Prologue:
25 Years Ago
The bar was filled with smoke, the waitress set down three pints of beer and the woman at the table thanked her. The woman didn’t look any different from you or me, but she possessed a power that many shifters feared. Her dreams become realities.
The woman took a sip of her beer, grimaced, and then looked at the two men in front of her. The men looked similar in build and in terms of lacking proper hygiene, but when you looked at them you saw the major differences. The man on her left had brown hair and green eyes that pierced you as if they were made from emeralds. The man on the right had icy blond hair to match his icy blue eyes and pale skin.
These men, each a great leader of a clan of bears, did not wish to work together, to unite against the common enemy of all shifters. One man transformed into a polar bear, the other a magnificent grizzly. One lived with his clan deep in the forests and the other lived far north in the cold. These men did not wish to work together, but what the woman before them had not yet told them was that their destinies were now interlocked. For as soon as the woman had awoken from her dream their fate was sealed, no matter how much they fought it, fate would unite them or they would parish.
“You wished to share with us a dream, Drea. Get on with it.” The blond man said, Drea had stayed with his clan for several years until the weight of her gift was too much for him and his clan.
“Dreams. I have heard rumors of your gifts, girl, but I refuse to believe them.” Said the dark haired man.
“You’d do your best to believe, Everest. Drea lived with my clan and I can confirm her abilities. What she is about to say, will come to be.”
“Thank you, Bane. I have always appreciated your support when you could give it.” Drea took another swig of her beer, the men followed suit.
“This prophecy is in two parts, one for each of your clans, but please note that they are truly, one prophecy. The future of your clans will be one.”
Bane looked at Everest to see his face and knew that the man wasn’t going to believe a single word from Drea’s mouth and he knew it would be the death of them all.
“Everest, Chief of the Hunter Clan” Drea said and Bane rolled his eyes at the title of his fellow chief’s clan name. To make light of the threat that was hunting them made him sick. “The prodigal son will return as the sun warms the earth after the longest night. Raised by your enemy, but loved by his kind he will bring prosperity back to your clan and to all shifters when he finds the mate the fates have picked for him.”
Everest made a motion to start speaking but Drea held up a finger. Everest snapped his mouth shut. “Bane, Chief of the Bearskin Clan, here is your clan’s prophecy: Born of the alpha to the exiled woman this shifter will be the last standing of her clan. She must walk alone onto the battlefield for love will shift the tides of war into the enemies favor. She will be the shifter that will end the hunter threat and allow for the prosperity of all clans once more.” Drea finished, eyes glazed over as she spoke the prophecies now coming back into focus once again.
“Who are the enemies that will raise my son?” Everest asked immediately.
“Prophecies do not know time. This could be your son, this could be your great great grandson. Prophecies are meant only to guide us on our journey, not to be a map to our destination.” Drea stood up and began to leave.
“Wait.” Everest said, “What did it mean to be raised by my enemies?” but Drea did not stop or turn around. Everest sat back in his seat.
“Drea lived with my clan for several years. She doesn’t know anymore than she told us. But, knowing what I know from past prophecies, your enemies could mean anyone… my guess, Hunters. Shifter Hunters.” Bane downed the rest of his beer as he thought about his clan’s prophecy. “At least your son will have a clan to return to, my daughter will be the last of us.”
Everest picked up his own beer in turn and downed it. He was planning to talk to Bane, to work with him in preventing the prophecies, but Bane tossed some money on the table for the beers and got up without a word. Everest couldn’t imagine going back to his clan to tell them they would all be murdered.
