Sacred Mate

Prologue: Seven years ago The kitchen filled with the acrid smell of the smoke, wafting in from the living room where Mom and her boy toy of the week, Kevin, were lounging in their underwear. Again. Apparently people have no shame when they’re high. They were smoking up in the living room and as usual doing things a normal kid should never see. I’d never been normal though, and I’d learned early that I never would be. I had ignored them the best I could when I walked through the front door earlier. It was pretty easy because neither one of them acknowledged me. I just walked right through the livingroom and set myself up in the kitchen to start on my homework. I’d started the fifth grade this year and math was getting more and more diffcult as the weeks passed. It had always been my least favorite subject, but I always took extra time to make sure I got good grades in it. Turning back to my math book I tried to focus on the decimals swimming before me. Sighing, I started trying to figure out the next problem while ignoring the sounds coming from the other room.The smoke was getting so thick; it felt like I could barely breathe. It was permeating the house from the pipe they were sharing. I could have locked myself in the bedroom to escape the smell, but what lived in there was worse. I would rather choke to death on the smoke then spend more time in that room. It was pointless asking them to stop or move things into another room. My opinion meant less than nothing here. Mom and Dad may have hated each other, but they had always hated me more. It was frustrating having to listen to Mom and Kevin making out, and I could hardly concentrate on the math problems in front of me. I hate math. Groaning, I laid my head down on the open book in front of me. I needed to finish before Dad got home from work. He didn’t like it when my attention wasn’t on him. Things had been going so well this week I didn’t want to ruin things now. The front door slammed open, causing me to jump. Dad was home earlier thannormal, and it seemed like he wasn’t having a good day. This was much earlier than Mom had planned as her and Kevin were both still mostly naked on the couch. I could tell that things were about to get very bad. Dad usually overlooked it when Mom messed around, but he hated having to see it. Grabbing my stuff quickly off of the table I jammed it into the bag next to the chair. I didn’t have much time. The brunt of their anger would fall on me if either of them saw me. I had to hide and quickly. “Bronson, what are you doing home?” I could hear Mom and Kevin scrambling off of the couch, as she talked to Dad. “This is my home, Kaitlyn. Where else would I be?” Dad’s voice was soft and so calm.This was the voice of the monster that lived inside of him. Things were going to get very bad now. I heard that voice often and knew the danger it represented better than anyone else. “Question is what the f**k is he doing in my house?” “Look man, I don’t want any trouble. I’ll just grab my s**t and go, okay?” I heard Kevin gathering up his clothes and moving quickly towards the door. I wasn’t surprised that he didn’t try to defend Mom. Dad wasn’t big but he was intimidating. “That’s right, asshole. Get the f**k out and don’t come back.” The sound of the door slamming behind Kevin was almost as scary as the pleasant tone in Dad’s voice. There could never be anything scarier than that tone of voice, but Kevin leaving without a fight meant he didn’t want to work his frustrations out on Kevin. That meant Mom and I would take the punishment tonight. Whimpering quietly as the fighting began, I ran for the hallway. The hall closet was the closest thing to safety that I could find in the short time before the fight moved into the hallway. It wasn’t perfect, but it would have to do. I slid inside quietly and closed it behind me. The shouting came first, both of them getting louder and louder as the time passed. Followed by snarling and growling. It didn’t take long for the sound of claws tearing into flesh to begin. That part lasted for what seemed like forever, but Mom must have passed out because everything had suddenly gone quiet. I stayed there huddled in the closet just waiting for him to find me, and dreading what was to come. A door down the hall slammed open forcing a quiet whimper out of me. It would be bad when he found me, and I knew that he would find me eventually. The longer it took, the worse off I would be, but there was no way I could make myself leave the relative safety of my hiding spot. I wrapped my arms tightly around my knees, forcing myself further into the corner and the darkness of the tiny closet. Just stay still and keep quiet. I was barely breathing and trying my best to become as small as possible, hoping that he would overlook me this time. That he would forget about me. It was hopeless, I know. He could smell a rabbit 3 miles away, but I needed to believe that something good was possible. A few minutes had passed since the sounds of fighting had stopped. The quiet was amplifying the sounds in the house. I could hear everything perfectly. My breathing, his