Interlude: The origin
THE BIRTH OF THE SHAPESHIFTER

The full moon shone brightly overhead, bathing the woods with its warm glow. Owls hooted happily in the skies as they took advantage of the warm summer night to hunt for unsuspecting prey. Hawks perched atop trees and peered at the peculiar sight beneath them, calling out to one another so they were everywhere, on every tree standing in the woods.

Beneath the full moon, young pups wailed as they transformed for the first time, the sound of bones breaking echoed all through the woods and mothers watched in fear and admiration as their pups could finally be called wolves.

Amidst the pandemonium, one event stood out clearly. It occurred within the biggest cabin in Alarick woods. Ivailo himself could be found outside the cabin. He paced distraughtly and stomped on the grass just outside of his home in agitation. He laced and unlaced his fingers as he walked back and forth. His eyes changed colours as he fought to stay in control.

He had to be in control.

Screams came from inside the building and Ivailo struggled to rush in, but was held back by Harou. He struggled, but Harou was stronger than him and kept him in place.

“Let go of me!” He commanded. His voice was strained and it cracked. He continued to struggle. He had to get in. He had to help her.

“You need to calm down, Iv,” the tall bulky man spoke, keeping Ivailo in his place despite his struggles. Ivailo’s eyes changed from a dark shade of green to a fiery red colour once more, but this didn’t move Harou to loosen his grip on him.

Giving up, Ivailo dropped, sitting on the grass and allowing his eyes return to their green colour. Breathlessly, he watched as women ran in and out of the cabin urgently, but none of them met his gaze, none of them stopped to tell him what was going on.

Another scream pierced the night air and Ivailo grunted in pain, clutching his stomach as he was forced to feel part of the pain his mate felt. Through gritted teeth, he muttered profanities under his breath, cursing at all the healers who shut him out of his own house.

How dare they?

“She’s going to be alright,” Harou, the only person who dared to talk to Ivailo while he was livid said, placing a reassuring arm on the huge and muscled man.
“Luna is being watched over by Selene,” he assured his alpha while he raised a hand to point to the full moon that shone down on them. “She came out early, just to watch the Luna birth your heir.”

Despite Harou’s enthusiasm, the early full moon was also one of Ivailo’s great concerns. When had the full moon come a week earlier? It just wasn’t something that happened. Nothing about that night seemed normal to him.

What was taking them so long? Child birth didn’t last that long.

He spared his second in command a week smile, trying to hide the panic and dread growing inside of him. Between the early full moon and all the hawks circling them, it was taking tremendous effort to keep still and not barge into the cabin, requesting he be taken to his mate at once.

Inside of him, his wolf wailed, waiting nothing more than to emerge and put its mate out of the misery she was feeling. The misery they were both feeling. But he had to keep his agitated wolf at bay, trusting the healers to do what they did best. What could he do anyway? What could he do to relieve his mate?

He knew he had no choice but to wait, but he wanted nothing more than to be by her side. He wanted to hold her hand and tell her everything was going to be okay.

About an hour passed by slowly and painfully for the Alpha and his faithful Beta. The hawks had boldly left their trees and were perched atop the cabin. Few of them walked on the ground, all staring at the cabin, and Ivailo could almost taste the tragedy in the air.

He had taken to pacing again, and Harou could only watch him, feeling immensely sorry for his Alpha and best friend. Through the mind link, he tried to project soothing words to his Alpha who was showing no signs of listening to him. He probably wasn’t paying attention.

Angered, Ivailo stormed towards Harou, his red eyes caught the moon and seemed to move like a real fire. “Why won’t they tell me anything?” He yelled. He grabbed his Beta by the shirt and yanked him forcefully off his feet.

Harou placed a palm on Ivailo’s arm. He was about to mutter more comforting words when the Alpha’s face suddenly contorted to one of pain. He released his Beta and fell on his knees, his arm clutching his chest.

