The Werewolf Chronicles
I was thirteen when I first shape shifted and my life has never been the same since. When you're born into a certain life it is almost impossible to get away from it, no matter how hard you try. Your destiny follows you like a shadow and even though I never wanted this life I didn't have much of a choice. Once you shift the elders prepare you and train you to become part of the pack. The pack protects our tribe from the gruesome evil creatures out there, the ones that live under our beds and hide out in the woods stalking their pray. I know the legends and they say wolves are evil but we are the protectors not the hunters. But even after the years of training and the wise words from the pack leaders and elders nothing ever prepares you for imprinting. I hated the idea of caring for a stranger so much I would risk my life for them, because that's what the curse meant, your life belonged to that person now.
My dad imprinted on my mom when they were in high school and he said it was like magic. My mom died when I was twelve due to some supernatural beings that were stalking and killing women. My dad blamed himself for not being able to protect her and a part of him died with her. My dad sent my little sister Nova away to stay with my mom's sister who lived in the outskirts of town. It was too dangerous for her to stay with us during those times and we couldn't look after her. My dad was Alpha and I was still a kid, she needed a woman to care for her. After that many of the guys started shape shifting and I was one of the last ones from the new generation to shift. We learned everything there was to know about being a wolf and imprinting.
I tried to avoid it like I tried to avoid becoming Alpha of the pack which was my destiny. My father was Alpha and my grandfather and so on for generations and now it was my time, but I refused and left the tribe and pack the summer I turned 18. I left with my best friend Elsu who was also part of the pack, but he had other plans than to save the world from bad guys. My dad would always say Elsu was a bad influence on me and even though I knew it was true I didn't care. I knew he secretly wanted to be Alpha although he never admitted it, he was older and more experienced but he didn't have the Alpha gene in his blood. Elsu was born to follow not lead and so he chose to leave, his pride always prevailing.
"You're a disgrace," my father said to me before I left.
"I'm sorry I'm not what you expected me to be. Take care of Nova and take care of yourself," I said before I walked out the door.
I was reckless I accept that now; all I cared about was women and earning money without anything or anyone holding me back. My wolf, Elsu, and I roamed the world and for the first time in my life I felt free. I didn't have the pressure of being Alpha and I figured I would never imprint because it never happened with any of the girls in my tribe. Wolves only imprint on Native American women presumably in their tribe, but I never did. All throughout my high school years none of the girls in my tribe were chosen by my wolf and I thanked all the Gods there have ever been for that.
I did date Nahele in high school but it was never love, although she was the first girl I ever cared for. She and Lea another girl of the tribe were the only females that shape shifted and were forced to join the pack. Nahele was like me, she didn't want that life and she also left. She wanted to come with me but I told her I wanted to be on my own for a while. She hated the fact that neither of us imprinted on each other, but I felt a relief. We would meet up in different countries from time to time and talk about the places we have traveled and what were our future plans. But all of that stopped the day she told me she loved me and I instantly became cold and distant. I stopped getting in contact with her and repeatedly told her it was best that way. I didn't love Nahele and I didn't want to hurt her. I secretly hoped she would imprint so she could finally let me go but she never did.
"I don't believe in imprinting Jacob, but I do believe we belong together," she said the night before I left.
"I don't believe in imprinting either, I've always hated the idea of it," I sighed, "Nahele it just doesn't seem to be enough, there's something missing here and I don't know what it is."
Tears began to stream down her cheeks. "You just wanna have the freedom to fuck your whores! You're cold Jacob, you have no heart!" She fell to the floor and cried knowing that it was over between us.
"Take care of yourself Nahele." I went for the door and she grabbed my hand.
"Wait Jacob don't leave I love you!" She cried.
"We will see each other again, I'll get in contact with you once I know you've calmed down, goodbye." I snatched my hand away and left her room.
