Rose
The Starlight Carnival came around to a few packs during the spring and summer months. This was the first time in over a decade that the Carnival came to Silver Crescent.
We were a small peaceful pack tucked away in the dense forests of the Appalachian Mountains. Most of the human towns around us were run down and honestly depressing. I had wandered into towns when my parents first started to let me roam. They typically reeked of sadness and broken dreams. Typically storefront windows were smashed in. Creepy cobwebs hung down from the eaves like streamers as if the spiders were throwing a party for death.
I tried to avoid the human towns after that. We rarely had werewolves from other packs visit. The Starlight Carnival was one of the few chances for many people from the Silver Crescent pack to meet their mates. During the Carnival, the pack borders are open, and werewolves can attend regardless of their pack. The Starlight Carnival is how my parents met.
Twenty-five years ago, on a starry night was when their love story began. My dad had gone to the Carnival with a few of his friends just for fun; he never had the intention of anything more than just laughs with his friends. As his friends and he went on a rollercoaster, he caught a whiff of something, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Whatever the scent was had piqued his interest, but he kept trying to ignore it. The smell slowly began to imprint itself in my dad’s soul. At nineteen, the best way my dad could describe it was something sweet and earthy kept calling out to him.Later on in his life, he would pinpoint the scent of maple syrup and thyme. No matter how much he tried to enjoy the Carnival with his friends, his wolf, Anthony, kept begging him to follow the scent. My dad says Anthony was acting like a pup on a sugar rush; he was all over the place, desperate to get to the source of the smell.
Finally, my dad gave in to the whims of his wolf. Without another thought, he steered his friends in the direction of the smell. When my dad finally found my mom, he said that it was as if time stopped just for them. Everything went silent. There were no longer the squeals of children or the music being pumped through the Carnival. His friends stupid jokes slipped away into nothingness. The world stopped for this moment, for them.
The twinkle lights shone brightly in my mother’s blue eyes, and the gentle breeze rained a few petals from a dogwood tree down onto her. My mother was there at the carnival weaving floral crowns. She almost knocked over a bucket of daisies when the smell of freshly roasted pecans wafted her way. When he and my mom locked eyes, they just knew that they had found the other piece of their soul. Both in unison whispered, “Mate.”
Before my dad knew it, my mom had jumped into his arms. In the blink of an eye, he marked my mom right then and there. He hadn’t even asked her what her name was. After four pups and twenty-five years later, my dad still can’t resist my mom’s scent. However, he does have a bit better control when it comes to PDA now.
The Starlight Carnival is a critical part of my parent’s love story, and many of the pack members love stories as well. Many wolves celebrate this Carnival as a gift from the moon goddess herself as a chance to find the one that completes their soul.
Rose I woke up the day before my eighteenth birthday with the same familiar sweaty skin stuck to leather feeling. “Why do I even own a bed?” I muttered to myself as I pried my skin from the leather-like I did most mornings. I stretched before placing one of my well-loved books about the moon goddess back on the bookshelf. The songs of the cicadas crept into the room, letting me know that today was going to be hot. I opened my bedroom window further, desperately hoping a breeze would circulate the dead air. Nothing....nothing at all to ease the stifling atmosphere. I groaned before making my way to my dresser. “Let’s go for
Rose After the crazy dream, I decided to hang out with Matt until the sun started to edge behind the trees. He walked me home and only playfully tried to hit on me about ten times. That was an early birthday miracle in itself. Nothing of interest happened the rest of the day. As always, I reported back to Harriet about her boy toy before I read myself into a deep, peaceful slumber. Not a single dream of smoke or burning flesh, which I never knew was such a blessing until then. The sun crept through the window on the morning of my eighteenth birthday. It danced across my eyelids, encouraging me to greet the day. As I stretched, I accidentally fell out of my cozy chair and hit the floor with a grunt. I rubbed my butt as I sulked.
