Miakoda is a young werewolf, but so different from all others in her pack and not in a good way. She have not been able to shift ever before, have not been able to find her mate nor companionship from others. But it all changes, when her working colleague offers her her friendship and a chance to go on a 'risky' trip with other youngsters. Their journey takes them to the far edge of the pack's territory, where Miakoda finally gets her answers. It should be a happiest day of her life, but it turns out for worst - a nightmare she will never be able to erase from her memory, nor probably, from her future life. She have become a part of an old tale and a part of a doom for her own pack.
"Once upon a time, in a deep, deep and dark forest lived a king. His land filled with sorrow and fear, his heart – black as his eyes. It is said, that everyone, who enters his domain, vanishes from existence, disappears from this world, from hearts of kin, from memories of people they lived with, to never be remembered again nor grieved for. He spends his days in a thick, fog filled woods and waits for his next encounter with his prey or something else.
He waits patiently, as death stands by his side, for someone to come, to wake him up from a long slumber, that he have spent half of his life. He knows, that he will rise again, for those who need him."
"For those who need him." All the kids chanted in a whisper simultaneously.
"RRaaRRRR!" a young teacher, called Silver, growled through the whole room, scaring children and making them scream in fright. ?Scared you all?" she laughed.
"Stop, Silver. They won't sleep at night, because of you. They are too small for such scary stories." I said.
"It is not a scary story, but an old tale." Megan – our oldest nanny stepped in.
"Why do we bother to tell them these 'tales'? What can our little pups learn from them? It is just a bunch of lies elders tell us, while we grow up." Silver could not help, but voice her opinion.
Megan sat in her rocking chair, with a book in her lap, but a tale she told came from her memory. When I was young I heard it too. Everybody knows, since they are little, but it is not written anywhere. It is embedded in our memory like a rule to obey. But none of us know a meaning behind it.
"Every tale has a bit of truth in it, Silver.... Miakoda." Megan's pale blue eyes were set on both of us. ?So do this."
"What is it?" I eagerly watched her and waited for Megan's answer.
?I wish you young wolfs to never know it. To never see that day to come." she eyed all of us in a room – me, Silver, and other 20 children.
"Megan... now you are scaring US." Silver said sarcastically.
"You are right, it is just a tale. You don't need to worry about anything, as we are a part of Clawed Moon pack and our Alpha Kodiak always protect us." Megan changed her mood in seconds and we all got our attention back to kids.
I am working in a kindergarten and look out for young pups of our pack. Just some of them. There are a lot more, as our 'family' is a biggest on this side of the country.
Alpha Kodiak's parents and his grandparents have worked hard to make a Clawed Mood pack the strongest and fiercest over many years. Now days, nobody dares to even look in our way, that is to cause trouble. Everyone is afraid to even come close.
I for myself have never experienced any collision with another aggressive werewolf group. Our generation is so lucky to live in piece. Our territory is very big and I live right in it's center. No one gets near us.
My thoughts are interrupted by Silver: ?Are you excited about a mating ball happening this summer?"
Her name fits her perfectly, as her wolf form is pure silvery gray. She is able to shift from a very early age, unlike me. In 21 year time, I have not shifted even once. I start to question myself, if I am able to do it at all? Am I even a werewolf?
I am.
I experience everything else, of what a wolf would feel or sense, but only just that small thing, which is so important to a young wolf, is denied of me. What need to happen in order for me to shift? A world needs to go upside down? I thought sarcastically.
You would think that Silver is my friend, but it is not. We are only working colleagues, nothing else connects us. She is in a group of popular youngsters, and I am not. I do not have talents to show people and I am unable to join them in our werewolf activities – running through the woods, enjoying freedom, play- fighting. All of their activities involves a shifted werewolf. As I am not, they even hardly notice me.
Sometimes I feel like a failure. And her question about a mating ball makes me depressed even more. Do I even have a point to go? I have been attending it for couple of years now, but I still haven't found my mate. It feels the same, like my problem with shifting. Is he even out there? I would expect to meet him, as everybody from our territory is attending a ball every year. Neighboring packs come too and I have not met anyone, who would spark my interest in a way everyone with a mate is describing it.
"Not really." I feel my mood go down.
