Three Sides of a Heart

Chapter 1

Clara's POV
-
    "A wolf needs a pack Clara. No wolf would ever want to be alone willingly!" My father roared at me as he brought his hand down on our kitchen table, causing two younger brothers and my mother to jump in fright.
    "Marcus please," my mother pleaded, putting her hand on his forearm. An action, that while calmed him a bit, did not complete douse out the fire that was burning in his brown eyes.
    My mother looked at me with pleading eyes. She begged me to just stay quiet and eat my dinner. To not set him off and cause an argument where I would be beaten into submission again.
    This was the harsh realities of being the daughter of an alpha. Most people believe that my father would be a kinder man to his family than he was to the pack. This, however, was only half true. He was more humane towards my mother and my sibling, but he saw me as nothing but a nuisance that he had to deal with until I found my mate.
    I may have been the oldest child to Marcus Chase, but I was also the least crucial. I would not take over for my father and become alpha, I would not take over for my mother and become Luna, and I would have no high rank.
    "I understand that wolves are stronger in a pack sir," I try again, choosing my words carefully, "but why do I need a mate? Or at least why do I need to find a mate now? I'm sixteen years old. Why can't I explore before I have to settle down?"
    Even my mother's touch wasn't enough to keep my father's anger under control. His temper was flaring and his eyes were bright red, letting me know that I had overstepped and that I was about to pay the price for my insubordination.
    I looked over at my mother and gave her a look. I knew what was going to happen and so did she. The look was to assure her that I would be okay, that I could take it.
    As I looked at my mother, waiting for the bomb to go off, I started thinking. It always confused me as to why the Moon Goddess put my parents together. My mother was so sweet and gentle, wanting peace. But my father, he has a short fuse, he was a shoot first ask questions later type.
    Standing up, my father started towards me, grabbing my arm "you need to learn respect Clara. You need to respect your alpha, your pack and the Moon Goddess!" He howled, shaking me like a rag doll before bringing the back of his hand down across my cheek.
    I could hear my mother gasp and plea with him to let me go, but I knew he wouldn't budge. I had gone too far this time and knew what was to come. I could bare the thought of being put into the cells again after the beating I was about to receive, so I did the only thing I could think of. I let my wolf, Athena take over.
    My eyes went bright yellow, and I heard a menacing growl escape my lips as Athena made herself known. I didn't try to fight Athena on taking over my body as she pulled out of my arm out of my father's grasp. The reason being that my wolf was a lot stronger than my human form.
    Using all of the strength I could muster up, I shoved him off of me, trying to give me enough time to fulfill my plan. As I heard him hit the kitchen table, I took off through the front doors of the only home that I have know. I didn't make it off of the porch before I felt myself shift, hearing the tearing of my clothes.
    I landed on the grass on four large paws, digging my nails into the ground to propel myself forward towards the trees. I knew I didn't have long before the entire pack would be after me, trying to get me to stay on pack land.
    I heard the howls of my father, the Beta and the Delta of the pack trying to signal the warriors who were running perimeter, warning them to not let me through.
    I pushed my legs faster, knowing that I didn't have a lot of time before the boundary would be covered with warriors that I had known all of my life; ones that I had trained with, the ones who's strategies I knew. I heard the pounding of paws before I saw them, feeling them quickly catching up to me.
    'Don't let them get on either side of you' I kept thinking to myself, knowing that if they did, I would not make it over the boundary line that signaled the end of my father's pack.
    Once I saw the marking of the trees, warning me that the boundary was just up ahead, I let Athena take over again. She moved my legs in a secession that would have been impossible for me to do on my own, making it so I could not be caught even by our best warriors.
    Athena knew when we were over the border before I did. She let me have my body back, satisfied with herself that she finally kept me safe from the abuse that I had suffered from the hands of my father.
    Slowing down to a trot, I listened as one last voice came to my head, mind linking with me 'please Clarry, come home' my mother begged before the link was severed.
    I was now truly and completely alone.
-
3 years later