Changing Lines

Prologue

River sat by the stream, tossing a variety of raw grains into the water for the wild geese and fish to feast on. This was where she came to think and to be alone. This was her sanctuary. She’d worked hard to bring this stream back to life after the sorry state it had been in with the abundance of beavers blocking the waterway.

Her father had found her one day battling to break down one of the many beaver dams to bring the stream into flow once more. The dams had turned the surrounding areas into a marsh and had made life difficult for the guards on border patrol in this area and had clogged up the stream and river so much that it had completely stopped the flow of the river if it wasn’t raining season.

He had shifted into his wolf, Rip, and had completely broken the dam down. His wolf showed her a little part of what he was famous for. He had completely destroyed the dams into k****e. He then helped her even more by starting a beaver hunting season for the hunters to help with the over population. Since that day, three years ago, she had managed to get the stream healthy again. And now it returned the favor by becoming her sanctuary. The change was unbelievable.

She was generally a happy person, but today she felt let down by the fates. She was the youngest of three children of the legendary couple. The infamously feared alpha of Midnight pack and his adored mate and Luna, the forest sprite returned after nearly two decades of the forest suffering. Apparently, they had tried to keep her true identity a secret, but it had eventually come out, though she didn’t know how that had happened since it was long before her birth.

Their union was the stuff of legends and they added to it by having three children. The first being Aaron, a wolf rivalling their father in strength and determination, which made differences of opinions between him and their father a battle in all senses of the word.

Second child was Camden, a calm and soothing natured son, who turned out to be a wood sprite like their mother, he oddly, did not get a wolf when he came of age, but didn’t seem bothered by that, since he already knew of his wood sprite talents by then. He had the enhanced senses that wolves had, even if he didn’t have a wolf.

And then there was her; their only daughter and the one that could get her father and Aaron to ease on their opinion wars and Camden to come out of his shell, and apparently the only one that was entirely and regrettably normal in all senses of the word.

Today was her sixteenth birthday and she was obviously not a wolf, since she had no sign of another in her mind, nor the signs of shifting at all. Of course, she’d tried to help her mother in her herb garden which she had grown for many years for Uncle Logan’s potions and the herbal remedies and toiletries they’d started using in their pack. But every section she worked on, just died. So she obviously wasn’t a wood sprite either.

And that pointed to the fact that there was absolutely nothing worthy of mention to her. She was the youngest and obviously had no talents aside from her high grades in school and her love of novels, which was where she could escape her ordinary fate.

She twirled Grandma Jenna’s necklace around in her hand, staring down at the tree in the round pendant she wore around her neck. She’d never known that grandmother, but her mother had told her stories and one of their traditions came from her.

On their birthday, they would have a stack of donuts with candles on top. Once they’d blown out the candles, they’d compete about taking a donut off the stack with their teeth. It was something she would like to carry on with her children one day and a favorite thing in their pack.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over her and she glanced up in surprise; she hadn’t heard anyone approaching. She gave a faint smile when she saw her Grandpa Henry looking down at her where she sat on the large boulder.

“Grandpa...” She smiled faintly at him.

He watched her in silence for a moment and then sat down on the boulder next to her and caught up a hand full of grains and cast it into the water like she’d been doing every few moments.

“Want to tell me why our princess is hiding away on her birthday?”

“I’m not hiding.” She protested indignantly, but her grandpa’s side-eye glance proved he didn’t believe her in the slightest. “Just thinking...” She finally answered on a sigh.

“About?” Her grandpa was not a big talker, so his comments and questions were never wasted. Ironically, his mate, Grandma Emerald could talk without stopping for anything. Grandpa Henry would quietly listen to her for hours on end; it was adorable.

“I have a mother and brother who are wood sprites and a father and brother who are wolves and then there is me. The fact that, in a family of amazing creatures I am completely and sadly an ordinary human, is disappointing.”

“And what’s wrong with being human?” Grandpa Henry asked her with a raised eyebrow and a studious voice.

“Don’t be like that, Grandpa! You’re amazing, you are a Hunter! You made a name for yourself amongst Supernaturals and made them quake in their boots. And then there’s me; a human girl from a line of amazing creatures and the sad truth is that I trip over my own feet and am nothing of note.” She sighed in depression. Everyone around her had their identities and personalities set and she – did not.

She was only the clumsy, adorable little human sister of her amazing brothers who had already made a name for themselves and she-wolves clamored to try to be their mates. She was just known as Aaron and Camden’s little sister that needed extra protection, because she was so weak.

“What makes a person noteworthy?” Grandpa Henry asked her with interest, while he watched the fish and wild geese rush to the handful of grains he had just thrown to them.

“Well, you are the head of the Hunters, Paw-Paw was the alpha, Granny Emerald and Grandma Margaret were both Lunas, Dad is Alpha and Mom, Luna; Aaron is said to be rivalling Dad in strength and a great future Alpha, Camden would be his Beta, since Edan is already a druid like his father.”

“Emerald and Margaret weren’t always Lunas, Minnow.” Grandpa answered, using her nickname she had earned from loving to swim and being on the swim team in school.