We reunited again in Iceland a year later but we lost communication again and I haven't seen or heard from her in almost a year. Elsu and I lived the fast life, earning easy money, fucking the most beautiful women in the world and using our wolf powers to our advantage. It was the glory days, we did so much illegal shit we should have life in prison, but we were too fast and too smart for the cops. We did as we pleased not caring about the consequences which now sounds completely absurd to me. I sometimes found myself missing home, my big old house my ancestors built close to the woods. I missed my little sister who has been the light of my eyes, my pack brothers who I bonded so much with throughout the years, the delicious Native American food the women cooked in the gatherings and the stories the elders would tell in the bonfires. And even though I hated to admit it, I missed my dad. I would often run for hours in my wolf form with all these thoughts in my head and this agonizing feeling of guilt that wouldn't leave me in peace.
I didn't mention any of this to Elsu because he would just say I was being a little bitch, and back then I listened to everything Elsu said. Although I missed the tribe I had no intention of going back until I heard the terrible news. Jared one of my pack brothers had been seriously injured in a fight. There were some vicious creatures the pack had encountered and were killing residents. Jared was dying and here I was enjoying my life not giving a single fuck about the world outside my own, and Jared was out there fighting and risking his life for the pack.
Elsu and I went back to visit him in the hospital. Wolves healed quickly but Jared's bones and ribs were so severely fractured we were afraid he wouldn't survive it, he was only 17.
"We should have been there." I told Elsu when we were in the waiting room.
"Don't Jacob don't you blame this on us let alone yourself."
"How could I not Elsu?! Jared is in there dying and I can't help but feel this guilt!" I hit the wall hard with my and the doctors looked at me startled.
"Take it easy Jake there's nothing we could have done and Jared is a tough guy he will get through this."
I sighed and ran my fingers through my thick dark hair. I saw my dad coming from one of the doors with Lea and Quill. Lea's face lit up when she saw me and I gave her my bear hug.
"Jake you're back." She squealed.
"Just for a little while, Quill you have muscles and facial hair now, how long have I been gone?" I joked; it was good to see him.
Quill laughed and we playfully punched each other in the arm. "It's good to see you Jake."
"When are you leaving?" My dad asked in a serious tone and everyone fell silent.
"In a couple of days once I know Jared is alright." The waiting grew tense and everyone could feel it.
"Where will you be staying?"
"In a hotel," I said looking at Elsu who nodded.
"Nonsense Jake you can stay with us, we're your family you've been gone so long..." Lea said.
"I think it's best I stay in a hotel."
"I do too," my father said with a stern face.
"How's Nova?" I asked.
"She's doing well; she's home again she moved back with me last month when school started."
"Billy finally decided that family needs to stick together." Lea looked at me when she said this and I furrowed my eyebrows at her.
"I think that's great, Nova should be with you guys, I hope it's okay if I stop by and see her before I leave."
He stood silent for a few seconds and then looked at me the way he did when I was a kid. "Sure," was all he said.
Many people later showed; it was the family reunion I didn't want to have. Everyone was so shocked to see Elsu and me, it had only been three years we had been gone but it felt like a lifetime. Everyone's lives were different, many of the pact members had imprinted and some even had kids. My father had retired from Alpha and now Sam and Paul were running the pack, Sam one of my best friends from childhood was Alpha. I finally got to see Jared and when I did I felt like I had to protect him somehow, protect all of them. He had casts on his arms and legs and a bandage that wrapped his entire head, the doctors said he had internal bleeding. I decided to go back home that night and Elsu went to the hotel, he hated family reunions. I heard Nova scream when I came through the door.
"Jacob!" She leaped into my arms and I held her tight.
I hadn't seen Nova in four years and now she was an eleven year old girl going through puberty.
"How are you kid?" I threw her on my back and she screamed in giggles.
"Jake put me down!" she managed to say through the giggles.
I threw her on the sofa and she attacked my hair. "Your hair is so long Jake you can actually tie it now, I like it."
"Yea I like it, something different. How are you? It's been a while." She laughed and her smile reminded me of mom.
"I'm great, well I'm sad about Jared but I'm happy to be back home. Are you back for good too?" Her big brown eyes looked so hopeful and I felt like such a jerk.