footsteps and Mom whimpering quietly down the hall. “Come out. Come out wherever you are.” He sounded calm and almost happy now. It was very different from how he’d sounded a few minutes ago when he had been screaming at Mom. Hearing him now you would think he was just a normal dad playing hide and seek with his kid. I knew better. Burying my head deeper in my knees, I tried to stop my body from trembling. My instinct to run was strong,, but I had to stay put. I hadn't hit my first change yet, and I wasn't fast enough in human form to escape a full grown werewolf. Things had never gotten this far out of hand before. It’d been months since he’d last touched Mom, and he’d only visited my room once in the last two weeks. I’d hoped things were getting better, but that was just wishful thinking. I’d heard about the calm before the storm, but I’d never really understood it until now. “I know you’re here, Pumpkin. I saw your bag by the table, and I can smell you all over the place.” I listened as he opened the bathroom door across the hall from my hiding spot. The door squeaked as it closed again, and I held my breath hoping that he would just move on. “Don’t make me mad, Pumpkin. Just come on out and everything will be fine.” I wish that was true, but nothing in this house was ever fine. The tears falling down my face blinded me as the door handle began to turn. He had found me, and now the nightmare would really start. I wiped my eyes quickly as the door opened wide. He would get very mad if he saw the tears. He stood there, in the doorway, smiling down at me. Half transformed. His claws and teeth gleaming in the hallway light. In one of her loose tongued moments, Mom had told me that he used to be the handsomest man she’d ever known. His hair was thick and blond. He was a little on the short side at just under 5’8, but Mom said he was built like an underwear model. Whatever that meant. All of the teachers at school said he was such a nice man, what a shame he was stuck with a crack w***e wife and a brat that probably wasn’t even his. I wished he wasn’t my father. No one knew the truth of what he was. No one from the outside could see the monster hiding inside of him. The monster that only came out at home, and I didn't mean his wolf. His smile widened as he saw me huddled in the corner. I looked into his eyes and found the proof that we were related staring back at me. Our eyes. They were the exact same shade of amber, but there was darkness in his tonight that I had never seen before. I knew he was drunk from the stench of alcohol on his breath. Something must have happened at his job. He rarely got drunk, but when he did, he always had a reason. The monster had taken over completely tonight, and the alcohol wouldn’t help. He was always a mean drunk. The twinkle of amusement flaring in his eyes at the sight of me was a confirmation of all of my worst fears. He would not go easy on me tonight. “There you are.” He reached his hand out and waited for me to take it. “Come here Pumpkin. Daddy wants to play.” He would wait until I reached out and took his hand on my own. He always made it my choice, and the longer I waited the worse off I would be in the end. So I took his hand and then watched as she was led out of the closet, down the hall and into her bedroom. It was usually like this when he came to “play”. Like it was all happening to someone else, someone outside of myself. I was glad that I couldn’t feel the pain anymore, but I wished that I could stop watching. That wasn’t going to happen though. Something inside kept me focused on what was happening even as it let me separate from it. I had the feeling it was my wolf, even if she never spoke to me. “What should we do tonight Brooklyn? What are you in the mood for?” I watched his hand reach out and stroke down her back as the other me stood before the bed in my room. It was always Brooklyn in here. Everywhere else I was Pumpkin to him, but not in the bedroom. I hated my name. Hated what it represented. I was never really Brooklyn. It seemed like she only existed in this room with him. “Do you want Daddy to touch you tonight or do you want to touch Daddy?” There were my options. This way no matter what happened in the bedroom, it was my fault, my choice. It was always what I "wanted" to do. I watched as Brooklyn told Dad her choice. I couldn’t blame her. It was the lesser of two evils. This way it might at least be over quickly. “You, Daddy. I’ll touch you tonight.” I had long ago learned that the less emotion I showed the better. He didn’t like to see how I really felt, and I couldn’t fake pleasure. So I learned to make Brooklyn’s voice perfectly cold and unemotional. It was better than the crying and screaming that I used to do. That only made him mad and then he would just hurt me more. “Good choice, Brooklyn. Daddy really needs some release today.” His smile was sickening as she began reaching for his shirt. I saw him sit on the bed and begin playing with her hair. “Now watch your teeth this time, Brooklyn.” I panicked as I felt the sharp tug of his hand wrapped up in my hair, and then relaxed as I drifted away again. I