Prologue

The first time Conor shifted, he was four. His Mother was making his favorite banana pancakes and he got so excited his eyes shifted from their normal stormy blue, to a brilliant glowing gold. Let's just say the pancakes didn't survive the surprise, but his Mom and Dad were so excited, him being the youngest in the family to shift meant they abandoned the mess of breakfast and went out to have a proper feast. They went to the local diner, all 13 of them, and had a proper celebration. They said the celebration was something about a rite of passage or something in the family, to throw off suspicion, but in a way it really was a rite of passage. Everyone was so proud of him, his Dad was practically in tears the entire day. His alpha was so proud of them, outshining even the most powerful wolves was a hard thing to do, and Alpha Talia Hale wasn't easily impressed. They all thought that this weak, small, runt of a boy was gonna turn out human, but boy were they ever wrong.

The second time it happens, it's years later. Years of his pack members, mostly Peter, constant jabbing at him, rough housing, yelling at him, trying to get him to shift. They called his first time a fluke, a stroke of luck that he managed to shift at all. Some said he truly was human, that it was a trick of the light. His Dad, David Lovell, barely talked to him anymore, his human son, his only heir, a disappointment, this bratty eleven year old little runt that disappointing his entire family, his whole pack. Well, not his entire family. His mom, Maria Lovell, a beautiful women in her early thirties at the time, a strong and revered Alpha, second to Talia Hale, never gave up hope. She new what she saw and she knew what he was, he was hers. Her baby boy, her little wolf, the softest, most innocent of the pack. So it was really no surprise when it was her being in danger that made him shift.

It was just like any other day, with just an added touch of betrayal. All the older pack members were back from college, everyone was home for winter break, Laura, Nathan, the twins Tommy and Thea, Peter. The week was short lived however, it consisted most of the pack teasing him for not shifting, other human pack members trying to console him, that it wasn't so bad, that he could get the bite when he turned eighteen. It was all rather grating on Conor's nerves, he was beginning to get really pissed.

Derek and Laura never let it get too far, always sticking up for him and taking him on runs, making up excuses like 'he's just a late bloomer' or 'he's not the only one in the pack, Peter didn't turn till he was 15!'. But even they began to slowly lose hope. When Christmas came, the day wasn't too special for him, it was just like any other boring old holiday. The day after however, his 12th birthday, was definitely a memorable one. What with his entire pack forgetting, still high off the joy the day before had brought. Relishing their new stuff, pretty much ignoring him, all but one.

"Have you gotten the cake yet?" Maria asked David, putting in an earring while fixing her make up in the mirror.

"What cake?" He asked, just finishing up shaving.

"For your son's birthday. The cake we kinda need to sing happy birthday to him with." She sated, watching his eyes swim with confusion.

"You forgot." It was more of a statement than a question, red was starting to bleed into her eyes.

"It's just one-" He started, but a growl from her had him showing golden eyes and cowering. She grabbed the keys and walked out the door and down the stairs, mumbling about doing it herself.

"Talia, I'm leaving to go get the cake, can you wake Peter up and tell him to get everything ready?" She asked, slipping on her boots. Talia just looked up from her newspaper confused and tired.

"Why are you getting a cake?" Laura asked, staring at her weirdly. All her siblings were in the kitchen, minus Derek, all sporting the same level of confusion. She almost killed Laura just for that, she was supposed to be Conor's honorary sister, or at least she deemed herself that. She was probably gonna be stripped of that title in the next couple of minutes.

"Isn't it a little early for cake Maria dear?" Peter asked, sauntering in with a smirk, apparently already awake. But one look from Maria, and her red eyed glare had him shutting up and retreating back into the living room. She knew that Conor slipped under the radar sometimes, but this was a bit excessive.

"Maria, no need to scold my brother, it's just a cake." Talia stated, a little bit of Alpha slipping into her voice while merely raising an eyebrow and taking a sip of her coffee. Maria's eyes burned brighter at that, that was supposed to be her best friend.

"Mom?" Asked a small voice at the door, she turned around, all rage leaving her and replaced by heartache from the look of absolute pain on her baby's face.

"Derek?" He asked with a slight hopeful look, but Derek just looked confused and she had the sudden urge to slap him for putting an even more devastated look on his face. Out of everyone, even herself, even Laura, Derek was the one he idolized the most. She had no idea why, he was a brat and selfish, but Conor always looked at her with the same look and stated he was his hero. And here he was, crushing his little spirit.

"Let's go." Maria told him, smiling at him and holding her hand out for him to take. She was barely keeping her control from slipping, and being around her so called pack wasn't helping. So when Conor finally took her hand, she walked out the door and got in her car.

It was a while before either of them spoke, Conor spent most of the time staring out the window, knees brought to his chest. She could smell salt in the air and she knew he was crying, knew that her pack, their pack had hurt him. Knowing this, she squeezed the steering wheel so tight it probably left dents. She pulled off the road after about fifteen minutes from the hale house, not wanting to go too far but wanting to put some distance. The car rattled to a stop as she took the keys from the ignition, than proceeded to hide them under the seat. After all this was done she turned, to Conor, smiled, and opened the door.

