Heart of the Auburn Wolf

Prologue

It was a cloudy, full moon night when Freya's little brother, Aiden, was born. The whole pack was out celebrating the birth of the renowned Alpha Tommen Havran's son, heir-to-be to the Raven Moon Pack. Nobody knew that on the other side of the Pack, close to the border, Freya was undergoing her first shift. Naturally so, because nobody expected it to be so early. The first shift into your wolf usually happens on your 18th birthday. Freya's screams could be heard from a long way back, attracting the only two patrols that were on duty in that area, as the others were celebrating.

However, by the time they arrived to the scene, there was no more screaming, and no more Freya. In her place, there stood an Alpha-sized auburn-colored wolf. The wolf's ragged breath following the shift was visible in the cold air.

As the moonlight peaked through the clouds and shined upon the wolf's fur, the patrolling werewolves' hearts began racing. They immediately mind-linked their Alpha:

"Help, northern border. Freya shifted. Her wolf- AARGH"

But their sentence had been cut off in the middle. Alpha Tommen was cuddling his new baby when he received the news and quickly handed Aiden to his mother. He exchanged a nod with his Alpha Unit, composed of his Beta and Gamma, and they all left the room and hurried towards the northern border.

"Tommen, what is it?", asked Revna, his mate, as soon as she noticed his facial expression of concern.

"I think Freya shifted and something is wrong. I have to go, stay here."

"What?! But she's only 14!"

Tommen nodded towards her and highlighted: "Stay. Here." before leaving. But a part of him knew there was no way to keep his mate still when Freya was involved. She had always tried to make up for his lack of involvement with his own daughter.

The three werewolves shifted into their black wolves as soon as they left the pack's hospital and hurried towards the northern border. The closer they got, the more powerful the smell of blood. They knew they had arrived to the scene when they noticed a wolf almost as tall as Stark, Tommen's wolf, standing near what seemed to have been two corpses ripped to shreds. The wolf in front of them also took notice of their presence and turned to them, growling lowly, with its hackles up.

Tommen's Beta stepped in front of his Alpha, by reflex, and returned the growling.

"Stark, is that Freya?" Tommen inquired of his wolf. Despite the smell of it being familiar, its attitude was all over the place and its color... was wrong. He had to make sure.

But Stark was already too enraged to answer. This wolf had killed his men and displayed clear signs of aggression towards him.

"Erik, Lorik, step back. I can deal with her." Stark spit at them as he began sprinting towards his daughter, with intent to kill. It was clear to him that this wolf was dangerous to the pack and that was enough for Stark to aim directly at the auburn wolf's neck. It was clear to him that the wolf was not yet mature. Even though it had just shifted, its reflexes were too slow, even enough for Stark's bite to strike and send the two wolves rolling for a few meters. When they came to a halt, Stark was still holding on to the wolf's neck, despite its attempts to claw him away. Even when clearly overpowered, the teenage wolf refused to bow and submit. An Alpha had to protect its pack, and a father must make difficult decisions. Just as Stark had made up its mind, the cry of a baby echoed through the trees.

"Tommen! Tommen!! Please, stop!" a crying Revna came forth, carrying the baby to her chest, covered with a duvet.

The red wolf took advantage of the distraction and used its back legs to shove Stark off of her. But it did not get up from its position. In its stead, a naked, unconscious Freya appeared.

Revna quickly made her way to her daughter, to check for wounds. Her neck should have been bruised by Stark's bite, but there was no wound to be seen. Revna positioned herself between Freya and a still-growling Stark.

"Revna, I'm going to say this once. Move aside." And Stark made a step forward to highlight what Tommen told her in the mind-link. He loved his mate, and Revna was one hell of a Luna, but Tommen and Stark had duties that surpassed the bond.

"She's your daughter, for Goddess's sake!" his mate shouted out loud.

"Not anymore. She killed two pack members. There's a law that we must follow." This time, Stark's low voice answered.

Despite her mate's words hurting her through their Mate Bond, Revna continued to plead:

"We can fix this. It will never happen again. She... We can recede her wolf."

But Stark made another step forward, with his tail slightly raised and fangs uncovered.

Now Revna's eyes turned black, as sign that her wolf was coming forward, responding to Stark's clear threats.

"I'll never forgive you if you do this, Mate."

This phrase seemed to hurt them, as the black wolf stopped in its tracks. Stark conceded control back to Tommen, shifting back to his human form. Alpha Tommen looked at his mate and then glanced at his daughter. Finally, he turned towards Erik and Lorik, who also shifted back, and began walking towards them. Tommen was naked, but he didn't care, as werewolves were not pudic at all. The Alpha looked at both his trustworthy men, sighed once, and then ordered:

"All you will know of tonight's events is that a highly violent rogue trespassed our northern border and managed to kill two of our patrolling werewolves. We have taken care of the rogue. Is that understood?"

Both Erik and Lorik nodded.

"Good." Tommen continued. "Lorik, tend to my mate and my son. Erik, carry Freya's body to the dungeons and shackle her with silver cuffs. I'll call the damned witch first thing in the morning, to see if there's anything that we can do about this... situation."

The two werewolves were quiet, but they got to work, just as Tommen left.

Aiden's screaming again filled the air.