BEFORE THE WAR
1561 Words
CHAPTER ONE — BEFORE THE WAR
The morning light fell softly across Crimson Snow Pack, touching every rooftop with a pale glow. Clare stood outside the pack house, her arms wrapped around herself even though the wind was warm. Her heart felt heavy in her chest, like a stone she could not lift.
Today was the day Tatum was leaving.
She heard the dull metallic clicks of armor, the sharp voices of warriors preparing, and the low rumble of the trucks waiting to carry them to the border. The sound made her stomach turn. This was real. This was happening.
Tatum, her Tatum, the one she had grown up with, the one she had chosen as her mate even though fate had never tied them together, was marching into war.
Crimson Snow Pack had been fighting Blackthorn Pack for months now. A misunderstanding so small in the beginning,had grown into hostility. And now, Blackthorn had attacked one of their trade routes, forcing Crimson Snow to respond.
Tatum had no choice but to go.
Clare blinked hard as tears burned her eyes. She hated crying in public. But today, she didn’t care. Today, she was just a girl terrified of losing the boy she loved.
She felt hands touch her shoulders gently. She turned to see Jasmine,Tatum’s beta, tall, sharp-eyed, always calm. Jasmine was like an older sister to Clare.
“He’ll be fine,” Jasmine said softly.
Clare tried to smile, but her lip trembled. “You don’t know that.”
Jasmine sighed, squeezing her shoulder. “No… but I know Tatum. And if there is one thing that stubborn man refuses to do, it’s die.”
Clare let out a shaky laugh. It helped a little, even though her heart still ached.
Then the sound she feared came from behind, Tatum’s footsteps. She turned, and there he was.
Tall, dark-haired, dressed in his armor with the red crest of Crimson Snow across his chest. His sword hung at his side, and his face held both strength and sadness.
He looked at her the way he always did. Like she was home, Like she was everything.
“Clare,” he said softly, walking toward her.
She broke at the sound of his voice.
“Tatum…” Tears rushed down her cheeks, and she didn’t care who saw. She ran into his arms, clinging to him as tightly as she could. His arms wrapped around her instantly, strong and warm, holding her against his chest.
She buried her face in his armor, inhaling the familiar scent of pine and snow.
“I don’t want you to go,” she whispered. “Please don’t go.”
He rested his chin on her hair. “I have to. You know I have to.”
“No,” Clare said, shaking her head against him. “I know what you have to do. I just… I wish you didn’t.”
Tatum let out a long breath and pulled back enough to look at her. His eyes were warm, brown with flecks of gold. The eyes she had fallen in love with since they were children, when they used to run through the forest and pretend to be warriors.
“Listen to me,” he said gently. “I will come back. I swear to you, Clare. I will return.”
“You can’t promise that,” she whispered, her voice breaking.
“I can,” he said. “Because I refuse to leave you. Mate bond or not… you are my choice. Always.”
Clare began crying harder. She rested her forehead against his chest, feeling his heartbeat.
“I love you,” she whispered.
Tatum cupped her face and kissed her forehead. “I love you too.”
He pressed his lips to hers ,a soft, steady kiss that she tried to memorize. She wished she could freeze time, hold the moment forever, and never let him go. But the world kept moving.
A horn sounded.
Warriors called for their Alpha.
Tatum pulled back slowly, his eyes lingering on her face. “You’ll run the pack with Jasmine. I trust you both. And I’ll write every week.”
Clare nodded, wiping her tears. “Please do.”
He brushed her cheek with his thumb. “Be strong for me.”
She took a shaky breath. “And you be safe for me.”
Tatum smiled softly. Then he stepped back, turned, and walked toward his warriors.
Clare’s chest tightened as she watched him climb into the armored truck. Jasmine wrapped an arm around Clare when she swayed slightly.
“You’re not losing him,” Jasmine whispered.
Clare nodded, but the fear gripping her heart refused to fade.
Tatum looked back at her one last time before the engine roared to life. Their eyes met through the crowd, and he raised a hand to her.
Clare raised hers, even though her hand trembled.
