Wolf heart

Chapter One

Blue Creek, 15 years ago

The moonlight shone through the window, even with the dark heavy velvet curtains. It didn’t matter, however, how thick the cloth was, as no material known to mankind was able to block the effects of the full moon. 

Sarah knew the transformation would hurt in such an advanced stage of her pregnancy, but she trusted the pack healer’s word that no warm would be done to the baby. The healer, Evangeline, was her mother's best friend and had swore to do everything to keep her safe. Surely that promise would extend to her child. She knew the rest of the pack was against her and the only reason she hadn’t been demoted to Omega or cast out of the pack was because her father had been the most beloved Alpha and his death was still too recent for anyone to act on it. 

Everybody expected that after his murder, Sarah would start a family with Bryce, the new Alpha. They had the same age and were best friends since they were born, Sarah was the only one he spoke to after his mate died in childbirth and the only one he allowed near his son, Rhys. His mother was the pack healer and acted as a mom to them both. Sarah lost count of how many times she went to Eve for advice on more then her health.

The pack thought Sarah would realize it was her duty to give herself in matrimony to ensure Bryce had an Alpha heir. Bryce was proving himself to be a good Alpha, ending the war after Ryder’s passing, but the pack knew a born Alpha was always the best for a pack and Sarah was now the only one that could provide that. 

Rhys could be a good Alpha with the proper training, but he would always be Beta born. They expected Sarah to make her father proud, raise Rhys as her own cub and provide him with enough Alpha born siblings that the pack would never have to worry about its leadership anymore.

None of them expected her to announce she was already with child, let alone to refuse telling who the father was. The Elders demanded that she should be cast out, that her Alpha status should be stripped off her wolf, demoting her to Omega, but Bryce refused to do their bidding and told her that she would always have a place in the pack, that she was family and she had no reason to not believe in what he said. She always thought of him as her brother and she wasn't surprised when he came to her rescue.

She knew if her father was alive at the time of her announcement, that the pack would throw a party, welcome the child with open arms, believe her when she said the father was her mate and definitely not bother her with endless questions as to why she was keeping his name a secret. She knew her father would never tolerate this behavior from his pack, but Bryce was the Alpha now. She was a born Alpha, but she wouldn't dare question his leadership, not when he was so good to her.

Sarah wanted to believe in his words and up until that day she did, but when she transformed that night, her wolf knew better. Breaking the ancient window at the stone manor, her wolf ran as fast as she could. The wolves that followed her probably weren’t aware that being an Alpha born, she could listen to the pack mind link even when they purposefully ignored her, casting her out like she was some low-life Omega. 

“Faster! Bryce needs her cub! He needs an Alpha heir!”, she heard, knowing that the voice belonged to Bryce’s beta, Adam. 

"But the cub isn't his, he already has Rhys!", she heard Gaspar saying, always the clueless one.

She didn’t bother looking back, her wolf was in charge and she knew she needed to protect her cub. She knew, even though she didn’t want to believe it, that Bryce’s words and his caring behavior were false. She wasn’t in the Alpha manor as a courtesy, it wasn’t because she belonged there. She was there as a prisoner, one that would no longer be needed once the child was delivered. 

Once she looked for it through the pack link, she found the memories of a meeting Bryce had earlier that week. She saw the Elders telling him he needed an Alpha born heir, that Rhys could be a great warrior, but the pack would always be challenged if they didn't had a real Alpha and as the memories filled her brain, she knew that her child would be raised as Bryce’s son if it was a boy and as a breeder, if it was a girl. 

Sarah had once overheard her father growling, saying he would never betray her mother's memory by breeding with she-wolves, but she never thought the Council of Elders would go as far as to suggest having an Alpha born as a breeding slave and the thought of herself or daughter in that position made her sick to her stomach.

It wasn’t the humiliation of being an Omega or the fear of being cast out or killed that moved her wolf faster and faster. It was the idea of losing her cub. Neither Sarah nor her wolf could bear the thought of having her child being raised by someone else and the memories were clear. Once her cub was born, she would be cast out and forbidden to enter pack territory upon death for disobedience.

Glancing at the moon, she pulled as much power as she could from it and raced against the trees until she felt it: she was no longer in pack territory. She was safe. The thought gave her some relief and made her slow down her pace, especially when she heard the howls of the wolves that could no longer chase her due to pack rules, but then she felt a pang, stronger than any pain she ever felt. Her wolf howled and laid on the ground, telling her that she was in labor. She tried to fight the power of the moon and return to her human form, but she knew it was to no use and quickly she placed all her energy into bringing her child safely to the world. In awe and shock, she saw the wolf cub. The cub's fur was pitch black and its eye was bright blue, unlike any wolf in their pack.

