Sean's POV
Sean sat down on a boulder looking at the warriors training on the training field within the borders of the Black Raven pack As he watched them fight, he remembered his life before he became the Beta of the Black Raven pack. Sean had been an eager young wolf waiting to prove himself to his Alpha.
He was called into the Alpha's chambers one day and was given a secret assignment. Sean was asked to spy on Lawrence, the Beta of Black Raven.
After a few days of reconnaissance, Sean came back and reported to him. Alpha Thomas had smashed a vase that was on his table by flinging it on the floor when he heard about how close Lawrence and Jasmine had become in just a few days. He had screamed and ranted for nearly an hour about how could the Moon Goddess let it happen again and how he had to stop it. Sean felt a tug of worry in his heart when Alpha Thomas looked at him with a crazed looked in his eyes and shouted for Lawrence to be caught and brought to the packhouse.
Lawrence who had been loyal to his Alpha had never seen it coming. Never would he have imagined that his Alpha would mean him harm but that was what had transpired during the meeting between him and his Alpha. Sean grinned as he remembered the events that helped to secure his beta position in the pack.
Lawrence had always been faithful to the Black Raven Pack. He had grown up with Thomas, as his best friend, so it was only natural that on Thomas's ascension, he named Lawrence as his beta. After only a few months of becoming the Alpha of the Black Ravens, Thomas had found his mate. She was a young wolf who had been visiting from the neighbouring pack. Her father had been reluctant to allow Alpha Thomas to marry her as she was very young but Alpha Thomas had persisted and he had reluctantly agreed.
Luna Maria was beautiful and was loved by everyone, mostly by the Alpha himself. Her father had warned the Alpha to wait a few years before trying for a child as he said that she was still too young. Alpha Thomas had not listened as he was eager to prove how powerful he was as the new Alpha of the Black Ravens so he had made sure that Luna Maria became pregnant within the first couple of months of their marriage
The pregnancy had been very difficult for Luna Maria and she had been bedridden throughout her nine months. The doctors had warned the Alpha that the Luna wouldn't be able to carry the baby to a full term as she was becoming weaker day by day
The Alpha roared in anger at them and stormed into the room that his Luna laid."Why are you so weak, Maria? The doctors say that you will not be able to carry our child to full term...What is wrong with you?" he cried as he leaned over her bed
Maria turned to Thomas and laid her hand over his head."Thomas...I didn't know how to tell you this before but it seems I have to now. My mother was a....a human Thomas. I am part human, part wolf and it seems that my body is not strong enough to care for our wolf cub inside my uterus. I am sorry Thomas! I didn't mean to hide it from you....but I was so happy to have a wolf mate that I got scared you wouldn't love me if you knew." she cried. Thomas pushed her hand away as he staggered back in bewilderment. He turned and ran out of the hospital room leaving Maria crying bitterly for him.
Lawrence was the one that had found Thomas sitting alone in the middle of a forest. He had been searching for his Alpha since he saw him run out of Luna's hospital room. He sat down beside his Alpha and put his hand on his shoulder."Maria is part human, Lawrence! The doctors said that she wouldn't be able to carry my son to full term! I am going to lose my heir Lawrence...It's all because of her weak human body! How dare she, Lawrence?!! How dare she endanger my heir like that?!!" he cried on Lawrence's shoulder. They sat there in the growing darkness in silence as Thomas came to terms with the news Maria had shocked him with.
Lawrence turned to Thomas and held out his hand "Thomas! She is your mate! Who cares if she is only part wolf? She is your Luna! And she needs you. Come on Thomas!! Let's go back please"
Thomas grunted as he pulled himself up. He and his Beta slowly walked back to the hospital where he had left his Luna and his unborn cub. The hospital was abuzz with activity as they walked in. The nurses and doctor were hurrying by and nobody wanted to look the Alpha in the eyes to explain what was happening. Lawrence opened the door to Luna Maria's room but it was empty. He looked around anxiously but the nurses and doctor slunk away not knowing how to tell the Alpha the bad news.
Slowly the director of the hospital walked up to Thomas and Lawrence and stammered"Alpha Thomas....the Luna ....the Luna went into labour shortly after you left. We tried to stop it as it was too early for the cub to be born. But.....I am sorry to inform you that the cub was born dead Alpha" he cringed in fear as Alpha Thomas glowered in anger."My baby is dead! My heir?! Where is Maria? I want to see her!" he growled as he lifted the doctor by his shirt lapel so that he was eye to eye level with his Alpha.
