#Tara POV
The morning of my 21st birthday I woke up and leaped out of bed, propelled by the significance of this day. I darted in to the bathroom and back out again, ran to the window to fling the curtains aside, revealing a beautiful late spring morning. The sun had risen before me by a couple of hours, and the grass surrounding the Pack House was that living shade of green that could only be seen in early spring. I could see the farmers working in the fields planting crops, and squirrels assaulting my dad's bird feeders. As much as he grumbled about what a nuisance squirrels were, I think he secretly enjoyed their cleverness and uncanny ability to solve even the most sophisticated squirrel proofing technology.
"Squirrels, squirrels, squirrels," I sang, to the chorus of a Motley Crue song that rhymed. I danced around the room in circles.
"You're making me dizzy, girl!"
I heard a voice! It startled me so much I jumped and fell backwards, landing on my butt on the plush beige carpet. What in the world?
The voice sounded like it was coming from inside my head, but it was very real! I wondered if I was going crazy, or if it was some kind of trickery created by my older sister. I wouldn't put it past Talia! She was always playing jokes on me. One time she had an Amazon package greet me as I got off the school bus and follow me home. It wasn't even for me!
Talia had special gifts that allowed her to do things ordinary werewolves could not do. She only used her magic for good, and of course to mess with her kid sister. She drove me crazy with that shit. I still loved her dearly. She was not just my sister she was also my best friend, only three years older. I knew she could move objects, she got her gifts and her wolf much earlier than most, when she was 16. The only gift I seemed to have was my musical talent, but that was not exactly supernatural or magical.
I suddenly had a revelation, recalling it was my birthday. Voices in my head... wait a minute, duh! I facepalmed myself, how could I not have realized it?
"Are you my wolf?" I asked out loud, causing a chuckle to come from the source of the voice.
"Yes, I am your wolf, dear Tara. You can speak to me silently, we have a very strong bond. My name is Trinity. I am so happy to finally meet you."
Her voice was warm and kind, and I felt the love that emanated from it. Instantly I loved her back. Finally! I had my wolf!
"What a beautiful name," I told her, silently this time.
This would take some getting used to. I was always talking to myself out loud, and wondered if this would cause any communication issues between us. I wondered if she had always been able to hear me.
"Thank you, and yes I have heard you, all of your thoughts since the day you were born. I know everything that has ever happened to you. We are one, you and I, we share a consciousness."
I was delighted that the lonely feeling I often had was gone. I had my wolf now so I would never be alone! I could hardly wait for my first shift, which was going to happen this evening, and it was sure to be nothing short of amazing. The moon was going to be full so I would be able to shift on my actual birthday. This was pretty rare, most had to wait until the first full moon after their birthday.
I would shift at in a special ceremony in the clearing by the edge of the forest that surrounded our Pack Lands, the place where all pack members shifted for the first time. A small group had been working on decorating it most of the day yesterday.
I had so much to do today! I went in to my bathroom and started running a bath, adding a generous amount of my favorite scented oil. It smelled like coconut and caramel and reminded me of happy days at the beach when I was a little pup.
A memory popped in to my head, of the time I used bubble bath in my tub and turned on the jets. By the time I had grabbed a couple of candles and my phone the entire bathroom had been full of bubbles. My whole family had found this incident hysterically funny. So had I, after I got over my initial embarassment and realized that it was kind of a good way to clean the whole bathroom. I had joined in the laughter, joking that I had meant to do that, of course.
I grabbed my bathrobe, my phone, my fuzzy pink slippers, a pair of yoga pants, and a tank top to put on after my bath. My eyes stole a glance at the dress hanging on my closet door and I felt my heart skip a beat. It was beautiful, teal and white with a flowery pattern and a flowing skirt that fanned out when I spun in a circle. My mother had it specially made for me for this day. I had been longing to wear it for months now.
Something else coincided with my birthday this year, something which also excited me greatly, despite the fact that it took a lot of the attention away from me on my special day. The annual pack visit from the Lycan King, the King of all werewolves and Lycans, our "cousin" species, was tonight as well. He was set to arrive an hour or two before my shift. It was a huge deal, and everyone was scrambling to prepare the Pack House for a huge number of guests from our pack and a few of our ally packs nearby.
I remembered King Maddoc as being incredibly handsome, exuding power and confidence in a way that was somewhat intimidating.
I'd had only had one direct interaction with him, when he had stopped to listen as I played the piano many years ago. I had wandered off from the party, as I occasionally got a little overwhelmed by large crowds. All the sounds and smells had gotten to be too much, so I had sought solace in the music room, with its gleaming black baby grand piano.
He'd heard the music and had entered the room, watching me play for a while.
