ZAVIANA • Heart of Gold

I was young when my parents died. Only 9 at the time. They died fighting in the pack war. The same one that killed our last Alpha. Our pack eventually won the war but at great cost. We lost almost half of our warriors during the war. My name is Fallon Thomas, I am part of the Crescent Falls pack of Oregon. After the war we absorbed the Blood Moon pack, making our pack now the largest in the country.

My uncle Laurence had taken me in after my parents passed at the request of our Luna. She had taken over the pack for her son as he was not yet old enough to take over as Alpha. It was unconventional sure, but our Luna was a strong woman and no one would dare question her.

The future Alpha, Kai, was my age. Exactly my age, we shared a birthday. When we were young we would even share birthday parties due to the fact that my father had been the Beta of the pack. Our parents had been close so Kai and I had spent a lot of time together as kids.

Things changed as we got older. Kai was popular at school, partially because he would be Alpha but also because he was devastatingly handsome. He was tall with tanned skin, dark hair and emerald green eyes. I, on the other hand was a nobody. I guess you could say I was attractive, when I actually tried to be. I was average height for a girl and curvy. I had long chestnut colored hair and honey eyes. I didn’t wear makeup, I couldn’t afford it. I didn’t wear fancy clothes like the other girls. People didn’t notice me and I was more than happy to keep my head down and blend in.

My parents were gone so I wasn’t at the pack house often and my uncle wasn’t the type to be involved in pack affairs or anything for that matter. He worked but only to buy beer. When he got home he would lay in his recliner and it was my job to bring him another beer each time he would run out. I was responsible for cooking, cleaning, and making sure we had groceries in the house.

I felt like Cinderella, before the fairy godmother showed up.  I used to dream of the day someone would come and rescue me from this place. The day someone would see me as more that just a maid, but this is real life. There are no fairy godmothers and no one was going to rescue me. I had to make it happen for myself. I realized if I was ever going to leave my uncle’s house I needed money. I needed a job.  I was very lucky to have overheard people talking in town one day that the Luna had been looking for a housekeeper after he last one had met her mate and moved away. Luna turner happily gave me the job as she knew she could trust me and that I really needed the money.

I had just turned 17 and was still a year away from even being able to find my mate so there were no worries that I would up and leave like the last maid.

I spent my days at school and most afternoons at the pack house. I was fine with being there five days a week, it gave me a much needed break from uncle Laurence and the way he constantly ordered me around. If it wasn’t for having me do chores he wouldn’t even realize I was alive. Usually by the time I arrived home from work he was either passed out in his recliner or at the local bar making a fool of himself.

Weekends were different, most weekends I would spend with my best friend Santana.  Santana and her brother Xander were the only two people I felt like I could be myself with. Xander was nice but quiet and I knew he wasn’t the type to judge me based on what I didn’t have so I liked him. Santana was his opposite in so many ways. She was loud and outspoken but fiercely loyal. We had been best friends our entire lives. She knew everything about me and I knew everything about her. She had become popular but she never once ditched me for her popular friends. She said we were what she called “ride-or-die” I thought it sounded silly but she was right.

Santana was older than me by about 8 months. That meant she would be 18 this year and be able to go to the mating ceremony.  I was excited and intrigued by the whole idea. While I didn’t hold out hope that I would be picked when it was my turn. I knew Santana would have multiple men fighting for a chance to be with her. She was beautiful by any standards. She was tall and thin, with large breasts, curvy hips and long golden blond hair that hung down her back. Her tanned skin was a perfect contrast for her bright blue eyes. Every male wolf I knew watched her when she walked by. I was sure she would find a mate without a problem.