Talia and I stood near the buffet table, admiring the festivities. Everything was beautifully decorated, with tables set up buffet-style and covered with a wide variety of cuisine. Evening was fast approaching, and paper lanterns hung everywhere, casting a festive yet romantic glow. Music flowed from speakers surrounding a large dance floor, while a giant bouncy house had entertained pups for hours. The little ones showed few signs of tiredness, aside from a couple who had fallen asleep at the foot of the slide. So far, my birthday was going quite well. I tried to shake off the nervousness about my first shift, but it clung to me like a mass of cockleburs.
King Maddoc had yet to make an appearance but was expected to arrive soon. I wore a teal dress that flowed gracefully down to just above my ankles. The skirt flared out when I spun around, and I was currently doing just that, enjoying the sensation. Spinning had always been one of my favorite things to do as a pup; I would twirl until I fell over.
So far, about a dozen werewolves had found their mates, and I was genuinely happy for them. I remained hopeful, even though I wouldn't be able to scent my mate until after I shifted.
Our Alpha, Jack, was preparing to give a speech, but the impending arrival of King Maddoc interrupted his plans. He and Luna Diane had to greet the King when he arrived at the Pack House.
Diane was our pack healer, known for her kindness and loved by everyone. She was a close family friend and a truly beautiful person in every possible way. She had been there for Talia when she first learned about her magical gifts, and they shared a very close bond. Diane suspected that Talia might one day have the power to heal as well, in addition to her telekinesis.
Jack and Diane waved to everyone from the stage, briefly explaining that they had a duty to welcome the Lycan King personally. They looked so happy, so vibrant. Diane's long chestnut hair was styled into an elegant updo, and her natural beauty made her appear much younger than her true age of 54. Jack always looked like a bad-boy biker gang leader, and true to his image, he indeed rode a Harley when the weather permitted. The bike was a hit with the pups, who would line up, eagerly awaiting rides around the block on the back behind the Alpha.
Jack appeared a bit stiff this evening in his black suit and crisp white shirt, but he still wore his signature smile, as genuine as ever. The Alpha and Luna of our pack were the best of the best—truly good-hearted, they cared for all of us and made sure every pack member felt like family. Our pack was not large, about 200 adults and 75 pups—pretty average for a werewolf pack.
Sadly, the Alpha and Luna had never been able to conceive a pup, which might have weakened a pack whose members were not so fiercely loyal and bonded to one another. Nobody really knew why they never produced an heir to the Alpha title, and nobody asked—at least, not in Blue Moon.
When Talia's magic surfaced alongside her wolf, she began training to take over as Alpha when the time came. She trained in the same way that other packs would train an Alpha son. In the world of werewolves, this was very unusual, and more than a few were strongly against it. Alphas were traditionally men, and they passed the title down to their sons, not their daughters. There were exceptions, but they were rare, and a pack with a female Alpha was seen by some as illegitimate. I thought it was silly; all the fuss about titles seemed pretentious and based on outdated ideas.
Everyone knew that when the time came, there would be those who spoke out, perhaps even fought against my sister's claim to the title. Many thought she-wolves lacked the power to lead a pack, but no one in our pack doubted her one bit. She would have no problem defending us against any threat. Anyone who dared to challenge her would leave knowing, in no uncertain terms, that she was just as strong as any male Alpha who ever lived. My sister was something of a legend in the werewolf world.
I had been training to be Talia's Beta for six years. Very few knew of this part of the plan, although many had seen me in action. They thought I was training to be a warrior. Those who had trained with me knew I could kick ass. No one I had trained with had ever defeated me, male or female. I didn't brag about it; keeping it on the down-low provided me with the element of surprise.
After Jack and Diane left to meet with King Maddoc, my dad, Beta William, took the stage and informed the crowd that he would announce the King's arrival shortly.
My mother, Natasha, joined him on stage, and when her eyes fell on Talia and me, she stood there beaming with pride. My mother was stunning, with her white-blonde hair that she passed on to her daughters. Like Talia, she had a magical gift that helped her run her business. She could see the faint "strings of fate" connecting mates together long before they ever met.
