The Lycan's Mate - Currently on Hold

Aria

I stared out my bedroom window, staring at the moon, which hung low in the sky. It would soon be time, and for some reason, I was terrified.

I shouldn’t be. I should be excited. I knew all my friends were. At least those that turned eighteen after the last full moon shifting ceremony. I was one of those, along with Ariadne, my best friend.

I wondered if my father, at least this time would be proud of me. If he had been before, he had never said anything. But then, I wasn’t much to be proud of.

I was smaller than every other pup my age. My colouring was different. Whereas nearly everyone else in the pack had dark hair and brown eyes, I was a redhead with green eyes. Come to think of it, I didn’t even look like my father. I had mentioned it once, and his wolf had come to the surface, growling. My father had just said I looked like my mother, and that was the end of it.

Nearly the whole pack was scared of my father, and I was no exception. I shouldn’t have been. I was his daughter, after all.

The only person in the pack who wasn’t scared of him was the beta, Edmund. I would sometimes see them laughing and joking together, until they realised I was there, and then both their faces would resume their stern look.

Truth be told, as I got older, I tried to avoid my father. It had been different when I was younger. He had been full of smiles and laughter. I would sit on his knee in the pack office while he did his work. That all changed when I started school.

It was then he realised how different I was. If I fell over and scraped my knee, it would take days to heal, whereas with the other pups it only used to take hours. They were all much bigger than me, much stronger. Some of the boys would sometimes push me around, saying I was too weak to be an Alpha’s daughter.

That probably got back to my father, which made him even more annoyed with me for some reason.

Ariadne would stick up for me, which I should have been happy about, but it kind of made things worse.

A loud knock on the door roused me from my thoughts. I knew that knock.

I took a deep breath and walked over to the door and opened it.

Even now, my father towered above me.

“Are you ready?” he huffed.

I nodded, then remembered how angry he became when I didn’t answer him.

“Yes, Father,” I quickly added.

He folded his arms across his chest as he glared at me.

“Don’t let me down Aria.”

I swallowed nervously.

“I won’t,” I whispered, barely able to convince myself, let alone him.

He nodded his head with a huff and stood aside to let me pass.

I walked towards the training field, which was where the shifting ceremony would take place. It was already filled up with pack members. I walked towards the centre, where I saw Ariadne and the rest of my classmates, who would shift tonight. There were six of us in total.

I could feel my father's eyes boring into my back as he followed me to the centre.

I took my place next to Ariadne, and we exchanged a small smile.

Two of the pack Elders stood there to witness the proceedings. The parents of the other pups stood close by, including Edmund, who was the father of Randall, one of the boys who took great joy in tormenting me. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he hadn’t been egged on by Edmund. For some reason, he really didn’t like me.

My father stepped on to a small stage. All the noise that had come from pack members suddenly ceased.

“Tonight we thank the moon-goddess for her gifts as we watch our young pups shift for the first time. Once they have shifted, I will lead the pack run.”

He glanced over at the Elders.

“You may begin.”

One of the elders stepped forward. He pointed at Randall.

“Remove your clothes and shift,” he commanded.

I watched as Randall removed his shirt and shorts. Like the rest of us, he was wearing no shoes or underwear. We had to be naked in order to shift, something that also bothered me slightly. I could tell that it didn’t bother Randall at all.

Once he had removed his clothes, he glanced at me and sneered. Then I heard his bones crack as his body began to transform. I could see the look of pain on his face, the way his jaw clenched, but he didn’t make a sound. It only took a matter of seconds before a wolf stood where Randall had been. His wolf was nothing if not majestic. His coat was a dark, lustrous brown, and his eyes glowed golden.

Both his father and mine looked at him and smiled. I wished my father would smile at me like that. Perhaps after tonight he would.

I watched as, one after another, the pups removed their clothes and shifted.

