WINTER'S BROKEN MATE

EPISODE 1

After what seemed like forever, Casey somehow managed to calm down. She had bed-hair, a tear-stained face, and a migraine to champion all migraines. Amy got her some aspirin after she winced at the morning's rays that had seeped into their room. It was around 6 in the morning, and they knew they had to get ready; after all, it was their graduation day! High school is finally over. Casey thanked her best friend for the glass of water and took the aspirin.

“How are you feeling?” Amy asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

“I’m alright.” Casey replied softly, trying to reassure the person who’d been there for her through the toughest years of her life. Amy was her sister, her best friend, her confidante, her strength and the reason Casey seemed to find a reason to smile every day.

Amy looked at her knowingly, but she didn’t press for an honest answer. Casey was grateful.

“Okay, wanna get ready for graduation?” Amy asked, changing the subject.

“I’d love to,” Casey said.

“Wanna take a shower first, or should I?” Amy asked.

“I’ll go first.” Casey said as she got up and walked to the bathroom. Before she went in, she turned to her sister, who was scrolling through her phone. "Where would she be without her?" Casey thought.

“Thank you.” Casey told Amy, who just smiled at her. As Casey walked into the bathroom, she thought of the past three years of her life. Amy was always a big part of her life, but the past three years she’d been her constant, her sanity. The moon goddess was gracious for giving the world her sister. Amy and her parents had given her everything she needed after her parents died. Amy’s parents, who technically were Casey’s parents after they’d adopted her a year ago, and have been her guardians for three years now, legally speaking, Casey was theirs just as much as Amy was and Amy was her sister. Well, if you asked Amy, she’d say they were sisters from the day they were three, and Casey would agree. Life had taken her wonderful parents from her, but they gave her Brett and Maze Farrington and a sister to boot, and somehow, she managed not to crumble at fate’s call.

“Are you going to stay in the shower all day?” Amy yelled from the other room; Casey chuckled; patience wasn’t really Amy’s strong suit.

“Maybe,” Casey teased back. She knew the day was important, and she couldn’t spend all day in the shower thinking. Casey quickly washed her hair, rinsed herself with scalding hot water, and got out of the shower. She wrapped her body and hair with some towels and walked out of the bathroom.

Casey saw her outfit for the day laid out for her on her bed, and a pair of black pumps at the foot of her bed. God, she loved Amy; but before she could say thank you, Amy had already sneaked into the bathroom. Amy was excited, to be honest, and so was she.

Casey lathered her body with mango butter and combed out her hair. She then got dressed and waited for Amy to come do her makeup.

“Morning Cara.” Casey asked her wolf.

“Morning, excited, are we?” she replied, and Casey felt the bubbly energy of Cara’s excitement run down her back.

“Ecstatic!” Casey said as she got a glimpse of her reflection in her vanity mirror, she was smiling back at herself, and then she wasn’t. Casey wondered about her parents; Chase and Birdy Lannister. Sometimes, when she was having a really good time, she wondered if it was bad to be happy without them there. How could she be happy when her parents were dead? It felt wrong, sometimes.

“They’d be so proud of you, Casey, and more importantly, they’d want you to be happy, to live life to the fullest.” Cara said in her head, as if she knew what she was thinking.

“You think?” Casey asked Cara, needing reassurance.

“Most definitely!” Cara chirped. “They’d want you to honor their memory by being happy, they wouldn’t want their death to be the reason you stopped living.”

Casey contemplated what Cara had just told her as she stared at herself in the mirror; her ruby-red hair was wild around her face, and her forest-green eyes reminded her of her mother. Birdy Lannister was a beautiful woman. She was short at 5.3, but her cat's green eyes and flame-red hair were what drew others' attention to her. Like moths to flames. She had a laugh like a four-year-old child that seemed to always make those around her bubbly and her father well; he was a goofy man, he loved a good laugh and always ensured that those around him felt protected and cared for. Chase Lannister had dark brown hair and baby blue eyes that always seemed to smile. For a wolf and an alpha at that, he wasn’t that tall or that muscular; he stood at 5.11 with a lean athletic figure, yet his heart was strong and true. As the memories of her parents drew clear images of them in her head, Casey understood Cara’s words. The people who’d raised her wouldn’t want her miserable and defeated; they’d want her to fight her demons and stay true to her heart.

