Silver Falls

Prologue:

Year 1898:

Meredith Baxter, while beautiful, was an outcast in her pack, all because she was a half-breed. Her mother was a witch, and her father was a shifter. 

Meredith hoped that once she turned eighteen and her wolf awakened, she would be accepted as a part of the pack.

On her eighteenth birthday, she felt her wolf awaken inside of her. It was such an incredible feeling. She felt oddly protected, which was funny because she was a powerful witch even before her wolf emerged.

Luckily, she was in the privacy of her own home for her first transformation. She knew that the first time would be slower and more painful since her body would have to get used to the reshaping of muscles, tendons, bones, and organs.

Each time would get easier and faster until there was no pain at all, and the transformation would become instantaneous.

She tried to relax and allow the transformation to happen. As she started to shift and her body started to reshape, she screamed in pain. It felt longer, but it only took about two minutes for her to transform completely.

Once she was fully transformed, she happily pranced to the tall full-length mirror in her room and proudly admired her beautiful wolf, Jade.

It was such an odd feeling, at first, looking into her mirror and seeing Jade’s beautiful emerald green eyes with purple flecks looking back at her. She had the most gorgeous silver and black fur coat.

Meredith and Jade were so excited that they could not wait to run through the woods together. Meredith gave control over to Jade, who happily ran out of the back door that had been left open and through the trees straight to the lake.

When she reached the edge of the lake, she lowered her head and stuck her tongue into the cool, crisp water. Suddenly, her heart began racing.

Unsure what was wrong, she darted behind a nearby tree. It felt like several minutes flew by without seeing anything that would solicit this type of reaction. After waiting a bit more, she decided that it was time to head home.

Eager to run again, she flew out from behind the tree and almost slammed right into a huge, black and red wolf with yellow eyes. She was so shocked. Where did he come from?

She felt the pull to him immediately. Her heart began to race again, and all other scents began to fade away until only his scent remained. It was like nothing else she had ever felt.

Jade and Meredith were in shock. Could it be? Could it really be?? What were the odds that the first time Meredith shifted that they would find their destined mate!! Could they really be this lucky? So many thoughts were shooting through their mind in a matter of seconds.

Before any thoughts could be organized, the wolf in front of them changed back into his human form. He was really tall at six foot five to what would be Meredith’s five foot three. He had dark brown shoulder-length hair and bright blue eyes and was extremely muscular.

Meredith’s gaze locked in on him through Jade’s eyes. She couldn’t believe it! Standing before them was Silas, one of Meredith’s biggest tormentors.

Jade tried to give control back to Meredith so she could shift back but could feel her resistance. Jade used the mental link, “We need to shift back so you can talk to our mate.”

Meredith continued with the mental link to let Jade see all of the things that Silas had done to her. Meredith could feel Jade become sadder and sadder the more she showed her.
Once Meredith was done, Jade said, “Shouldn’t we give him a chance? I mean, he is our destined mate.”

Before Meredith could even process anything, Silas spoke in a very deep voice, “Change back and let me see who my mate is.”

Nervously, Meredith did just that. This time, the change was much faster, taking only a few seconds. Also, it only caused her mild discomfort, which she was able to breathe through.

The second Silas’s eyes landed on her, his face changed, his eyes darkened, and a sneer that Meredith had seen too many times before came across his face.

He laughed, and when he finally spoke, he said, “Are you kidding me? This has got to be a damn joke!! There is no way that you are my mate.”

His words were like a thousand knives slicing their heart. Meredith felt Jade recoil like she had just been hit and could hear her whimper.

Feeling Jade pull further and further back into her, gave Meredith the strength to try and reach Silas.

“Silas, we are mates. We can get to know each other and we can be happy together.”

“Happy? Happy?? I will never be happy with a half breed. This is beyond a mistake, and I will not let it stand.”

“But....”She was quickly cut off by Silas. Her face grew red, and her eyes filled with tears.

“I am the firstborn son in my family, a legacy. I will not let it be tarnished by a half-breed like you.”

Meredith’s face grew an even deeper shade of red and tears were now cascading down her face like a waterfall.

Her body was shaking with grief, yet Silas was unmoved and continued with the three words that she and Jade feared hearing the most, “I Reject You!!!”

Upon hearing those words, Meredith dropped to her knees, shaking uncontrollably. Silas remained unmoved, and then he turned on his heel and began to walk away.

It felt like her heart had been ripped to shreds. Then she felt Jade’s immense pain and it was like something in Meredith snapped. She immediately stopped crying and quickly rose to her feet.

“Silas,” she yelled. “Silas,” she yelled again, even louder and more forceful.

This time, Silas turned around, annoyed, and snapped at her, “I told you this is done. There is nothing more to say, I already rejected you.”

He was about to turn and walk off when Meredith yelled angrily, “YOU REJECTED US!! YOU REJECTED US!!!! WE ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU BECAUSE I AM A HALF BREED!!!!"

Her voice grew louder, her eyes darkened, and her wolf growled as she continued, “WE ARE NOT WORTHY OF FURTHERING YOUR LEGACY!!!! EVEN THOUGH THIS BOND WAS CHOSEN BY THE MOON GODDESS HERSELF!!!!”

He remained where he was with a stone-cold expression on his face, so she kept going, “YOU ARE WRONG!! JADE AND I REJECT YOU!!!”

The sky began to darken, and the winds began to blow, and Meredith continued, “THANKS TO YOU, MY DEAR SILAS, MY ONCE DESTINED MATE, NOW REJECTED, FROM THIS DAY FORWARD YOU AND ALL OF YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE CURSED!! THANKS TO YOU AND THE PAIN THAT YOU HAVE CAUSED TODAY, ALL FIRSTBORN MALES WILL NO LONGER KNOW THEIR DESTINED MATES OR THE DEEP LOVE THAT COMES FROM THE BOND THAT YOU HAVE DENIED ME TODAY. THANKS TO THE PAIN THAT YOU HAVE CAUSED MY WOLF, JADE, THEY WILL NO LONGER FEEL THEIR WOLVES OR BE ABLE TO SHIFT. NOW I HOPE THAT YOU ARE PROUD OF THE LEGACY THAT YOU ARE PASSING ON TO ALL OF YOUR FUTURE DESCENDANTS. MAY YOU ENJOY YOUR MISERABLE, WELL-EARNED LIFE.”

Silas let out an agonizing scream as his body convulsed, and he fell to the ground, his wolf gone.

Then, just as suddenly as it started, the winds stopped, the sky cleared, and Meredith vanished in a cloud of smoke.