Prologue: Ancient Text Translated by Tess Ricklin
During the age of creation, the young and curious moon goddess descended from the heavens to earth. There she got to see the wonders of life, and the world her people resided over. She fell in love with life, and life fell in love with her. She watched the animals' life cycles curiously, since she had no cycle herself. Everything in the heavens was unchanging, but on earth, nothing stayed the same for long. She watched as humans grew, fell in love, had babies, and then died. During her travels she befriended five animals, who ended up joining her. These friends were the first she gifted with the ability to shift. The five original shifters were a sea otter, a tortoise, a panther, an arctic hare, and a wolf.
News spread throughout the animal kingdom about the moon goddesses' gift, and creatures traveled from far and wide to get a blessing from her. She gifted any animal that wanted it, with the ability to shift at will. These new shifters formed a city and lived in harmony together. The city grew, and soon the moon goddesses' five friends became her knights and helped her rule the kingdom. Fearing this growing kingdom, humans attacked. During the battle the moon goddess disappeared and was never seen again. In her honor, the shifters planted a tree where she first stepped on the earth and watered it with their tears. These tears gave the tree magical abilities, and many believed that the tree would guide the moon goddess home.
Chapter 1: Eudora
The carriage thumps over the uneven road jerking me around as I try to look out the rain soaked windows, impatiently waiting for our destination to come into view. I giggle with joy when I finally spot a castle-like school in the distance. I'm nervous, but excited to finally be attending Tremont Academy. I rub my locket hoping it will bring me good luck in my new adventure. It is ironic that on such a happy day it is raining.
After graduating high school, all shifters and children of shifters, who we call non-shifters, have to serve four years in the military for the Ruling Pack. In the shifter empire, there are five Kingdoms, which are each composed of many packs. Each pack has an alpha and each kingdom has a high-alpha. Ruling over all of the kingdoms is the Emperor. He lives in the Ruling Pack, which doesn't belong to any of the kingdoms.
After serving in the military, a lucky few get invited to attend Tremont Academy, which sits on the border of the Forest Kingdom and the Ruling Pack. Tremont Academy was founded to refine the unique skills some shifters have. For most of the school's history, it has only been for shifters, but 50 years ago, due to the influx of non-shifters having special abilities, they started allowing non-shifters to attend. Many of these non-shifters are descendants or children of shifters, who never got an animal half. No one knows for sure all of the things that the school teaches, but politics, economics, and magic are among the courses they offer. This is the school that I am about to start attending.
When my brother and his best friend Aren got their acceptance letters, I knew I had to get in too. I wasn't going to let them leave me behind again, like when they left for the military. Jayden and Aren are one year older than me, so they left to serve before I did. We had 3 years in the military that overlapped, but unfortunately we were stationed in different packs. I was stationed with an all female troop, while my brother was lucky enough to be stationed with Aren in the Ruling Pack. Aren, Jayden and I grew up together, since his father worked closely with ours. Aren's father is the ambassador from the Desert Kingdom, and my father is the High-Alpha of the Forest Kingdom. Everyday while we were growing up, Aren, Jayden, and I would be tutored and trained together. Though we've kept in touch through letters, I haven't seen either of them in five years.
The carriage begins to slow, and I can see a figure standing under the canopy of the front door of my new dorm building. The carriage pulls over, and I can make out the dark hair and playful grin of my brother. I fling open the carriage door and sprint towards him, leaping into his arms. I can't help but notice how tall he is as he spins me around before putting me down and looking me over.
"You're not so scrawny anymore." He states.
"Four years in the military filled me out." I respond. The last time he saw me, I was a skinny and frail 16 year old. During my time in the military, I managed to put on some weight and muscle. My figure was now full and curvy.
"It's so good to see you dear!" My mother's voice comes from beside me. I look back to see my father talking to the movers, directing them where to take my stuff.
"Hi mom." Jayden leans forward and kisses our mom on the cheek. Mom takes this opportunity to pull him into a tight hug. Jay takes after our mom in looks. She is tall with dark hair and a kind smile. Our father is slightly shorter than her with a thick beard and brown hair. When I was a kid, I was jealous of how much Jay looks like our mother. Everyone could tell at a glance that he belonged where as I, with long silver hair and piercing purple eyes, don't look anything like either of my parents.