“What’s the matter, Iv?” Harou asked, concerned for his friend, but also fearing the worst. The screams from inside the cabin had stopped, the helpers had stopped dashing in and out, the wails from pups transforming for the first time had stopped. All that could be heard was the silent grunting coming from Ivailo who looked helpless and grief-stricken.

Through the mind link, Harou could make out the jumbled words that was Ivailo’s thought. They seemed to be filled with anguish and anger, and suddenly, it dawned on Harou. There is only one thing that would make a wolf act the way the Alpha was acting.

Harou’s lips parted, but he had no words. What could he possibly say in a time like this? What could he possibly do?

From the cabin, three people emerged. It was the head healer; an older man with short greying hair, and two young female helpers on either of his side. Their expressions could only be described as remorse and fear.

Stopping before the Alpha and Beta, they bowed their head low, the hawks seeming to inch closer towards them as though wanting to hear the news too. In the arms of the thin and younger helper, something was wrapped in swaddles of blanket and despite the wave of grief that came over the duo, Harou couldn’t help but feel a twinge of relief.

“We’re sorry, Alpha. We lost our dear Luna,” the older man spoke, for the other helpers seemed too afraid to speak.

Ivailo wanted to scream at them, he wanted to transform and have his wolf rip their heads clean off of their shoulders, he wanted to do something to lessen the anger his wolf felt. But what could he do? A fit of anger wouldn’t bring his lovely mate back.

He watched hopelessly at the unease etched on their faces, but their discomfort didn’t seem to be as a result of their Luna’s demise. Ivailo watched Lovata and Bertulf stare warily at the bundle in Adolfa’s arm.

He got to his feet, wondering why they would stare at his heir like he was something unusual. He walked up to the youngest helper Adolfa who held the child closer to herself, refusing to hand him to his father.

“Give the Alpha his pup,” Harou commanded, staring her down. Bertulf however held out his arm, stopping the Alpha from reaching for his heir.

“You must be warned, dearest Alpha, that she is quite odd,” the head healer warned a puzzled Ivailo.

Upon hearing his pup was actually a female rather than the male heir he had been hoping for, his anger only increased, but he nodded, knowing Bertulf wouldn’t let him see his child, regardless of him being the Alpha.

Bertulf nodded at Adolfa who with shaking hands, uncovered the blankets. What lay underneath was enough to cause even Harou, the strongest of all wolves, to stagger backwards. The hawks flew around the werewolves, hiding the moonlight and plunging the woods into a state of semi darkness. The only light visible was the one emitting from the cabin.

Never in Ivailo’s life had he heard of a pup being born as a wolf. No werewolf was able to transform into a wolf until they were sixteen. Yet, there his pup lay, fur as bright as the moon itself. Her eyes which were as grey as the ocean settled on him, seeming to recognize him despite her just being born. Pups didn’t have their eyes open at birth. Nothing about his pub was normal.

He had birthed an abnormality.

“She’s special,” Lovata spoke and beneath the uncertainty in her eyes, shone admiration and envy.

“Get rid of it,” Ivailo commanded, not having the slightest clue as to what Lovata was talking about. He didn’t really care. All he cared was that the abnormality was the cause of his mate’s death and it couldn’t even be a male. What was he to do with a female pup and no one to birth him a male? What was he to do with an abomination?

She would probably be dead in a couple of hours anyway. A new born didn’t have the energy to remain in the animal form, and Ivailo didn’t think she had the strength to change back either.

“But Alpha, you can’t possibly want to get rid of your own heir. What would people say when they found out?” Adolfa tried to make her Alpha see reason, but he was adamant on having his own cub kicked out, having his cub become a rouge.

“Get rid of it,” he repeated, this time in his Alpha’s voice as his eyes flashed red. There was nothing any of them could do. They had to banish the pup, leave it all alone in the huge forest, away from the protection of the pack.

~~~
So, we all hate Iv, yes?

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