And then he was gone.
**********
The days after Tatum’s departure were long and lonely, but Clare refused to break. She threw herself into her duties as Luna, making sure the pack stayed calm, fed, and organized. Crimson Snow trusted her. She had grown up here, watched by every warrior and elder. Many wolves respected her even more for choosing Tatum despite not being fated mates.
She spent her mornings in the meeting hall, handling complaints, trade requests, and border reports. Jasmine stayed by her side, always guiding, always steady.
Sometimes Clare thought she couldn’t handle everything ,but Jasmine never let her fall.
“You’re doing great,” Jasmine would say whenever Clare doubted herself. “Tatum would be proud.”
Hearing that gave her strength.
Every night, Clare returned to the Alpha Wing alone, sitting by the window with a blanket wrapped around her. She waited for Tatum’s letters like sunshine.
He wrote every week.
“I’m safe. The warriors are strong.
Nothing will keep me from coming home.”
Clare read each letter until the paper grew soft at the edges.
Four months passed like that,slow, tiring, heavy. But she held on.
Then one quiet morning, as the sun rose over the snow-tipped trees, a guard ran into the pack house.
“Alpha Tatum is back!” he shouted.
Clare froze.
Jasmine looked at her with wide eyes. “Go,” she whispered. “Run.”
Clare didn’t need to be told twice. She sprinted out of the pack house, her heart soaring. Relief washed over her like warm rain.
“Tatum is home.”
She reached the courtyard just as a group of warriors stepped through the gates,tired, dirty, worn out from battle.
And there, in the center, was Tatum.
Clare’s face lit up. She ran toward him, ready to throw herself into his arms.
But she stopped.
Tatum wasn’t looking at her.
He was walking slowly beside a girl.
A young woman with soft brown hair, wide watery eyes, and her hands placed lightly over her stomach.
Pregnant.
Clare felt her heart drop. She stared at the girl’s neck… and nearly fainted.
A claim mark,Fresh,Deep.
A mate mark.
Her legs shook. She grabbed the railing nearby to keep herself from collapsing.
Tatum finally looked at her. His face was unreadable with guilt, conflict, exhaustion.
“Clare,” he said quietly. “This is Elara… my mate.”
Clare’s breath caught.
Elara gave a shy, innocent smile. “I’m so sorry, Luna Clare. I didn’t mean to cause….”
A sharp stab of pain cut through Clare’s chest.
Mate bond, Fate, Pregnant.
Tatum stepped a little closer to the girl, as if he needed to shield her from any stress, any harm, any sharp look.
Clare felt like the world was slipping away under her feet.
“You… you marked her?” she whispered, her voice barely there.
Tatum lowered his head. “Clare… I didn’t want this. The bond,it pulled us together. I tried to fight it, but I couldn’t. I didn’t… I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
Elara placed a gentle hand on her stomach. “Tatum, please… don’t be upset. I’m okay.”
He immediately turned to her. “You shouldn’t be on your feet this long. You need rest.”
He helped her sit on a bench while Clare stood frozen.
Jasmine rushed to Clare’s side, grabbing her arm before she fell.
“Clare,” Jasmine whispered sharply. “Breathe.”
Clare tried. She really tried.
But her entire world had crashed in the time it took her to blink.
Tatum’s eyes met hers again, soft, guilty, wanting to explain, wanting to keep her, wanting to protect the girl carrying his child.
He couldn’t have both.
And he had already chosen.
Clare swallowed, her throat burning.
“Welcome home,” she said softly, though her voice cracked.
It was all she could manage.
Tatum opened his mouth, but a warrior interrupted. “Alpha, we need you to check the final reports.”
He nodded and turned to Elara. “I’ll be right back. Rest here. Jasmine, please stay with them.”
Clare wanted to run, Wanted to cry, Wanted to scream.
But she stood there, frozen in place, while the girl carrying Tatum’s child leaned against the bench and smiled weakly, looking as soft and helpless as a lamb.
Clare wasn’t sure how long she could survive this.
But this was only the beginning.
- Writer
