Anja

I was banished that night with no possessions and no help from anyone, banished and disowned. Either I left right there and then, or they would literally tear me apart. The only thing I took with me was my sister.

Why did I take her?

Because it would only have been a matter of time before the King found out the truth.

You see, my mother, it seems, couldn’t help herself when it came to handsome men, even other shifters, shifters with different animal abilities. She fooled the King into thinking that I was his cub; how she did that, I don’t know. Not with the King’s ability to sense a shifter even when they’re wearing a glamour to hide their true selves.

However, I know my mother was powerful, an Alpha in her own right. She was strong and commanded attention from everyone around her, and as Queen, she wasn’t afraid to show people who was boss.

Perhaps, my mother had someone help her hide who I was, even from the King?

I guess I’ll never know.

My mother took something from me when she kept my true identity to herself. I spent my life not knowing who I was, and I doubt I will ever know who I really am. I should be angry with my mother for what she did, but I can’t find it in me to do so.

Dania spent her life not knowing who she was either, and that hurts. She’s three years old, and I guess being the age she is, it won’t be such an adjustment for her if she finds out who she is now.

I have no idea how I’d go about helping her find out any such thing, but I’d be willing to try for her. I’d do anything for Dania.

‘She doesn’t need to know right now, Anja. All Dania needs is love and care and her family. You cannot take care of such a young child when you don’t even have a home to go to.’ 

Asha, the voice inside my head is right, but the thought hurts me deeply. I only want the best for my sister, just as I know my mother did.

My aunt, my mother’s sister, Madaline, grabbed my arm as I ran from that circle. There was much shouting, bears roaring, and the smell of anger was rife.

My mother had died giving birth to Dania; even her inner bear couldn’t save her from her fate. My aunt told me to take Dania, that she wasn’t the King’s cub either. In fact, she wasn’t a cub at all because Dania’s father was human.

Of course, I couldn’t believe it to be true; the King would have sensed it; he could sense a human from three miles away. However, Madaline assured me that it was very true, and why would I question it when I was so very obviously not the King’s cub, and he hadn’t sensed that either?

That’s when Madaline told me that Dania was utterly human, that not even the bear was strong enough to live inside of her. There was something powerful inside of my sister, and it was in no way the animal inside the rest of us.

How could she know this before Dania’s shift night?

Which, of course, wouldn’t be for many years to come.

Madaline had taken Dania to Marla, the wise one, a spiritual leader. She did all her usual rituals and concluded that Dania did not possess the bear, nor did she possess any other animal either.

I said nothing; I just ran to my room, changed into jeans and a t-shirt, then I rushed to Dania’s room, lifted her into my arms, and ran for it.

I had no right to take her; the King knows not that Dania is neither his child nor a shifter. Now I’m being hunted because the King wants Dania back. My older brother and the future King of the Kulumi pack, Brody is hot on my trail. Nothing will stop him from finding me, killing me, and taking Dania back to the King.

But I know what will happen when the King finds out the truth about his youngest child, and I can’t let that happen, not to my little sister.

This is why we’re hiding out in the forest belonging to the wolf shifters. I thought we’d at least be safe here until I could figure out what to do. Yes, bears sometimes wander into wolf territory, never to be seen again. However, I’m not a bear – Goddess; I’m not a bear! – and I figured the wolves wouldn’t be able to sniff me out right away.

But I was wrong.

I was hunting food for Dania and me when she was spotted. Dania may be human, but bears raised her. She was hungry, and not having food on tap like usual has been hard for her.

Dania can’t just walk into the kitchen at home and have Gloria make a sandwich for her anymore. She’s confused and scared, and she ended up running away from me. I wasn’t quick enough to stop her.

By the time I found Dania, two men had already spotted her. I didn’t wait for them to get close enough to touch her.

Goddess only knows what they thought of Dania; she looked like a wild animal shovelling berries into her mouth the way she was.

I felt so guilty.

She was ravenous, and it was all my fault. I’d been kidding myself thinking I could ever care for such a small child. I have nothing and no one, and Dania didn’t deserve that.

I knew instantly that I was looking at wolf shifters. Powerful wolf sifters, the older one an Alpha if ever I’d seen one.

I don’t know how, but I managed to block them from reading Dania and me; I didn’t want them to know us, to read us. I kept a hold of the block as best I could as I grabbed Dania and pushed her behind me, only to have the taller, big built, more handsome of the two grab my wrist.

I don’t know what happened, but I saw something, a vision of sorts. I’d only ever heard about such things from the elders. Only someone with the gift of foresight could get a view of the future, and it looked like the future to me. But I couldn’t be sure if it was his foresight or mine.

In the vision, the handsome man holding my wrist was dancing with me, my head on his shoulder as he hummed the tune of a soft song in my ear. He kissed me when I pulled away, only to feel his hand on my swollen stomach. I was pregnant in this vision! 

I heard myself say his name, Orrin.

Orrin.

That name has haunted me ever since.

I yanked my arm away from him in fear, and his eyes were white over — a Romerian Alpha Wolf. The King of all wolves – Orrin Dalgaard!

How could I be so damn unlucky?

The man who was my father once told me that when finding his mate, or before he transforms, a Romerian Alpha Wolf’s eyes will become white over like snow on the ground. The rest of his pack will have yellow eyes with flecks of something dark in them.

The only wolves I’d ever seen had yellow eyes. I had never met a Romerian Alpha Wolf, like Orrin in the flesh before.

However, I had been touched by a Romerian Alpha King, and it seemed we had a future, and that scared me more than anything.

Wolves are something to fear, so the bear King drummed into my head my whole life—wolves along with every other shifter who isn’t a bear. Just like telling a human that a serial killer is dangerous, we were taught to stay away from wolves at all costs.

How does anyone know what a serial killer looks like?

They don’t. The only difference is I can sense a wolf.

None have ever been friendly; all wanted to kill me.

Everyone wants me dead; none want to help me.

The thought is disheartening.