🐺💣🔪 #MY_BLACK_KNIGHT 🔪💣🐺
As Produced By Sheriff Squinty
🎴Happen 1
Theme: Wanna-Be
The moon shone bright and nearly full in the sky, its radiance giving the forest an ethereal glow. These woods were normally dark but the silvery light brou-ght definition to everything, ma-king the winding path throu-gh the un-dergrowth clearly visible.
Truthfully I didn’t nee-d the light of the moon to see. Not only had this path been worn down by the paws of many wolves before me, I also had extremely enhanced s-en-ses in my wolf state. My paws thudded against the ground in time with my beating heart as I sh0t throu-gh the forest. To a human observer I would just be an large silver blur shooting by, but there were no humans in these p@rts. Their natural instincts and fear of predators kept them away. Not that I had a p@rticular inclination to feed on human flesh. It was forbidden by werewolf law, after all…or it was supposed to be. But a predator? Indeed, I was at the t©p of the food chain. The odd stillness of the surrounding forest, devoid of animal life as they crawled away in their holes to hide, was evidence of that.
Grinning a wolf grin, I finally slowed my pace to a quic-k walk. Now that I moved more slowly, my large paws made almost no noise on the thick be-d of leaves below me. Although we looked like wolves, my kind was much larger and moved with an abnormal grace that natural wolves did not possess. All animals in the forest feared us, even the bears. A wolf even bigger than a lion could strike fear into almost anyone.
I st©pped my walk as I entered a clearing, sitting back on my haunches and gazing up at the moon. It would be full tomorrow, I could feel it. Everyone in my pack could. The full moon did something to us; it made us stronger, fas-ter, wilder as the blood burned throu-gh our veins. Most full moons we ran free in the woods, my entire pack, yipping and chasing each other like pups. Tomorrow, however, was the Meeting.
Thinking about it brou-ght a strange mix of nervousness, fear, and determination. I had never been allowed to go to a Meeting before but I had been nee-dling my father and the Beta for weeks, begging them to let me accompany them. I was pretty sure they were about to cave in at last. I was nineteen years old, after all, and my wolf was getting pretty strong. I should be allowed to go. Almost everyone else had had a chance.
Within my consciousness and my soul, I felt my Wolf’s agreement. She was even br@ver than I and far more stubborn, and she’d been wanting to go for years. I mentally reas-sured her that we’d find a way this time. The curiosity was nearly killing me.
“SKYLAR!” I heard the voice throu-gh my mental link, cringing at my father’s tone. He wasn’t the Alpha of the pack, but he was well respected, being the Pack Doctor and all. He really could adapt the authoritative tone when he nee-ded to.
“Coming,” I replied irritably. “My Wolf and I wanted to run,” I sounded a bit petulant, and wrinkled my snout, knowing he wouldn’t like that. My father just s£nt an irritated noise throu-gh our mental link before closing it off, and I stood up, shaking out my thick silver coat before turning to head back to the pack.
*
Hall Of Supernatural Stories
*
All of us could communicate telepathically when we were in our wolf forms but direct family members (and the Alpha, of course) could willingly communicate mentally whenever we wanted to, even in human form. c@m£ in quite handy when one of my parents nee-ded to shout at me. Of course, our communication abilities took more effort at a greater distance, and I could always raise my mental barriers to block my parents out…if I wanted to get an even worse lecture once I lowered them again.
Sighing, I trotted again throu-gh the un-dergrowth, mentally apologizing to my Wolf. I knew she liked to stay in this form as long as she could, as she was more constrained when I was in my more “human” state. She grumbled a bit but subsided as we exited the thickest p@rt of the woods and made our way to the set of houses sprawled across the large valley. At this distance, the pack village looked quiet and peaceful, lights wi-nking in the otherwise impene-trable darkness. Every muscle in my b©dy relaxed just looking at the tranquil scene. I was home.
—
“You shouldn’t take off like that when you know I might nee-d your help,” my father scolded, though his eyes were fixated on the patient he was currently tending to. He was pressing a damp cloth against the small girl’s forehead as she tossed and turned in her be-d. Meanwhile, I stood in the corner, watching. I loved to watch my father work and I often helped out with the more menial tasks. I narrowed my eyes as I carefully observed. This seemed like a normal healing that my father had no nee-d to use his Affinity for.
