Shadow Phantom of the Past
Prologue:
The New Age
There was once a time when I was governed by the laws of Gabriel. That time seemed so long ago, ever since Aiden and I killed Gabriel. Before that, Aiden had accidentally killed my cousin Rafe with silver. Rafe was to be the leader of us loup-garoux when Gabriel passed on since he was Gabriel's only son. Rafe was the only son of my Aunt Astrid and Gabriel when Gabriel had chosen her to be his new mate. But those days are over. There is now a new age, a new hope. Along with this new age and hope come different laws and perhaps some old.
Ever since Gabriel died and Astrid let Aiden and I go, I became the new leader. The survivors of the old pack now listened to me and disregarded Gabriel's old laws until I established our new ones with some old. I, Vivian, was their new and preferred leader. The one law I hated to uphold to keep the sense of the pack was the one of not "fraternizing with mere meat people", people not of our kind. The one law I disregarded for my love of Aiden, my fascination of him and his studies. The one law that nearly took my life but was well worth it.
Twenty years have elapsed since I was under Gabriel's laws. I was merely nineteen then but now I am thirty-nine years old and married to the love of my life, Aiden. Not long after the fiasco of Gabriel, the fire, and the pack, I became pregnant by Aiden, which prompted us to marry. Nineteen years have gone by since the birth of our child, a young girl, and our daughter has been brought up in the way I wish I could have been. She has both parents and nothing to fear.
When our daughter was born, we named her Kailie Astrid. Her first name was just a name of a character I had read in a book when I first met Aiden and I took a liking to it. Her middle name we gave her was in honor of my Aunt Astrid, who was like an idol to me. Astrid had been my parent when I lost both my parents to the men with the guns. Aiden and I were very proud to have a young daughter like Kailie, or Kai as we call her sometimes. In a way, Kailie reminded me of everything I was and didn't have when I was her age. She was a younger me, an uncontaminated rendition of me.
Aiden and I have taught her the ways of the loup-garoux and the laws that must be held in order to keep our lineage from extinction. She is a bit strong-headed but I do not doubt that she will do better than I ever did at her age. She rather likes the hunts that I still hold, though I never liked them. I guess in some ways, the old days are coming back in her. But those days will not consume us. The new dawn is here. The new age is here….