Crown Of Shadows

Chapter 1-Growing Up

***** 16 years later*****

I sat straight up in bed my thick brown hair still braided fell across my shoulder in a thick rope, a mixture of black's browns and a little bit of gold. It was my best feature by far, the nightmare let a tremble in my muscles and I tried to swallow the tears the burned in the back of my throat. My mother's face had been so vivid in my dreams. Even now 16 years after her death, I could see her blue eyes look up at me with fear and love. A strange mixture, she took the secrets of my heritage to the grave with her, and I held them deep inside of me. I pushed away from the blanket and stood from the small cot. I tucked the blanket back into place over the fabric and looked at the little bed. It was meant for a child, not a full-grown woman. I had been sleeping on the same one since my mother had passed, and I didn't dare ask for a new one. Even though I was sure that there were enough beds in the packhouse for me to have a room of my own, my father was quick to remove anything nice, and soft from my life. And my body reflected those changes. Any baby fat I might have had turned to hard muscle years ago, the constant training, running for my life, and near back-breaking chore schedule he had me on since I was old enough to clean and take care of the pack. Which was about 8 years old. All the laundry, cooking, cleaning, wound tending and prey training fell to me. And when I say prey training I was set loose in the woods and the new pack tryouts were set loose after me, the first to catch me and drag me back to the packhouse won. It was a sick game the alpha played with me almost every week. As soon as my wounds would heal he would send me back out. And I learned very quickly that fighting was useless, but I still lashed out in anger sometimes. I hurt a warrior once it had been mostly an accident, but I paid dearly for it. A beating came in the from the Alpha attacking me when I was drug home, and I had literally drag myself into my basement corner and tend to my own wounds. I was given a small meal in the evening, but that was it. I was not to eat throughout the day, there were better things that could be done with my time than stuffing my face.

It's not like I had time to indulge in food anyway. Between the new Luna that had taken my mother's place and her three children. I had no time, I had no life, no friends. I got up at 3 am everyday, ran on the broken treadmill until it felt like my legs were going to explode, and the secret stayed locked deep in my mind. There was one time it almost escaped, it had almost been unleashed and I had smelled real fear from the alpha that day. And that was the day I also lost food privileges for almost a week. My body struggled with that, and I didn't want to go through that again. I mean one meal a day was better than no meal a day. My hungry body cried out for fuel, and I gave it water. Knowing that if I ate before I cared for the Luna and her children it would be a beating. While they stopped hurting a long time ago, it as an inconvenience I didn't want to go through. I stepped into the small shower cubby that was more like a hose that was pushed through the window in the side of the basement. The water was freezing, and it was painful to stand under it. Another lesson taught to me was the the new Luna did not put up with unclean 'pack' mates. I wasn't part of the pack. Some of the lower members felt bad for me, and tried to slip me towels, and other small amenities. Sometimes I accepted them if I needed them. Like soap and shampoo. But other times I got caught and I was punished for stealing. While the wolf tried to tell the Alpha it had been a gift he still punished me. I walked upstairs and started to make breakfast for the pack, and felt like my days were running together. It took me about 2 hours to make enough food to feed almost 200 people, the earlier rises were starting to funnel through the kitchen, and I stepped out of their way, making myself as small as I could in the corner. I never looked up from the floor, keeping my eyes glued down. I heard more shuffling and then familiar shoes came to stand in front of me.

"A new set of warriors is ready for their morning run. You will be prey." I clenched my jaw until my teeth hurt from the force. Breath Ember, breath in, and out. I nodded and he walked away from me taking what he wanted from the food. And I felt my own stomach rumble in hunger at the smell of food. A body moved in front of mine; a back turned to me. And the scent was familiar, Zak. I wouldn't call him ally, but he was the most gentle when tearing into my shoulder to drag me back to the house. He held his hands behind his back and small muffin and a piece of toast sat in his upturned palms. I quickly snatched the little piece of bread and stuffed in to my mouth. Not even chewing, shallowing it straight down an the toast followed quickly behind it. And he moved away, I cast a quick look up and Zak gave me a nod. He knew what was about to come and he knew I would need all the strength I could get. It was all he could sneak me because the Luna came into the kitchen next. She was a tall woman with a very serious face. Her blonde hair pulled tight into a ponytail. She came over to me and grabbed a hold of my hair, dragging me from the kitchen. Pain sliced through my scalp like a million needles stabbing through my hair. She drug me up to her youngest son's room, the poor infant was screaming.