I hadn't noticed his presence at first, lost in the melodies that my fingers created. Then I had noticed someone watching me out of the corner of my eye, and had fallen off the bench, causing him to break out in to a smile that reached his eyes, the most beautiful smile I had ever seen. I'd stood up and bowed, face red, stammering something that was supposed to be "Your highness it is a pleasure to meet you" but came out "you are so tall!"
His smile had grown even brighter and wider, and he had chuckled a little. His voice was gentle as he told me, "you play beautifully, young pup."
I had been so nervous, thanking him, fighting the urge to fidget as I stood with my head bowed respectfully.
"Do not fear me, I promise, I do not bite. What is your name, little one?" I had stuttered out my name, "T...Tara, your highness, I am Beta William's pup, of the Blue Moon Pack."
"Ah, yes! William had mentioned having a daughter with musical talent. Allow me to introduce myself. I am The Lycan King, Alpha Maddoc of the Moon Shadow Lycan Kingdom."
At twelve, I had been well aware of how incredible it was to meet the King and have a one on one conversation. And he had complimented my playing! He'd told me he wished he could stay and listen longer, but, "duty calls, and I must return to the guests. Keep playing piano, young Tara. I look forward to hearing you play again some day."
Then he had disappeared, and I had run off to find Talia and tell her all about it.
Most young she wolves had crushes on His Highness. It was hard not to, he was incredible to look at. Tall, six feet six inches, helooked like he worked out all day every day. He had light brownish hair and features that rivaled any leading A-list actor in Hollywood. He was also a Lycan, powerful, which made him even hotter. He was something of a celebrity among all of the werewolf packs.
Talia and I had squealed and giggled about it like the tween pups we were back then, and I had fallen asleep that night thinking of the encounter, feeling a strange stirring within me and thinking things I was embarrassed to be thinking about.
I dreamed of him for weeks after, and every once in a while I still saw his face in my dreams. I told no one, figuring that I would be laughed at.
Pulling myself from my thoughts with the help of my wolf, who told me the bath water was not going to stay warm forever, I hopped in to the tub. I soaked happily, pampering myself shamelessly. Trinity and I chatted inside my head constantly, like two best friends who had been separated for ages. I discovered that my wolf had a playful nature and a sense of humor just like me.
My thoughts again wandered to the Lycan King, and the party he and I would be sharing, in a sense. I wondered how that would work. Would he understand that we had to leave the party for an hour or so and go to a special place for my shift? Would he think that we were being disrespectful, leaving his presence? Did he know it was my birthday? Would he be a witness to it? Trinity seemed to find my anxiety amusing, rolling around and snorting with laughter.
"Tara, I think you have a crush on the Lycan King!" She teased me.
"Who doesn't? I bet you would have a crush on his wolf if you saw him." I teased her right back, sure it was the truth.
"As if. I want only my fated mate, dear." She huffed at me.
As did I. I had messed around with a couple of he wolves, but nothing serious. There was Sean, who I dated for a couple years. At the time I was 16, he was 19. He was nice, we had some good times. When he shifted and found his mate, we ended the relationship. His mate was actually a friend of mine, Sherry, who had a human mother and a werewolf father.
I had been saddened by how many had pressured him to reject her, even some members of his own family, because she was not a product of two werewolves. She was half human. Others argued that Moon Goddess made no mistakes. I agreed with that.
He had refused to reject her, and they were very happy. They had two pups and lived in Blue Moon, the town surrounding the Pack House.
And there was, of course, my stalker, Jake, Alpha-son of the Moonshine Pack. Ugh. I pushed that thought aside, still preoccupied with my shift, and not surprisingly, King Maddoc.
He had to have shifted for the first time at some point. Would he remember how important the first shift was? His first shift had been so long ago. he was older, rumored to be almost 200 years old, which I suppose was not that old in Lycan terms. They could live for millennia. Some said they were immortal, that they could be killed but not easily. Werewolves healed quickly, and Lycans even faster. Some said they could live forever if left in peace. Werewolves could live a long time too, the oldest of our kind was said to be many centuries old. At 21, which was considered the age of adulthood in werewolf culture, I would still seem a pup to most. So my silly crush on King Maddoc was just that, silly.
It was rumored that he still hadn't found his fated mate. That was one of the reasons for his yearly visits to packs throughout the kingdom. He was searching for his mate, as well as trying to keep the peace among the packs. The visits and their associated parties brought the packs together and had us interacting with one another, so usually some lucky werewolves found their mates at the events. This happened because they simply happened to run in to someone from their own pack they had not encountered, or had recently come of age. More often it would be someone from a different pack.
"And sometimes one might meet a mate who has come of age since the last event!" My wolf! Trinity was teasing me relentlessly about my alleged crush on King Maddoc. I told her to stop being silly. There was no way he would be mated to a little she wolf like me, his mate was probably some incredibly exotic Lycan female, powerful and beautiful, with a lot more world experience than me. I had barely ventured beyond the pack borders.
