A Pack of Misfits

Prologue

I suppose all good stories need an introduction. Lucky for me, this will not be one, but I suppose I will introduce the cast anyways.

Some say that people's lives change completely when they meet the one they love. Their 'soulmate'. So many people bank their lives on finding their soul mate. Some never do. For the longest time I figured I was one of the latter, but I did not really care anyways. I do agree, however, that those we meet in our lives can push the cogs of change in one direction or another. Our lives are shaped by what we love, who we love, and those who love us. If only I could remember. Regardless, for quite a long time my life had existed without any such catalysts to make it more interesting. How long, you may wonder? Well, considering the fact that I am effectively immortal, perhaps a few hundred years. My life had become completely stagnant. With no idea who I was or where I came from, my life went from blackness to fully grown, somehow knowing and understanding everything there was to life and my 'magical powers', with no memory of how I learned these things. As if a baby was born a fully-grown woman, even they would have to learn how to walk. And yet, I did not. So, of course, with no challenges posed to me and my instant knowledge of my powers and how to use them, life quickly became incredibly boring. For a long time, I just existed, travelled, with no rhyme or reason to what I did. As time passed, I began to forget what and who I was, all I knew was that I was of magical origin, and that I was alone. However, over time, I began to meet people who changed that. Through my life I met many strange and wonderful people, some of whom I remembered, some of whom I forgot. Sometimes, when alone, I could recall memories of shimmering scales and the kindest brown eyes I had ever seen, but with little recollection of anything else surrounding them. I could remember silver fur and voices, and fire and water and warm arms holding me tight, but those memories would always disappear like dew in the morning sun.

Regardless of that. In more recent times I began to find fulfilment in my life. I began to meet special people, people I came to know as my family. My Pack. First I met a demi-god, a girl called Thor. She was older than me by only a few decades, at least, if I counted back to the year my memory stops. Unlike myself, with my black hair and bark-brown skin, she had pale skin and light brown hair. Her eyes, also so unlike mine, were grey like the clouds of an approaching storm, while mine were brown like the deep forests. We became fast friends, and I must have forgotten that, because when this story look place, I thought us brothers, as did she. If only I could remember better. Through time, my perception of myself became warped standing beside her, and I was no longer just 'magical'. I gave it a name, a category. A limitation. I was a demi-god too, most likely, I decided. I was a 'warlock', must have been, since my powers were less in physical strength and greater in conjuring and tricks. A werewolf too, I realised at some point, the point that I chose to become an Alpha. The Alpha of my own little pack. Loki Draken, the anthesis of Thor Odinson. Yes. I had to be a demi-god warlock werewolf, with her as the demi-god warrior werewolf and my closest friend and ally. Why werewolves? Time and proximity to a bad idea, I suppose. Forgetting the truth to one's self and developing the idea that who I am was something else, and Thor following in my footsteps, despite being the 'elder' brother.

The rest of the pack filled in over time, with most of our members joining in the 21st century. Prior to that it had been me and my brother, and a blond vampire by the name of Annabelle Kosek we had met during the second world war. Polish by descent, she had been hiding from German occupation. Despite being a pureblood, she was so young at that time, and alone, having lost both of her parents to something she never told us about, and I doubt she ever will. When the 21st century rolled around, we moved to England, having decided that sticking together was certainly better than being alone.

There, we found a house in the forest, a run-down house from a time long past, large and imposing if it weren't falling apart at the seams. With my magic, I fixed it up, making it habitable, giving us running water and electricity. You know, the essentials. Through time we filled it with nonsense, and then, people. Next to join the pack was a werewolf named Jalex Phan, another international from the Baltic region. This werewolf was an energetic brunette with a love for fanfiction and, in her words, 'slash'. She got to me, of course, and with time I became a fan of such things too, although I doubt, I would ever have been able to overtake her enthusiasm. After this came two more. Our only human member, and a slayer.

I don't remember how, but in the end, the Slayer revealed herself to be an Assassin as well, and decided to stay, as my Beta – although what importance werewolf pack designations had to us, I would never understand. The slayer's name was Artemis, Artemis Hunter – original, I know – and she was...well, she had a temper as that ran as bright as her red hair, and blue eyes that could stare a person down from quite the judgemental high-horse. But that didn't matter, because we were family. Last, but not least, our human member. Sweet little Sunny Elle. She was a small person, at the time we met, and she never really grew to be that tall. Well, she outgrew the height of my favoured adult body, so well-played, Sunny, well-played. Eternally thin, she had short brown hair, soft and smooth, and bright brown eyes. She was a great person, with a kind personality, and as many character flaws as the rest of us – quick to frustrate, easily stressed, but so were the others in my pack. I suppose my fatal flaw was the opposite, I must have gotten so cocky in my eternal life that I took things way too easy, but I was also very quick to anger at times. But no one's perfect.

Due to the multiple different nationalities and races present in my pack, basic werewolf hierarchy held no real meaning to us. Instead, the rankings were based on our individual power, making me, as the strongest, the Alpha. Following this was the slayer, Artemis, as the Beta, because loathe as I was to say it, she was trained to kill each of our races, meaning that she likely could if she tried. Thor, bless her heart, despite the fact that she was supposed to be my equal in power, remained rather normal despite her heritage. But for simplicity's sake, let's just say those who possessed immense power are Alphas in this tale. No need to draw in the mortal idea of 'werewolf hierarchy' to a rag-tag group of strays, of which barely any were even werewolves.

So, as I said. Loki Draken is the name, and I am the Alpha, the Alpha of my own little pack of misfits. It was my duty to protect them and look after them. They were my pack, and my only family. Life finally became interesting, for a while. To be with Sunny and Jalex more often, we joined them at their high school for fun. It was not fun, as I am sure you could have guessed, but regardless, it was better than sitting at home bored all day long. Forgetting that we were beyond human limits and being mortal for a few hours each day was certainly cathartic for those who could live for a hundred years and look no older than twenty. Thankfully, my own powers allowed me to manipulate my physical form, so I changed slightly, to look younger than my preferred body of an adult woman, think early 20's – granted, the differences were minimal, with only a few centimetres off my already short height of 1.65cm, and a rounder look to my already squishy enough face. In any case, life was both a joy and a bore. Until it was not, and everything changed.

What was it I said earlier, about special people being able to change the entire course of a person's life? Well...this is how it happened to me.