《Moon of Dawn: Lost Mate》


 Prologue: The Beginning

    Hearing movement outside my room, I shifted in my seat. I don¡¯t know how long I had before he would find me. The Alpha just got finished with a meeting and from what I could hear by his footsteps, he was not happy. When I snapped out of my thoughts, the door banged open. I could smell the scent of anger coming off of him in waves. When I looked at him he had a small object in his hands. Curious as to what it was I nodded toward it. Noting that I was asking him about the small object, the Alpha held it up for me to see.


    I gasped at it. He had a silver band with, from what I could tell, small, scrawling engravings on it. I tried to back away from it not wanting to be forced to put it on.


    Since I was a small child the Alpha has never taken a liking to me. Whenever he was angry or felt like I had embarrassed him or even when he was simply bored, he would come in here with the silver band, usually more than one, and beat me until I could no longer move. On one of these such times, he beat me so horribly that I almost died. He said that he did it because he loved me, and being young and na?ve, I believed him.


    It¡¯s been the only thing keeping me from just ending my own misery. I couldn¡¯t wrap my feeble mine around why he chose to show his love this way, but when he cleared his throat, I snapped my attention back to him.


    With the Alpha pheromones coming off of him, I submitted and raised my arm up, offering it to him. I hated it when he used them on me but I couldn¡¯t go against it. Not when he was the leader of our Pack.


    Goddess, I wish that I didn¡¯t have to live this life. Why does the Goddess hate me? Why does She forsake me, and allow the Alpha to treat me this way?


    After I feel the sting and burn of the band on my wrist, I hiss. After a few moments I force myself to look at the engravings on this band. From what I understood from the Ancient Runes, for we had no better name to describe them, it was meant to permanently keep me from shifting into my wolf from. The Runes also spoke of wrapping magical chains around my wolf to keep her at bay. Not liking the idea of not being able to access her made me whimper in fear and growl in anger.


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    The Alpha, not liking my reaction, backhands me across the face. I wince, but know better than to make any noise. I bow my head lower, allowing Alpha access to the restraint keeping me in the chair I¡¯m in.


    I haven¡¯t had food in several days and have lost count of the many hours I¡¯ve been in this damp, stone-walled room.


    Aedalar has been known to be gifted by the Goddess when the world began. Or at least that¡¯s what we¡¯ve been taught since we were pups. Goddess, why do I keep getting lost in my thoughts? I mentally scold myself. I should be paying attention to Alpha.


    I turn my attention back to him once again. Finally he starts saying something. ¡°You useless piece of trash, I¡¯m glad to see you haven¡¯t put up a fight against me tonight.¡± I glare at him. How dare he. Something in the back of my mind reminds me that I shouldn¡¯t be thinking this way if I don¡¯t want punishment tonight. I¡¯ve never been good with words because I was never taught how to speak aside from things like ¡°Yes, Alpha,¡± other short responses they let me use after given an order. I secretly practice in the early hours when I can¡¯t sleep.


    When he speaks again, I smell a scent change. Something I¡¯ve never smelled before. Something dangerous. Something- Before my thoughts could be finished I smelled smoke, alarm already clouding my, once contemplative, face.


    Alpha too smelled the smoke. After smelling it he growled and left the room. Minutes later I hear screams.

 Chapter 1

    Wide-eyed and scared I didn¡¯t know what to do other than sit and wait for Him to return to finish today¡¯s session so I could get on with my ever growing chores. Still in pain from a few nights ago, I groan and try to wrap my un-injured arm around my ribs to support them, only to fail due to the chains keeping my arms to the chair.


    I can smell a separate scent coming closer, I can also hear loud footsteps. Remembering that Alpha didn¡¯t lock the door when he left, I started panicking and trying to make the heavy metal chair move into one of the dark corners so I couldn¡¯t be seen. It took me several moments to get the chair in the spot I wanted. Panting from being tired, my eyes start to drift closed.


    I pray to the Goddess that she doesn¡¯t let the intruder find me. I keep repeating the prayer more frantically when I hear the door handle jiggle. Knowing the door is old and doesn¡¯t latch correctly, I quiet my breathing so that it can¡¯t be heard, and accept my fate of this room being the last thing I see.


    When the door finally opens, I see a half-wolf sniffing the air. When I realize she¡¯s finally caught my scent, her face snaps in my direction.  Her look crazed and her eyes a deep violet color, signifying that she¡¯s a female Rouge, and one of higher rank too.


    Before I know it, she¡¯s upon me, dragging the chair back into the light. She makes a maniacal laugh and starts tearing the restraints off. After she¡¯s gotten rid of the chains and metal bar around my waist, keeping me in the chair, she picks me up and swings me over her shoulder like I¡¯m a bag of potatoes.


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    I whine as my ribs complain in protest. The She-Rouge doesn¡¯t fix how she holds me, causing more pain to my ribs and arm when she stomps heavily down a flight of stairs. Before I know it she¡¯s laid me on the ground and started dragging me by my arm. Her nails digging into my arm, threatening to break skin. I yelp in pain as my bad knee gets jumbled by a large rock on the ground.


    In three minutes, I¡¯m plopped on the ground in the middle of, what I think is the Packhouse courtyard. I haven¡¯t been out of that stone-walled room in over a month because Alpha thought I was being extra bad at the formal Coming of Age ceremony that they held for the heir to the pack. I was never allowed contact with her because Alpha deemed me as too filthy to be around her.


    Some wolves see me as the Runt of the pack. Others see me as a lowly serving girl to be pushed around and beaten whenever they please. Then the Alpha is a whole different story.


    After a few more minutes of both He- and She-Rouges dragging more of the pack to the courtyard and roughly shoving them to the ground, they circle around us, ears flattening, and all of them snarling, ready to pounce on us if we make any sudden moves.


    After a moment of them baring their teeth at us in warnings, the air changes and I smell a foreboding scent approaching. This one not familiar, nor inviting. This one is one who should be avoided, one that is dangerous and not to be toyed with.


    When the dangerous figure approaches, I can¡¯t quite make out their features. They have the body shape of a woman but the muscular build and face of a man. Unable to decide which one they are, I wait until they speak.