In all the history of werewolves, she knew of none that had been born during a full moon transformation, specially born as a wolf. The first transformation was something cubs would endure after their puberty started, some sooner than others, but definitely none as a newborn. The pain of the first transformation was too much for any child to bear and throughout history some weren't even strong enough to survive it. 

During her father's ruling, she knew of some children who never received the wolf. Some packs, she knew, would kill the unshifted children, turn then into Omegas or sell them as slaves. Her father, to the Council's dismay, allowed the parents to decide the child's fate, but she knew he was the exception. During her pregnancy she worried about how Bryce would rule in case her child was unshifted, but never thought her child would be born shifted.

She worried for a moment that her child would stay like that, forever a wolf, and that it was her fault to be unable to stop labor, unable to shift back. Whimpering in distress, she curled against the cub, licking her child clean and allowed her body to fade into the darkness. 

Her wolf knew the danger wasn't over however and soon woke up. Carrying her cub, she started to run away, knowing there was only one place she could go, one person she could trust. 

The Redwood Howlers' territory was a few hours away from her former pack and by the time she got there, the sun had risen. She expected the cub to change into a baby, but when it didn't, she knew she would love her cub, even if it remained as a wolf forever. She just hoped he would feel the same way. 

Sarah didn't had time to second guess her decision to come to his territory as mere seconds after she reached the border, she caught his scent, her wolf purring on her mind, despite all the trouble they had been through.

____

Orion could tell the exact moment his life changed. It wasn’t when he felt the mate’s bonding, when he found out his mate was his father’s enemy's daughter or even when they allowed the bond to speak louder and found themselves lost in each other’s embrace. It was the moment he felt her pain as she watched his father murder hers. Alaric wanted the enemy pack to suffer and killing his enemy would make the Blood Wolves weak and easy to vanquish. He didn’t know his own son was mated to Ryder’s daughter. He didn't know that feeling her pain would be enough for Orion to murder his own father to avenge Sarah. 

The Redwood Howlers didn’t know what had happened, but when Orion said that the feud was over, that both Ryder and Alaric were dead, they accepted him as their Alpha, no questions asked. Alaric had been a tough ruler and most of the pack was relieved to be freed from his control as they knew Orion wasn't anything like his father. 

His first ruling had been to dismantle the Elder Council. The old wolves that followed the old ways like there was nothing beyond that weren't happy, but the Old Ways had one rule that ruled above all others: obey your Alpha and so they did. The changes followed suit, turning the once somber pack into a lively and happy place where cubs laughed and wolves ran free. 

For months he probed the mate bond link, hoping for a change to redeem his father's mistakes, to show her he was different, but felt no response. He could feel her pain, her anxiety, her fear. He wanted to march into the Blood Wolves's territory, claim Sarah as his mate and ease her mind of whatever was causing her so much distress, but he knew his pack was responsible for it, that his father was responsible for her pain. Never, in his wildest dreams, he could’ve thought that all those feelings he caught on their link were due to her pregnancy as she made sure to keep that a secret, even with all his effort to force the mate link.

When she walked into his territory, he sensed her and ran away from his pack meeting to find her at the border, almost as if she was too scared to come inside. The wolf cub cuddled into her arms puzzled him, especially when he sniffed the air and noticed that the cub’s smell was so similar to his own.

Sarah knew her words would fail her, so she lowered her guard and allowed him to fully access her mind through their mating bond. The emotions that she had been keeping came in a rush, strong enough to bring her to knees.

She couldn't bear to watch his reaction, but she knew exactly which memory he was accessing at all times, curling herself when he growled angrily at the events that happened the night before.

Understanding that she gave birth in wolf form and that the cub in her arms was their daughter was the hardest part. He had never heard of such a thing, but when he pulled her inside their border to keep her safe and got the full scent of the cub in her arms, he knew it was true. 

____

Snowville, present day

Luce knew she was different, that parts of her life were to be kept as secrets from everyone, her pack included. From an early age, she had been taught to trust nobody besides family, to pick her Beta wisely when the time came and to keep her mouth shut about the family secret. Her secret. 

Luce was a born Alpha from both sides and there was bloodshed in her family - more than any family should endure. Werewolves weren't creatures to keep documents, so since their children were old enough to understand stories, they passed along their rites, their cautionary tales, their history, all of those during bedtime stories. Her bedtime stores, though, were no cautionary tale of generations long forgotten: they told the story of her grandfathers, both too stubborn to end a war that had no need to be; of her mother, running away to keep her safe; of her own history, of how she was born a wolf and how she should never, ever let anyone find out that she had her wolf with her since birth.

