way or the other. Could you image her turning and resenting us more for not telling her the truth at all?" He was pacing now; I could hear his footsteps on the floorboards.

The conversation was very cryptic, and I struggled to stay with it. I didn't understand what they were talking about, but it didn't surprise me that there were more secrets.

"But Gary." She cried "She'll be 18 in a few days!"

"You think I don't know that!" he yelled. "You think I don't know what will happen when she turns 18? He paused trying to calm himself down, breathing deeply.

I could hear her sobbing.

"Wwwhat if she doesn't want anything to do with us?" her voice was so quiet I strained to listen.

"We'll just have to see." He said moving away from her.

I could hear his footsteps getting louder. A creak sounded and I knew he was standing at the bottom of the stairs. I concentrated. I could hear his heart beating fast and his erratic breathing as he stood there. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on the rhythm of his heartbeat and slowly drifted into a disturbed sleep.

I was in a forest. Darkness surrounded me and I was scared. I ran. I had to run. Where I was running to, I had no idea. What I was running from, I could only guess. I came to a clearing. The moon was full and lit up the soft grass. A sense of being safe washed over me and I walked to the centre of the clearing. From the other side emerged a wolf. Any normal person would have run. But I wasn't normal. The wolf ran to me, I wasn't scared. I smiled as his gate became slower. He paused in front of me and sniffed. We stood with my face touching his, our eyes interlocked. He was perfect. He was my MATE.

When I woke my room was in darkness. The night air was still and peaceful. My neck crunched from lying in a strange position, so I rolled over onto my back letting out a sigh. I listened and could hear their shallow snoring and gentle breathing from their bedroom. I reached for my phone that was on my bedside table and saw it was just after three in the morning.

My stomach grumbled in protest. I hadn't eaten since before their revelation yesterday afternoon. I put on my slippers and grabbed my oversized jumper after feeling the coolness of the night air. I crept quietly down the stairs and along the hall to the kitchen. I hoped that they wouldn't hear me but every movement I made sounded extra loud.

I opened the fridge with the expectation of making a sandwich but was pleasantly surprised to find a covered plate with my name written on a sticky note. There was also a small heart drawn next to my name and it made me smile. Removing the cover, I was met with the most delicious smell. Two roast chicken drumsticks with crispy skin all shiny and from the gravy that had been ladled over them. There were four perfectly cooked roast potatoes, corn on the cob and peas next to the large chicken legs. My mouth began to water as my gaze surveyed the food in front of me. I hungered for it so desperately.

"Are you going to put that in the microwave?"

I spun around to see Gary standing in the kitchen doorway. I was startled but not surprised.

"What?" I asked. I was temporarily confused by my desperate hunger for the food.

Gary came towards me and cautiously took the plate from my hands. He placed it in the microwave and set it to reheat.

"Can we talk?" He asked moving over to the kettle and switching it on.

I knew Gary would have heard me moving around. He had always been a light sleeper. He sometimes had trouble sleeping at night due to the shift work he used to do. Sadly, he retired early due to the onset of arthritis in his hands.

I nodded and sat down at the kitchen island. The microwave buzzed loudly, and the smell of the food began to intensify. I held my nose out and inhaled the savoury smell and closing my eyes.

"What are you doing?" Gary asked as the kettle reached boiling point.

"I..uh..I don't know. The chicken smells so good. I must be really hungry." I stuttered nervously.

"Um, Ok." He said with a look of concern of his face. "Look, Sophie we need to talk. There are things about this world that you don't know about. Species that live in this world." He stopped when the microwave sounded.

He wasn't making much sense and wondered if he'd tried taking sleeping pills, but they had failed to work, it had happened in the past. Gary could see the confusion on my face and his bushy eyebrows knitted together. He placed the now hot food in front of me. The smell was so inviting.

"Didn't you ever wonder why you were so different?"

I looked up at him as I grabbed some cutlery from the caddy in front of me.

"Of course, but now I know why. I'm adopted right?" I said as I stuffed my face with a big mouthful.

"Well yes, but didn't you notice a difference with the kids from your school to?" Gary poured boiling water into his mug.

I thought for a minute as I continued to shovel the food into my mouth. I hadn't really thought about being different with the kids from my school just that I was someone they could bully because they could.

"Your Mother and I knew you didn't really get along with the other kids." I swallowed hard at the memories of me coming home crying flooded back.

"You're not my parents." I deflected.

"Yes we are, we raised you!" he yelled obviously hurt by my comment. After several awkward minutes he sighed calming himself again. "Let's get back on topic." He sipped his tea.

"I don't understand what you're talking about Gary." I emphasised his name and I could see the anger rising in his eyes.