watched her bend over and place her hands on his thighs next. I was trying desperately to close my eyes when I heard the door behind me slam open. I was immediately snapped back into my body. Dad pushed me roughly to the floor as he stood up. I gasped as I looked toward the door and saw my mom standing there with a gun. Her face was puffy and bruised from Dad’s earlier loss of temper. Long, bleeding scratches marred her sides and legs from his claws. “No more Bronson. I won’t let this happen anymore.” I pushed myself back away from them both as Mom pointed the gun at his chest and took a step into the room. My knees rose up to my chin as I tried to block out the argument. I was ashamed at what Mom had seen when she walked in, but still very much relieved at being interrupted. I know that she knew what happened in this room, but she had never seemed to mind before. I thought for a moment that she might actually care about me and wanted this all to stop. But as she finished speaking I knew that wasn’t true. “I am tired of getting slapped around because you aren’t man enough to get it up with a real woman. Why don’t you take it out on your little w***e over there and leave me out of it? She’s the one that turned you into this sick, pathetic excuse for a man. Not me.” The sneer on her face pierced through me. I always knew she hated me, but hearing it out loud like this was so much worse than I had imagined. My nails dug deep into the skin of my arms as I tried to squeeze myself into as small a ball as I could. I wanted to disappear. I wish I had never been born. My breathing sped up and my chest was growing tighter as I struggled to stay present. I didn’t want to be here, but I had to be ready to run when I needed to. I couldn’t afford to drift away again. So I focused on the mild pain caused by my nails digging in. The skin was broken and there was a small line of blood dripping down my arm. “Kaitlyn, shut the f**k up, put down the gun and get the hell out of this room.” He stepped closer to her seemingly unconcerned with the gun in Mom’s hands. His voice was a soft and dangerous growl again. Mom should run while she still could. “Just turn around now, walk out of this room and I will forget all about this.” “No! You get out. Out of this house. I called the cops, Bronson, and your ass is going to jail for what you’ve done.” Mom smiled smugly for a minute before she saw the look of pure rage take over Dad’s face. Maybe if she had been faster, if she hadn’t been smoking up earlier, or hadn’t been beaten almost unconscious just a few minutes ago, maybe she would have stood a chance. Maybe she might have been able to stop him. Maybe if she had been a werewolf as well. None of that had happened however, and she had never stood a chance against him. “You b***h!” His arm swung out and he backhanded her hard across the face causing her grip to loosen on the gun. Grabbing the gun from her hand he tossed it onto the bed. I saw him wrap his hand in her hair as he pulled her head back so he could look in her eyes. The smile on his face was terrifying. “You aren’t going to live to regret this.” I shuddered at the pure evil coming out of my dad’s mouth. My hands flew up to cover my ears as her screams started. I don’t remember much after that. Just the screams. Mom pleaded and begged for a long time. But eventually there was just the sound of tearing flesh. It seemed like forever passed before the sirens arrived. The world sped up then as people barged into the room and dragged Dad away from the still figure of my mother on the floor. I could hear noise all around me, but I couldn’t understand anything they were saying. It was like I was outside of my body again, watching as the paramedics lifted Mom onto the stretcher and took her away. Then there was a man kneeling in front of me. He was talking but I still couldn’t focus, not enough to understand what he was saying. I watched as he shook his head at the man standing in the doorway and then stepped back to allow the paramedic through to wrap me in a blanket. I could feel the scratchiness of the fabric against my cheek as I pulled it up to my face. I had just realized how cold it was in here. They led me out of the house and helped me into an ambulance that was waiting out front. Every neighbor we had was standing outside watching my family be torn apart. Talking about us, judging us, pitying us. A few tried to catch my eyes to offer sympathetic looks, but I ignored them. They didn’t know me. I didn’t know them. We were strangers that happened to live on the same street. Not one of them had ever tried to offer help before. I don’t know why they bothered now. The ambulance door slammed shut behind me, the sound so permanent and final. Mom was dead. No one told me, but I knew there was no way she could have survived that. Dad was going to jail. I saw him get handcuffed and taken out to the police car. I was officially an orphan. I had no parents, no family, nothing left. I sat looking out of the back windows of the ambulance, watching as my life faded away into the distance. As of this night, nothing would ever be the same again.