Once she became to old for bedtime stories, she started her private lessons, where Luce learned that the real reason why the pack left Blue Creek was not just because her grandfathers were in war against each other, that leaving was not the price to pay for the war to be over. Luce learned that she was the reason why they’d left. That her mother’s pack wanted her to become a breeder - a pure blood born Alpha to breed with Bryce and provide him his beloved Alpha born heir. 

At regular classes, she learned about all werewolf history like the rest of the cubs of her age, but she was sworn to never mention any of her private knowledge among them. When puberty reached them and they learned about the mating bond, the dangers of dating outside your pack and how to control their hormones with humans, her mother taught her the hard truth of being a born Alpha female, of how many packs that followed the Old Ways would keep slaves to breed with their Alphas, even killing the she-wolves' mates to make sure the Alpha had enough females to pick and choose. She learned that for her, it would be worse, that packs like her mother's former pack, where the Council of Elder was still active, a female Alpha was nothing more then a breeder, that her reason to exist was to provide male Alphas. She learned how the Council would often pit brothers against each other as soon as their wolves showed up, to decide who would rule the pack. She learned that the Old Ways were barbaric and that she should never trust anyone who followed it. 

As her mother scared her, her father would comfort her, saying he would never allow anyone to do any of those things to her or to her mother, reassuring her that she was safe, but her mother's words were stronger and Luce learned since a young age to never trust anyone. Her mother being her ultimate cautionary tale.

She didn’t know Bryce and she hoped she never would. Every time her mother mentioned her former pack in a lesson, she would wince, hating the wolf that betrayed her mother like that. She knew her mother would never feel safe, not until Luce had found her mate, so it came with a surprise when her father announced to the inner circle of her pack that they were moving to Blue Creek. 

The reactions were as expected: the cubs around her age were thrilled with the idea of moving away from the nowhere land they lived, but Luce knew the reactions that mattered were not from her fellow cubs. 

Her mother’s face was a mystery, as always, and when she probed her mind through the pack link, she felt the shock of being thrown out. She hated when her mother did that and couldn’t help the soft growl that escaped her lips. 

Michael and Channing, Orion’s beta and gamma, were worried. They didn’t know the full secret of her birth and her abilities, but they knew the real reason why the pack left in the first place wasn’t the war. They were old enough to know that months of peace had passed until the day Sarah showed up and Orion decided to move. They knew she was the reason and the Alpha couple trusted them enough to say Bryce was after Sarah.

It wasn’t until Sarah’s original due date had arrived that Luce transformed into a girl and they were able to introduce her to the pack. The only one besides them aware of the secret was the pack doctor, Orion’s grandmother, Holly. For the inner circle, Sarah had kept her pregnancy a secret because she was afraid of Bryce, for the rest of the pack, she had kept it a secret because she didn't knew she could trust what had once been the enemy pack. 

Not even Luce's siblings knew the full story of her birth. They knew she had shifted much earlier and that they were to keep it a secret, but they didn't know she was born a wolf. It was hard to keep secrets from your own siblings, but Luce managed to do it so and still keep a tight relationship with them. The twins, Landon and Liam, only one year younger then her sometimes would forget that they were younger and act like old big brothers, keeping all the boys away from her, which she found endearing since she had no interest in dating. Her younger sister, Loren, was her complete opposite: blonde and petite, the young cheerleader was a breath of fresh air and brought happiness wherever she went. Luce didn't had much in common with them in terms of personality, but she knew they had one thing nobody else would have: the family bond.

It was extremely rare for a werewolf to transform before they reached puberty, but as she had been born as a wolf, Luce had been transforming every full moon since her birth as human. It wasn’t until she was ten, however, that she was able to switch between forms as she pleased, another pack secret. To the pack, Luce had recently had her first transformation and was still struggling with the switching, like the rest of them. It was a secret hard to keep, especially when her wolf wanted to take control, but she had years of practice on her sleeve. She had been taught to lie to survive, to never let anyone know how she felt or what she was thinking, to keep her body and her mind locked in self-preservation, but despite the years of training, she knew her million questions were all over her face, so it was no surprise when she heard her father’s voice in her mind.

“Later. We'll talk later. Now look excited like the rest of them.” he said, using the Alpha tone and she found herself squealing with the girls of her age, saying how awesome it would be to meet new people and how cool it would be if they all could find their mates. 

Mating, however, was the least of Luce’s concern.