"Why? You might finally meet him, your true love, your soulmate, your other half." She made a pose of imagination it, her eyes closed as she dreamed about a mate.
"I don't know. Honestly, I think he does not exist."
"Why so pessimistic? Off course he does. Moon goddess have taken care of it. Everybody has his other half somewhere. Have some faith in her."
"I will try."
"You do!" Silver ordered.
I wish we could be closer. She is a nice girl, but outside of work all her attention is on her mates – packmates. I feel kind of lonely.
I look at Silver and feel little bit jealous, but happy for her at the same time. She have found her mate two years ago, even before attending a mating ball. This year will be her first, but.... she don't have to look for her soulmate, as she is already with him.
He is the same age as me and his name is Derek. Same cheerful guy as Silver. She looks so happy, when I see her with him and when she thinks of Derek.
Such a lucky girl.
In one hour my work shift ends and I will be free to go home. I love to spend time in my little log house. It is near the thick woods, isolated from a hustle of this town. Rarely somebody goes there, so all nature is for me alone. I spend hours just walking through that forest, enjoying and feeling every little detail of this 'magical' world. Birds chirping in a tree tops, bees buzzing near colorful spring flowers, sound of twigs snapping under my feet, a dew and slightly chill air in early mornings. I feel it it all, like my senses are heightened just being there. I feel so different, compared to, what I experience in city. Among the traffic of crowds of people, my senses seem to be dulled. I don't know why is that. I have asked some other werewolfs, but none of them experience things that I do. I am so different, like a black sheep I feel here, totally out of place between these people – werewolfs.
Parents of children are slowly coming to pick them up and take them home. Silver is in a hurry to leave and Megan will surely stay behind, as she always takes her time to finish her job.
I walk in to a bathroom to fix my thick brown hair. For a whole day they have been tied up and I can't wait to let them loose. I look at myself and can't help but imagine how my wolf form would look like. Probably generic grey coat or maybe earthly brown, like my hair. I can't wait for that day to come. It will be special.
As I drag my fingers through my wavy locks, I notice few strands of hair on my left temple have changed color to pure white. What is happening? I am sure that I am not so old to get my first grey's. I examine them closer, feeling little bit disturbed. They are not grey, I see, but pure white through all it's length. Felling uneasiness set, I pull them out, one by one, all five of them, in hopes to never see this sight again.
Thea's dreams have come true. She has her new love, new husband and a new life, but not everything is perfect. Being thrown in to a world so different, than she had ever experienced, brings new problems in her life, more worries, which will need to be overcome to keep her happiness and her family together. Becoming a queen is the complete opposite of what she was before. She is happy, but for how long will it last? Thea will have to endure - with help of others or completely alone. Will this be a journey of her life, that will break or make her stronger?
I felt a slight pressure applied around my waist. First, I didn't pay attention to it, as my whole focus was on nearly dying girl in front of me. It got tighter and I felt a warmth of air hit my abs through fabric. My gaze fell on the unknown source nearly under me. Laura. Her hands wrapped around me, her face buried in to the fabric covering my stomach. I felt her hot breath hitting me hard, her small form shaking. It appeared to me, that she was crying, her sobs - silent. "Please! Let her go.... Don't be sad......" she squeezed me tighter. Sad? I was not..... My head moved up. In the dark brown glass decor, I saw my face. I felt mad, angry and all kind of other emotions, but the only one visible was the sorrow and pain. The expression I have never seen on myself before. It looked so foreign, I looked so strange in my own eyes. "Please don't kill my friend, Bryce! ..... Please.....please..... please stop it...." From the shock, I released Sharlene's ...
After a traumatic, virus infected, robot attack, Kyra has to live with her father's purchased android bodyguard. Her life long fear of robots does not make it any easier, as she have to spend all her time with this strange 'man'. He is perfect. Everyone seems to fall in love with him. But there is something more to him. What if he is not just a simple machine. Kyra notices, he is not so perfect as everyone thinks. He is acting strange and does weird things, that Kyra cannot rationalize. Time passes and it seems he is getting worse. Is she safe from her own bodyguard? What is happening to her robot? And what meaning she has in his life?