“You’re right Cara, thank you.”

Casey failed to notice Amy had already left the bathroom and was finishing getting dressed.

“So,” Casey said, “After graduation, where do you want to go first?”

Amy appeared to think about it for a minute before answering, “New Orleans?” she said quizzically.

“I heard the city is about to be taken over by one of the royals”, Casey said, remembering something she’d seen on TV.

“But before one of the royals expands his territory to that beautiful city and ruins it, I reckon we get ahead and enjoy all that the city can offer.” Amy explained.

“Let me do your make-up and hair,” Amy offered.

“I wasn’t planning to go into the world looking like a hermit.” Casey joked as her sister went ahead to ‘beautify’ her for the world.

“I hate the royals!” Amy said after a while, “They are the reason other races don’t like wolves, they are predatory and cruel.”

“Wolves are predators in nature, Siz” Casey offered.

“That’s not what I mean, being predators doesn’t give you freedom to hurt those around you, to hunt for sport, and don’t even get me started on their notion about mates.”

Casey supposed she understood what Amy was furiously getting at, the royals were at the top of the food chain in the whole world…

“Those big dumb Lycans should be taught a lesson or two. They act as if we are still at war with the world.”

“But if it weren’t for the royal family, we’d probably be living in a different world today, the one our great grandfathers lived in, a world where supernatural beings hid their true natures and lived in the shadows, a world where humans hunted and killed those who were different for sport…”

“… I get that, they saved the supernatural world, blah, blah, blah, but the Lycans forget they weren’t alone in that war, they had help. Elves, fairies, witches, vampires, wolves and even a few demons here and there banded together to fight the millions of humans against them…” Amy took a breath before she continued. “It’s been over a hundred years now, and even though there are peace treaties, I still feel like they could do better, be better. Did you know there hasn’t been a fairy or elf sighting documented in over fifty years? People are starting to believe we imagined them.”

“Didn’t the fairies and elves join forces and build their own realm parallel to this one? I heard once that a prince from the Elvian race and a fairy princess got married to form their alliance. They are bound by blood. But they didn’t move because of the Lycans. They were the most hunted race in the world, and their numbers were dwindling. You can hardly blame that on the royals,” Casey offered.

“Oh yes I can. The only reason supernatural creatures are being hunted is because people are afraid of us, terrified that one day we’ll all go mad and turn against them. I believe there’s a better way for things to be done.”

“Amy, are you sure you want to be a fashion designer and not an activist? I mean Presidency, here we come,” Casey teased her sister, who hit her on the shoulder with a hair brush.

“Ouch!” Casey protested.

“Like they’d ever let a wolf take that position. Humans continue their lives. Yes, they know we exist, but they try not to dwell on it too much. I think most of them are just hoping that we go back to being creatures of the night, living in the shadows.” Amy retorted.

“You are right,” Casey sighed, “if you ask me, I would have been one hell of a campaign manager. Yeah, damn those royals for taking that option away, they are some big dumb lugs if you ask me.” Casey agreed, Amy giggled at her dramatic antics.

“All done,” Amy said a minute later. Casey’s eyes darted to the mirror. For a second, she didn’t recognize her own reflection.

“It’s alive, people! It could even pass off as human!” Casey retorted dramatically, “You, my beautiful sister, have some fairy magic at your fingertips.”

“You like it?” Amy asked.

“Like?” Casey said, “No, I love!” she chanted as she gave her sister a big hug, “Thank you.” Casey said.

“You are welcome. Now if you could just get off me and let me finish getting ready myself, I’d be grateful.” Amy said with a hint of sass.

“Okay, okay. No need to be sarcastic.” Casey walked over to her bed and lay down. As she waited, she thought of the conversation she’d had with her sister. Maybe the stories weren’t all real and the royals weren’t so bad, she supposed. The seven cousins were said to be horrible, but it is rumoured they were raised and bred in blood, but that wasn’t her concern. Hopefully, the universe would be kind to her, and she’d never meet any of them.