The Dire Choice (Otherworld Series #7)

Prologue

She remembered the day she was born like she remembered any other important event.

It was like an explosion of knowledge and fulfillment. One moment she had been but a normal wolf, seeking shelter from the cold night. Shivering in the wind, thin and listless.

She had been cast out by her pack for being weak and for being useless. The Alpha had scarred her face, had mated her, even as she struggled and snarled and had then discarded her. Because the days of the cold winter had just arrived, and the pack had no use for unwanted burdens. For the food was scarce, shelter even more so.

They chased her away from the pack as if she were a rogue. Her parents doing nothing for her. She had no where to go after they set her free. No home, no friends, no family.

And so she howled at the moon, the beautiful face in the sky. Selene, the Goddess of the moon, looked down at the lone She-wolf and took pity upon her.

And at that moment, a single drop of golden icor fell upon the top of her narrow snout. It burned her skin, seeping through the matted mess of her fur and down to her very bones, piercing her heart, she whined, and her whole body bucked.

What was happening? Confusion along with pain and fear entered her senses. She howled as her bones snapped. The sound was familiar when they hunted a deer, she had heard the same sound when she hunted the rabbit that morning. Taking life was so easy, now she felt like some unseen force was taking hers, she now knew what it felt like, she wished it would be over soon. She howled one last time.

Thoughts flooded her mind, her body twisted.

A bright light flooded her sight along with a burst of colours.

She was suddenly on the forest floor, her face staring up at the moon. The grass slipped through her paws...No, her fingers.

She looked up at the moon, it seemed to have a defined face now, a beautiful feminine face, it smiled at her. A single word drifting out of its plump lips.

"Daughter."

---

"Mother, whom shall I mate with? Alpha or Beta?" Her daughter, so innocent in her questions asked her somberly.

She sat atop her throne carved out of the rocks in the cave. Her human followers had been generous in their belief and love for her. Her daughter sat at her feet, her young face staring up at her in silent adoration.

Her two sons, Alpha and Beta, knelt before her. Both their heads bowed in reverance.

Her human followers guarded the entrance of the cave while her wolven followers yipped and played outside in the sanctuary.

The sound of drums and laughter floated in as she contemplated her answer.

She was now a goddess. The mother of a new species. The humans and wolves bowed down to her power. Worshipped at her feet. They called her 'Renmisia', the night bloomer. It was her name, a sound to call her by.

Her human consort sat on her right, his head lifted, he was proud of his daughter, their daughter, she was the future life giver, unbelievably fertile. Her wolven mate sat at her left, his head lifted higher in pride. She had borne two children with his wolfseed. Both imbued with her own magical power, the ability to turn into beasts at will. Hers alone was the power to bloom at night. They were stronger, more unpredictable.

Her first son, Alpha, was dominant and possessive. He did not like to share his kill but was understanding of his people. He had the build and the brute force of a powerful wolf. He ruled over his pack with the balance of a born leader.