Her Mate

Everything was in ruins, the territory that was ruled by my family was disintegrating before my eyes. I couldn't do anything to stop it. All I could do was watch the people of my pack run for their lives, while I hid to save mine. My father was killed, instantly might I add. The intruders that broke through the barriers and the guards, killed him first. Now, they were killing those who wanted to retaliate and avenge the Alpha. I watched from behind a big boulder as children and women were being scooped up by the intruder's soldiers. There were men who were being held captive as well, the ones who surrendered rather than fight. For the ones that chose to fight for their freedom and pack; they were being slaughtered. I let out a jarring scream as I felt someone pull my hair and easily lift me up in the air. I looked up to find a soldier glaring at me as if I had done something truly awful. He was riding a black horse, which explained the significant height difference. "I found another one. She was hiding behind the rock," He yelled over to another man in uniform. "Let go of me!" I yelled at him, kicking my arms and legs. He gave a small chuckle and placed me in front of him, riding along the horse to meet the other soldiers. I held on tight to the horse's mane, not caring if it hurt the animal or not. "Did you find the Alpha's daughter?" Asked another soldier. "No sir, at least I don't think so. None of us know what she looks like or how old she is. None of the children here look like the Alpha himself," the soldier I was riding with explained. I smirked at his remark. I looked mostly like my mother and she had passed away on the day of my birth. No one outside our pack knew what she really looked like. I was thankful that none of the children in front of me had said anything to the intruders about who I was. I didn't expect them to anyway. I knew they cared too much for my father and his legacy to reveal who I am to this pack. The soldier who found me, quickly grabbed my shirt and threw me into the group of children who had been captured. I landed quite hard on the ground, a girl about my age helped me to my feet. "What do we do?" She asked me, with sadness in her eyes. I gave her a weak smile and said, “For now we have to do what they say if we want to stay alive”. She nodded, understanding that there wasn’t much we could do. I was only fourteen and without my father, the pack’s only way of survival was to comply. I closed my eyes and silently prayed to the Moon Goddess for strength to get through this, to help my father’s pack get through this awful catastrophe. ✧✧✧ Eight years later I opened my eyes as the sun began to shine through the window of my small house. A weak groan left my lips as I looked over to the clock by my bedside table and realized there was about exactly two hours left before I had to get to work. Slowly making my way out of bed, I moved my body in a sluggish manner to get to the bathroom and change. I looked in the mirror at my reflection, my light brown hair was disheveled, there were prominent darkened circles under my eyes, and my cheeks had sunken in so much due to forgetting to eat from time to time. “I’m a mess,” I mumbled to myself, as I began to brush my teeth. Eight years had passed since my pack was invaded by no one other than my father’s childhood friend, Jeremiah. I still remember the day after our territory was nearly burned down and almost everyone from my pack was captured or killed. That day, Jeremiah had made his first appearance in front of us and the only question he asked was about me. I hadn’t met Jeremiah until that day. My father spoke of him here and there, but never in much detail. All I knew was that my father and he stopped getting along as they got older, there was immense competition between them once they began entering their teenage years. Even though I never expected Jeremiah to kill someone he grew up with and once called a friend. Thankfully, I stood in the crowd of the other captives and watched as no one said anything about me being Alpha Dean’s only daughter. That day our pack, Silver Crescent, was no longer in existence. We were forcibly being merged into the White-fang Wolf Pack, the same pack Jeremiah had inherited from my grand-father. That was one of the many reasons my father left his pack and went off as a rogue, until he met my mother. Silver Crescent was my mother’s pack and after death, my father gave everything to our people. He was a strong, brave, kind Alpha with a tragic, brutal ending. Jeremiah vowed to look for me and that search has continued years after. If he only knew that I was only a few feet away from him every day. I worked at my old home as a maid, it was the only building that remained intact after the invasion. Everything else was rebuilt and the people of my pack had long forgotten about my father and me. No one cared or even remembered me as the alpha’s daughter, I was another poor girl working alongside many. The members of my parents' former pack had started to adapt to being part of White-fang, with new territory rules and a new Alpha. Everyone had moved on with their lives, except those of us who had lost loved ones or... those who had lost everything. The thought of the life I had before everything was snatched from me stirred a heavy feeling in my stomach. To this day, I still wasn’t able to process the grief of losing my father. If only I knew that in the upcoming months my life would take even more drastic turns than before…