False Prophecy

Nikolai Pain radiated through my chest as I ran into the forest, shifting into my Bear Timber. I continued to run until I reached the edge of the pack grounds and laid down under a tree. The fall leaves were floating down softly around me. It was the first full moon after my 18th birthday, we were all at the mating ball inside our pack. I scented her out, she was perfect for me. I knew before even talking to her. I had always trusted in the Moon Goddess and Mother Spirit. She rejected me, though. It was a tale as old as time. She didn’t think I had enough power in the pack and disliked that I was a Bear in a Wolf Pack. I was the second born to the Beta Family and was an elite warrior before I turned 18, which was something to be very proud of but not for her. I laid under a tree; feeling Timbers' pain at the loss of his mate, the loss of my mate as well. A deep devastation radiated through my chest, remembering her look of disgust towards me and the words of rejection that followed. A soft humming and footsteps crunching through the fall leaves in the forest caught my attention. Timber growled lowly, wanting to be left alone. The last couple of days, all we wanted was to be alone. Zyanna came walking into view with her bouncing cute red curls carrying a basket. She walked over, sat down by Timber and pulled his big head into her lap. She continued to hum softly, running her hands over Timber’s head. We both just quietly sat breathing in the cool autumn air. Slowly I felt the pain leaving my body as Zyanna sat with me. I don’t know how long we were there. She quietly whispered, “She didn’t deserve you anyway.” Timber snorted, but laid content in her lap. Zyanna was 14 years old and a sweet little thing, always helping and eager to learn. She made the best chocolate cream truffles and wild berry syrup. Our dads were good friends and trained together. Even though they lived in a neighboring pack, they spent a lot of time in our pack. Timber sniffed the air as a wild berry appeared in front of his nose. “Don’t you dare eat all the berries," I told him. He chortled back at me, obviously feeling better as Zyanna fed him wild berries from the basket she had. She must have been out late gathering berries and herbs when she found us. She asked Timber if he could keep a secret and made him put his big paw in her hand as a “Paw Promise”. Silly girl was so tiny compared to my Bear. She looked into Timbers’ eyes, and I watched mesmerized as her violet eyes turned solid white, and she placed her forehead onto Timbers. A scene flashed before our eyes like a movie clip. I was in the forest, and a soft giggle came from the distance with a soft sing-song voice calling out “My love, come find me”. I could feel love and a bond flowing through us deep into my soul. The scene changed to what looked like a hospital room. “Daddy, Daddy, can we see our baby sister?” Came a small voice. I turned to look for the child as two small dark-haired boys ran toward me. "It's a boy I know it is, Dad tell him!" came the second small voice. The scene changed again. I was standing alone under the moonlight in the forest where I had laid down. A woman with long silver hair and a soft white dress walked toward me. She smiled, looking at me. I knew what a blessing it was to see Selene the Moon Goddess, especially since I was mostly a Bear Shifter or a Were Bear as we were sometimes called. "I will take your pain away, my sweet child. Sometimes the will of others changes plans, and I cannot interfere with free will. Pain can lead to a greater outcome if you allow it.” She touched my chest and I felt everything from the bond break dissipate. "You will find the kind of love you seek, be patient. Remember love can show up in surprising ways and at unexpected times. You and Timber are meant for great things. You are a Protector and that will become clear to you in time. You will experience greater strength and intuition, but be cautious not to show your gifts, for not all you meet are friends." The scene faded, and I was once again looking into Zyanna’s sparkling violet eyes.…….. I awoke with a start. My dream or rather memory, floating through my mind. It had been 6 years since that had happened. So much had happened in six years. Shortly after that, our pack was attacked by Rogues. My older brother was killed, the future Alpha as well. So many of our warriors were killed or injured fighting them off until help had arrived, but in the process, several children were kidnapped. My best friend Matthew became the future Alpha and I the future Beta of our pack, The Guardians Pack. Our pack is in the mountains and boarders a lake as well as a very large wildlife reserve. We began training for our new rolls amid grieving. Matthew and Jamison, our future Gamma, along with me have worked for the last 6 years implementing safety features into our pack as much as we can while in school and training