Mercalia

Narrator: Ella Storn was just an infant when her whole life crashed into flames. She was the first female Araena (A-rae-na) to be born in over 200 years. Araena are powerful creatures, much like what you would call an angel or devil, demon, or anything paranormal, just from a different timeline, in a different world, not so different from yours. As with any species, there were different class systems of lesser and better Araena. Ella was a higher, but still not the highest, class. Still, her parents had enemies, and not every Araena, or other beings, had issue with murder.  Ella was left, bundled and dry, with a small note, on the doorstep of a couple who had just had a child of their own. With one final knock on the oak door, Ella's mother, beaten and bleeding, had left her child in the hands of two complete strangers, and could only hope for the best, as she ran as far away as she could, for the safety of her child.  *********** Ella's POV: 23 years old. Today I was 23 years old. My mother, Leena, was downstairs laughing and baking a cake. I rolled my eyes and smiled as I heard her gods awful voice echo up the stairs and reverberate off the walls. I sniffed and the smell of Werewolf invaded my nose. It was a mix of wet dog and fresh cut grass, which was normal for this house. My whole family, besides myself, were Werewolves. I was just a normal human, adopted because my real parents, or at least my real mother, had left me on their doorstep. I'd never gotten the urge to find out who they were, though my parents had asked me many times. Why would I want to know the people who didn't want me? And even if they had, why would they give me up?  I finished putting on my makeup and shook my head as I fluffed my sad half wavy half straight dark brown hair and blew through my lips, making them vibrate. I was so not looking forward to going down that staircase and facing my family. Them being Werewolves and all, at 18 they usually found their mates, and here I was, 23 and not even a prospect of a boyfriend in sight. But my father, Marcus, was the Beta of the pack, so I was always meeting new packs, and sometimes they had people like me in them. But I never held high hopes. I always just assumed I would be alone. It wasn't a big deal, I had other things going for me in my life.  I stood and gave myself one more overlook, taking in my long legs and the olive green and white dress I had donned for my birthday, and headed down to let my mother fuss over me. As I hit the bottom of the last step my brother Berra, a whole foot and a half taller than me at 5'3, jumped out from the doorway and pulled me into a huge bear hug, messing up my hair a bit but I didn't mind. I rarely seen him now days, now that he was working with his band more when he wasn't training the packs preteen pups. He let me go and I looked up at him and took in his goofy face. He had sandy brown hair and it was always squished under a black beanie with matching scruffy clothes and drum sticks sticking out of his back pocket. He was big, but not too big, and toned. He was overall attractive to the other girls in the pack, but he was always going to be my big goofy brother. He twirled me around and whistled. "Dang Sis, you look f-an-cy." He let go of my hand and I blushed a little, knowing he did that on purpose. He was always trying to get me to blush and frustrated. I smacked him and walked into the kitchen where my mother squealed and squeezed me tightly. She had frosting on her nose and eyebrow but I just smiled, loving that she was having so much fun. I didn't have the heart to tell my family, even after all this time, that i absolutely hated my birthday. It would crush them, birthdays were a big thing in this family, in the whole pack actually. I was already an outsider because I wasn't a wolf, I didn't need to be more of a freak by protesting my birthday.  "Ella you look so beautiful! Oh my baby girl is growing up so much!" My mother exclaimed happily before sniffing. I laughed and shook my head. "Mom, I'm 23, i haven't been a girl for 5 years now.." I grabbed a banana and headed for the door, yelling a vague goodbye before i grabbed my bag and went out the door.   Today was the day I was finally going to (hopefully) sell one of my paintings. I was an artist, I mostly did free restoration on buildings where people had used spray paint to disfigure them when the owners couldn't afford to cover the cost, but my real passion was painting. I loved how freeing it was, and even had done a few small commissions to keep my art space in the next town over, but I had never shown anyone any of my paintings. Not the real ones that came from my heart anyways. When I picked up that brush, it was like a whole other being took over and I could paint for weeks without rest, or so it felt like. It was raining, again, so I ran through it and I sighed as I opened the doors, knowing today was going to be a big day for me. It was my birthday,  sure, but something else was bugging me. My skin tingled in a good way and I felt so energetic. Like i was being powered up like a lamp or a battery. I finally had the courage to show everyone my private gallery.  ***** Rune's POV: It was raining yet again in this dreary town I was forced to stay in. I couldn't find her, but I knew she was close. I felt it in my bones. Why did it have to be like this? I was only half wolf, my mother refusing to tell me anything about my father except that he wasn't human and he wasn't a wolf. I sighed and pushed a hand through my dirty blondish hair and closed my eyes. I'd been looking for her since I turned 18 and felt that incessant pull to her. The mate bond, that was what everyone told me it was. It felt like a curse when you didn't immediately find your other half. But i told myself I didn't want to rush it. Wolves practically got married as soon at they found their mates, like literally, some only 30 minutes later with the pack leader and some emergency rings the pack keeps. I didn't want to tie myself to someone forever like that until i knew for sure. I knew it would probably kill my mate, but I wanted to get to know her for who she was, not because some stupid feeling told me she was suppose to  be mine forever. I sighed again and stood up, walking into the rain that had been falling for a week, making the ground extra muddy and everything sad and depressing.  I felt my phone buzz and I knew it was Marissa. She was some annoying chick that was obsessed with me, and I knew for a fact that she wasn't my mate, she just wanted to sleep with me because she was 25 and still hadn't found her mate. I was 26, but I still hadn't given up hope. I wouldn't sleep with Marissa anyway, she's been around a lot.  I hit a button on my phone and sent her to voicemail. I didn't feel like fending her off tonight. I kept walking, getting drenched in the process, and eventually ended up at the end of town. I had been waiting in this town for months, something inside me telling me, almost forcing me to stay. I wanted to leave, to go to the next town and try to find her, but i just couldn't. Suddenly I smelled something so sweet and delicious through the rain, and turned to lock my eyes on the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.