"The Luna.....the Luna...She lost a lot of blood, Alpha! The birth was very difficult for her. We couldn't bring her back Alpha! We tried but she was too weak due to the blood loss. The Luna passed away soon after giving birth to the baby. We have wheeled her to the mortuary in the basement" he shivered as he whispered the terrible news to his Alpha. With a mighty roar, Alpha Thomas flung the doctor to the far end of the room and ran towards the lift which took them down to the basement of the hospital. Lawrence followed him closely so that he could be with his Alpha during this terrible time.
Alpha Thomas flung open the door of the mortuary. He saw two tables side by side with a white sheet covering them. He slowly walked towards the bigger one and threw the sheet back. He saw Luna Maria's body lying there like she was asleep. Thomas extended his hand to touch her face and cried out as he felt her cold clammy skin under his fingertips. He took a step back in distress when he noticed the second table. He lifted the sheet covering it and screamed as he saw his small son ...his heir....his baby lying on its back, not breathing.
"No! No! No! Why Goddess? Why did you take them?"Thomas crumpled in a heap as he cried in anguish at his loss. Lawrence held his Alpha as he railed at the Goddess for taking his mate and child away from him. He turned to Lawrence with a crazed stare and shouted "It was her useless human body, Lawrence! Her weak human body! She killed my son! My baby, Lawrence!" He raged on and on until he fell back in exhaustion.
The next few years, Alpha Thomas became a changed man. The death of his baby had made him cold and distant. He blamed Luna Maria for killing the baby. He blamed her human side for killing her as well. He had become bitter and hated seeing anyone happy and in love. He couldn't stand seeing humans as he blamed their inherent weakness for the loss of his family. He cut all ties with the human world and forced his pack to move deeper into the forest, away from human civilisation.
Lawrence kept advising him to change and to become a better Alpha to his pack, standing by Alpha Thomas throughout his years as the Black Raven's Beta
Then one day, a young human girl called Jasmine, turned up asking for help as she had become lost while hiking in the woods with her friends. Lawrence just stared at her as he felt the thundering of his heart quieten down just by looking at the girl. He felt a sense of happiness and calm as he neared her and his heart missed a beat when she looked up to smile at him. Jasmine felt the tugging of her heartstrings as a tall handsome man approached her. She had never felt like this before and the wonderment of this new feeling shined brightly in her eyes. It didn't take long for the both of them to officially become a couple. Jasmine took to the wolves secret like a duck to water. She had been an orphan so there was no one who she would really miss as she left her life in the human world to come and live with Lawrence in his pack.
The day that Lawrence introduced Jasmine to his Alpha was filled with despair as Alpha Thomas refused to bless their union." Lawrence ....how can u....my Beta, fall for the wiles of a human?" he spat out angrily as he looked down at the couple, sneering at the Jasmine.
"Fuck her... and then kill her Lawrence! Humans are inferior to us, mighty wolves! I forbid you to marry one of their snivelling kind. You, my Beta, my friend, need a strong wolf to bear your future offsprings.....not some weak worthless human !!" he laughed evilly as he signalled the other wolves to pull Lawrence and Jasmine apart.
Lawrence struggled and kicked with all his might but he was overcome by the sheer numbers of wolves of the Black Raven's Wolf Council. There were just too many of them and they managed to pull Lawrence away while a few of them carried the screaming Jasmine down to the dungeon." Dont do this Thomas! Please! Don't hurt her! She is my mate, Thomas! Please!..Just....Just let her go!" he begged as Thomas walked away from him.
It was a few days after that incident that Thomas went down into the dungeon to confront Jasmine. She was sitting down on the dirty floor wearing the same dress she had worn the day that Lawrence had brought her to see that his Alpha. Her hair was in a tangled mess and there were bruises over her arms and legs from where she was forcefully held down. A few guards came into the room with Alpha Thomas and caught hold of her, forcing her to kneel in front of their Alpha.
"What does Lawrence see in you? You, a human! You are not fit to sit with the mighty werewolves! How dare to try and take away my Beta!" he screamed into Jasmine's face as she was forced to look up at him from her kneeling position. The wolves who were holding Jasmine winced as they felt the waves of disgust emitting from Alpha Thomas's being. He bent forward as his men pull Jasmine's head to one side exposing her neck to him. The Alpha took a deep breath and swore, he pushed the guards away and marched out of the cell, rage flowing out of his veins towards Lawrence and his human mate.