"Don't push me Sophie. Not when I'm trying to explain our reasoning for keeping your adoption a secret." He sounded sad. Maybe I had gone too far.

I got up and put my dirty plate in the sink, running water over it. Gary was lost in thought when I turned back round to face him. I sighed and sat back down.

"Let's start at the beginning, shall we?" I asked.

"That's as good a place as any." He reached his hands out towards mine and I slid them away from him.

"Come on Sophie, I'm not the bad guy here." He offered his open hands to me and I reluctantly placed mine in his. "Before I begin, I want you to understand that everything your Mother and I did was to protect you. We love you so much do you understand?"

I nodded. I was nervous and a little frightened at Gary's weird cryptic comments.

"18 years ago, your Mother and I received some devastating news. Turned out we couldn't conceive a baby and your Mother, she found it so hard because all she wanted was to love a child of her own. It broke her"

I knew this part of the story. Mary often called me her miracle baby and told me the story of how it had been so hard for her and Gary to get pregnant.

"Her depression got so bad I had to give up work." I looked at him confused.

"But I thought you just gave up work recently because of your hands?" I asked.

"No. Actually I was a specialist Doctor for 10 years before." He was staring at his hands.

"A doctor?" I was shocked.

"Yes. A few months after I left the hospital I worked at, a woman came to our house late one afternoon. She was heavily pregnant and bleeding. Your Mother and I rushed her into the house, and I treated her as best I could, but she wasn't healing like she should." His gaze was lost in the memory.

"What do you mean, 'like she should?'" I didn't understand.

"She was a Werewolf." He said "She was meant to be able to heal her wounds faster than your average human. But she had given up hope. I tried to tell her to hold on, at least for her baby but she was lost." The memory was clearly painful. I could see it in his eyes.

"But I don't understand. What do you mean she's a Werewolf? How can they even exist? They are just from stories."

"Please just listen." He gripped my hands tighter. "Before I had given up working as a Doctor, I held a prestigious position as Leading Pack Doctor, treating Werewolves at the Pack Hospital."

"Are you a Werewolf to?" I asked butting in.

"No. Listen." He was getting frustrated, so I sat silently, waiting for him to continue. "I treated many pack members of the Blue Moon Pack; they were like my family. Although I was human, they welcomed my knowledge and input, and I loved the work. Five years after I started working at the Pack Hospital, a rivalry broke out between Blue Moon and another pack call Golden Sun. Golden Sun believed that because Werewolves were supernatural beings it was only right that they mated within their own kind and other supernatural beings ensuring a kind of pure and powerful supernatural blood line. The richer the supernatural power the better. Golden Sun's campaign was welcomed by many, but Blue Moon believed that the mating bond should be left to the Moon Goddess and welcomed humans just like they welcomed me."

I truly could not believe what I was hearing. I felt like I was in a dream or in some sort of parallel universe. Gary had stopped momentarily to drink some of his tea.

"I know this is a lot but bear with me." He asked and I nodded. "After I took my leave as head pack Doctor, Alpha Peter gave us special dispensation to live on the outskirts of Blue Moon territory. But several months later I learned that Golden Sun had declared all out war on Blue Moon. Their aim was to tear through the territory killing all strong Men and Women and keeping the weak as slaves. According to the pregnant woman who found herself at our doorstep they were coming through the territory at great speed and were determined to find and kill Alpha Peter and his family." He paused letting the story sink in.

I squeezed his hand reassuringly. The silence around us was deafening and my heartbeat pounded in my chest.

"The pregnant woman told me what she could while I tended to her wounds and I tried to make her as comfortable as possible. Claw marks had ripped through her skin like a warm knife gliding through soft butter. The injuries of course had sent the woman into labour. If it had not been that she was a Werewolf I don't think the baby would have survived."

He shook his head in disbelief at the memory.

"Your mother acted as my nurse and we delivered a healthy baby girl. I still remember the woman smiling as I placed her baby in her arms. The bond between Werewolves and their pups is as strong as the mating bond."

Despite his reflections being sad I wanted to know more. I knew deep down that he was describing my birth, but I needed to hear him say it.

"She made us promise we would keep her daughter safe. She wanted her baby to grow up away from the war and rivalry. We promised we would do whatever we could and with that she passed away with you in her arms."

His eyes studied me trying to gauge what I would do next but all I could do was let a lone tear trickle down my cheek.

"She was your biological Mother." He said and I nodded my head. I couldn't speak.

"Mary and I decided we had to leave so we cleaned you up and packed up everything that we could in a hurry. I packed the car and called to Mary to hurry up. I could hear screaming in the distance and knew Golden Sun were working their way through every house. As humans we would have never survived. The last thing I did was grab a bottle of kerosene and setting our home on fire before driving us away.

I couldn't help but feel my life was about to change forever.