The 14 year old alpha

Prologue 1

Why wait, 
When it can be yours now? 

_____________________________________________________________________________

I woke up to a bright, summer morning. The sun was peeking through the cracks in my curtains, reflecting light onto the mirror in the corner of my room.

I jumped out of bed, and ran over to the bathroom. I turned the shower on, and jumped inside. The hot water scolded my skin, yet I was too excited to fumble around with the heat controls.

Today, a door I’d not opened would finally be open, showing a new world, full of endless opportunities. My mom was downstairs, pottering in the kitchen, and my father was sat in the living room, talking on the phone, trying to organize my birthday party. My birthday is a monumental time in this year’s werewolf calendar. There will be plenty of food, plenty of entertainment and the whole pack will be there.

The festivities begin at ten o’ clock-only an hour away from now-and finish in the early hours of the morning. In that time, I have to change my clothes three times. I enjoy it, of course.

“Darling, darling, we must get you changed!” She looked down at robe wrapped around me like it was a rag that had just been wiped on a dirty car.

“I know, I know”

“Come on then!” She called, running past me and up the stairs.

“We have work to do. You’re lucky its tradition to be late”

I followed after her.

“When can I shift?” I asked.

“At one o’ clock”

“In front of people”

“Yeah, every single person” She said, sarcasm dripping from her words. I grunted.

“It’s for me to know now and you to find out later. All comes clear” She started fiddling with my wild, thick hair.

She straightened it, and curled tiny strands of hair at the front. Then, she started to put the tiniest brush of mascara on my lashes.

“Beautiful!” She said, tears welling in her eyes.

“No, mom, don’t ruin the make-up, or your hair, you must’ve been up early doing that!”

“Sorry, sorry” She apologized.

She dressed me in a simple pink blouse and faded denim shorts. It was time to leave.

We walked to the venue, and it was filled with people. They were staring and smiling at me. I had too much to take in. There was a massive clearing, people on either side, and a few yards away from the people were many different tents. Everyone was out of them, to see me. There was a stage set up, but no one was standing on it. I didn’t feel awkward or embarrassed, just confused. My mother left my side, and the thing I least expected happened.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Cherry, happy birthday to you!”

“Three cheers for Cherry!”

Four boys approached me, and someone shouted “Hip hip”

“Hooray!” I was held up by the men, and thrown into the air, it was exhilarating, and amazing. I started laughing. They continued to do this three times.

My father took to the stage and started to talk. “Cherry is probably really confused right now. Should we talk her through what’s going to happen?”

“Yes!” The crowd yelled.

“Right. First, we’re going to go into the main tent and have some breakfast! Then, Cherry is going to have her pack tattoo, then…drumroll please…”

There was a drumroll.

“…Cherry is going to shift, and we will open her pack bond! Then, we will feast and have fun!” My mom ran on stage, finishing his sentence.

I was taken to the main tent, and then someone told me to sit at the table at the top of the tent. I was to sit in the middle of it. Once everyone was inside, breakfast was served. Firstly, we all ate a fruit salad. Then, it was followed by granola, bacon and eggs and finally, yoghurt.

I was herded into a tent, and someone tattooed a ring around the top of my arm, to show I was loyal to the pack forever. It was painful.

It was time for me to shift. The pack had gathered around in a circle, leaving me space to run around the outside and show off my new appearance.

The tremors started as soon as I was out of the view of the pack. They were painful little shivers. My clothes started to tear but my mother pulled them off me before I changed. I ran outside, and the eyes of the people widened. I looked down at myself, thick, golden fur. No one else had the same fur as me; not even my mom, who had the same hair colour as me.

I shifted back, and my mother dressed me in a long, flowing dress, that had no shape to it. There were wild flowers drawn on it, and I knew it was a traditional dress.

My dad was unsure about whether he should be the one to break the bond, or whether the beta should. He would have to put me in a tiny amount of pain for a few seconds, but he still stood against it. Yet he didn’t want to break tradition, so his did it.

He bit the top of my shoulder for a minute, and as soon as he did, I felt some thoughts enter my head, but my mother taught me how to block those thoughts. So I did, and once I did, there were celebratory cheers, and the opening of fizzy drink cans. I found that a nice touch, as I couldn’t drink alcohol. We were skipping lunch, and going straight into party mode. Dinner would be a barbeque.

One of the tents was filled with boxes of drinks, where anyone could just grab one and go back out to the party, then there was one tent full of string and beads, so little children could make bracelets, until they were forced to leave when the proper party started. Some other tents were full of snacks.

I decided to walk down to the lake with my friends. My mom had packed me a blue-green bikini and a bright pink kaftan.

We dipped my feet into the water, and I was greeted by some random people I’d never seen before. Then, my friend pushed me into the water. Luckily, I had taken my kaftan off earlier.

I pulled her in, and I swam to the bottom. I was so disguised under the emerald depths; my friend had no idea where I was. I had to come back up, and I feared I was going to drown.

I broke through the water, and pulled myself under the water. I heard murmurs of ‘wow, she can swim’, and other things of that genre. I just had lots of strength, so I could swim quickly.

The children left, after having their barbeque early. All of the older wolves ran to the barbeque, but were soon pushed aside. It was me who got to eat first.

When we finished, the dance floor was set up in the clearing. My mother handed me a dress. Once I tried it on, in the tent that was a changing room, I found that it came out at the waist, and was very short. It was bright yellow, with jewels that were the same colour of the setting sun encrusted on the skirt. The top was just like a yellow tee shirt.

My friends and I danced, and danced, and danced. I got some attention from the boys, and I was glad that my parents had left with all the other adults, to have a few glasses of wine. One of the boys grabbed my waist and pulled me off the dance floor. I told him that it was my choice about who I danced with. 

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