"You coming?" She asked already a ways into the woods, she smiled as she watched him scramble out of the car and take off after her. She let out a barking laugh and ran, signalling the beginning of the chase.

They ran for hours, just running, sometimes chasing something or playing tag. Conor loved to run, it felt freeing to him, like even though he wasn't like the others he could still soar through the trees. He got that from his mother, she was roughly middle aged by human standards and she still had the athletic prowess of a tiger. They ran like their lived depended on it, and pretty soon it would.

"Catch me Mom!" He screeched, running and leaping in the air. His mom just laughed and caught him, twirling him around. She set him on his feet but quickly grabbed him again as a gun shot ran through the woods.

"Mom-?" He asked quietly, but was quickly shushed and dragged behind a tree. His mom's normal sparkle in her stormy blue eyes, identical to his, was replaced by red fire, lit with fear.

"I know your out there! Come on! Quick acting like a coward and fight!" An old man walked into the clearing, younger, broader men on either side of him. He walked with power though, like he was the predator and they were his prey.

"Stay here. If anything happens you run as fast as you can and get Talia." Maria commanded, the Alpha tremor in her voice forcing Conor to submit and nod his head yes.

"Gerard. Always a pleasure." She quipped, walking out into the clearing and standing tall. In full Alpha mode and on high alert.

"Maria, where's the brat?" One of the men asked, leveling his shotgun at her. Conor watched as her shoulders tensed and her eyes hardened.

"Gone back I imagine." She answered, seeming to be non the wiser. These men weren't idiots, but apparently they were in a hurry.

"Well I guess that makes this easier." Gerard laughed, not the warm kind laugh like his moms, or the deep and boisterous one like Derek's, not even the quiet chuckle Peter gives. No, this, this was maniacal laugh, not like cheap movie villains, but terror inducing laugh. One that promised death.

"Take her." He instructed, the two men rushing to take her hostage, but not one to go without a fight his mother shifted, completely shifted. Her entire face transformed, as did her nails and teeth. Then she kept transforming, growing darker, her nose elongating into a snout, already deadly fangs twice the size they were before. When she was completely shifted, where his mother once was now stood a Grey wolf, with glowing red eyes.

"Now!" Gerard raged, commanding the two goons to shoot her. Bullets flew in every direction, some from the pistol one was holding, the other from the shotgun. Conor had to completely shield himself with the tree as bullets tore through the foliage, hitting everything in sight. Until there was a pained bark, and the shots stopped.

"I was going to give you a chance, to bite me and maybe I'd let you live, but you left me no choice." Gerard whispered after crouching down next to her bleeding body, so the other men wouldn't here. she snarled at him as he pulled his gun out and pointed it at her head.

Everything seemed to slow down when Conor saw the gun, everything started to become more, just more. He could see the sweat dripping down the hunter with a pistols face. He could smell the gun powder and blood, his mother's blood, but he could also smell the wolfs bane. Could feel it, in his heart, his body, his soul, his wolf. He could feel all of it. His nails started growing into claws, fangs punctured his gums and his face transformed, but just like his mom, he kept going too. Kept going past the regular werewolf shift and into a full blown wolf, standing tall and proud. He was leaner than his mom, and obviously smaller, but the fur was much darker on him than his mom, and his eyes glowed a primal gold. His pack was hurt, his mom, his Alpha needed him, and he was about to make sure they never hurt her again.

Alerted to his presence, Gerard stopped and looked at him, his eyes widening comically. He shouted at his men to take him down, to shoot him, to kill him. But he'd never give them the chance. No longer was he the weak little runt, now stood an animal, an apex predator, a werewolf. And this werewolf was pissed.

As the men leveled their guns at him, he ran and tackled one. Moving faster than the naked eye could track, he ripped out the throat of one, and hopped on the back of the other, toppling them over. The man tried to run, all experience and training forgotten as he got up and ran. The wolf in him loved it, he ran after him, he chased, he hunted. Catching up and dragging the man back by the ankle into the clearing, he made Gerard watch as he tore into his flesh, creating deep wounds that would bleed out in seconds. Not done, the wolf turned to the old hunter, eyes watching him the whole way he moved towards him. Once an innocent yellow now showed a cold blue, the markings of a killer.

"You think I'm afraid of some little runt-oof." Conor howled in rage at the challenge, alerting his pack to his position before leaping at Gerard. Gerard wasn't like the others though, he was more experience, he had been expecting it. Driven by pure instinct Conor never saw the giant taser stick coming, but he sure felt it.

"I'm disappointed, I expected more of a fight." He chuckled, continuing to electrocute Conor. Ignoring the pained whimpers and enraged howls of the other wolf in the vicinity.

"That's enough!" Talia shouted, red eyes blazing and claws ready to tear into the flesh of this idiotic old man who dared to hurt her pack.