RoseAfter the mind link ended, all the magical sounds of the carnival ceased to exist. Matthew grabbed Harriet’s face pulling her lips against his and stole a passionate kiss. Heather and I turned away to give them a moment. We only turned back when we heard him say four words.“I love you, Harriet.” He choked out as a tear ran down his cheek. He shredded his clothes as he shifted into his large molasses wolf with a white underbelly. He bolted towards the southern border visibly forcing himself to look to the border as Harriet crumbled to her knees.“You asshole! That’s not fair! That wasn’t part of the agreement !” She screamed after his wolf as the tears streamed down her cheeks. “I love you, too.” Harriet whimpered into her hands. Heather leaned down and hugged her sister from behind. To other packs, this probably would be no big deal. We are just a small pack in the middle of the mountains. We aren't a fighter rich pack, we are peaceful. What did we
Matt After the mind link ended, an eerie silence engulfed the carnival grounds before people started to panic. Families took off running away from the Southern border, but the only person I could focus on was Harriet. I saw the horror beginning to take hold of her. I had to do something to distract her. I grabbed Harriet’s face, pulling her lips against mine as I stole a passionate kiss. I needed her to feel anything but fear. Harriet and Heather didn’t have a dad anymore because of the last attack on our village. Fifteen years ago, there were the hunters. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it out alive. ***Come on, Matthew. It’s an infestation of rogues. Leave your girlf
RoseI whipped my head around after Harriet whispered his name. His back was macerated, claw marks exposed raw skin. Thin trails of blood trickled down his body. I just saw this body yesterday...the current sight made me recoil and gulp. His head started to twitch like he was searching for someone. His body slightly turned; only then is when we realized he was holding someone in his arms.“Heather,” Harriet gasped, and she clambered to her feet. Matt whipped his head once he saw her voice. Matt immediately ushered Heather to us. “Is she okay?” Harriet croaked, and she reached her hands up to her baby sister’s cheek.“Just knocked out. I found Heather unconscious near the flower and herb fields. There were some burning branches on top of her. I think she will be fine. She has some burns, but I think the smoke got to her. It was the worst area I had been in.” Matt kneeled and gently laid her on the ground as Harriet brushed Heather’s hair out of her face.“
Rose It was well past midnight as we continued to scour the village and forests for survivors. Our Alpha was dead, our Luna was dead, our Beta was dead, our warriors were dead, mothers were dead, fathers were dead, children were dead. Our pack was a husk of what it used to be. Just thinking of it made me want to sink into myself, shutting out the world. I was lucky. My friends and my parents were still alive. I had never been so glad my siblings had moved onto larger packs, anywhere but here. When they found my dad, he had already started treating people. Most of the pack that was injured had burns, and luckily they were healing pretty quickly on their own. My arm was almost completely healed, most likely earning my first battle scar. An a
MattI placed the call into the council around three in the morning. Silver Crescent had been attacked. I kept repeating it to myself. Trying to get it to sink in but desperately hoping it’s just a sick joke. There was no one else to do it. After the disastrous events of the night, everyone was a shell of their previous self. Heck, so was I. My dad died in the battle. He died protecting the people he loved, the pack he cherished. I’m proud to be his son, and I know he would have been proud of me for taking out the scum who killed Alpha Dane. I wish I could have killed them all. To take their lives, they took my only family member away from me. I was alone.After midnight some of the men and I had taken care of the bodies of the rogues. We loaded trucks and dumped them outside our territory off the side of the mountain into a rocky ravine. They did not deserve any more than that. Anyone who was injured was with Rose’s dad. Heather had woken up, but Harriet i
Unknown Alpha Alastor walked out of my office and closed the doors. I leaned back in my chair with my eyes closed. When was the last time a pack was hit this hard? When werewolves were not in a pack and let their wolves take over for too long, they became feral. Unfortunately, in the mountains, there were more feral rogues than regular rogues. The gift and curses of nature. The danger hiding behind the beauty. Why the fire, though? I would get to the bottom of this. One way or another. Standing up from my desk, I made my way out of my office and down the long corridor. I passed a few of the early riser members of my pack, only giving nods as the only form of acknowledgment. The quicker I left, the faster I could get there. Time was of the essence. I padded down the steps of my packhouse.“The cars are ready to go, Alpha.” Alastor walked up to me. “We are taking twenty warriors with us. We will be spre