The last Hope: A Prophecy is Born

Chapter One

"Freak!" The insult rang out through the now mostly empty hallway of the school, followed by high-pitched laughter from the girls in the group as they all migrated towards the exit. I let out a heavy sigh as I placed the last of my belongings into my backpack. I slammed my locker door shut before making my way to the opposite end of the school. This has been my daily routine for the past two years or so. I used to have friends. The key word there is used to. As werewolves, most of us are raised in something called a pack. A pack is like a community. Except it's only for wolves.

Well, I guess not just for wolves, as the Moon Goddess occasionally mates us with another species. But packs are specific to us. Kind of like how a coven is specific to witches. In a pack, we have a leader known as the Alpha. Then there is the Beta, who is second in command, followed by the Gammas. Thats where I come in at. My Father is the Gamma to the Bloodmoon Pack. In turn, that makes his mate, my mother, the female Gamma. I don't have a rank, at least not yet anyway. I do have status, or well, I sort of have status.

The adults and higher ups recognize me as my parents' child, but the other kids don't. It wasn't always like this though. No, I used to love being a part of a pack. Being part of a pack gives you a sense of belonging and a sense of safety. Because that's what it's supposed to do, right? Boy was I given a rude awakening. You see, I am a freak. Well, a freak for a werewolf.

Most of us don't get their wolves until they are 16. What I mean is that you are born with your wolf, but you're unable to communicate with them or shift until you're 16. On rare occasions, a very strong Alpha could come in tune with their wolf a year sooner. Notice I said on rare occasions there? Yeah by rare, I mean that our Alpha heir was the first one in about 100 years to shift before he turned 16. So imagine my surprise when I heard a voice pop in my head at the tender age of six!

I remember thinking that this was amazing and I should tell my parents, but my wolf advised against that. She said that we can tell them when the time is right, and I still don't know what she meant by that. Four years later, at the age of ten, I had my first shift. Now, that is a new record. There have been very, very rare instances where a young pup could shift if they felt they were in severe danger, but this wasn't my case.

Far from it actually. I had just turned ten a few days prior and was happily playing outside. All of a sudden, my wolf was urging me to run as far away as possible. So I did. I ran deep into the woods that were just behind our house. I stopped just before I reached the pack boarders. I only knew that because my father had brought me here many times to explain that we should not be playing in the woods, but if we ever find ourselves needing to run here, we don't go beyond this point.

Nyx, my wolf, walked me through the process of my first shift. I had heard a lot of stories of a first shift being unbearably painful, but I didn't feel a thing! In fact, my shift went by within a few moments. My mother always told me how a first shift could last for hours. Even the Alpha heir, Apollo, took an hour for his shift.

Nyx told me I had to keep this a secret as well. I'm almost 18 and I still don't know what she meant by 'the right time'. But none the less, I hid that I could shift from everyone, even my parents. When my sixteenth birthday rolled around, I was ecstatic about telling everyone about my wolf. But I was once again met with the same answer she had always given me. When everyone gathered around to see if my wolf would come through, I had to fight back the urge to tell them she was there with me. They all assumed I didn't have a wolf or that I would get her later on.

Nyx kept me company after that. Most of my friends abandoned me. No one wanted a wolfless girl as their friend. I was seen as weak in their eyes. The only one who even remotely showed me any sympathy was Apollo. I still think that's because he either feels pity for me or his father has forbade him from joining in any of the other bullying. After my birthday, I noticed small changes in my appearance.

The first being that I had a streak of white hair appear. It wasn't easily hidden either. A ponytail would hide it fairly easily, but on most days it would still shine through. Soon, the entirety of my hair had changed from a black that even the deepest depths of the ocean envied, to a solid white. And not just white, but an almost glowing white when the sun hits it. I had tried to dye it, many times might I add, but nothing would ever stick. I would leave it to sit, but as soon as I went to wash it out, all the color would run down the drain.

And that's not even the worst part. I say bad, but I think it's really cool. My eyes changed color. Yes! They actually changed color. I know some humans like to wear colored contacts, so that's the excuse I made up to begin with. Soon people realized that was not the case, as wolves didn't need contacts or glasses as we had supernatural senses. My green iris' had been slowly taken over by this almost violet shade. It wasn't a super bright purple, but it wasn't light either. Kind of like a sun faded purple shade. I liked them, but they made me stand out even more, so I was the center of everyone's bullying because I was different.

Eventually, my parents began to ask questions, so Nyx finally decided to let them in on the secret. But they were sworn to secrecy as well. I told them the entire story starting from when Nyx first showed up and they were absolutely dumbfounded. They sat at the kitchen table, mouths hanging open, and just stared at me. Of course, they didn't believe me. So I had to take them deep into the woods to introduce them to Nyx. As soon as I shifted, my mother began to cry and my father just stared at me.

Hi, I'm Serena, and apparently I'm a very rare creature. Wolves are normally multicolored or are a dark color. Nyx, however, has fur that matches my hair. Well I should say my hair matches her fur. Her fur is solid white, giving off an almost ethereal glow regardless of the light. Her eyes, you guessed it, are purple as well. Her eyes, however, are darker than mine. My parents believe I am well in tune with my wolf. That is why her characteristics show even in my human form.

So that's the story of how I became a pack freak. No one other than my parents knows about my wolf, and that's OK. I kind of prefer it this way anyhow. I still have one friend that decided to stick around though. Stella has stuck to me like glue since we were about eight. She's been my rock through everything. Now you may be wondering if Stella knows about my wolf. Well, the answer is no. Stella likes to blab.....a lot. So we decided to keep this one tiny secret from her. For now at least. Nyx thinks it's better that way.