Pack Doctor was something a wolf was born into. As they grew up they would notice that they had an Affinity, or a p@rticularly strong connection to the life f0rç£ of the world all around us. In times of nee-d, they could utilize the earth’s energy to help with the healing process. It was a special and magical ability and only one or two wolves in a pack could have the Pack Doctor Affinity at one time, depending on if the Doctor had a child.
The Affinity was usually genetic to the first born child….usually. I winced as I thought about it. The majority of the time the gift would be inherited, but I had not received it. I was completely and utterly ordinary. It had been a source of great embarras-sment for me for a long time and I was sure my dad had been disappointed but he never said anything. Others in the pack had made some cruel comments when I was younger before the Alpha put a st©p to it. Some vestiges of the insecurity still lingered to this day.
Snapping out of my daze, I realized my father expected some sort of apology. “Sorry. I nee-ded to run,” I muttered. Even to me, my apology wasn’t very convincing. My father turned to me and sighed, running a hand throu-gh his thick hair, which was a shade of color identical to my own dark brown curls.
“I didn’t tell your mother,” he admitted, and I smiled slightly. My mom freaked out over almost anything; she had always been the high-strung type. Which likely explained why we frequently bu-tted heads. I was la-id-back and much less as-sertive.
“Thanks,” I replied, idly drumming my f!ngersagainst each other. “So…I, uh, wanted to talk about what we were discussing earlier,” I finally said, eyes on the ground. I sounded nervous which I knew he wouldn’t like, but I couldn’t help that this was a s-en-sitive conversation.
Sighing yet again, my father returned his gaze to the sick patient as he pu-ll-ed out a few instruments to examine her further. “You’ve been bugging me for weeks, Skylar. I’ve been thinking about it. I discussed it with Jack.”
I couldn’t help myl-ips from quirking up. Jack was our Beta, one of my father’s best friends, and he had always treated me well. This was a good sign.
“We finally decided to let you come to the Meeting tomorrow, and the Alpha gave the all clear after we told him,” he finally mumbled, a bit begrudgingly. I could tell Jack had helped convince him. I took a de-ep breath, re-sisting the urge to jump up and down. “Thank you! I promise I can handle myself, I’m nineteen. I know it’s dangerous but-”
His green eyes snapped to my face then, his countenance ha-rd ening as his jaw clenched. I froze, not liking the expression.
“Dangerous?” He asked softly. “Skylar, I know you’re excited because you haven’t gotten to go yet, but you’re un-derestimating this. Dangerous is an un-derstatement. The Black Mountains Pack is…” he trailed off, an expression of pure hatred flitting across his features. I could tell that my own expression had soured at the mention of our worst enemies.
Unfortunately, while the Black Mountains Pack was our greatest threat, they were the most powerful pack on this continent. They practically owned us and had for the last several years. Throu-gh threats (and not idle threats, either), bullying, and fear-instilling tactics, they had alre-ady taken over a large amount of our land. We called these twice-a-year reunions with the Black Mountains Pack “Meetings”, but really, they were negotiations. Negotiations in which we attem-pted to prevent them from infringing upon our territory any more. Not that we could st©p them if they chose to attack.
We still had miles upon miles of land, of course. It was plenty for our pack, but it was nowhere close to what it used to be. Our territory used to stretch all along the Rockies in Colorado, but now a hvge chunk of that had been f0rç£fully taken. Werewolf packs were scarce, so each pack was supposed to have a large swath of land, but the Black Mountain Pack’s territory was ridiculously expansive, in my opinion.
Although, with all of those mouths to feed, I begrudgingly admitted to myself that they nee-ded large hunting grounds.
Our pack, the Silver Woods pack, was powerful. We had about sixty wolves running with us. But their pack? They had well over a hundred, trained warriors all of them. They were relentless and cruel. They didn’t restrict their hunting grounds to the forest, either. There were many rumors that some of them wandered into nearby towns and preyed on the humans. Completely helpless humans that should not be prey at all, according to werewolf law! The thought made a low growl rumble in my che-st.
“Skylar!” I was aware that I had spaced out as my father snapped to get my attention. I shook myself of my dark thoughts and turned back to him, lowering my head. “Sorry. I just got distracted. You’re right, I nee-d to take this more seriously. I was just excited about finally getting to go.” Although, admitting it to myself, I had been nervous all along.
He nodded, un-derstanding in his eyes. “I know. But…” He trailed off, unsure what to say.
“It just isn’t fair,” I responded. “I hate them, for taking half of our land and killing those who opposed them. They make us live in fear, in our own territory.”
“I hate them too. We all do. But we’re no match,” my father said sadly.
