Right of Passage

It was the end of January, one of the coldest months of the year in most of the U.S. The day I came into this world. My eyes, seeing everything for the first time. My grandmother, mother, and father as well as our pack doctor were the first to greet me on the day of my birth. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

My story like most starts before I was even born. My mother Sara, an Omega born to the Alpha and Luna of Savage Pack, (a pack of vicious werewolves) was given to my father Raigar the Alpha heir of the Moon Walker pack. My pack had been given the news, that as part of a treaty between the two packs, that my mother (also known as the Omega Alpha Breeder). A terrible name by the way. Alpha breeders are Omega and Gamma females that are traded off to produce pups for Alphas and betas as part of peace treaties.

Well my mother was pregnant with me shortly after arriving at Moon Walker pack. I would be the first born to the pack Alpha. Or so we all thought. But let's get into that later.

Back to my story. My name is Persephone and I am the first born Alpha female of the Moon Walker Alpha heir Raigar and my mother Sara. And when I tell you my life has been rough until recent years, I'm definitely not joking.

Granted there are some good memories and many happy moments as well as the bad. But not enough to out way the bad, yet that is. Or at least I'm hoping.

My first year of life wasn't all bad. I was born under the first full moon of the year. It was a very beautiful time of day, when the stars and moon were shining with the most beautiful almost silver glow. And it was just before the sun would begin to rise and chase the darkness of the sky away. I only know this because of the way my grandmother described it to me as my evening bedtime story when I was slightly old enough to understand it. We are what you can call Lycan Shifters. We have two parts to our beings. Two sides of the same whole. One body that houses two separate souls. Our half that looks and appears human. And our other half that is and fully looks like a wolf only much larger. (People can easily mistake us for Dire Wolves). Though shifting from one physical form to the other is quite painful at first, we do get used to it the more we shift. Our first shift is when we start to fully bond with our wolf souls. It takes a few weeks after birth to start to make the connection easier to hear our wolves speak within our minds, we spend years getting to know our wolf souls before the first shift. This makes the bond strong enough that we survive the shift. Without that bond being formed and developed the first shift can kill a young pup.

At ten years old, we have our right of passage ceremony. This is when our wolves can come out and go for their very first run with the pack...this happens when the bonds are solid...though some bonds take a bit longer to form enough. At sixteen we find our mates if they are within our area, and begin our bond kind of like human dating though we stay together for our entire lives. Some take longer than others to find their mates. And others reject their mates for reasons of their own. But I'm getting ahead of myself again.

Back to it. At just over a year and eight months old, my mother had given birth to my younger sister Bella.

Soon after her arrival, things between my father and mother became strained. Due to my father's anger over my mother only providing female heirs. He had grown impatient and more aggressive by the day. He even became so enraged that he kicked her from the pack lands for a short time. During her limited banishment she had found her mate. Her mate rejected her, but not until he had gotten her pregnant with my half brother. Her mate returned to the female he already had pups with. Leaving my mother heartbroken, and with nowhere else to turn. So she returned to my father. My father, being the Alpha that he is, made a set of conditions upon her return. That her pup would be claimed as his own, and that she would bare him a true male heir. The next couple of years were rough on her. But she lived by my father's rule and obeyed his decree. My brother, though half, was now claimed as my father's pup. His name was Adreus, and he was treated in every way as our equal. My sister and I loved him like a baby brother. And then our mother became pregnant again. This time with a true male heir, my younger brother. My father had a fantastic ceremony, and named him Azreal. He was beloved by the entire pack and by his older siblings, myself included. After that my mother gave birth to two more pups, though she lost two as well. The youngest being Samuel. And just a year before him was Celestia...

Years later....

It was the day of my eight birthday. And I could feel my wolf Akyala as if we were already one whole. Tonight would be our right of passage ceremony. Normally we didn't get our wolf transformation until our tenth birthday, but my grandmother said I am special and that she could already feel that my wolf and I were meant for something big.

My grandmother told me that before I was even born, my mother had tried to end her existence and my own. But that I had prevented her from doing so. That my Alpha aura was strong before I was even born and I was able to stop her from within her womb. It was then that she told me, that she had a dream from the moon goddess, showing her that I would be strong and that my destiny was a special one. My abilities would go beyond that of my transformation and far beyond that of my tyrannical father.

Don't get me wrong, my grandmother loved her sons. But ever since my father became Alpha heir to my grandfather, his narcissistic personality went unchecked. Raigar had won his title after challenging his older brother and nearly killing him. My uncle forfeit his title to stay alive, and left our pack like a coward, he never stood his ground to his younger brother, and it led to his exile from the pack to live as a rouge. My Uncle James knew how abusive my father could be, especially his breeder and pups. He only ever cared about one thing, being the strongest pack in the territory.

But today was my right of passage day. The day Akyala and I would fully be free, fully become one. And be free to run with the pack in the annual hunt that coming winter. We were so excited. Akyala had been my best friend and strongest support during the last eight years. Growing up with a father like mine, you learn to defend yourself quickly.

The whole pack was getting ready for my special night. When the moon reached its highest apex we would begin our first shift in the lake behind the pack house. A shifter slways did their first shift in water, as it made some of the pain lessen and the shift easier to handle. The water was blessed by the moon goddess with a pain easing property. Every pack had their own blessed water source for shifting.

....Mine and Akyala P.O.V....

It was time. I was ready to begin my ceremony. Akyala was excitedly pacing in my mind. I walked out of the pack house into the cool crisp air of the night. The moonlight bathed the pack house in the most beautiful white light. Almost making the pack house seem to glow in the darkness of the night. The stars twinkled in the deep distance of space. It was truly breath taking.

As the gentle breeze blew through the garden leading to the lake, I could smell lavender all around me dancing on the wind. It was calming.

I took a step down feeling the soft grass beneath my feet, and for the first time I was completely connected to nature. Like every fiber of my being was coursing with light electrical energy. My bond was sealing. I could feel Akyala smiling within me. And it made my heart happy.

I made my way down to the lake, where all of our pack was gathered waiting for me to arrive, to become whole. The sound of the crickets were all that could be heard around us, as I approached the area in which my father stood before the pack.

"I Raigar, Alpha of Moon Walker pack, announce the first shift of my eldest daughter, first born Alpha female of the pack...and potential heir of the pack", my father bellows to the gathered pack members in his Alpha tone with a slight undertone on potential. In doing this any conversations stopped immediately and everyone watched on silently. I stepped forward upon my dad's instruction, heading towards the edge of the lake.

I took my first steps into the cold water. It sent cool tingles down my spine and along my skin. The water was cold but felt nice on my body as my body began to heat up, signaling the start of my shift. The merging of our two souls into one being. All of a sudden I felt unbearable pain course through my body, causing me to scream out. Starting from my feel and ending at the top of my head. I could hear my bones cracked as the shift took hold. With each crack of bones breaking more of my wolf form began to show. The pain making my eye site blur and tears sting blinding me temporarily. My jawbone breaks and extends forming my muzzle. I can feel my canines stretch out from my powerful jaws. Then the next wave of pain washes over me as my forearms break, reform and change, as I look down i can barely make out my two large silver and white paws and front legs. I let out another scream, only this time it sounds more like a howl, from the pain. This triggers the pack and they began howling. Letting me know i am not alone.

An hour later and more cracking and breaking can be heard and the