The War

The History

- One Day Earlier- 

Marian gazed down at the stream below her, her mind elsewhere as she watched the water peacefully flow through the rocks. It picked up speed before it came crashing down at a lower level on the sandy rocky stream. She sighed. Quietly she leaned against the mossy fallen log, the last spot they had sensed her daughter. She had made it a normal occurrence, coming back to this spot and just thinking without having to guard her mind or being afraid of showing her true emotions.

She heard the distant sound of birds, and she heard a squirrel from a few hundred feet away nibbling on a nut he had found. She smiled sadly, her heart aching for the feel of her daughter in her arms, the smell of her hair, and the feel of her bouncy curls. She felt new tears spring into her eyes. 

There wasn't much in the advancement of finding their daughter, they had sent out search parties. They recruited witches, and vampires anything they could that might be able to sense that their daughter was even alive or that she was safe. It had been approximately two days since Amber had gone missing and the pack as a whole was already falling apart. 

Carter had completely rejected himself from the pack, barely speaking to Steven his beta or Marian. On the rare chance that the pack had the effort to hunt instead of looking for Amber, they caught very little. The depression as a whole stopping their hunger, and making them even weaker than they were before. Marian felt the familiar tingle of her beastly counterpart enter her mind, her voice sad and dejected. "We will find her love, I sense her alive." 

Marian felt fresh tears prickle the back of her eyes, she knew Gola couldn't sense Amber. She was only telling that to make her feel comfortable and get out of this funk she was in. Gola had always been the strong one in their mind, at times where Carter fell short of easing Marian's mind Gola was there, ready and willing to say whatever she needed. 

Before Amber was born Carter and Marian had tried for 10 years to conceive a child. Marian never fell pregnant and the pack became devastated that their Alpha's truemate was not able to supply the heir to keep the pack going. She had heard so many conversations about her when the pack thought she was away, how they believed she wasn't worthy of being their Luna, how they expected their Luna to provide for their future. It was a normal occurrence when members of the pack would stop Marian and ask her how she was doing, if she was healthy, and when the Alpha and her planned on having kids. Each time someone asked Marian died slightly more inside, they didn't understand the own self pressure she inflicted on herself to provide for the pack. They didn't see the countless hours Marian spent crying to herself at night. They also didn't realize that Marian at one point in time, couldn't even lay with Carter because she felt disgusted in herself, and that she thought he deserved better. Carter would see parts and pieces of her stress and would comfort her in the times he was able to, but being an Alpha of a shrinking pack often kept his attention more than his Luna. So that is when Gola took it upon herself to bring Marian out of the self degradation.

When Marian and Carter finally became pregnant there was harsh words from elderly women in the pack, talking about her prolonging her pregnancy so that Carter wasn't able to find another Luna. It devastated Marian, and took the joy out of her pregnancy.  So when Amber was finally born, with a full head of hair, and the softest hands and toes you ever felt Marian felt whole again, her heart finally resting from the constant ache. Carter was also relieved, but Marian could tell he was more happy to have a child of his own and not with the sudden improvement in Marian's attitude. 

Marian shook her head sadly, not bothering on stopping the tears that endlessly flowed down her cheeks and onto the ground. When she heard the sound of a heartbeat. The heartbeat strong and much louder than the average forest creature. Quickly she stood up from her sitting place and wiped her tears, looking into the woods at the direction the sound was coming from. Gola became restless in the back of her mind, her senses picking up, "Black magic."  Gola hissed in the back of her mind. 

Marian began to shift, allowing Gola to take over. Knowing that if she had to fight a Witch or a Warlock they would be more successful with her already shifted. Gola got down in a fighting stance, her jowls pulled back into a large snarl, her teeth showing. Every hair stood on the back of her. 

When Gola was finally able to catch sight of what was in the forest her tension relaxed slightly. An older woman with grey curly hair and a neutral toned dress came through the woods. Her scent hit Gola, she smelled strongly of lavender and rosemary. The snarl on Gola's face fell, when the woman finally locked eyes with her. At first the woman's eyes widened at the sight of the werewolf, then as if she was expecting Gola to be there a large smile came to her face and she quickened her pace through the forest trying to approach Gola quicker. 

The Witch approached Gola, stopping about 10 feet away from her and bowing her head graciously. 

The woman's voice smooth like velvet, "I'm afraid I can't get much closer to you, or else the Alpha will know I have visited you." Her voice beginning to ramble with anxiety. 

Gola tilted her head to the side, eyeing the woman carefully. She had never seen this woman in all her years but the smell of her hit her nose and made her feel at ease. 

The woman sensing her hesitation, opened her mouth in an "O' shape. "I'm sorry, I forget myself. Gola, Daughter of the Alaskan Pack and Luna of  the Ash Pack, my name is Marzia. I'm a Witch of the Walee pack, and I know where they are holding your daughter."