Blood and Silver: First Bite

Tate and the Pack

Abigail rubbed her temples, completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information she’d taken in this week. She was keeping up with her school work, but at the same time, every day after school, her, Hannah and Jackson were poring through Mrs Smirnova’s books while he translated and she took notes.

He had also told them more about werewolf history, and she had a better understanding of rogues and the dissent between the Silvermoon and Blood Crescent packs. Serena had also visited a few times and filled in some gaps - she was older and knew more of the history than most, especially has her husband, the former pack Guardian, had been in his position for 20-odd years before his position was handed over to her.

‘You said something before about the pack dying out?’ Abigail asked Serena inquisitively.

‘Yes,’ Serena sighed despondently. ‘About 20 years ago, it was noticed that no girls had been born to the pack for a while. This has continued, and most of the she-wolves remaining in the pack are too old to produce offspring. It appears that some kind of curse was placed on our pack, but we do not know by whom and how to possibly reverse it.’

Abigail looked at her, mouth agape. ‘But why not have children with she-wolves from other packs? Or humans?’ She asked.

‘That is a complicated question with a complicated answer!’ Serena laughed, but her laugh was devoid of any real emotion.

‘Humans are not the ideal mates for wolves. A lot of them don’t know of our existence and… well, it’s not really safe. A lot of human mothers have died during childbirth, giving birth to half blood babies.’ She said.

‘So my mother could have died having me?’ Abigail gasped.

‘She’s a witch, honey!’ Said Serena. ‘Her magic was there to protect her, don’t worry!’ She stated.

‘And what about she wolves from other packs?’ Abigail asked.

‘Well, finding a mate from another pack is rare. Usually, if you are soul bound to a mate, it will be from your own pack or from a nearby pack, as packs in close proximity tend to share similar bloodlines. Finding someone in another pack you in inmates is hard, and there is always the chance that they will find their true mate and leave. There is just too much at stake.’

‘And the Blood Crescent Pack?’ Asked Abigail.

‘Are you crazy?’ Serena asked. ‘They are wild and feral wolves. That would never happen!’ She cried.

Abigail couldn’t help but feel a little hurt by this comment. After all, her father came from the Blood Crescent Pack. She had his blood running through her veins, and as she’d heard the others talking about, she had been marked as one of their pack. A sense of loyalty and anger bubbled up inside her.

‘That is my family you are talking about, Serena!’ She roared, and Serena’s knees buckled in submission. Abigail had Alpha blood, and she was this pack’s Alpha’s mate, which gave this young woman more power than she realised.

‘I’m sorry, Abigail.’ Serena started, ‘I did not mean any offence. I should have chosen my words carefully.’

Hannah sat further along on the couch, looking aghast at the goings on. She had never seen Abigail lose her temper and to be honest it frightened her to see her friend like that. Before she could d on it too much, there was a knock on the front door.

Abigail got up to answer it, Jackson instinctively getting up and shadowing her, to protect her if there was anything untoward behind the door. She took a look through the peephole and smiled, swinging the door open.

‘Mr Tate!’ She cried, giving him a big hug. He’d always been like an uncle to her and she was happy to see him.

‘Daddy!’ Hannah shouted, running to the door and the stopping just short of giving him a hug. She folded her arms and started to pout. ‘We need to talk.’ She said, and her father sighed.

Mr Tate looked at Jackson, who gave him a nod.

‘Okay Princess, let’s go home and I will tell you everything you need to know.’

‘No,’ said Hannah, to everyone’s surprise. ‘You are going to come inside and tell me now. Jackson clearly already knows, and you know I will tell Abigail everything anyway, so you might as well let it all out now.’

Mr Tate sighed, and made his way inside. He grabbed on of the dining chairs and swung it around, facing it to the couches where Hannah, Abigail, Serena and Jackson were sitting, and took a seat.

‘My grandfather was obsessed with the occult, and grew up learning about it and wanting to explore the most magical regions of the world.’ He began.

‘When he met my grandmother, and my father was born, his adventuring stopped but the fire inside him never died out. He heard a rumour through some of his old contacts that there was a large coven of witches located in Moonshadow Falls, and without telling my grandmother, set off to investigate and find the truth.’

He took a deep breath, before continuing on.

‘When he got here, he found that not only were the rumours true, but the truth far exceeded his expectations. He found that there was a strong coven of witches, who sought out unsuspecting men to impregnate them in order to expand their numbers. And along with the witches, were two large packs of werewolves who lived in neighbouring territories but did not mingle with eachother.

He started to observe and take notes, but there was one particular young witch who caught his eye. He knew it was wrong, not to mention dangerous, but he felt such a pull to her that he had to speak to her. He realised soon after that it was actually she who had noticed him first, milling around and taking notes, and she had used his interest to create a seduction spell. After several meetings, she had found out that she was with child and she had driven him away from the town. He returned to my grandmother, never revealing that he had another child until after she died, fearing that he would break her heart.

He couldn’t stay away through, and had secretly come back every few months to spy on the coven, and saw that she had birthed a baby boy, who was unwanted as boys couldn’t be witches and he was useless to the coven.’

Hannah looked up at her father. ‘So what has that got to do with us?’ She asked.

‘That little boy was named Phoenix Morrigan.’ He said.

Abigail’s ears perked up at the name Morrigan, as that was her family name.

‘He was my father’s brother,’ stated Mr Tate. ‘And later changed his name to George Moore. Abigail’s grandfather.’

Abigail and Hannah gasped.

‘My family has known about werewolves and witches for generations, and my grandfather had formed an alliance with the Silvermoon Pack during the time that he spied on the witches. He’d seen and heard some rogues discussing plans of attack, and on his conscience couldn’t keep it to himself and had sought out the Alpha to tell him. Of course they didn’t believe him, but after sending out some scouts and capturing rogues hiding in the woods close to town, they grew to trust him. They started an alliance, where he acted as a watcher for the pack, which was continued by my father, and after he was born, it was my turn. That’s when we moved here.

So yes, our family has a long history with the Silvermoon Pack. And you girls, you are cousins.’ He smiled.