Years ago, she had seen that the Alpha had strings of fate flowing out of him to the northwest, so she arranged for a social gathering with several northwestern packs. She was able to see the string leading to the car that Diane had arrived in. She kept it all secret, only revealing her actions after the Alpha and Luna found each other. My mother and the Luna became instant best friends, which worked out quite well when Alpha Jack made my dad his Beta. There was so much love in Blue Moon.
Mom had started her business, quickly becoming a huge success and securing the financial future for our current family and likely future generations. She often found herself explaining to critics that she was not playing the role of the Moon Goddess; she simply helped those who asked to find their destined path, usually in subtle, non-invasive ways. Fate would always take care of it—mates would eventually find one another—but some didn't like sitting in the waiting room, waiting for fate to call their number.
On stage, my dad was tasked with keeping the crowd's attention as we awaited our guest of honor. So, of course, he decided to embarrass his youngest daughter. Holding the microphone and scanning the crowd, he stated, "As many of you know, it is my daughter's birthday today, and she will shift for the first time in just a few short hours to welcome her wolf. I would like you to join me in a toast to my beautiful daughter, Tara!" He winked at me, and I wished I could suddenly manifest the gift of invisibility.
Everyone cheered as a cake was wheeled in front of me on a stand. It had twenty-one candles aflame on the top layer. Tradition said that I should cut the cake after making a wish and blowing out the candles. I made my wish and blew out the candles, and to my surprise, rather than going out, they turned into sparklers and shot into the darkening sky! I smiled despite the anxiety caused by the sudden attention. "Impressive, thank you!" I called out to my dad and set about cutting the cake.
Talia helped me serve the guests nearby, while kitchen staff brought out cake after cake, working through the crowd so that everyone would get a piece. Finally, I got to taste my cake. It was delicious—chocolatey, velvety, and moist, with buttercream frosting and a strawberry glaze that was so divine I moaned with delight.
I had just set down my plate when my dad announced the arrival of the King. Everyone knelt and bowed as he made his way toward my dad and took the microphone. "At ease, wolves; it is my pleasure to be here this evening."
"He looks as delicious as your cake," Trinity commented in my head.
Startled, I stumbled forward as I stood back up. My wolf was something else! There were a few chuckles, and I nearly died of embarrassment as the King looked right at me and smiled, asking, "Is our birthday girl a little tipsy?"
I was sure my face was beet red as I stammered, "No! While I was standing up, my wolf decided to get chatty, and it startled me. I guess I'm not used to voices in my head yet." Everyone laughed—not at me, but with me, likely remembering their own early days with their wolves. I started to laugh too; it really was hilarious. The King laughed along with us, though he looked at me as though he were confused, his beautiful eyes flashing silver so quickly I wondered if I had imagined it. He cleared his throat, and the laughter died down. He spoke for a while about alliances among packs before moving on to new concerns about rogues attacking werewolves.
Rogues were the werewolf equivalent of criminals—those who evaded capture, escaped from prison, or were banished from a pack, meaning they had done something pretty terrible. Being alone in the world with no pack slowly drove them crazy; they lost their ability to feel emotions and became aggressive and extremely violent.
I had encountered rogues once. I shivered at the memory. I had been hanging out with Talia in the woods, and we had climbed into the treehouse our dad built for us, pretending to be on border patrol duty. Talia had actually qualified to go on border patrol at that time, but I was only twelve and had no wolf, so I had to rely on my imagination, picturing myself as a fierce warrior defending our pack territory.
I had barely started training in combat—nothing that could have prepared me for what happened that day.
After an hour or so, we decided to head back when Talia caught a scent that made her wrinkle her face in disgust. It hit me a moment later. It smelled like rotting garbage laced with malice. "Tara, you stay right here and don't move." She cast a spell to mask my scent and climbed out of the treehouse, warning me not to make a peep. I remember being so scared I don't think I could have even if I had wanted to.
She had shifted into her wolf and cautiously approached the direction of the smell. Suddenly, two nasty-looking wolves with glowing red eyes emerged from behind a nearby copse of trees. They looked scraggly and filthy. Adela had given a warning growl, but one of the wolves advanced toward the treehouse.
