The Daughter of Shadow and Fire

PART ONE

THE DAUGHTER OF SHADOW AND FIRE

“Bring the potatoes!”

“Is the casserole ready?”

“What do you mean there’s not enough space in the fridge?”

“Have you seen the utensils?”

Everything was chaos in the pack house. This has been going on for over a week now. Everyone was acting like headless chickens. They wanted everything perfect for the arrival of the Alpha’s and Beta’s sons. They’re coming home tomorrow after five years of intense training. All the future Alphas and Betas needed to train in a camp after they turned 18. It was understandable though. Vinia wasn’t exactly the safest place right now. The witches posed a big threat to the wolves. Tensions between the two sides were quickly rising. Negotiations weren’t exactly successful.

“Vivianne, for God’s sake don’t daydream!”

“What can I do for you, Beth?”

“Anything useful. Right now you’re just standing in our way.”

“Have you seen my dad?”

“No, I haven’t seen Gamma Eric for a while now.”

“I’m leaving then, Beth.”

I was the Gamma’s daughter even though we weren’t blood-related. I was human. My dad found me abandoned in the woods 21 years ago. Alpha Damian accepted me into the pack. They never saw me as an outcast. He was only 25 when he found me. Despite his young age without a mate, he took me in. A few months later he found his mate, my mom. She accepted me right away when my dad explained the situation. I have two siblings, Trevor and Amelia. They’re two years younger than me and Trevor is the future Gamma of the pack.

I still don’t understand how lucky I was to be found that day. I don’t care who my biological parents are. I have no desire to look for them. I only considered Eric and Emma my parents and nobody else. I finally found my dad outside. He was talking to the wolves about heightening the security tomorrow. They were worried about a possible attack from the witches.

I’ve never seen a witch in my 21 years and wanted to keep it this way. From what they were doing for the past two decades they had to be just as ugly on the outside as inside. Nobody knew why they started their attacks all of a sudden. No pack in Vinia was safe from their torments. We were lucky though. Our pack was the furthest from Ingrinia, their territory.

“Viv, come here please.”

“What’s up, dad?”

“You know your role tomorrow, right?”

“Of course, dad. As soon as something suspicious is reported I’ll give the signal.”

“Perfect! It’s not that we don’t trust them to handle the situation, but a surprise attack might be fatal.”

“I’m glad to help, dad. Don’t worry, everything will go smoothly. No hiccups.”

“I know, Viv. You were always good at this. Coordinating everything was always your special ability.”

“Thanks, dad, but you were the one who allowed me to do something.”

“I’ve always told you that even though you’re not a wolf, you’re just as essential. Look at Amelia, all she’s doing is shopping.”

“Let her be, dad. She’ll grow up eventually and find something she likes to do. I’ll get going and check the equipment once more. I won’t have enough time to do that tomorrow morning.”

It was odd, but I was the coordinator during such big events. Why a human? Because this human was a quick thinker and problem solver. It wasn’t a disadvantage either that I was exceptional when it came to IT stuff. There were situations when mindlink wasn’t the best option. There were many false alarms about witch attacks. Not using the midlink saved us from panicking, thus nobody got hurt or lost in the middle of the panic.

I picked up the box full of equipment needed for tomorrow and made my way towards the waterfall. That was my safe haven. A place where I could think clearly. Nobody bothered me there. They knew better than to disturb me while I assessed every possible scenario before a big event and what to do in each case. I didn’t even realize that it was already evening. I stretched my body after sitting still for a few hours. The forest was becoming darker as the Sun was setting. Some might say that during this time the forest was eerie, but not for me. Not for us. It was the opposite.

I was about to pick up the box when I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. I quickly turned right, but nothing was there. The wind was picking up, causing the leaves to fall rapidly from the trees. It was almost October.

“Is anyone there?” I asked no one in particular. There was no answer.

“Show yourself!”

I waited and waited, but there was only silence. With the box in my hands, I started walking. It must’ve been my imagination playing tricks on me. I was nervous about tomorrow. I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched though. I stopped and looked around again. Nothing was out of place. I was alone, so why did I feel eyes on me? A twig snapped a few feet from me. My heart was racing as I whirled around. Then a squirrel ran from that direction and up to a nearby tree. I was acting ridiculous. I had to compose myself before I startled everyone back at the pack house with my ghostly pale face. My ringtone caused me to jump a little, and then I laughed at my own stupidity.

“Viv, where are you?”

“I’m on my way home now, mom. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Okay, be careful out there.”

“You know I’m always careful.”

“I know, but still. I can’t help but worry.”

Mom was always worrying about us when she didn’t see us for a few hours. She was on the edge ever since I became part of her life along with Trevor and Amelia. I put away my phone and when I looked up I saw someone. I couldn’t pinpoint if the person was a man or a woman. It was dark and they had a hood on, covering their face.

“Who are you? What do you want? You’re not supposed to be here.”

The person didn’t say anything. Then I saw those vibrant ice-blue eyes. Even in the dark, they were shining. The person wasn’t from the pack. Then the person ran. I immediately pulled out my phone and dialed the leader of the patrolling wolves.

“Connor, someone’s on the territory. Definitely not a wolf. The person’s heading East.”

“We’re on our way.”

Who was that? This didn’t sit well with me. I knew I had to tell my dad and the Alpha about this.

“Vivianne, there’s nobody. No scent either. Are you sure you saw someone, not just a shadow?”

“How’s that possible, Connor. It wasn’t a shadow. Shadows don’t have piercing ice-blue eyes looking right at you.”

“What?”

“The person was looking directly at me.”

“Go home, right now, Vivianne. Stay on the phone with me.”

“What’s going on?”

“Don’t worry, you’re safe.”

“Connor, you’re scaring me.”

“Chris will be there in a minute. He’ll escort you home.”