Smoke and Mirrors
Chapter Three: Outcasts

Sapphire Ragna Nightborne

The fresh air was a much-welcomed change to the stale scent of blood that once filled the air. We were now a good distance away from the place we once called home, my heart ached to know that we would never be able to go home.

My nose scrunched with disgust knowing that we were now doomed to live amongst humans, the descendants of those who had oppressed and slaughtered our kind, and that we would have to hide who we really are due to their fear of the unknown and different.

I was proud of who I was and what I was, it pained me to know that I would have to conceal it. I traced the intricate tattoos on my bicep knowing that I from now on had to hide it, most of Mankind have forgotten that we exists but there are still some who hunt us just like their ancestors before them did.

My marks were once shown off proudly as they proved that all my hard work was not in vain. That I, Sapphire Nightshade, became the first female Head Warrior and Commander, these tattoos showed my rank as well as my pack’s crest, they were the first and only ones of their kind.

My lips lifted by a fraction as I looked down at the gold necklace that rested on my chest. It was a tiny pendant, nothing fanciful, a simple circle of gold with a tiny sapphire in the middle, it had been the first and the last gift that I received or will ever receive from my mother, it was very special to her at least that was what my father told me. If it was any consolation to me that I would still be able to wear it proudly even when we live among humans.

I remember clutching on to it when the hunters took me and some of my comrades, crying to my mother to protect me and to give me strength to continue fighting. Even now, as an adult, I still clung on to it in times of need.

A small, noise caused me to look down at Antony who was now peacefully sleeping in my arms, hugging his teddy bear without a care in the world. He would assimilate well into the human way of life, he was never put to training but what worried me the most was that although it was a good thing he was young as it would allow him to adapt to the new style of life better, it would be hard for him to hide and go through his first shift. I remembered my first shift, the pain was almost too much to bear but no one paid attention to me or help as they did not expect anything from a girl, I chuckled as I remembered their expressions, their shocked faces when they saw black fur, the colour of power to my kind, their astonishment grew as they saw golden eyes, the mark of a Lycan.

Lycans were the ancestors of the werewolves. They were the first Wolves, the first Children of the Moon and were every bit like the romanticised legends that humans fear-their bite was infectious as it could turn humans into werewolves. They used this to their advantage to create the first packs, which have branched out to produce the packs of today.

This carried on for around a hundred years and brought about the first generation of werewolves. The Lycans were now the apex predator, but as the humans fought back, their numbers dwindled till Lycans were all but extinct. As the years went by, the werewolves procreated and soon their offspring, due to the dilution of Pure Lycan blood, were unable to create new wolves through a bite, thus introducing the modern-day werewolves.

Possessing Lycan blood meant that I was a direct descendant of a Pure Lycan, which was usually due to relationships between Pure Lycans and werewolves. As Lycans soon found, to continue their line, they had no choice but to mate with werewolves to preserve what little of their kind was left.

The Lycan gene, although weakened through the generations, could still pass on some of the Pure Lycan’s abilities to their werewolf descendant through a recessive gene. My case was not unheard of but was rare enough to garner the ‘special attention’ of my Pack Elders.

The horrific memories of the numerous tests the Pack Elders carried out on me would remain with me for the rest of my life. There and been no reports of someone possessing an active Lycan gene in the last two hundred years. So, they told me it was just for research, to study this rare occurrence for the good of the pack, of course. The naïve child that I had been, so desperate to be accepted, I believed them.

Day and night, they tested my speed, endurance, strength as well as my resistance to silver and wolfsbane as Lycans were rumoured to be countless times stronger and faster than the wolves now, they were also rumoured to be immune to the effects of wolfsbane and silver. The constant exposure to those elements showed that I was resistant to wolfsbane, but silver affected me like any other wolf.

My hand subconsciously ran across my torso brushing against the fabric of my shirt, feeling the raised skin from years of scar tissue forming. I brushed against the raised vertical line down my wrist as I remembered yet another group of people who took interest in me. Till today the scars they left on my body remained, reminding me of what it meant to be ‘special’.

My trip down memory lane was interrupted when a hand tugged gently on my necklace.

“How much longer are we going to travel?”

I looked at the little angel in my arms, he scrunched his nose as yawned completely oblivious to the chaos he just escaped, his tongue stuck out and curled like a puppy.

“Just a day’s journey Angel.”

I glanced up at the darkening sky and knew that we would have to soon camp for the night or risk being sitting ducks for whatever lived in this forest. I knew I had to hunt as well, my body had started to ache with hunger and it was only time before it started to feed on my muscles which was something that I could not afford at this critical moment.

However, I could not leave Antony alone to go of and hunt as he was still young with no training to defend himself. At this point, even a baby wolf could pose a great threat against him.

My dilemma was soon answered when we walked towards a huge tree with a dense canopy. It was near a small clearing where I could see a family of deer grazing.

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I wiped the blood from my mouth as I looked down at the young doe I had just killed, it was so beautiful that I almost felt guilty about killing it, but what other choice did we have. I raised my eyebrows as I looked up amused due to the little whimpers coming from the tree above me.

“Angel, I needed to kill it or we would have nothing to eat today.”

I looked up in the trees as Antony turned his face from me and sniffed with tears welling in his eyes.

“We could have eaten some fruit or something, we did not have to kill it.”

I scoffed as I reached out to him.

“Angel, we are wolves remember, we require more protein than the average human does and besides, the night is closing in on us, it is not safe for us to venture into unfamiliar territory in the dark even with our heightened senses. Did I waste the breath I spent on your lessons because it seems that nothing went into that little head of yours?”

His lips formed an adorable pout at my comment but he still jumped straight into my arms, I could not help but let out a sigh, he was never like the other children of Alphas. They lived to train while he preferred to stay at home to read or listen to my battle stories, his soft heart frustrated his father numerous times as there was no way he would never be a good leader for our pack due to his soft nature, in his father’s mind anyway.

He used his sleeve to wipe away the stray streaks of blood on my face, I nuzzled my head to his touch savouring this peaceful moment as I knew that they would be few in the days to come. The scent of blood that once blanketed his own was now gone with the exception of a slight undertone. I made sure we cleaned ourselves as good as we could at the first stream we passed before putting on fresh clothes and leaving our dirty ones behind.

“Can we at least cook it this time? I always hated when Daddy made me eat raw meat. It’s gross.”

My lips curled into a smile as I remembered the times where Ryder chased Antony through the house trying to get him to eat. Our kind can eat raw meat without worry of sickness but most preferred to cook their meat to add flavour, but Ryder was adamant that we stuck to the old ways.

“It’s already late, Angel. A fire would attract who knows what and that is something I cannot risk. How about you eat it raw today and tomorrow morning, I cook it for you for breakfast? That sounds good to you?”

He pouted before giving a small nod.

I started to drag the deer carcass back to our camp when the birds stopped their singing and the forest turned dangerously quiet. Instantly I went on the alert, a quiet forest that on other circumstances was filled with the sounds of wildlife meant that a larger and more dangerous predator was in the area. I caught slight movement in the dense foliage around as with my peripheral vision before taking off with Antony in my arms, I had only gotten so far before the sounds of large paws making contact with the forest ground chased us.