“But they were born from alpha blood.”

“So were you and you also have sprite blood running through your veins.” Grandpa looked at her earnestly.

“And yet, I have nothing!” River retorted, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. “I have nothing going for me. I’m useless.”

Grandpa stared into the water for long moments in silence. “See those creatures in the river?”

She sighed in disappointment. “Yeah...”

“They serve no real purpose.” He answered her.

“They do! The fish eat the bugs and some of the plants and frogs. So do the geese. The frogs eat the bugs outside the water and feed the birds, their eggs feed other creatures. The geese sometimes eat the fish and frogs. They all play a big part in the ecosystem that keeps this river alive. If you take one out of the equation it upsets the whole ecosystem.”

“Which one is least important?”

“None of them, they all play an important role, down to the tiny bugs flying and running around.” She answered indignantly. She didn’t understand why Grandpa Henry was talking about the creatures in the river when she had just confessed her feelings of inadequacy.

Grandpa Henry turned a meaningful gaze to her and she scowled, realizing that he had used the ecosystem to show her that she was important in the pack even if she wasn’t as amazing as the others around her.

“You have a role to play, Little Minnow. You just have to find it; even if it isn’t something as flashy as a sprite or as strong and fast as a werewolf.”

River huffed and leaned against her Grandpa’s side, resting her head on his shoulder. Maybe he had a point and she just needed to find her place in it all.

She couldn’t think of something, though. She sighed and her Grandpa wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer into a side hug and kissing the top of her head.

It would all have been easier if she hadn’t inherited her mother’s small size. Even Camden was a tall, lithe guy and he was a sprite. She was just a tiny human and she couldn’t think how she could be useful in this pack.

Of course she’d learned the self-defense that everyone else was expected to do, but she just didn’t have the strength of the werewolves. It was difficult to find a sparring partner that was challenged working with her. It was just sad how useless she was in any battle.

‘Minnow, where are you? Mom and Dad are looking for you?’ River startled at Camden’s gentle voice in her head. He was probably the calmest amongst all the siblings, it seemed like nothing could ruffle his feathers. It meant he would be a perfect Beta for Aaron’s driven and hard headed wolf.

‘I’m coming.’ She answered in mindlink and sat up from where she had lain her head on her Grandpa’s shoulder.

“Mom and Dad are looking for me. Guess it’s time for the donut tower.” She smiled faintly.

Grandpa Henry patted her knee and came to his feet, holding his hand out to her. “I’ll escort the birthday girl home. And if you want, I can help you with training, starting tomorrow.” He offered with a smile.

“Oh my gosh! Do you mean it?” She asked excitedly as she jumped to her feet and started bouncing in excitement. Grandpa Henry hadn’t assisted with either of her brothers’ training and Grandpa Henry was well known for being able to lay out a werewolf with a well-placed punch.

“Anything for my little Minnow.” He smiled faintly, before they strolled back towards the busy pack house with her wrapped in his arm against his side.

Her mother had gone overboard with the party planning again and the whole pack was milling around outside the pack house, where about twenty tall donut towers were waiting to be conquered by the excited wolves. Her mother always got really excited about their birthdays and she could see that she had also planned a whole evening of fun for the whole pack, including dancing, football games and even a light run for when darkness fell.

“She really went all out again…” River sighed. She didn’t like all the attention; it just reminded her that she was the baby that everyone tried to appease so her big brothers wouldn’t get annoyed if she was sad.

Especially since Camden was a senior in school. He was popular and she’d lost count of the girls that had tried to befriend her to get to her two brothers, which was why Edan was her only real friend.

Her parents smiled at her from the front where they stood on the stage. Aaron was busy flirting with a she-wolf and Camden was just coming back from mapping out the light race, he strolled over to her and threw his arm around her shoulder once Grandpa released her and headed towards his mate.

Paw-Paw, who got his name from her when she was a baby and she’d tapped his wolf paws and squealed ‘paw-paw’, was just off stage, talking to Grandma Margaret and Grandma Emerald.

Together, they walked up to the stage, where she knew she would have to bear standing and waiting for everyone to sing to her before she would blow out the candles. And then the games would start, luckily she didn’t have to open her gifts on stage for all to see. She was grateful for that, at least.

“Alright, let’s get you on stage, Birthday Princess.” Camden grinned at her before he lifted her without warning and she squealed in surprise, before she found herself staring at the pack that were chuckling at her.

Her dad pulled her closer to his side and kissed the top of her head. “You look more and more like your mother every day, Princess.” He cooed, causing her to blush.

She did have most of her mother’s features, along with her white blond hair, which she wore longer and hanging below her shoulders to the middle of her back, the ends dyed a sea green; the same color as her eyes. It was the only real differences between them, aside from her mother’s generous figure. “Thanks, Dad.” She murmured, knowing that he meant it as a compliment, since he was still completely enthralled with her mother.

Her father stepped forward with her, her mom grabbing her hand on her other side with an excited grin. And they made their customary speech before the real celebration would begin.