Prologue

Clint

Sitting on the side of his younger brother's bed, Clint tucked in the covers and looked at the bruises that covered his face and arms. Anger raged inside of him, but he knew that until he took control of the pack, there was not much he could do. “I love you, Scrappy.” As he finished, he went to leave the room but was stopped by the quiet words behind him. 

“Could you please tell me a story?” The words were tentative, but it was clear that he was not ready to be alone yet. Earlier in the morning, Marcus had lost track of a scent he was told to follow during training. Their father had been so infuriated that he had tied the boy to a fence with silver-infused ropes and beat him until he had passed out from the pain. Clint had waited until their father left before untying the young boy and taking him for medical care. They both had Alpha blood, so his body started healing rapidly without his wolf.  

Clint turned and walked back to the side of the bed, motioning the young pup to scoot over so he could sit down. “One story, Marcus, then you have to get to sleep, we both have training in the morning.” With that, he went quiet while trying to decide which story to tell. 

“When the Moon Goddess created shifters, she blessed them as her favorite creations. Each was given its own blessing, making each creation special in its own right. The greatest of these blessings was that given to the wolf. We were gifted with mates, the person who is the other half of our soul.” His face showed peaceful joy at these words. 

“When a wolf meets its mate, they know instantly, and there is no feeling that can compare to the touch of their hand. They complete us as no one else can. With them, we are stronger, wiser, and have better control of our wolves. Without them, we will always be restless and angry, always searching for something or someone more.” 

“But Clint, what happens if I never meet my mate?” The question seemed to slip out of the tired pup as he struggled to stay awake. 

Clint smiled down at him. “You will meet her, and when you do, the two of you will change the world. I just hope that I am here to see it in person.” With those words, he leaned down and kissed Marcus on the head, breathing in his scent to help calm himself. 

In the back of his mind, his wolf, Cain, spoke up. “You should have told him what we have seen. It would give him something to look forward to while living through this.”

Cain looked at his younger brother as his own pup, and he struggled to keep control when he was being hurt. Every time their father started to beat the boy, Cain tried to take over and fight back, even though he knew that there were too many against them; they would only die, leaving the boy without any protection.  

Clint disagreed with telling Marcus about his gifts. His visions had proved true to this point, but if he told Marcus, he might take actions that would cause them to change. When the Moon Goddess blessed Cain with the power of visions, it had not come with an instruction manual. He feared that he would change destiny or cause irreparable harm if he took action against them. He also lived in fear of his father discovering the power and trying to use it to harm others. Clint refused to be just another weapon for him. His visions seemed to show him that he would not be the one to save the Pack from the monster, which is their Alpha. That task would fall to Marcus. 

He had seen his father fall at his younger brother's hand. He had also seen his brother standing cradling a woman he assumed to be his mate while looking over the pack grounds, littered with bloody bodies. Their faces reflected the horror of what had happened. He saw wolves of all types banding together under the banner of the Lycan King, a sight that had not been seen in too many years to count. But the most notable thing about his visions of the future is that he never saw himself in them after a certain point. That alone told him that something bad was going to happen. This thought was solidified when he saw that his father was planning to harm him. Just last night, he had a vision of his father slipping a syringe of what looked like wolfsbane into his pocket while asking his Beta to put together a training team and to make sure I was on it. 

Having seen this, he started to carry a syringe of his own, with a formula designed to prevent the poison from killing its target. It was not strong enough to neutralize it, but it would keep the poison from killing off the wolf side entirely. He prayed that he was wrong about what he had seen, but did what he could to prepare for the worst. 

Most of his visions were short snapshots of events that would take place. They lacked context or clarifying information, making them unreliable and confusing. If he and his wolf could just develop them a little faster, they might be able to save them both. With an unhappy sigh, he stood, preparing to leave the room before he turned back. 

Looking down at the sleeping pup, Clint's heart broke, knowing that his life would get much harder before it got better and that he would most likely not be there to help him. All he could do was teach him well and pray that the Moon Goddess had plans for both of them. He leaned down and nuzzled the sleeping boy, whispering in his ear. 

“Good night, Scrappy, dream happy dreams and know that one day you will have all that you are searching for”.