Origins
Before you read, this chapter is not part of the plot, at least not yet. This is a chapter purely to give information on Shepard's background story. This does touch supernatural things, as said in the description. If you're not interesting in that side of that story, then skip the chapter. It will come up later on in the story, so if it's not for you, don't continue. If you do though, plz give some ideas and input! Fair warning, it is a bit lengthy. If you are sticking with me, let's roll! :D
Shepard's POV
I can't say I've had an extremely easy life, regardless of my family's wealth. As I've mentioned before, I was born on earth. London, to be more exact. Earth has a lot of urban legends, from the Loch ness monster to vampires, people claimed to see them all at some point. Of course, now that we've discovered other species, the beliefs and knowledge on them has died down. Among those legends are the werewolves. Big scary wolves. The legends say that there were humans who turned into beasts during the full moon. I can assure you that is absolutely, 100%, wrong. How do I know? Because I am one. It's been my family's secret for many generations. It has its ups and downs, which is why my life isn't exactly a walk in the park. I can choose when I want to transform, but I have to change at least once a week. This secret limits my social interactions with anyone, and I say this because as much as I've tried to have a normal life, it doesn't end up working. I've had many girlfriends, a couple of flings, sure, but never a committed one. Telling someone you are a half wolf doesn't exactly inspire anyone to stay with you, especially when this person is not really interested in you anyways.
"Oh hey, just so you know I'm a werewolf, but don't worry, I don't bite." That would go soo well, wouldn't it? The only perk I suppose is not aging that quickly. Back on earth we have a pack, my dad being the alpha. My mom doesn't know about this, which might be the only reason why my parents are together in the first place. Or I'm just being a masochist that thinks that there is no chance a werewolf can have a normal life, or marriage, unless it is with another one of us. Not that I'm implying I even want to get married, mind you.
Anyways, let me tell you about my first transformation.
** 3 Years Ago **
"Hey dad, need help with that?" I asked. They were packing again, and they were going to stay in the Citadel for a while. Sufficed to say, packing took quite some time because of all their stuff.
"Sure, just grab that box there." Jonathan, Shepard's father said. That man could pick up 100 pound boxes like it was nothing. And you might think it's not extremely impressive, but considering his age, he should be breaking a sweat. I've always found that weird. I've tried on multiple occasions to ask him, but he simply deflects it with humor. We both kept placing boxes in the skycar for the rest of the afternoon, refusing my dad's help with some boxes. I wanted to prove to him I could do it, and I did. We had a small system going on, quite simple really. Go in the house, pick up as many things as you can, ask mom to get out of the way, and take it out and into the car. And speaking of which, I hope she made us something delicious for dinner. My mom, Hannah Shepard, taught me how to cook; my dad is not allowed anywhere near the kitchen.
"I think we're done for today, whatever is left we can leave it till tomorrow" said Jonathan.
"Alright, I was getting tired anyhow" I told my dad
We went inside, and as we both might have predicted, you can smell the scent of steak all over the house. That however, triggered an intense amount of pain. It felt like every bone in my body was moving. My dad saw this, and told my mom that he was going to take me for a quick drive. I wasn't in the position of asking why he didn't tell my mom what was going on. As he rushed me to the car, he started explaining to me what was going on.
"Alex, listen to me very carefully. I've kept something from you and your mother all these years. I am not joking about this. You are a werewolf, and you are going through your first transformation. There is no time to explain more until later." By then my dad was driving like a mad man, heading towards the countryside. I couldn't process what he had just told me, because all I could focus on was the excruciating pain I felt. I had this burning sensation all over. By the time we got there, my arms were already transforming. All I could feel was pain as all of my bones snapped and repositioned. I couldn't understand what my dad was telling me, I could only hear my own shouts. My vision began to blur, and all I could see was my dad on the same position as me: on all fours. The pain suddenly went away, and my vision cleared up again. Who knows how long it took me to transform, but it felt like days. I felt different, my vision improved and so did my sense of smell. When I looked at my dad, he was no longer human, but in his werewolf form. I backed away from him, because honestly, I was terrified. He slowly approached me, a gesture that assured me that he wouldn't hurt me I suppose. He led me into the woods where he showed me several spots he used to hunt. That day was obviously unforgettable.
The next day I woke up naked in what seems to be the middle of nowhere. I tried to move, but I was extremely sore. When I built up the strength to get up, I checked to see if I was normal. The only difference was that my eye-sight had drastically improved, my sense of smell, and no matter how sore I was, I definitely felt stronger. I heard a tree branch crack behind me, and I immediately turned around. It was my dad, fully dressed, and holding a water bottle.
"How are you feeling son?" he tried to get close to me, but I took a step back. He didn't seem surprised by my reaction, and just threw the bottle my way. I grabbed it and greedily drank the water. My throat was thanking me for that drink.
"I'm sure you want an explanation for this, don't you?" I simply nodded, not trusting my voice
"You are part of a long lineage of werewolves. What you experienced yesterday was your transformation from human to your wolf form. I'm sure I don't need to tell you the details on what a werewolf is, because you learned about them at school." Jonathan explained
"Why didn't you tell me?! Why haven't you told mom?"
"I had not told you anything because you shouldn't have gone through this until you were 16, but I guess it happened a lot earlier. Rare, but it happens. And I didn't tell your mother because she would be afraid of me, and even if she isn't she simply wouldn't understand. Those bowling nights I have with Rick? We come out here to transform."
"Rick is a werewolf too?" I asked
He simply nodded. "Now we need to get you cleaned up, we wouldn't want your mother to see you all dirty now would we? You know Hannah, she'll think the worst of this."
"Because this so isn't" I replied. My dad simply ignored the retort and gave me my clothes I hadn't noticed he had. I got dressed, and he drove us to Rick's house, where I showered and we all came up with a cover story of why we didn't come home that night. I hated lying to my mom, but I guess in the end it's probably for the best if she doesn't get involved. For the rest of the days that came after Rick and my dad taught me how to control my bipolar emotions, but most importantly my anger. They taught me other things like how to hunt or use my heightened sense of smell and sight, and the best ones, my boosted speed and strength. After a while I got used to it. The transformations seemed to go by faster every time I went through it. Everywhere we went, my dad made sure we had a place to go to every week in order to transform. I eventually forgave my dad for not preparing me for this, because this had damaged our relationship. Life seemed to go back to normal after a while, or at least as normal as it could be.
** Present **
Those three years were really hard, and as you now know, I have this werewolf side to deal with every day. Rick and my dad did teach me well when it came to my emotions, I'm pretty impassive about everything now. Or at least until the first day of school. Some idiot decided that picking on the new guy and punching him was a good idea. I tried to keep calm, but then there was another punch. That's when I lost it. I beat the shit out of him, along with humiliating him in front of a lot of students. I should have been suspended, but I charmed my way into simple detention. And that, is how I met Jack.