I shook my head. "No Nova I'm only here to visit, I'll be leaving again once Jared gets better."
She frowned and her eyes became sad like my father's.
"But it's not like you're never gonna see me again, I'll always come visit especially now that I know you're here."
She sighed. "Okay." Even though Nova was only eleven I knew she understood, she was too smart and mature for her age.
"Can I get smile or am I going to have to pry it out of you?" I raised an eyebrow at her and she flashed her pearly whites and I laughed.
"Tell me about your adventures Jake, oh and by the way I missed you, promise we won't go that long without seeing each other again." She rested her head on my shoulder.
"I missed you more, and I promise." I told her all about my experiences away from home, keeping it PG of course.
Jared thankfully got better and I immediately drove to the hospital in my old truck to see him. La Push was the same, rainy, damp and full of wolves. I felt such a relief when I saw that Jared was awake. He was talking to Paul and Quill when I came in and his dark eyes immediately lit up when he saw me.
"Jake! I can't believe it."
I leaned in carefully and gave him a brotherly hug. "You scared the shit out of me."
"I think I scared the shit out of everybody." He laughed and we joined in knowing the worst was over."
"You sure did kid." Sam came in and gave him a pat on the back.
"He's gonna be okay," I said more to myself.
"Glad you could come Jake, it means a lot to the pack," Sam said standing beside Jared protectively.
"You guys are my brothers and if one of you is ever in trouble or hurt I'll be here."
Quill and Paul both gave me a pat on the back and I playfully punched them in the arm.
"Okay this is getting too sentimental," Jared joked and we all attacked him.
I called Elsu to stop by and see Jared but he wouldn't pick up his phone, this was typical Elsu and then he wondered why they never chose him to be Alpha.
"He's not coming." I heard Sam say behind me, he was leaning on the wall.
I sighed and shook my head. "It's like he doesn't even care."
"When did he ever," he said in more of a statement than a question, "How have you been Jake?"
"I've been good, traveling a lot. I heard you and Leah had a kid, that's great. I remember when the two of you first imprinted on each other, you had the whole pack tedious and annoyed."
"Well it's not my fault I can't control my thoughts and it kind of sucks we can share each other's thoughts while were in wolf form." He shrugged.
"Yea we pretty much knew everything that was going on, front row show." I teased
He punched me in the arm and I punched him back.
"When you imprint it will be impossible for you not to think about her."
"It's not gonna happen with me Sam, I'm already twenty one and nothing."
"The age doesn't matter Jake and just because most of us have imprinted already doesn't mean it's too late for you."
"I don't want to imprint Sam and no offense to you and the others, I know you are all happy but this life just wasn't meant for me."
He sighed. "You know you should be Alpha Jake, I know that too and I'm here just taking over until you get your head your of your ass and grow some damn balls and responsibility. Look I don't mean to sound like your dad and you're a grown up now, but one day you're gonna realize we were right all along. When you're ready the position is yours, oh and by the way don't be like Elsu he's a fucking waste and you're better than that." He patted me on the back and left leaving me completely bewildered.
I spent the rest of that afternoon with the guys in the hospital reminiscing on the old days; it felt good to hang out with them. After we left the hospital we turned into our wolf forms and spent the night running and howling to the moon. I spent my time there at home to bond with Nova and even though my dad and I were not on good terms he was glad I was there. I barely heard from Elsu and he never visited the hospital again. They discharged Jared two days later and he began to heal rather quickly so I decided to leave the next day.
I finally got in contact with Elsu and we planned to leave the next morning. Everyone was upset I was leaving; I guess they were expecting I would stay but I couldn't, I didn't belong to that life anymore. I was going to miss it more now and that bothered me more than it should have. I decided to have breakfast at the diner with the guys before I left; I had already said my farewells to my dad and Nova which was always hard. Elsu decided to join us and we planned to go to Brazil which we really enjoyed last time we were there. During the two weeks I was there everyone had tried to convince me to stay but just one look at her and I knew exactly what my destiny was.
