Better Together

Leah This whole f***ing thing is a shitshow. I'm standing with my closest friends and what is left of our packs. There are people strewn everywhere in the aftermath of war. The bright rays of dawn showing us just how much all sides sacrificed in this war. Nothing is ever going to be the same again. In a way I am glad, changes needed to be made, but for the people we have lost, there are some wounds that will never heal. My mate comes behind me and wraps me in a tight embrace. We have never actually been this close before. It feels like everything in the world, except the Goddess, has been trying to keep us apart. For the first time in my life I don’t shy from the embrace. As he holds me I look to my two best friends. They are making the same mate connections I am. Somehow the Goddess spared us and our mates. I can only hope it means we have succeeded in the tasks she set for us. No one should have to burden themselves with this much at the age of 20, but what do I know? Let me take a step back. My name is Leah and I am the only daughter and only child of Alpha Benjamin of the Crescent Moon pack. We are a part of a cooperative pack alliance called the Concordat. I know, it is as pretentious as it sounds, note my eye roll here. Concordat literally means alliance, but our elders needed to name it something that made them feel important, so here we are. All of our Elders got together years and years ago to come together for protection and to ensure the survival of our race. We are werewolves, and while not dangerous or endangered, we are dying out due to humans hunting us relentlessly because they don’t understand us and many of our own kind stuck in its archaic ways of living and dying by rank alone is keeping us from moving forward. Our Concordat, yep say it with as snooty of an accent as you can, trust me you’ll have plenty of opportunities, was made up initially of 10 packs residing in the deep woods near the Salt Lake City area in Utah. The elders created a packhouse and training compound just outside of the city, far enough away from the humans using the Rocky Mountains, as our own private hideaway. Surrounding the Compound like a sunburst was the Night Fang Pack, Black Lake Pack, Rising Sun Pack, Blood Moon Pack, Red Claw Pack, Blue Moon Pack, Silver Mist Pack, Blazing River Pack, Dark Forest Pack and my pack, the Crescent Moon pack. This alliance worked exactly as it was designed for about 5 generations. Each pack lived in its own world, but came to the aid of any neighboring pack when needed. We shared training, supplies, intel and allowed our members to gather regularly to find their Goddess fated mates. Then the Elders started to get set in their ways and became used to certain comforts in life that being a high ranking member earned them. Alphas and other high ranking wolves began bribing Elders to have their kids married well within the Concordat, yep another eye roll. It was harder and harder to cycle Elders out. Former Alphas should have taken the Elder position when they transferred their Alpha title to the next generation. The original plan was when an Alpha retires and passes responsibilities to his eldest, he can choose to become an elder. Somewhere along the lines Elders passed laws, stating Alphas could only retire from their position when their male heir turned 21, and some Elders went so far as to demand that the male heir was mated before relinquishing the position. We can’t even find our fated mate until the age of 20, so there was plenty of time for Elders to broker deals. The Elders progressively stopped participating in regular pack training, whether that was teaching pack members or training themselves. Only putting in effort in Elite high rank training of the Alphas, Betas, Deltas and begrudgingly the females of those ranks at the compound. It became common practice to belittle the females and treat women of all ranks as ornaments to make their male mates look good or as baby making machines. We were all still required to attend training at the compound if we came from a ranked bloodline. Personally I think that’s more so they can shop for who to pair us with. Then began the practice of negotiating matches between packs for continued alliance support instead of allowing the Goddess to decide her fated mate matches, it began the bidding wars for chosen mates, and the Elders had the final say in who was allowed to be matched. This is where my generation shows up, fated mates were almost unheard of, especially for Alphas and Betas. The males were taught they were superior simply because their reproductive organs hung on the outside, not for any other show of merit. Women were to be seen, and that was only if we could dress properly, and to produce strong male heirs. Again, you may roll your eyes with me. The funny thing was the Goddess had her own plans, and clearly a great sense of humor. She supplied my generation with some of the most headstrong, ill-tempered, foul talking, non-conformist females she could produce. And we were poised to take over, as long as we didn’t make the same mistakes our male counterparts did generations before. She also allowed us our fair share of teenage mistakes and learning curves, because really why not mess with everyone while you’re at it. My father did not believe in females being lesser than males, so he trained me well from the time I could walk. My mother encouraged my curiosity to know about everything in the world around me. Many Elders frowned on my ability to speak my mind and debate many topics at an early age. But my parents would not bow to their petty wants and needs, knowing I was brought to them for a reason and the goddess had plans for me. Although, they had to eventually teach me to tone down my temper and keep quiet around the Elders and other Alphas. I was trained by my father in secret, few in my pack knew of my battle skills on and off the field. My mother taught me to observe the room and collect information while seeming insignificant. Only later in life would I appreciate what they both truly did for me. I was born to be an Alpha and a Luna as their first born. Let me take you on my journey through love, loss and truly knowing what it means to be a friend, lover, mate, leader and enemy.