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The full moon shone down on the lake near the Palecrest Pack, reflecting bright white ripples as my friends and I splashed in the refreshing cool water. There was something about a full moon that was almost magical. Maybe it was Giais, our beloved moon goddess, or Kana, the goddess of summer, showing their perfect faces that made these nights so special. Every full moon my friends and I would get together and shift into our wolfs at midnight and run wild in the forest surrounding our village. Okay, our pack was more of a city than a village. We were one of the largest packs and more centrally located amongst them; so, that made us a high traffic area for all the different packs and tribes surrounding the territory. That being said, we’d often receive visits from other alphas and their subordinates, or just regular werewolves passing through to visit some other pack. More often than not, tourists would come to see the Warriors.
Palecrest wasn’t known for being the central travel hub of the packs, or it’s great surrounding forest, or it’s rocky cliffs overlooking the crystal waters of its lakes, oh no: it was known for her Wardens, the strongest warrior werewolves ever bred. Training began at the age of 6, but when we turned 12 or shifted for the first time we could decide what we wanted to do. Many chose to be warriors. We trained to fight with swords, staves, and hand to hand. We were also trained to use advanced stealth to close in on our enemies; our senses were so keen and so fine tuned we could use our wolf senses without shifting, and when we did they were ten-fold. This was just our Warrior training. Once that was completed, usually around the age of 18, one could choose to go on to become a Warden. Some had the ability to stop a werewolf from shifting. There have been many instances when a rogue werewolf was running rampant, terrorizing villages and killing people that the wardens have had to…remove their shifting ability to keep them from continuing to hurt others. It’s not something they liked doing, but it’s something that must be done.
There were usually 10 to 20 Warriors stationed at each village depending on the size, and 2 to 5 Wardens. Since Palecrest was the home of the Warriors, it’s the safest city amongst werewolves; even the capital couldn’t claim that. They had their own security in addition to 30 warriors and 15 Wardens from Palecrest. I’d been to the capital a few times and saw the impressive size of the werewolves from there. The King himself was nearly 7 feet tall and built like a barge! And Queen Aurora, oh she was a sight! Their offspring were both tall and beautiful as well…
A soggy wet clump of something that smelled earthy and foul splattered on my chest. Lake muck. My sister must’ve been the culprit who dared throw the muck at me.
I’m the oldest of 5 siblings. It’s me, then Roasia, and then our 15 year old brother Dominic, then Cyr who is 12, and lastly our baby sister, Diadora who is 9. Dominic and Diadora both favor our father in looks except with brown eyes. Dominic has dark hair like our mother and tan skin. Diadora is our only sibling with black hair, which she inherited from our grandmother, giving her a rather exotic appearance. Cyr looks a lot like I did at his age. Him and I are the only ones who got our fathers green eyes and light brown hair.
“Ro! What the hell!” I demanded of her as I wiped off the brown goo. It wasn’t that big of a deal, but it still annoyed me. I was sitting on the dock of the lake with my long legs dangling in the water. She tossed her pretty, dark haired head back and gave a throaty laugh. My sister Roasia was two years younger than me, but we were always together. She was tall and fair like our mother, with skin the color of honey, long, reddish-brown wavy hair to her waist, golden brown almond shaped eyes, and full lips. Everyone used to say how much we looked alike growing up, and I have to agree. We were practically twins if it wasn’t for my green eyes and light brown hair, though we did have the same diamond shaped face with high cheekbones and pointed chin. I had more muscle than her, but that’s because I worked at it.
This particular lake we were swimming in had a special kind of film on the bottom that we’d often use in training to mask our scents; we’d use the purified form, Mute, during missions. At first it made you smell like a wet dog, but then after it dried your scent blended into your surroundings and you became hard to track for a time. We had workers who harvested the muck at the end of each fall so it could be refined over the winter and bottled in the spring. I liked using it during training and when I had to.
“Ugh!” I made a disgusted noise in the back of my throat. “You shouldn’t play with this stuff, Ro.”
My sister stuck out her bottom lip in a pout.
Cybil, one of my best friends swam up to the dock. She had a short, red pixie cut, blue eyes, tan skin and freckles all over her lanky body. Even though she was just an omega werewolf, she was a tough warrior and a kind person. We’ve been friends since we were 6.
“Don’t be so rough on poor, little Roie,” Cybil wrapped her arms around my sister and pulled her into her chest like a mother would.
“Ack, Cybil, don’t be weird,” Roasia squirmed out of her embrace, playfully annoyed.
“Me; weird?” My friend grinned widely, a gleam in her blue eyes.
“Don’t do it, Cyb—“
Cybil lunged at her and dunked her under the water. She came up sputtering and returned the favor.
I smirked at them. I loved that my friends were fun and weird and playful.
There was a group of 6 of us tonight: me, Roasia, Lavender the Betas daughter, Gerald and his brother Theo, and Cybil. We were all warriors, except my sister Ro; she was training to be a priestess like our mother, the Luna of Palecrest. I was going to continue my training to be a Warden, much to my mothers dismay. She wanted me to go on to become a priestess, but she understood that that wasn’t my calling. I’ve always been “too headstrong” as she says.
The boys and Lavender walked to the edge of the dock with a case of beer and a few bottles of mead. Gerald passed one to me which I gladly accepted.
“Ew, you stink, Zur,” Lavender wrinkled her petite nose as she sat next to me on the dock. She shivered as her feet touched the cool water.
“Gotta say I have to agree with Lav on this one,” Gerald said as he sat on the other side of her. He was a tall man with a chiseled frame, super short black hair and chocolate colored skin; vastly different from the pale skinned woman sitting between us. Lavender had alabaster skin, curly blonde hair, and ocean blue eyes.
“You’re only agreeing with her cuz she’s a Beta,” I flicked some muck at him.
“Ack!” He put his hand to his chest in mock offense, “You wound me, Lady Zur.”
Lavender looped her arm around his bare shoulders and kissed his cheek, “Gotta love a kiss-ass.”
“Women!” He threw his hands up and slipped off the dock into the water making us all laugh.
Gerald was 21, a year past when we find our mates, and hadn’t found his yet. However…I have noticed him paying extra attention to Lavender lately. I wonder if they’ll be mates? Her birthday is in a few weeks, so I guess we’ll find out then. My 20th birthday was back in March and I haven’t found my mate yet, which was fine. I was in no rush, and sometimes it took a werewolf years to find their mate. It’s fine.
I watched as my friends splashed each other in the water as I popped the cork on the mead.
“Tonight,” I stood up on the dock, holding my open bottle towards the moon like I’ve seen my mother do, “we shall celebrate the full moon and the goddess Kana as she makes way for the summer, saying farewell to Ava, the spring goddess. May we find fortune and love,” I looked pointedly at Lavender, “may our cups be overflowing and our larders never dwindle. Salud !”