Jasmine lifted her head in disdain." I do not want to sit at your table Thomas. You don't deserve to be filled with love from a mate. Lawrence and I will make our own lives together. We do not need you "she whispered through her cracked lips. Alpha Thomas stopped in his tracks. He fumed as he ground his teeth in anger." I sentence you to death, Jasmine! Death by the guillotine! I do not even want you blood to taint my pack.... let us see you try and mate my beta now!!" he roared before slamming the cell door shut and walking out of the dungeon.
Lawrence had been locked in the packhouse during the same time as Jasmine's confinement in the dungeon. He had broken all the furniture in the room as he railed and ranted at his Alpha and the rest of the pack for not allowing him to see Jasmine. He couldn't break down the door as it had been reinforced with steel. Lawrence himself had put this safety feature to prevent anyone from getting to the Alpha family in case of a rouge attack. He never thought that it would be used to keep him inside. As he sat in the middle of the room, Lawrence heard a soft scratching on the door of his room." Lawrence!Lawrence!Can you hear me? Alpha Thomas has given the order for Jasmine to be put to death this afternoon! Can you hear me?!" whispered Micheal the Omega in his pack.
"Micheal! You have to let me out of here! I have to rescue Jasmine! She is my mate, Micheal...I can't let her die"cried Lawrence as he struggled to keep his wolf at bay." I have the key Lawrence....I stole it from the guards. Move back from the door so that I can open it" he whispered. Lawrence inhaled as he heard the lock click to open. Praying that the guards were not around and they didn't hear the door open.
Micheal and Lawrence crept softly down the stairs and through the kitchen. They were met by two other wolves who had come to help Lawrence escape. Alena, a warrior wolf and her mate, Jason. Many wolves had seen what Alpha Thomas had done to Lawrence and his mate and they knew it was wrong. They could not openly defy their Alpha so they came up with a plan to aid Lawrence in his escape. The Beta had always been helpful and kind to many of the pack members so many were on his side. Suddenly they heard a scrape of a chair, coming from the games room, signalling that one of the guards was about to check on Lawrence.
Michael's eyes enlarged with fear." They will surely realise that you are not in the room. They will certainly raise an alarm after they open the door and realise that you are gone. We cannot let them know that you are not there." he whispered urgently. He pulled Jason by the collar and both of them ran upstairs to the room that the Alpha had incarcerated Lawrence in for the last week. Alena blinked in terror and gulped as she walked towards the guard who was reluctantly getting up from his videogame to go and check on Lawrence." Why Francis! I didn't know that you were on duty today. I need .....I need someone..." she purred thrusting her breasts forward and biting her bottom lip seductively.
"Alena....what are you doing here? I was just about to go and check on Lawrence." the young guard blushed as Alena put her hand on his chest pushing him back onto the chair as she straddled him."What are you doing, Alena?" asked the guard worriedly.
"Francis....just look at you! Your large muscles make me breathless...Francis....can you pretty please.....help me?" She blinked, pouting her lips seductively. She looked out of the corner of her eye to see if Micheal and Jason had managed to get to the room without being seen.
Francis looked at Alena in surprise. She had previously always ignored his advances as she was already mated to Jason, a wolf who works as an engineer in the pack. In fact, Alena had just rebuffed him yesterday when he had tried to grab her buttocks during training. Francis frowned as he remembered how Alena had shouted and embarrassed him yesterday. He was forced to run, in his human form, an extra twenty kilometres with a hundred-kilogram bag strapped to his shoulders as punishment for outraging the modesty of a fellow wolf
"What do you want Alena?" he asked with a disgruntled demeanour. He stared into Alena's eyes, grimaced and shoved her off his lap."Ouch! Francis....you didn't have to push me off, you know.....I mean....Whatever dude!! Your loss..Never again!" she huffed making a loud scene to cover up the noise of Micheal coming down the stairs.
