Chapter 1

TEMPLAR P.O.V

ONE more step. One last step and I will be out of the Greenrock pack’s territory.

The real question is; do I really want to take that final step?

I have lived in this land for the past fifteen years. Life used to be good… until my parents died. I was only five years old when that happened. Our pack was attacked by Rogues. My father; the Beta, followed his duty and went to protect the pack. I remember my mother’s words of reassurance to me well. She told me that everything was going to be okay and that dad would come back, but that was before the mark in her neck disappeared. After it vanished, she ran into the battle ground and never returned. I later found she’d killed herself from the heartache of losing her mate. I saw her body; the knife in her throat.

My brother, sister and I were all adopted by my father’s sister; Teresa, and her mate; Allan, not long after the death of my parents. The title of Beta was then given to Allan after the death of my father. Our family had always been the second strongest and it stayed that way; keeping us as the beta family in the pack.

But keeping the position of my family was the least of my problems. It all started on my 13th birthday. Having two werewolf parents meant that you were expected to shift on your 13th birthday. My sister Trudy and my brother Terence both shifted when they turned 13. Heck, everyone I knew of shifted on their 13th birthday. But myself? HA! I didn’t. Nor on my 14th or 15th either.

As a result of not shifting at the age of 13 I was tagged as the loser, the freak, and the weakling of the pack. It was definitely a sudden change for me; having nobody.

Trudy was three years older than me and never liked me. Though we were sisters, we looked nothing alike. While I had dark brown hair, her hair was dark blonde. Her eyes were green, while mine were brown. No wonder she believed I didn’t fit into her idea of the perfect family. When everybody started agreeing with her; she was more than happy.

Terence; the peacock, was a year older than me. Him and his buddies all joined forces to bully me. In fact, he even gave them tips on how to better torment me.

My brother and sister were the only family I had left after my parents died, but they never considered me as their sister. I was an extra.

My best friend Abby quickly became my ex-best friend. Her choice of words, not mine.

My new father and the man who adopted me, was ashamed of me. I was an insult to his strong family. My new mother, my true father’s sister agreed with him without any fight. I was quickly thrown out of the house and made to sleep in the garage. No monetary benefits were given to me other than my school fees, so I worked in a local library to earn extra money. I was only leant Trudy’s old clothes to wear.

The only reason I was allowed in the pack house was to cook, clean their rooms, do their dishes, wash their clothes, complete their notes, and the list goes on and on… I had no choice; it was the Alpha’s order.

The Alpha of the Greenrock pack, Alpha Ron hates me. He considers me to be a curse to his pack, and his son, Everett Green, couldn’t agree less with that.

Everett Green; my brother’s best friend and next in line to be the Alpha of the pack was the biggest bully. Being next in line meant for him that on his Coming (his 16th birthday), he’d take over the pack as Alpha from his father. But I swear to God that he can write his own series of books on how to bully someone. His only purpose in life was to ruin mine. Everyone in the pack treated him like a God.

That rhinoceros! I hate him. He is one of the main reasons, for me to leave my pack. Life under his dad’s rule was hell. I could only imagine how it would be when Rett took over as the Alpha; which is in two months’ time. I’m already feeling pity for the girl who he’ll discover to be his mate.

Mates; every wolf has one. Only on our 16th birthday will a wolf come to know who the one destined for us will be. A mate is the one person who will love you unconditionally. It’s the best thing about being a werewolf, a great blessing from the Moon Goddess for our kind.

In our land, temples are built by each pack for the Goddess. We worship her. It is the duty of each pack to protect the temple. Many rogues come to our pack and try to take the silver statue we made in her image and other treasures present in the temple. Just so you know werewolves are immune to silver.

Being a werewolf, that’s where it all counts in the end. I’m not a wolf, I’m just human.

Yesterday was my 15th birthday. Nobody even remembered it was my birthday and I was glad for that. Instead of eggs and basket balls being thrown at me; my father whipped me with his belt for not ironing his shirt. Trudy and mother gave me their own share of yelling. Nobody saw me cry. Nobody saw me watching the moon outside, waiting for the change to happen.

I have nobody with me, no family, no friends, no mate, and not even my own wolf. Maybe I really am cursed. I’ve always wonder if maybe my birth parents would treat me like this as well. Would they too consider me worthless? I don’t even know why I’m not a wolf yet? I have no answers for any of my questions.

Last night was unbearable to me. The very thought of continuing to live like a slave for another year, or possibly forever, scared me. I cried myself to sleep.

In my dreams, I felt it. I felt someone real. They spoke with a deep voice, advising me to seek out the answers to my questions. And I realized that I could never find them it if I continued being my pack’s slave.

I woke up at 3 this morning, packed a few clothes and all the money I had in my backpack. I got dressed into my usual dark jeans that suited my shapeless body and threw on a white top, and wrote only a goodbye in a quick note. The note was only written to let them know that I left on my own free will. I promised myself not to turn back until I crossed out of the pack territory, and I’ve kept my promise so far.

So here I am, standing at the border of the Greenrock pack territory, one more step away from being free of this hellhole. I don’t know what life has in store for me out there. Will it be better or worse? But I’ll never know, standing here, where the last green flag marked the end of Greenrock pack territory.

Ahead of me I could see a yellow flag, marking the beginning of the Silverstar pack’s territory; our neighboring pack to the north. No wolf can pass a pack’s territory unless permission has been granted to you by its Alpha. But you know what? I’m not a wolf. I’m a human and humans don’t stay in packs.

And so, I took that one final step and was out of Greenrock territory.

“Finally, it’s your chance; live your life Templar” I said to myself in encouragement and started walking towards my new life.

Checking the time I saw it was 6 now. I’d been walking for the past two hours. Maybe they’d found out I was missing…

“Don’t think about that hell you came from Templar. New life remember?” I warned myself, not letting my thought continue.

I didn’t know where I was in this new territory and I wasn’t worried. Even if any wolves were to see me they wouldn’t kill me because I was a human. That was werewolf law.

Several minutes later I had to stop walking as I grew too tired to continue. I needed water and the bottle I had was now empty. Faintly I could hear the sound of flowing water. I hoped it was a river or lake nearby, and followed it. I came to a sudden halt as I reached it in shock. It was an ocean and my jaw dropped at the site of it.

Like the Greenrock pack, the Silverstar pack’s territory was also really close to the coast. Great, this meant no drinking water for me. Staring at the ocean before me I concentrated on the waves rising and falling, enjoying the serenity and peace of it.

After a few minutes passed by I felt the sudden urge to swim and I didn’t know how to swim. I stood from where I sat on the sand and made my way to the water. When the waves touched my feet, I couldn’t resist. What was happening to me? I asked my mind in a panic. I don’t know how to swim for God’s sake.

In the past when Everett had ‘accidently’ thrown me in a pool they had had to save me once they realized I couldn’t swim. But now, standing at the ocean’s edge, I found myself being called by it. I must have gone crazy, because it felt right.