"See, she is totally disobedient. You are gonna regret, if you take her." his old man said again. He didn't answer him. He bent down, little bit closer to me and pulled some strands of my hair away, to get a better look at me. My eyes were shut tight. Please, not me, not me. I was chanting in my head. He curved his smooth fingers around my chin and pulled it lightly, in attempt to make face him. As I did not, he took a stronger hold of it and forcefully made me finally look at him. "I said, look at me!" his voice was more threatening than before. I opened my blue, teary eyes and finally looked at the boy, who was bugging me.
Katie was forced to marry Dillan, a notorious ruffian. Her younger sister mocked her, "You're just an adopted daughter. Count your blessings for marrying him!" The world anticipated Katie's tribulations, but her married life unfurled with unexpected serenity. She even snagged a lavish mansion in a raffle! Katie jumped into Dillan's arms, credited him as her lucky charm. "No, Katie, it's you who brings me all this luck," Dillan replied. Then, one fateful day, Dillan's childhood friend came to her. "You're not worthy of him. Take this 50 million and leave him!" Katie finally grasped Dillan's true stature—the wealthiest man on the planet. That night, trembling with trepidation, she broached the subject of divorce with Dillan. However, with a domineering embrace, he told her, "I'd give you everything I have. Divorce is off the table!"
"Never let anyone treat you like shit!" I learned that the hard way. For three years, I lived with my in-laws. They didn't treat me as their son-in-law but as a slave. I put up with everything because of my wife, Yolanda Lambert. She was the light of my life. Unfortunately, my whole world came crashing down the day I caught my wife cheating on me. I have never been so heartbroken. To have my revenge, I revealed my true identity. I was none other than Liam Hoffman—the heir of a family with trillions of dollars in assets! The Lamberts were utterly shocked after the big reveal. They realized what fools they had been for treating me like trash. My wife even knelt down and begged for my forgiveness. What do you think I did? Did I take her back or made her suffer? Find out!
Traversing back to the ancient Prime Martial World from modern age, Austin finds himself in a younger body as he wakes up. Yet, the young man he possesses was a miserable dimwit, what a bummer! But it doesn’t matter as his mind is sound and clear. Possessing this younger and stronger body, he will fight his way to become the God of martial arts, and rule the whole Martial World!
After a heated confrontation with her husband and mistress, Brianna was pushed down to stairs. She thought she would die but when she woke up again, she realized that she traveled back two years ago, when it was not late for her to correct her path. The first thing she needed to do when she was reborn was divorce that scum. She saved from the darkest time but he lied to her and murdered her in the end. This time, she would not repeat the same mistakes anymore. She would bring the glory of her family back and make those people who betrayed her pay the price! However, in the process of climbing up to the peak of her career, she met a very intimidating and handsome man who kept on messing with her head through his bold attitude. Brianna doesn't want to be involved with another man again, for she has proven to herself that they will just drag her down, but her constant incidents with him are slowly breaking the wall she built to protect her heart. Brianna will surely choose her career over a man this time, but it's possible to choose both, right? What if he hurt her too? No! She won't risk it but. "You have to run away from me, Bree. Coz I'm done running away, I'll chase you now."
When they were kids, Derek saved Norah's life. Years later, after Derek ended up in a vegetative state from a car crash, Norah married him without a second thought and even used her medical knowledge to heal him. For two years, Norah was devoted, seeking his affection and looking to settle her life-saving debt. But when Derek's first love returned, Norah, faced with divorce, didn't hesitate to sign. Despite being labeled as forsaken, few knew of her true talents. She was a race car driver, a famed designer, a genius hacker, and a renowned doctor. Regretting his decision, Derek begged for her forgiveness. Just then, a charming CEO intervened, embracing Norah and declaring, "Back off! She's my wife!" Taken aback, Norah blurted out, "What did you say?"
Belinda thought after divorce, they would part ways for good - he could live his life on his own terms, while she could indulge in the rest of hers. However, fate had other plans in store. "My darling, I was wrong. Would you please come back to me?" The man, whom she once loved deeply, lowered his once proud head humbly. "I beg you to return to me." Belinda coldly pushed away the bouquet of flowers he had offered her and coolly replied, "It's too late. The bridge has been burned, and the ashes have long since scattered to the wind!"