She dusted her hands and walked stiffly into the kitchen where Lawrence was hiding. Micheal entered the kitchen and hurriedly opened the cupboard so that Lawrence could hide behind it. Micheal then poured half a bottle of bleach on the door of the cupboard. Francis peered inside the kitchen and saw Micheal and Alena pulling out two mops and a pail from the utility cupboard. Francis's nose crinkled with distaste as his nose filled up with the smell of the hypochlorite mixture. Francis sneezed and shook his head in disgust. He turned towards the stairs and slowly trudged upstairs to Lawrence's room. He scratched on the door and a muffled voice from inside shouted " Let me out! What have I done? Please let me out!"
Francis chuckled as he gave the door a kick "See Lawrence! I told you that you were going to fall someday! The mighty Beta is begging me, a nobody, to let him out! Well serves you right for shacking up with a human! Filthy creatures!" said Francis as he walked away from Lawrence's door muttering to himself.
Meanwhile the kitchen, as soon as Francis left, Micheal and Alena threw the pail back into the cupboard." The strong bleach smell will cover up Lawrence's scent. We need to leave here quickly before they find out that it's Jason. Dont worry Alena, I tied him up so no one would suspect he helped Lawrence." whispered Micheal as he opened the back door and allowing Lawrence and Alena to run quickly into the forest.
Under the cover of the thick foliage, Lawrence, Micheal and Alena ran towards the dungeon where Jasmine was held, hostage. The plan was that Alena would enter the dungeon first covering Lawrence entry. While Alena distracted the guard, Lawrence would knock him out and then they would release Jasmine. As there was only Jasmine in the dungeon currently, there was only one guard on duty. Alpha Thomas had laughed at the very notion that Jasmine could overpower a wolf to escape. Thankfully that meant that Lawrence just had to go through one guard to rescue his mate. Alena had changed her duty with another warrior to ensure that she was the one assigned to bring Jasmine to the field where she was going to be executed this afternoon.
"Oh, Lawrence! You came! I knew that you would save me! I missed you so much!" cried Jasmine as Lawrence opened the door of the cage she was in. Jasmine jumped on Lawrence kissing his face and neck in delight."Come on baby! I have missed you too but we need to leave here quickly!" Lawrence said in between kissing his mate soundly on her lips.
The four of them ran towards the border as quickly as they could. Alena turned to Micheal and shouted"Micheal! Go back to the packhouse. They will start questioning all the Omegas very soon and you need to help Jason if something goes wrong...I will take them to the border"
Lawrence shifted into his wolf and Jasmine got onto his back without him having to ask. They ran as fast as they could as they knew that the further they got from the Black Raven Pack, the better their chances of survival were. As they neared the border Alena's wolf stopped running and shifted back to her human form."Lawrence! Listen you have to hit me now. Make sure it is a good one. My life will depend on them believing that you kidnapped me until we reached the border and then you knocked me out so that I wouldn't be able to know which way you escaped"she panted out quickly.
Jasmine gasped in surprise as she realised what Alena had said was true. Her eyes teared as she turned to look at Lawrence who was warring with himself, deciding how he was going to hit this wolf who had saved both his life as well as his mate. He knew that Alpha Thomas would not let Alena live if he found out that she had anything to do with their escape. Alena wouldn't escape with them as her mate Jason was in the packhouse waiting for her.
He turned around and faced Alena. He whispered that he was sorry as he drew back his arm to punch Alena in the face. Alena didn't duck as she wanted to get hit by Lawrence. His fist hit Alena on her cheek and it caused her head to snap back making Alena fall backwards hitting the back of her head on the ground.
Alena didn't move as she laid on the ground. Jasmine, seeing Alena fall tried to catch her but Lawrence's quick reflexes pull her back...
"Don't touch her darling!! The pack will be able to smell you on her" he said as he turned to say goodbye to the home he knew all his life. A tear fell from his eye as he bent forward. His snout elongating to make way for the sharp canines that grew as he transformed into his wolf.
Jasmine jumped on Lawrence's wolf and they left the area as fast as Lawrence could run. He ran in and out of the stream just to prevent anyone from using their scent to track them. After a few weeks of running and hiding, Lawrence and Jasmine came up to a clearing where they decided to stop for a while. It was a day's walk to the nearest human settlement so Lawrence was sure that Alpha Thomas would not venture out so close to them. It was here that the couple eventually set up their home and this is where they had Alisha and lived until that fateful day that Sean's group of vicious wolves visited them.
What they did changed Alisha's life forever and started the events that would eventually lead them to the day of reckoning.