The Beta's Daughter

I yawned, rolling onto my side. I brushed against Jacob, and his hand began to trace lazy, abstract patterns across my hip. It was getting close to midnight. A slanting beam of moonlight fell across our exposed legs, making them shine silver.We were waiting up together on the night of my eighteenth birthday. We’d become official members of the Silver Crescent pack at sixteen, and that had been exciting enough – a ceremony held for all of us who’d turned together, with Jacob’s dad, the Alpha, stood in front of the elders on a small wooden platform.We’d pledged ourselves to our pack, vowing to care for one another and, above all, to preserve the wellbeing of the pack. In our honour, we’d sworn, and his parents, Alpha and Luna, had looked down at us with pride. Ever since, we’d been able to mindlink, and had been permitted to join in training with the pack.But at eighteen something even more special happened. At eighteen, our true mates were revealed to us.Not immediately, of course.

I groaned as I made my way downstairs for breakfast. My alarm had gone off at 5:30am as usual, and I’d immediately regretted my decision to attend training despite having been given the Alpha’s permission to skip it.I’d dragged myself out of bed and over to the mirror. I never bothered with makeup until after our morning workout, so I pulled a brush through my hair and scraped it up into a high ponytail.The brush made my beachy waves wispy, so I raked some coconut oil through my long brown lengths using my fingers. I rubbed the remnants of it into my forearms, the deep caramel of my skin soaking it up, before pulling on some gym shorts and a boxy, cropped tee.It was a brisk morning, the air sharp with a bitter chill, but the sort that promised a sweltering heat later in the day. I waited in the pack kitchen for Jacob and The Twins, anxiously bouncing on the balls of my feet.I’d spent most of the night tossing and turning, finding that every time I shut my eyes all I could hear was

It’s a rogue, I mindlinked to Rosa. I held my ground, feeling my wolf urging me to shift. Get in the truck quickly. I couldn’t hold it back any longer. I let my wolf come forward and I shifted, feeling my face elongate into a snout and my legs shoot backwards, lengthening and widening. My hands and feet became paws, and my whole body sprouted fur. I growled, keeping my eyes on the rogue.It seemed startled and took a timid step backwards. I immediately filled the space, looking down at it. It was smaller than me, with mousy brown-grey fur that looked tattered, covered in bite and claw marks. It’s eyes seemed to harden, and it howled loudly, the sound being drawn up into the night.It pounced. Suddenly I felt the lash of its claws against my neck, scraping down towards my chest. I growled in fury, ignoring the pain as I jumped at it. I latched my jaws around it’s leg, and heard a

The pack house was rammed when I crept out of the library. I’d intended to get my bandages changed before dinner, but I’d become sucked into my research. I discovered that many Native Americans offered their animal fetishes cornmeal, so I resolved to find some for my little wolf. I also spent a long time noting down references in a word document, flitting between that and my mind map in an attempt to narrow down my focus. I’d found a folk tale about two wolves, one black and one white; one made of anger and the other forged from goodness. A grandfather tells his grandson that the one that wins is the one he chooses to feed. I liked the sentiment, and decided to use it as a focal point for my argument. It had been relaxing, to sit in the warm rays of the sinking sun. They streaked in through the windowpanes, garnishing the wooden bookshelves a deep gold. I would’ve liked to have stayed there through dinner, but I heeded Jacob’s message and packed u

“Watching me?” I gasped. “But why?”“That’s why Silver Shore are coming early,” Jacob said. He stood and slid the chair back under the table, and then moved to stand beside me. “Their patrols caught a rogue between our border and theirs. They’ve kept her for questioning. She hasn’t said much, apparently. But she did let one thing slip. They haven’t told us what, yet, though. They said they wanted to discuss it in person, but that it couldn’t wait for the ball.”“I’m sorry we chose to keep this from you,” Kele said. “It was wrong. You fought off a rogue singlehandedly. I am ashamed that I thought you could not protect yourself, that hearing this would weaken you.”“It’s okay, Alpha Kele,” I said. My head was swimming with new information, but I was processing it quickly. I moved to add a dot to the map, and placed it where Rosa and I had come across the rogue. “In future,