Hidden In Plain Sight

How It All Started

My name is Marie. I live among humans, even though they do not know my secret. To be honest, if they knew what I truly was, many would freak out. Even more would ask stupid questions based on the Hollywood movies they had watched growing up. In layman's terms I am a Werewolf. Some may also call us Lycans. Sadly, we are far from being the same species.

Lycans are far bigger and stronger. They are also considered pure. There is no human or other species diluting the bloodline. Werewolves, on the other hand, are mated to whomever the Goddess feels would complete us. Make us stronger. Though we can reject our mate, most do not. We are a complicated species and the world would do well to remember that.

We are nothing like the romanced versions you see on the silver screen. My pack, The Fire Moon, fell victim to just how messed up we can be. I guess for you to fully understand, I will need to take you back to the very beginning. Before, I hid myself among humans.

Flashback

"She's perfect." My mother said, looking down at me adoringly.

"Did you really believe she wouldn't be?" came the reply from my father, as they both started to laugh.

It was the way my mother always began the story of the day I was born. Second child to the Alpha and Luna of the pack. My older brother is just a year older than me. A second brother would fallow a few years later. He wasn't planned and almost cost the pack their Luna. Maybe that is why my father hated him so much.

My childhood was like any human childhood. I grew up with friends and had a loving mother and father. Being the only girl, I got away with a lot more than either of my brothers. That alone should have made my life perfect, but for some reason it wasn't and my father was the reason. I can't pinpoint the exact moment when it happened, but I started to see a change in my father. As I thought about it over the years, it could very well have been the birth of my second brother.

Rogues had attacked, and my mother was trying to protect her unborn pup. Dad tried to keep her out of the battle, but as Luna, she knew she had to be there for her pack. With all her injuries after they were defeated, it nearly cost us our Luna when she went into labor. In the end, it only cost her the ability to have more pups.

I remember hearing my parents talking about wanting to expand the family. He just wanted to wait. Try to build the pack up a little more. There would be more warriors to protect the members. My mother had other plans and then my younger brother was conceived. It's not that my father was mad; he did want a large family. The timing was just not right in his eyes. And as he had feared, that fateful night sealed this family's fate.

My mother tried to make life feel the same. We would go on picnics and had friends over for sleep-overs. My brothers started to learn to fight at a young age. I only started to learn after my father saw me take down both of my brothers without training. He said if a girl could overpower them, then maybe the girl would be the only one to protect the pack. I was proud at first. I was even top of the class for the young warriors in training. It all changed when they started having us spare with the older kids, my older brother's group.

As expected, I was the star. No matter the size or knowledge, I took everyone down. That was until I took on Bela. He was the son of my father's Beta. Much like his father, he was known for being strong and feared. He would be my brother's Beta when he took over the pack. I stood before him and sized him up. Yes, he was big and, by the muscles he had, you could tell he was strong. There was no denying that his father had started training him even before he had reached the age to begin with the warriors. My brother would be proud to have him stand by his side when he became Alpha.

To say I wasn't smitten and had a huge crush would be a lie. But then again, every girl in the pack had a crush on him. His dark curly hair and deep blue eyes made every girl pray she was his mate. Even if they weren't his mate, they hoped he would choose them or at least he would sleep with them. The look he gave them let me know he had no intentions of giving any of them what they wanted. He would wait for his fated mate.

The air somehow shifted as he prepared to spare. I had less training, but I knew enough to watch my opponent and reacted to how they moved. Bela knew enough from watching me spare with others that I was fast and that I was strong. I prayed he wouldn't go easy on me just because I was the Alpha's daughter. I felt like the others started out going easy only to step it up when I didn't hold back, and they didn't want to look bad in front of the trainers and the girls who gathered around to watch.

We started off slowly, and it looked like he was going to do whatever the other guys did. I wasn't expecting his first blow to knock me off my feet. I quickly rolled to a kneeing position and looked took in the lay of the land. He was about to strike again, and I rolled to the side only to be caught by his foot, pinning me to the ground. It hurt and pushed on his foot hopping to get him off balance. No luck. With one final move, I used my legs to try and sweep his legs. He caught one leg and bent it, just enough to not break it, but if I moved I would do it myself. The match was over, and it was the first time I had ever lost. It was a bitter taste in my mouth. Even once others started giving their all, I was still able to overpower and win against them. Maybe his constant training with his father was to blame.

"You did well," Beta Larry said as he was walking up to me with a bottle of water.

"He wasn't what I expected. At least he didn't treat me like a china doll," I replied as I took the bottle he held out to me.

"I raised that boy to always give 100%. He doesn't care if you are a woman or not. Not every threat to the pack will be men. If you treat every spare like a battle to protect the pack, you will always do your best and go all in. Much like you young lady. Did your mother teach you to fight? You remind me of her. She is quick on her feet and uses the size of her opponents against them." Beta Larry's eyes were shining as he spoke of our Luna.

"When I said it wasn't fair that the boys got to learn, while I was told to stay and learn to be a proper Luna from Mom, she told me that part of training to be a good Luna was to know how to fight as well. We started that very second, and it became a part of my daily training with her." Came my swift reply.

"You will make the perfect Luna one day," Beta Larry said as he walked back to the circle of boys watching the next sparing match.