"Promise me you'll take care of your sister." Mom demands, still holding him tightly.
"Don't worry mom, she's in safe hands with me. No guy will even think about talking to her here."
Mom looks even more worried now, "You know that is not what I meant! I don't think you need to go to extremes. She does need to meet young men at some point." Mom never liked how sheltered dad kept me. She was worried it would impair my social development.
"Nonsense, our Eudora doesn't need to be talking to any boys until she is of age." Dad steps into the conversation clapping me on the back.
Mom takes a step towards dad and brushes her hand down his arm in a comforting way. "Eudora will be coming of age in two months when she turns 22, don't you think she should have some prospects before the mate strings appear. She shouldn't be going into matehood without ever talking to a man. We want her to have some experience, so she will be able to make good and informed choices."
"You have a point dear, but she has talked to a guy." My father responds and puts his arm around her.
"Her brother doesn't count." Mother retorts.
"Sure he does, and she's talked to Aren." Dad turns and directs his next question to Jayden, "Where is Aren by the way?" I was wondering the same thing. I was expecting Aren to be here to greet me with Jayden.
"Aren wanted to be here, but he is helping our new roommates get settled. We were placed with three 1st years. They will be in your class, Ora." Jayden says, making me smile at his use of my childhood nickname.
"Oh, that will be nice. Three men the same age as Eudora. You can introduce her." I agree with my mom that I should get some dating experience before I come of age, but she is sometimes a little too focused on finding eligible men for me. The closer I get to my 22nd birthday, the more she pushes dad to let me socialize. She's terrified that if I don't know any guys, I won't have any mate strings. I am not sure where this fear comes from, since mate strings can still appear with people you meet after you come of age. Though, I do want to date, I think, but it is so embarrassing when she encourages me to talk to every guy she meets my age.
One time, on a rare outing into the city, my mom tried to set me up with the seamstress' nephew. The poor guy looked so uncomfortable as my mom, the High-Luna, asked him hundreds of personal questions. Luckily for him, my dad prevented me from ever being able to go out with him.
"And what is Ryland up to?" My father asks about my brother's other friend. Jay met Ryland his first year at the Academy in shifting class. Ryland, Aren and Jayden are the three most powerful shifters in the school, and so of course they spent a lot of time together and grew close. Aren and Jay wrote me letters filling me in on their shenanigans at school. They kept their stories pg, but my mom told me Ryland is a flirt with a trail of heartbroken women behind him.
"Who knows?" Jayden responds "Probably terrorizing the new girls. That guy would flirt with a rock if there were no women around."
"Well I'm sure he will be respectable to our Eudora." My father gruffly responds.
"Sure he will dad." Jayden responds sarcastically, then he quickly turns to me before our father can say anything. "You ready to go up? Your roommates might already be there."
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be." I respond.
"Do you have a class schedule yet?" Mom inquires and I roll my eyes at her switch from telling dad I've grown, to treating me like a child.
"No mom, I have to go through placement testing first." I answer.
"Okay sweetie. I love you. Are you sure you have everything? Do you have enough underwear?" Mom pulls me in for a hug that lasts a little too long.
"Come on sweetheart. You have to let her go. She needs to settle into her new room. Besides Jayden, Aren, and Ryland will make sure she's looked after." Dad says reassuringly.
Mom reluctantly releases me from the hug, but she takes my hands in hers and looks me in the eye, "You call me if you need anything at all."
"I will."
"I love you."
"I love you too." I pull away from my mom, and Jayden and I start walking towards the front door. Just as we enter, I glance back to see tears in my mothers eyes. She's always had a hard time saying goodbye, and I know she's already planning on writing me tons of letters. As we enter my suite, I prepare myself to meet my roommates, but none of them seem to be here. Our suite has three bedrooms, a common room, a small kitchen, bathroom, and a study room tucked away in the back. Each of the rooms is a double, so there will be six girls total sharing this space. On the door of the room closest to the study room, I find a door tag with my name on it. Beside it is another tag with the name 'Gia'. Jayden and I enter it together leaving the door open behind us. All of the boxes I brought have already been placed on one side of the room. The other side has a pile of boxes I do not recognize.
