A Rare Gem

Woman’s POV: 18 years in the past- My daughters cries in my arms as I fall to my knees. My husband and Alpha was challenged by the BloodHunter’s Alpha, and he just lost. The opposing alpha ripped my husband’s heart from his chest and let him fall to the ground, turning to the crowd and holding his heart in the air as if it was a trophy. “Now, all members that bare the mark of the crow, the mark of the Nightshade pack, you all have a choice to make. Bow down to me and live as salves to my pack members or…” he paused for a moment, as if to make us question what the other option might be, but it was useless. We all knew. “Die a bloody and painful death.” Murmurs erupted in the crowd; this pack was only loyal to their own. We never let outsiders on our land, we help others but never to the point to lead us to this. We are silent, but powerful. We are humble, but extraordinary and gifted. We all have gifts each one different and unique to the wolf. My gamma urged me to my feet as the rest of the pack shifted into their large solid black wolves. The packs beta having a single tuff of white on the tips of his ears, signaling pack royalty. I let out a sigh and drew the rune of protection in the air, asking the gods we worship to protect the pack and allow at least one of us to survive to continue the path we follow to glory. Following my gamma, he lead me and my child whose cries had become mute as I sobbed through the pain of the loss of every pack member as they drew their final breaths. As the heir to the pack, my daughter could feel the pain as a tingle, but failed to understand the meaning. Humming a lullaby as we jogged through underground tunnels till we reach the edge of the territory. Emerging from the tunnels we were met with the snarling of a blood soaked wolf. My gamma immediately shifted into his black wolf, a white tuff on his forehead, and engaged the unknown wolf. I held my child as close as I could and ran. I couldn’t shift and carry my child; I was always a slow runner. Looking around I saw a flat piece of driftwood in the river, along the bank. Begging the gods to protect her, I place her on the driftwood and push it into the current. Saying one last prayer before running in the opposite direction, a sharp stab of pain rushes down my spine, causing me to collapse to my knees. My gamma had taken his last breath, I had to lead my trail away from the river so I kept running. Shifting into my wolf, my white tuff being on my chest in the shape of a diamond, I let out a long, sorrow filled howl and sprinted towards the pack house, knowing that I would take my final breath soon and join my husband and pack in the glory of the gods. Surrounded in minutes, I fought till I had no fight. My hind leg broken and useless. Multiple ribs shattered. Crawling towards the limp body of the love of my life. A heavy foot lands on my back, the force manages to break my spine. The foot kicks my side forcing my wolf to roll onto her side, glancing at the man attached to the foot, I see the face of the BloodHunter’s alpha, his smirk showing his pride in his victory. “This pack of mongrels and disgraces is no more. With your final breath, the Nightshade pack will fall to never rise again. Not a single survivor. Rest well amongst your dead and may the souls of the dead feast on your soul.” One final blow. He shoves his hand into my chest and I feel his claws on my heart. Smirking knowing, he is wrong, I move my front paws to his chest, digging in my claws and pushing away. My death does not mark the end of this pack and in my death he and his pack is mark with the curse of the gods. A mark that can only be seen by the eyes of a nightshade, the eyes of my daughter.