I scrunched myself against the back wall, hearing growling, roaring, and yelps of pain. Then silence. Adela finally barked an all-clear, and I climbed down from the treehouse and jumped on her back. She ran like the wind back to the Pack House. I don't remember much else about that day, except that Adela was bloodied enough that it took me the longest shower ever to feel clean again once we arrived home. Those eyes, that smell—not something I ever wanted to experience again.
I was now trained well enough to handle almost any situation with rogues. They were usually weak and easy to kill, but it was not unheard of to find one with unusual strength.
I was trained well enough, or was I? As King Maddoc spoke, we all learned that there was a lot of evidence suggesting that the rogues were becoming more organized, forming gangs and increasing their attacks on the packs that had shunned them.
King Maddoc looked heartbroken as he described the aftermath of a raid on a small pack far north of ours, near the Canadian border. The rogues had savagely killed everyone and taken over the pack land. They even slaughtered the pups. With tears in his eyes, he told the saddened crowd, "This happened in a very tiny pack; we didn't learn of it until months later. The rogues had moved on by the time we arrived; they burned everything to the ground before they left. We only learned of it because there was one survivor— a twelve-year-old pup who managed to escape during the original attack." He closed his eyes for a moment, then continued, "The atrocities this poor pup had to witness are beyond our comprehension. Please heed this warning and be vigilant. If the rogues are getting organized, we could be facing the most significant threat we have ever known. Alphas from all packs will meet at a later date to discuss this further." He sighed, looking apologetic. "For now, though, let's try to put these thoughts out of our minds and enjoy this time we have to spend together. Eat, drink, and be merry." He managed a small smile at the end of his speech, drawing applause and cheers from the crowd. The music started playing again, and soon all sadness was abandoned in favor of living in the moment.
"I love you, Trinity," I told my wolf silently.
"I love you too, Tara Bear," she replied, using the nickname my dad had called me when I was a pup. I would always protest, wondering how I could be a bear if I was going to be a wolf. I giggled at the memory.
"You would be Tara the Werebear!" Trinity exclaimed, rolling around laughing in my head.
"Stop! I really don't want to pee my pants! Oh wait, I'm not wearing pants!" My sides hurt from laughing.
"Well, I guess you can freely pee, dear." My wolf was amazing in so many ways; she was helping me deal with my anxiety, and I had so much fun with her. She understood me, and I only hoped I could one day understand her like that.
I spent some time mingling with the crowd. All was well until I spotted a familiar face and rolled my eyes. It was Cindy, the Queen of all Bitches from the Moonshine Pack. She stood across the yard, in all her skanky glory, glaring at me along with several of her "followers."
Cindy was an up-and-coming model and influencer with a massive social media following. She hated me, and the feeling was mutual.
She bullied me relentlessly whenever our packs got together. Once, she had pulled my pants down in front of a crowd when I scored the winning goal at the end of a highly competitive soccer match, pretending to trip and accidentally grab me to keep from falling. I was mortified; she ruined my post-win high and the memory of that moment that I would have cherished. I couldn't bring up that soccer match without reliving that awful incident.
She never missed a chance to torment me, both verbally and physically. She was jealous that the Alpha of the Moonshine Pack's jerk of a son, Jake, had some kind of weird obsession with me. It was so stupid. I had no interest in him. I tried to avoid him whenever our packs got together, but his creepy ass always found me and refused to leave me alone.
Cindy had decided long ago that the Luna position was hers, along with the jackass who would take over as Pack Alpha when his father retired. When she found out that said jackass was chasing after me, I became her target, and she loved target practice, as all mean girl bullies do.
She even recruited some of her followers to start nasty rumors about me on social media, claiming I had slept with every male in my pack and hers, and that the car my dad got me for my birthday was actually given to me in exchange for giving her brother Chad and his buddies blow jobs.
I didn't think anyone believed that, but I got tired of hearing "head for the car!" from anyone who heard the rumor. She had followers in Blue Moon too. I loved my car, a black Dodge Challenger I got for being undefeated in warrior training, but she somehow tainted everything I had with her jealousy.
"Head for the car"—I suppose it was sort of funny now that I was a bit older and less worried about being slut-shamed since I was as far from a slut as one could get.
Mainly because I knew Cindy would hate it if I went out with Jake on ONE date, which had been awkward and awful. He was his usual arrogant jerk of a self, treating the workers at the restaurant we went to like crap, making the waitress call him "Alpha son." It would have been funny if he hadn't been so serious about it.