“Why do they follow him?” I whispered quietly, not clarifying further, but he knew who I meant. The Alpha of Black Mountains Pack. He was as relentless and horrible as they c@m£, according to my fellow pack members that had been around him. His name was Gabriel, but I knew nob©dy called him that. He had followed in his father’s footsteps as Alpha four years ago when he turned twenty-one, and he was just as big of a tyrant as his father was…although, fortunately, it had been a couple years since the Black Mountains Pack had outright killed anyone in my pack. They seem to have eased up a bit on that tactic since Gabriel bec@m£ the new Alpha.
There was a moment of silence before my father spoke again. “They’re scared of him, but it’s more than that. He’s powerful. Intelligent. Ruthless. To us, he may be cruel, but to them? He’s loyal to his pack and he leads them to victory, so I can only imagine he’s like a visionary to them.” My father said finally, and I could tell he’d thought about this before.
I looked away, my eyes burning in disgust. “Well I despise him. I wish we could run them out of our territory, and soon,” I muttered spitefully, a manner in which I didn’t normally speak.
*
As Produced By Sheriff Squinty
*
When it c@m£ to the Black Mountains Pack, though, hatred coursed throu-gh the veins of my family and my pack. They had ruined our lives for the last fifteen years. I couldn’t remember the time before they started taking over, I was too young. Some of the wolves that had been killed as punishment for ‘territory infringement’ had been family friends. My heart clenched as I remembered Dan, another of my father’s best friends, whose n£¢k had been snapped a few years back when he was found half a mile into the Black Mountains territory. And Ana, a rebellious young she-wolf who had shown disrespect at a Meeting and……I couldn’t even think about it.
I turned back to my father, who had a half-smile gracing his angular features. “I don’t blame you. You’ve got pride running throu-gh your veins. You’re a werewolf.”
I blu-shed slightly at his tone, which seemed to be leaning towards complimentary. My father wasn’t exactly full of compliments nowadays.
There were a few more minutes of silence as he measured the girl’s heart rate, pulse, and temperature again, a light frown on his face. I examined the girl for a moment. It was rare that any adults were in the infirmary; as werewolves matured, we developed immunity against nearly every disease and sickness in existence. As children, however, we were still somewhat vulnerable, like the pale girl trembling in the be-d. My father began to put a few instruments away and pu-ll-ed out a couple more. “You’re good to go Skylar, I have work to do, and I don’t think I’ll nee-d your help after all.”
I looked at him a moment, then nodded, exiting the small room with the sick patient and leaving the building that housed the pack infirmary.
—
“There you are, Skylar!” My mom’s relieved voice emanated from the hallway as I opened the door to our house. Closing the door behind me I f0rç£d a smile as she strode over and gave me a quic-k pe-ck on the cheek. Because she was tall, curvy, and blonde, I didn’t look too much like my mom. Our eyes were the exact same shade of blue, but the similarities ended there. I was average height and skinny with almost no curves to speak of. My angular features and brown, curly (often frizzy) hair c@m£ straight from my dad. I wasn’t bad looking; I knew that much at least, but I was no supermodel like my mother with her heart-shaped face and perfect hair. She was stunning.
She began to make her way up to the second story of our sizeable house, beckoning gracefully for me to follow. I grimaced but did so, wondering what this was all about as she led me down the hall into my room.
“So, I was out shopping in that human town today…” I proceeded to make a face behind her when she wasn’t looking, “…and I just c@m£ upon this beautiful blue dress that will match your eyes perfectly!” As we entered my cozy room, she indicated the be-d, and I walked over there warily.
‘Just c@m£ upon,’ I thought to myself with amusement. Right. As if it wasn’t just as likely that she planned the trip specifically to find a dress for me.
The dress was knee length and silky, with a di-p in the front. Skinny stra-ps studded with gems would help hold it up on my shoulders. It was quite a pretty dress, really, but I didn’t get the chance to wear them often.
I turned to my mother, raising an eyebrow. “It’s beautiful, mom, but…when will I have the occasion to wear this?” I regretted my question immediately as my mom beamed a bright smile, eagerness plain in her expression.
“Well, honey…you’re nineteen now.”
I could see where this was going. “Mom…”
“And there are plenty of other packs around us with men you haven’t met!”
“Mom…..” I repeated, and I couldn’t help but give her a wry expression. Other than the Black Mountains Pack, we were quite far from any other werewolves. My mother just wanted an excuse to dress me up like a doll. Not that I minded dresses, but she was relentless about it.