Would I find my mate at the celebration tonight? So many possibilities, it was overwhelming compared to my usual routine. I had always been introverted and preferred to sit in my hammock swing and read, or play my beloved piano, or practice with my band if I had one at the time. It was rare to find me at a big party unless I happened to be in a band and we were hired to play. I had been in several bands, but had yet to find the right group. I could sing, play piano, guitar, and drums, but all of these
instruments on stage at once? Not possible, I needed bandmates. It would fall together in time, I supposed. I was just shy, unless I was on stage. Once I started performing, the shyness always disappeared, only to come back with a vengeance once the performance was done.
I had friends, don't get me wrong, it wasn't that I didn't like the company of others. I just had anxiety issues. It seemed I was very sensitive to pretty much everything, and sometimes large groups could trigger a panic attack. I know, a pack animal with social anxiety. Leave it to me to have a personality trait that contradicted with my instincts.
Trinity snorted her laughter at this thought. "I don't have anxiety so no need to worry, I will always protect you and those you love."
I felt lucky to have such an amazing wolf. I couldn't wait to see what she looked like! I wondered if she would have white blonde hair like mine? My sister and I both had white blonde hair, when we were kids people always said it would darken as we got older but it never did.
Talia and I both had dad's features, bright blue-green eyes and full lips that always looked pink. My mom often said she wished that she had lips like Dad because it would save her a fortune on lipstick. Not that she couldn't afford it, my dad was Beta to our pack's Alpha. My mom ran a dating service that aimed to help werewolves find their mates. It was called "Where Wolves." The name had been my idea, ever the comedian, was I.
Funny, and cute, to boot, I thought as I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I hoped I wouldn't look too different after my first shift. Usually, though, we came back from the first shift looking even better than before, and it was a well known general rule that werewolves were almost always attractive.
My dream was to be a rock star, a long shot, for sure, I would be happy to get a band together and perform even of we never got famous. I believed that music could be a way for us to connect to all species, especially humans.
They were so wary of us, always afraid we would take over, like we would some day use our strength and magic to enslave them. Such a paranoid bunch. There was no reason for us to be at odds with one another. We meant them no harm. The only humans I ever knew to be harmed by werewolves were caught in the act of hurting another human or a werewolf pup. It was strange that humans would often rally behind the attacker in these cases, if he or she managed to survive the misfortune of getting caught by a werewolf while harming a defenseless, innocent creature.
Humans were weird like that. Sometimes they even turned against each other because of something as arbitrary as skin color. In light of that, it made sense that they would discriminate against a whole other species. Some of them claimed we were aliens from another planet, which I thought was hilarious because we were actually here on earth before they were, and in reality they were brought here from some other galaxy long ago, according to the werewolf account of our history.
Many of them believed we were a figment of the imagination, at least until they met one in real life. Or in rare cases, were the fated mate to one. What a shock that would be if you had no idea! "Hey, what's your sign? And by the way I can transform into a wolf. Wanna hang out this weekend?" Trinity chortled at my thoughts as I hoped with all my heart that I would not ever have to have that conversation. Ever.
Humans did make some pretty humorous movies about us. I was a fan of Teen Wolf, the original with Michael J Fox. It was one of my all time favorites, always making me laugh. I had never seen any of the Twilight movies, but I heard they were pretty good. I wasn't sure about vampires, I hadn't seen one and didn't know of anyone who had. That didn't mean they couldn't be real, if werewolves and magical powers existed, vampires couldn't be ruled out.
Humans believed in all kinds of strange things, like the Easter Bunny, I was sure that was nonsense.
"I ate the Easter Bunny," Trinity informed me, I guess that settled that! My bloodthirsty, bunny munching wolf. Her sense of humor was great.
"And that little Bo Peep? She didn't lose those sheep. I ate ALL OF THEM!"
I begged her to stop, my stomach hurt as I shook with laughter. "stop, just stop!"
I thought again of the Lycan King, as I put on my chill around the pack house outfit and got ready to head downstairs for breakfast, where my family would be waiting for me. All but my dad, being Beta he would be busy all day. Our Alpha took security very seriously during these visits. Not because he was afraid of King Maddoc, but because of the attention he brought. As a King, he always had a target on his back. I guess I could understand that, but he seemed so polite and gentle when I met him that time. Why would anyone want to kill him?
Trinity quipped, "He's the big bad wolf," which had me holding my sides again, both of us snorting with laughter. "I couldn't eat all those sheep by myself!"
The big bad wolf, coming to my party, I told myself, although my birthday happening to fall on the day of his visit and celebration was just coincidence. It was not like the whole pack was throwing a party for little old me. I mean, they were, but my rank as Beta's daughter would not have warranted such a grand celebration as the one happening tonight, but I could pretend. It was, after all, my birthday. A big bad Lycan would make a great present, and a girl can always dream.