I make my way towards the doors at the end of the hallway, not paying any attention as to where I'm going. I remembered I may have forgotten something in my locker so, without stopping my pace, I dug through my bookbag for it. Before I realized what was happening, I felt my face smash into something solid. I didn't think I had wandered so far off my path as to run into a wall. My nose was throbbing from the impact my face had made with the blockage, while my bum was sore from landing on the hard concrete.

A naisly laugh made me look up, only to be faced with a stunned-looking Apollo. Of course, today was going so well, and now all of a sudden I ran into the future Alpha and his little tramp. I quickly looked around me, only just realizing all my belongings had been strewn around me. Apollo reached his hand out to help me up when Veronica suddenly let out a god awful screech. I swear, nails on a chalk board sounded better than her voice.

"Eww! Don't touch her, you might catch something!" I rolled my eyes at her childish behavior. Honestly, I don't know how Apollo puts up with her. Everyone knows they aren't mates, yet somehow she has it engraved in her tiny little brain that he's going to make her his chosen mate and Luna.

"Sorry." I mumbled under my breath.

"Veronica, chill." Authority dripped off his words. I gripped onto his hand as he hoisted me back onto my feet.

"Thanks." Veronica huffed in annoyance as I wiped the dirt off my jeans and straightened out my black shirt.

"No problem. Uh...looks like you have something..." he makes a motion with his thumb as if he's wiping something away from his nostril. That's when the smell finally registers. Blood. Perfect. I take a napkin from my back pocket and dab it at the blood that has now begun to drip down onto my shirt.

"Thanks, again." I said awkwardly as I made my way past them to catch some of the papers that had begun to blow all over the courtyard.

"Next time, watch where you're going. Freak." Veronica spat at me as she ran to catch up with Apollo as he walked through the doors I had just come out of. I don't know what her problem is with me. We used to be best friends. So close, actually, that most people thought we were twins. Not only that, but the fact that we both shared similar features made it hard to believe we weren't related at all. Veronica and I shared the same raven black hair. Mine always reached to just above my butt, while hers was always cut to right below her shoulders. Our eyes were almost the same color, hers being a little darker green than mine. Our facial features were similar as well. My mom always said that Veronica was my doppleganger.

I managed to grab the last bit of my paper before shoving everything back in my backpack and making my way off the school grounds. Today had been a great day for the most part. The walk home was uneventful, thank the Goddess. I don't think I could stomach another soured milkshake dripping from my hair. I shuddered as I thought back to the first time that happened. I had come home crying my eyes out. I was so thankful my parents weren't home that day. I didn't feel like having to explain everything to my parents and then be in deeper s**t because they got involved.

"Ya know, I could handle her." I chuckled as Nyx unfurled and started pacing around.

"I know, but secret remember?" I could feel her frustration as she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I know, I know." She stretched out before lying down on her stomach.

"The secret that you're making me keep, need I remind you." She rolled her eyes at me and I laughed.

I finally reached the front of our house, thankful that my parents had decided to get a house separate from the packhouse. Goddess knows I don't need anyone making my life a living hell at home as well as at school. I kicked my shoes off by the front door before rushing up the stairs to my room. The house was quiet so I assumed my parents were out on patrol. Being the Gamma's of the pack meant that they were in charge of the pack warriors and patrols. That kept them busy, so most days I was home alone.

I tossed my backpack down in front of my desk before I flopped down onto my bed. My mind raced with everything that has been going on lately. Apollo was set to take over as Alpha soon, which meant that he would be leaving to search for his mate so that the pack could have a Luna. Regardless of how much Veronica thinks she's going to be his chosen mate, everyone knows that Alpha Hendrix won't allow that to happen. An Alpha is strongest when he has his fated mate by his side as she is the other half of his soul. Marking a chosen mate is frowned upon by many of our kind, as we believe the Goddess has chosen your mate for a reason.

The mate bond is formed before we are ever born. But we can't find our mate until we turn 18. Apollo will turn 18 the day before I do. I'm not going to lie, part of me hopes he is my mate while the other part hopes my mate isn't from this pack so I can start somewhere fresh.

"Don't worry, everything will work out." Nyx pipes up.

"Yeah, I guess we'll see." All of a sudden, a loud thud sounded from downstairs. I jumped up from my bed and poked my head out my door. Nyx was all of a sudden on high alert. That's weird.

"Serena, run. Now." Nyx growled at me. I hesitated a moment before another loud crash echoed off the walls.

"Now dammit!" She growled out. I could feel her trying to push forward to force me to run. I quickly closed my door and pushed my chair in front of it. I looked around the room, trying to decide my best escape route before finally deciding to jump out of a second story window.

My door handle suddenly started to shake. My heart was pounding in my chest. My whole body was screaming at me to run, but for some reason my feet were glued to the floor. The door knob stopped moving suddenly. Had they given up? If they knew I was here then those chances are slim.

"Serena! Run dammit! You need to go!" Nyx broke through the silence. Just as I turned to open my window, the sound of wood being smashed sounded throughout the room. I looked back in horror. The creature snarled as we entered a staredown. I couldn't move a muscle. Fear had consumed me. The snarling beast had been presumed a myth as only a handful have ever been spotted. The last sighting was over a century ago, in Alaska no less. Now I stand just a few feet away from him.