"Talia, so nice of you to join us. I wouldn't do that if I were you, wouldn't want anything to happen to him now would you?" He asked, shocking the young boy again. She took a step back, realizing the wolf was Conor and Gerard was hurting him. She studied the clearing and saw Maria struggling, still in wolf form.

"Gerard!" David shouted coming out of no where, rushing him and throwing him across the clearing. Peter, Laura, and Nathan were right behind him, the rest was either human so they stayed at the house or too young to tag along.

David found his son and gently helped him up and over to the edge of the makeshift battlefield, Talia doing the same with Maria, setting them near each other so the could scent their pack and heal with the feeling of safety. Talia and Nathan, her second oldest, were looking over them while David, Peter, and Laura turned to Gerard. They shifted in one fluid motion, David just to the normal shift as he couldn't fully shift, while Peter and Laura completely shifted. Peter didn't have the same midnight black fur as Laura, or even the charcoal grey his sister had. His was a deep brown, bordering on black, but with a tint of red.

David stalked forward, each wolf at his heel as he grabbed Gerard and flung him into a tree. What he didn't realize was it was near the body of one of the hunters he had brought with him. David was too caught up in the primal urge to kill this man that had hurt his family to notice the hunter's fingers wrap around the shotgun. With a roar that shook the earth, he lunged forward going for the throat, but Gerard whipped around and shoved the shotgun under his chin and pulled the trigger.

The forest seemed to go completely silent as the shot sounded through the clearing. The entire pack watched with wide, shock filled eyes as David collapsed on the ground, his eyes still blazing gold before they simmered out as the last bits of life faded away. It was shockingly Peter who started it, head tipped back and long mournful howl sounding throw the frigid December air. The other's picked up one by one before the entire pack was howling, the others back at the house returned the call, already knowing which pack bond had just broken while the humans in the pack were left to speculate.

"David." Maria whimpered after shifting back, dragging her bullet filled body over to lay on his dead body. Sobbing and screaming into the still quiet forest.

Conor felt it in his very being, like someone had just cut one of his limbs off. He could still feel the echos of where it once stood, but was now gone. Conor wasn't used to this, everything was still so new, and just so much. Everything felt like it was on fire and it was so loud, he was still in wolf form, his nose burning from all the different smells. It was just too much for him, his little body finally giving out under him and collapsing into the warm embrace of Talia. He watched her red glowing eyes, made more prominent from crying, look at him in concern and love as he let the darkness engulf him.

He woke up in his room, feeling more sore than he had ever been before. Licking his lips, he sat up, trying to remember what happened. The woods, hunters, Gerard, his mom, bullets, blood, shifting, more blood, his body was on fire, Talia, his dad...his dad. Conor's eyes widened in shock as he felt for his fathers pack bond but he just couldn't find it.

Dead. No

My fault. I'm sorry.

"Mom!" Derek shouted, rushing into the room.

Pain.

Bullets.

Loud. So loud.

I'm on fire!

Please stop.

"Conor!" Maria yelled, trying to get him to calm down. His claws pierced her skin and he watched her wince.

I hurt her. I'm Sorry.

It's my fault. It's too much.

"Help." Connor pleaded, staring into his mothers eyes as he tried to gain control.

"I'm here." His mother hugged him, Talia walked into the room and joined them quietly. Soon the rest of the pack was coming into the room and joining in on the hug. They shifted around until he was between his mom and Derek, facing the latter.

"It's my fault." He whimpered, his mother turned his face to hers and showed her red eyes.

"This is not your fault." She told him, leaving no room for arguments. He nodded, tears streaming down his face before turned his head around and looking in the mirror. He whimpered as he looked at his reflection.

"My eyes." He stated, turning to look at Derek. His went from the normal forest green to an electric blue, a mirror of his own.

"Different-" Started Talia.

"-but still beautiful." Derek finished, cupping his cheek. The scene oddly intimate, and a little strange considering one was seventeen and the other twelve. There was no blood relation between them, but it still was odd, not necessarily in a bad way, just odd.

"I shifted." Conor stated, still looking into Derek's eyes. His comment roused a few chuckles from the pack.

"I know I give you a hard time, but I'm honestly so proud of you." Peter said off to the side, a the pack responded in kind, quickly agreeing.

"My baby boy, my little wolf, who would have thought you'd have the gift?" Maria chuckled, her eyes met Talia's and their hands found each other. Maria and David had decided a long time ago that they'd fallen out of love, but because they were still technically mated she couldn't pursue other options.

"When your ready." Talia said, giving her hand a squeeze. Everyone knew Talia was head over heels for her, and Maria shared her feelings. But they both knew she needed time to heal. Both her and Conor.

"Yeah." She smiled, and kept holding her hand. The all just stood there, hugging each other, no one really noticing Derek and Conor still staring at each other, and if they did, no one cared. All that mattered now was that they were safe.

"Can we have cake now?" Conor asked with a small smile.

The house was quickly filled with the sounds of roaring laughter, echoing through the woods. They lost someone close to them today, but time would heal them, and they had each other. For the first time in Conor's life, he felt like he belonged, like was finally, truly part of the pack.

Too bad that feeling wouldn't last forever.