Ariadne’s wolf had a golden coat and light brown eyes. I saw how proud her parents looked as she shifted. My father didn’t smile, but he nodded in appreciation.

Then it was my turn.

The elders called my name

“Aria... Remove your clothes and shift.”

I stepped forward and slowly began to remove my clothes. I felt my face flush. Just the thought of all these people seeing me naked made me feel like my heart was about to explode from my chest.

Before today, we’d all had lessons with the elders. I recounted in my mind what they had said about shifting.

Reach out to your spirit wolf and imagine yourself in wolf form. The pain will be immense, but will get easier with each shift.

I closed my eyes and tried to feel for my spirit wolf, but came up empty. They’d never said what happened if you couldn’t find your spirit wolf. I couldn’t fail, though. My father would never forgive me, so I tried to imagine myself as a wolf. Four paws, fur, a long snout.

I felt no pain, so I opened my eyes. Nothing. I still stood there stark naked.

I glanced up at my father when I heard his angry voice.

“Shift Aria! Shift now!” he growled.

I closed my eyes and tried again. Still nothing. I felt a tear trickle down my cheek.

I opened my eyes and looked at my father. He was livid.

“I... I can’t,” I whimpered.

Edmund looked at me and sneered, then his eyes flashed golden, a sure sign that his wolf was coming forward. He was mind-linking someone. I knew about mind-linking from our lessons, but you needed to have shifted into your wolf's form before you were able to do it. Just something else I would never be able to do.

The crowd parted as two of my father's warriors walked through. They were both dressed in black.

“Get her out of here, NOW!” my father growled.

They grabbed me roughly by my arms and dragged me towards the pack-house.

“Wait... Please father, I’m sorry,” I begged.

He glared at me, then turned his back.

He didn’t even bother to remove his clothes as he shifted into a giant black wolf. Then everyone else shifted and followed him as he sped into the forest.

Tears trickled down my cheeks as the two warriors dragged me away. At first I had tried to struggle, but I doubted they even felt my efforts.

I thought I might be taken to my bedroom, but they dragged me down a set of stone steps which lead to the pack’s dungeon. Then they tossed me into a cell before they turned and walked away.

“Please…” I begged, “my clothes…”

My request fell on deaf ears.

I sat down on the cold stone floor, wrapping my arms around my body in an attempt to keep warm.

The light from the moon shone through a barred window near the ceiling, mocking me.

I’d always thought I was different, and now I knew why. I had no spirit wolf.

I stared at the bars of the cell, wondering if my father would come. To tell me this was a big mistake. He didn’t. No one did. I stared at the bars all night as the moon disappeared and the sun rose.

Even when I heard footsteps, I didn’t move. I felt too vulnerable with having no clothes.

When my father appeared on the other side of the bars, I couldn’t look at him. Couldn’t bear to see the anger and disappointment on his face. I’d let him down badly. It seemed like I always did.

“You have five days,” he growled, “five days to find your wolf and shift.”

I heard a soft thud as he tossed something through the bars, then he walked away.

I looked over to see a pile of clothes. That spoke volumes.

He knew that I didn’t have a wolf. Somehow, some way. Otherwise, why would he have bothered to bring me clothes?

I briefly thought that he might still love me, but then the realisation dawned. He just didn’t want to be responsible for my death. Didn’t want me to freeze to death in the cell, because he knew just as well as I did. It wouldn’t matter how much time he gave me. Five days, five months, even five years. I would never be able to shift into a wolf.

I grabbed the clothes and put them on. Sitting back down on the floor, and leaned against the wall and ran my fingers through my hair. What would happen when five days were up? Would he kill me? Or would he get Edmund to kill me? I shook my head. I expected Edmund would be quite happy to do it. After all, with no wolf, I was no better than a human. Everyone knew that humans weren’t supposed to know about werewolves. Any human found in werewolf territory was as good as dead, or worse, a slave. Having said that, there had been no human slaves in decades, which meant I was as good as dead.