"Well, this is it." Jayden says "My suite is only one story up if you need anything. It's suite 303. I'm going to head up now to meet my new suitemates."
I nod and smile, giving Jayden one last hug. "Have fun! I'll see you at dinner."
With that, Jayden walks out of my room and a sudden loneliness takes over. At our estate, I had never been alone. There was always a maid or a footman bustling around. Then in the military we were in barracks, which made any alone time impossible. Now for the first time, I take a deep breath and I settle into the silence of my empty suite.
The silence does not last long, though. Only about 15 minutes into unpacking my stuff, a light knock on the door catches my attention. Looking up, I see the most beautiful woman I have ever seen standing in the doorway. She is tall with fiery red hair and legs for days.
"Hello! You must be Eurdora." She exclaims. "I'm Gia." She states while tapping her name tag on the door with one of her long perfectly manicured nails.
I stand up, brushing my hands down my skirt. "Yes, I'm Eudora. It's nice to meet you." I hold my hand out to her.
She ignores my hand and draws me in for a hug. She squeezes me tightly before releasing me and stepping back. "It's so nice to meet you too. We are going to be best friends, I can already tell. I have a good sense for these things. My mom is a human and my dad is a shifter. I ended up being a non-shifter, but my mom thinks I have a magic sense for things like relationships. In my pack in the Desert Kingdom, the Alpha always asks me to assess couples before they get mated." She giggles out the last sentence. "Oh sorry, I am a talker. So what about you?"
I smile, I also have a feeling we are going to be best friends—I don't really think I have much of a choice with this one. "I am not as much of a talker as you, but I've been known to say a paragraph or two at a time."
"Oooh good to know. I may be a talker, but I'm also a good listener, so anything you want to chat about, my ears are open. Really, I'm just a conversationalist! So what Kingdom are you from?" She asks.
"I am from the Forest Kingdom" I respond and then continue to unpack. Gia continues to tell me about her home life and her time in the military while we unpack our boxes and set up our new room. I chime in a time or two, but I don't really share much. Once my final box has been emptied, I hear my stomach growl.
"Do you happen to know where the dining hall is? I am famished after that car ride and unpacking."
"Yes, let's get some dinner together." Gia loops her arm in mine. Seems like she's not just a talker, but a toucher too. We exit our room into the common area just as three other girls enter from the main door. The girl leading the trio is tall, with long sleek blonde hair and golden eyes. The girl on her left is curvy with tanned skin and cropped curly hair. The girl on her right has short black hair that falls just past her chin.
The blonde in the middle looks us up and down then lets out a breath. "Well thank goddess you two look normal. I would hate to have to share a space with some weirdos. I'm Madison by the way," She flips her hair over her shoulder and nods at the curvy girl to her left, "this is Camilla," she then nods her head at her other friend "and this is Olivia."
"I'm Gia! And this is Eudora." Gia excitedly responds.
Madison continues as if Gia hadn't said anything at all. "It's really too bad someone like me has to share a living space at all. As long as you weak non-shifters stay out of my way, I'm sure you'll make it to graduation." She looks down at us like we are gum on her shoe.
Seeing the confusion on my face, one of her lackeys— Camilla I think—chimes in: "Madison is the only female shifter at the school. That means she gets first pick on mates and she's going to be the next High-Luna of the Forest Kingdom."
"You're going to be the next High-Luna? You're mated to Jayden?" I ask, even more confused. I would have thought my mom or my brother would tell me if he had a girlfriend let alone already went through a mating ceremony.
"They aren't mated yet, but they will be soon." Camilla snaps back. And with that, Madison and her lackeys push past us into the room.
"Damn, who put a stick up her ass?" Gia whispers to me. "Aren't you from the Forest Kingdom? Is she really dating your future High-Alpha?"
"I don't know, but I really don't think so." I respond. If my brother was dating that girl, I was definitely going to have to talk to him about it.