After dinner, he took me to see a horror movie about a poor human girl who was gang-raped and tortured. She got revenge on her attackers in the most brutal ways imaginable, which might have been a redeeming quality, but it was all shown in such graphic detail that I actually closed my eyes for most of it and had nightmares for weeks afterward.
He was always bragging about his future as an Alpha. Goddess save the Moonshine Pack. His certainty that I would be his fated mate and Luna was creepy.
I finally got so sick of his male chauvinism that I told him if he became Alpha, I would challenge him for the title in a fight to the death. He laughed at me, looked at me like I was crazy, and went on a rant about how I could never be an Alpha because I was a girl.
"A female Alpha? That's unheard of! She-wolves can't be Alphas, Tara." I remembered how hard it had been to hold back from punching him in his chiseled, arrogant face and showing him just how "Alpha" girls could be. Instead, I bolted into the Pack House when he tried to kiss me. Yuck. I would rather have kissed a pig. A warthog, even. A wolverine, perhaps—just a bit deadly but still preferable.
After that, he kept pestering me, sending me text messages when I wouldn't answer his calls, even sending me a dick pic! I had blocked him after that.
"You should have told him you expected something a little more impressive from the son of an Alpha," Trinity said now, and I laughed out loud, loud enough to draw Cindy's attention.
Perfect! I groaned inwardly. I looked around for a way to escape, not wanting to fight with her—more for her safety and well-being than anything else.
She and her friends sauntered over, and I thought she looked like she belonged in a strip club, not at a Pack event honoring the Lycan King.
Her tight black tube dress showcased a pair of flesh-colored watermelons that seemed ready to burst out and splatter on the ground. I stifled a laugh and prepared for the incoming bitch bomb, which I knew was coming even if the watermelons failed to launch.
She started circling me. "Well, look what we have here," she smirked. "The birthday girl herself." I tried to walk away, but she and her friends surrounded me. I felt tension in my body, like I was wound up tightly and ready to spring loose. This was not good.
"I don't have time for this, Cindy. I have to go change and get ready to shift." I was not in the mood to argue with her. When they refused to move a second time as I tried to get around them, I forced my way through, shoving her aside. This caused her to fall on her ass, and wouldn't you know it—her boobs actually did pop out of the dress! Her friend tried to grab me, but I easily got a hold of her and shoved her into the rest of Cindy's posse. They fell like dominoes.
Anyone would think they were being burned alive by the way they screamed. A crowd began to gather as I walked away, and I heard her whining that I was a bully who had pushed them out of my way when they had only been trying to wish me a happy birthday.
Irolled my eyes and kept walking toward the Pack House. Trinity growled softly in my mind, and my skin felt tight and itchy. "Never mind them, Trinity. Cindy is a bitch, and she has made my life miserable in the past. But I won't let her ruin this night for me."
"That big-boobed, brainless, bitchy bimbo," Trinity quipped, making me chuckle. She was so excited to shift. After 21 years of waiting, she couldn't wait to get her paws on the ground and run. We didn't have to wait much longer.
Once inside the Pack House, I headed upstairs to my room to get ready. "Would it screw up my shift if I smoked a little weed?" I asked Trinity. She assured me it wouldn't, so I sat on the balcony outside my room and enjoyed a joint as I took in the beautiful night sky. The moon seemed to be smiling at me. Just thirty minutes to go.
As I inhaled, I felt the tension from earlier begin to melt away. The stars twinkled above, each one a tiny reminder of the vast universe beyond my little world. I was on the brink of a significant change, and the thought sent a shiver of excitement through me.
"Tonight is going to be incredible," I whispered to Trinity, who was buzzing with enthusiasm. "Just think about it—we'll finally be one!"
"Yes! I can't wait to feel the wind in my fur and run free!" she replied, her excitement echoing in my mind.
After finishing my joint, I took a moment to gather myself. I needed to be calm and focused for my shift. I changed into my outfit for the ceremony: a flowing white dress that would allow for easy movement during the transformation. It was simple yet elegant—just like me. I glanced at my reflection in the mirror, my heart racing with anticipation.