to take over our leadership rolls within the pack as well as various pack-owned companies. We have tried to work with our neighboring pack, The Forrest Moon Pack, on safety features. The current Alpha hasn’t been interested, but the future Alpha Mitchell is interested in working together. We are going to spend time with him and his future Beta during the last several weeks of leadership training. His future Beta Joseph is a real piece of work. He hates anyone who is not a pure bread wolf and is dating my ex-mate, Jamie. In retrospect, they deserve each other. He doesn’t like me since I’m a Bear/Wolf//Dragon Hybrid, my Dad is a Bear/Dragon, but my mom was a Bear/Wolf. Joseph and I can be civil and work together when we need to. He doesn’t know Jamie is my ex-mate and I would like to keep it that way. Matthew and I have completed our degrees at school. He majored in Business while I majored in Marketing. We have about five more weeks left in leadership training before we can take over the pack and the businesses associated with our pack. The only member of our team that has found their mate is our Gamma, Jamison. His mate, Lucas, is a complete sweetheart. They are perfect together. I would be lying if I said I was not jealous of him finding his mate already. Maybe dreaming about what Zyanna showed me is a reminder that I will have a second chance someday. I haven’t seen Zy in two years, she has been off to school studying Mechanics. That smart girl can build anything. My Dad told me a couple of years ago her rejection had actually happened. I knew it was about to but didn’t know the details other than her family finally moved to our pack from The Forrest Moon Pack. I wish I could have been there to support her like she did me. Dad says she is doing well though, when he sees her, so I’m happy for her. She and I sometimes call, message back and forth when we can, mostly we send funny memes back and forth. I love her wicked sense of humor but have missed actually seeing her over the past two years. The last time I saw her, there was a flicker of something between us, but then I learned she had been gifted a mate. The thoughts of her and what could have been weighed heavily on my mind sometimes more often than they should. I pulled myself from my thoughts and out of bed, not wanting to go down that path again. I came down the stairs expecting to see my father, Johnathan, this morning, but he must have left early for training. I stayed with him at home when I was there visiting on occasional weekends, a nice cabin-type house just inside the forest close to the pack house. The Beta floor of the pack house was set up for me for when I take over as Beta, but for now, I wanted to be around home with him. Bears tend to be more solitary, and Dad liked the quiet over the chaos of the pack house, but he still needed to be close due to being the Beta of the pack. Our pack was more progressive than others, including different shifter races and even witches lived among us. Our neighboring pack, The Forrest Moon Pack, had a few other shifters, but they were never treated as anything other than an omega. A shame, I thought as I walked to the training grounds, that other packs did not realize working together created greater strength. I was so lost in thought and almost missed Matthew as he came out of the pack house. He was my best friend, the future Alpha to our pack. “Ready to go get our as.ses beat by some old men?” He joked. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t plan on letting those old guys take me down.” I said, slapping him on the back as we jogged to the training grounds. We arrived and were not prepared for what we saw. Several Manikin-type dolls and baby dolls were laid to the side. Our future gamma, Jamison and his mate Lucas arrived just after us looking equally confused along with the rest of the warriors for training. "Another pack was attacked yesterday, and again, children were taken. It inspired us to do a different type of training today." Alpha Xander, Matthews' father announced. “Today we want to focus on retrieving a child or infant from an enemy without harming the innocent”, he finished. My father stood at the side of his Alpha beneath the surface I could tell anger was there, he's always one that believes in protecting children above all else. So began our grueling training day, this turned out to be much more difficult than we anticipated. We finally, through trial and error, worked out that it was best to work in teams, one to retrieve and one to attack. No amount of research has yielded any information about the kidnappings over the years. The only thing we have been able to guess is its trafficking, which makes me sick to even assume that is what could be happening. The thought made me work harder during training. No child should ever suffer. Matthew and I glanced at each other, the safety of our pack above all else was our goal.