“Okay, perhaps there aren’t a lot of others around, but still…you’re over eighteen and haven’t met your Mate yet! Don’t you want something nice when you finally meet him?”
“I….” I was getting uncomfortable now, my cheeks burning. I didn’t want to think about the Mate subject.
“Skylar, you know werewolves usually find their Mates within a couple years after turning eighteen! I want you to look pres£ntable when the time comes!” She finished impatiently as I sank down on my be-d, putting my head in my hands. Not this again. Every month or so since I turned eighteen my mom would get on the whole ‘oh you can find your Mate now’ t©pic. While my father just stared at me with a mixture of nervousness and amusement, she would ramble on about how I would find the perfect werewolf, the one that was born to be my other half.
I knew everyone had a Mate, although there was no telling why Fate matched us up. Our inner Wolves inside of us matured as we did, and as soon as they were old enough, they would recognize their Mate: the ideal specimen with which to breed. Survival of the species was the priority. It was true what my mother was saying, that most Wolves (although not all) were mature enough at eighteen to recognize their Mate. I was within the prime age range to find mine. It was actually pretty rare for Mates to find each other after their early twenties. Wolves liked to identify the compatible breeding p@rtner and lifelong companion as soon as possible. Still, there were exceptions, where Mates found each other later in life.
However, I knew it ran dee-per than just animal instinct. I had seen the glowing silver sheen in werewolf eyes as two individuals that were meant to be Mates met for the first time and the magic of the mating bond coursed throu-gh their bodies. The two wolves put together by Fate were destined to fall in love, to perfectly balance each other out and, of course, create the optimum bloodline. It was a beautiful thing, and everyone dreamed of finding their other half, for your soul mate was out there somewhere. I was just…nervous. Not completely re-ady, despite the fact that I was pretty sure my Wolf had matured enough to recognize her Mate when the time c@m£.
A werewolf learned their most innate qualities and weaknesses when they met their Mate. A Mate could see right down into your soul, and after the two Mates Marked each other, they could telepathically s-en-se one another’s thoughts and feelings. I didn’t know if I was re-ady for that experience. Besides, I’d had very little experience with men, so it was still difficult to believe that someone could think of me as the center of their universe.
“Skylar, at least think about it!” My mom’s ch!pper voice brou-ght me back to the pres£nt.
I sighed, looking at her glowing expression. My parents were so happy together, and I was glad, but the opposite was true too…someone that lost their Mate never truly recovered. p@rt of their soul was gone and they were empty shells, only able to communicate with their lost Mate during the First Moon ceremony, which nob©dy un-derstood except the wolves who p@rticipated. I hoped I was never put in that position.
On t©p of that, there were a few werewolves that never even found their Mate at all, and they were left half-completed their whole life. This was rare, but what if I was one of them? Even though a large p@rt of me felt that I was not re-ady for a Mate, I couldn’t imagine not having one at all…..ever. It was a depressing notion.
I huffed out a breath. “Yeah, I’m thinking about it,” I replied tiredly. This was how the conversation ended every time.
Her radiant smile returned and I looked away, not even wanting to know (although I could probably guess) what was going throu-gh her head. “I think I should go to be-d now,” I muttered, nervousness erupting in the pit of my stomach as I thought about the next day. I admitted it to my Wolf; I was terrified of meeting the Black Mountains pack and seeing their Alpha and Beta for the first time. My Wolf shifted inside of me, wondering aloud how she would manage to keep her fangs retracted during the Meeting. I saw her point, as I’m sure my pent-up hatred would rush to the surface as soon as I met the dre-adful pack. I’d have to ask the others how they controlled themselves while in the pres£nce of my pack’s worst enemy.
I hvgged my mom and k!$$£d her cheek as she bid me goodnight and left my room, closing my door ti-ghtly behind her. I quic-kly hung the dress up in the closet, wondering when I would ever wear it. Then, returning to my be-d, I leaned back, staring up at my boring, grey ceiling as I tried to find the courage for the next day.
What would tomorrow bring?
#Tobecontinued….. 😃
Get ur seatbelts on for another delicious ride.
Refill your pop corn cans and get a candy 🍭 in hand.
It’s sure gonna be a very interesting ride……. 👌💯
You should be warned though, werewolves is not gonna be the only supernatural creature in this one….. 😉
*******
So, Hit The rate bu-tton
Put down a comment,
Then we’ll meet in the next Happen
See ya then……. 😉
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