Book One: The Chosen Mate (Complete)

Chapter 1: Home

Rebecca loved snowy nights. She loved the crisp air and the silent falling snow flakes. She loved to change into her wolf and run as fast as she could through the forest until her nose felt cold, and snow packed onto her coat making her gray fur white. She loved to lay in the snow, listen to the silence, and pretend the world around her was a beautiful, peaceful place. She loved to look at the stars and dream.

Tonight was one of those nights, and as she looked up at the stars she felt content and her soul found a deep inner peace. She could have slept out there if she wasn’t afraid of freezing.

With a sigh, she decided to go back home. She was sure that by now her human lips would be blue and she could hear one of her mother’s lectures in her mind for staying out too long in the snow drifts.

For some reason, being cold never bothered her. If she really thought about it, it was the smell that she found so intoxicating. There is a smell to cold. It smells clean with almost a menthol sensation to her nose. It felt cleansing as she breathed deeply.

As she ran, she deeply inhaled the fresh scent, as a soul cleansing experience, refreshing and invigorating her before her sensitive nose would once again be bombarded by the plethora of obnoxious smells around the pack house.

Her family was the average sort. No political power, nor grandiose titles. They were without power, but they were accepted and well established within the pack. Rebecca never cared for power anyway. It had a way of bringing out the worst qualities in people.

Her parents had built a private cabin with a view of the mountains when they decided to start having children. They loved the quiet, and pack living is far from quiet. Our Alpha is more of a humble sort of man during day to day interactions. While in times of peace, he was actually kind and sometimes even funny. He thought their house plans were fine and approved them. He told them to enjoy their new home with his blessing.

It is not like we had a shortage of land. We live in Alaska, where we have nothing but land. Not many packs venture this far north, and as a result, we have been in peace for the better part of a century.

We hunt for food, trade with local villages, and maintain some elaborate green house structures dug deep into the earth powered by hydro power. We live near quite a few natural water ways, and we built large turbines under the ice that are spun by the water that races down river year round.

Our homes are warmed by a complex geothermal system, through a network of large tunnels under the ground. When supernatural strength is put to use with ingenuity, amazing feats of engineering can be achieved.

We live a comfortable life at peace with the world around us and Rebecca loved every bit of that life.