Rise of the Lycans: Shadows And Secrets

Chapter 1 – Home

Maeve

It’s hard asking someone with a broken heart to fall in love all over again.

If I would have known the magnitude of pain Rex Crow would bring into my life, I would have begged Alpha Lawless to let me stay in Scotland. The little girl in me would have given anything to stay in the lochside cabin I once called home. To lock myself inside and remain a world away from the Lycan Prince.

My father had been a great warrior in the Highlands Pack. He met my mother while accompanying Alpha Louise Lawless on a trip to the Moon Realm Kingdom to meet with the Alpha King, Ares Crow. It was then that he discovered a petite little Omega in the royal pack was his mate. My mother left her family and home to join my father in Scotland.

At the tender age of ten, I was shipped across the pond to live with my maternal grandparents. The flight my parents were on dispatched a mayday call somewhere over the North Sea before it went down. The hours turned into days, and the days turned into weeks. I prayed to the Moon Goddess, hoping against hope that my parents would be found alive. I waited for them to walk through the doors, wrap their arms around me, and tell me everything was okay… but they never did.

The shock of losing my parents crushed me. I felt so small in this big, cold, empty world. For a long time, I wondered what I had done to deserve this. I only had them for ten years, and now they were gone from this world. I’d have to live the rest of my life without them, and I didn’t want to. Retreating into my mind, I hardly ate, slept, or spoke.

It wasn’t just my parents we lost that day. Eleven other pack members had been with them, and the grief that came with such a loss washed through the pack. The mournful sounds of howling wolves in the dead of night still haunt me—wolves howling for their mates, family, and friends.

I wanted to howl.

I wanted to scream and cry, but I couldn’t.

Alpha Lawless moved me into the pack house while arrangements were made with my grandparents. For reasons I never understood, my father’s family had disowned him and wanted nothing to do with me or my mother. His parents lived on the other side of the pack territory, and I could hardly remember what they looked like. I didn’t know his sister either, but I knew she had two boys, Jack and Angus Jameson. I suppose they were my cousins, but they had been mean to me at school, so I did my best to stay away from them.

My best friend, Fiona, begged her parents to let me stay with them, but they said the Alpha King wanted me reunited with my grandparents. I had been friends with Fiona since we were pups, and her parents were friends with mine. I knew my father’s family wouldn’t claim me, and I desperately wanted to stay with Fiona, but the Alpha King had already decided my fate. Clinging to my favorite stuffy, Nessie, I arrived at the Moon Realm pack and Kingdom eight years ago.

I reached for that familiar plush toy and looked it over. My father bought Nessie for me when we visited Lochness a few months before the plane crash. It had only been about eight years, yet it seemed so long ago.

“Whelp, Nessie,” I whispered, pressing her to my chest. “Today is the day.”

I gently turned her over to make sure the stitching was still in place from where she once received puncture marks. Watching that horrible wolf toss her around like she was some chew toy still infuriated me. My fingers glided over the stitching as the memory flooded back to me.

“Right this way, Maeve. This is where the King lives.” It wasn’t just a pack house. It was a mansion.

Nan had taken me to work with her to meet a new friend. The daughter of the kitchen manager at the royal mansion, Brianna, who was also my age. We arrived at the bustling kitchen, and Nan quickly slipped on her apron.

“And this sweet little thing must be Maeve!” A woman who looked much older than my Nan smiled at me. Something about her seemed comforting.

“Good Morning, Dori,” Nan greeted her before she turned to me. “Maeve, this is Dori. She was the first Luna of this pack and the Alpha King's great-grandmother.”

With a small smile, I nodded my head to greet Dori and quickly turned my attention to the pile of sausage she was frying. I hadn’t spoken much since my parent's death, and I wasn’t sure what to say.

“Did you get started without me?” Nan asked, reaching for an oven glove.

“Well, you know me,” Dori smiled as she kept her eyes on me like she was assessing me. “I’m a light sleeper, and it’s Sunday. No Sunday morning breakfast is complete without my biscuits and gravy. Maeve, honey, what do you like to eat for breakfast?”

I hadn’t given much thought to food or had an appetite since my life changed forever. I had never been a picky eater, and I loved everything my mother made. I squeezed Nessie closer and replied, “A’h like tattie scones an’ porridge.”

“Well, just you wait until you try my biscuits and gravy,” she replied with a wink.

Several women were in the kitchen, and the amount of food being prepared made me wonder how many people lived here. This pack was massive compared to the one I had grown up in. I sat at a table in the quiet corner of the kitchen and stared out the window as I waited for Brianna to arrive.

“Flaym! That sausage is for my gravy,” Dori scolded someone, and I turned to see a red-headed boy. “Keep your paws off of it unless you want me to paddle your butt.”

“When is breakfast going to be ready? I’m starving,” he whined.

“Soon,” Dori replied. “Maeve just moved here from Scotland. Why don’t you take her outside to the apple trees and collect some so I can make tarts later?”

“Do I have to?” He groaned.

“Do you want tarts?” Dori replied.

“Come on, Haggis. The apples won’t pick themselves,” he motioned for me to follow him.

“Flaym!” She warned, and I wasn’t sure if that was really his name or if they called him that because of his hair color. “Her name is Maeve. As the son of the Royal Beta, I expect good behavior from you.”

I followed Flaym outside to the garden and stood frozen in fear when I saw them—the most unusual-looking wolf shifters. Two were black, and one was silvery white. I’d never seen a wolf shifter like this in Scotland. Maybe they were some kind of mutation or hybrid? I gasped when the silvery one stood on its hind legs and ran like a human.

“I take it you’ve never seen a lycan before?” Flaym asked just as one of the black ones dashed for us.

I wanted to run, but I was rooted in place. My father had always told me never to run away because wolves enjoyed the chase. I looked down, noticing in my fear that I had dropped Nessie. In a flash, the beast had swooped low at my feet and scooped her up in its mouth.

“NOOOO!” I shrieked and swatted the creature, but it was too fast and took off with Nessie in its jaws.

“Don’t cry, Haggis. It’s just Rex having fun,” Flaym tried to calm me, but all I wanted to do was pummel Rex with my fists.

That jerk had never even bothered to apologize for the holes he put in her underbelly.

“Maeve,” my nan called from downstairs, stirring me from my traumatizing childhood memory. “Are you getting dolled up?” I could hear her moving around the kitchen as the smell of bacon wafted through the house.

“Almost ready, Nan,” I spoke softly, knowing she would hear me thanks to her werewolf hearing.

Today is my eighteenth birthday, and she seemed to be more excited about it than I was. Eighteen is a big deal for werewolf shifters because our inner wolf awakens for the first time. We experienced our first shift and could find our fated mate. As my cursed luck would have it, there wasn’t going to be a moon out tonight because of the new moon phase. I’d have to wait another night to meet my wolf and enjoy a run.

“Hello? Wolfie?” I whispered to myself and hoped my wolf would respond. “Are you there?”

The only response I received was silence. I tried not to feel disappointed because I knew we were in the new moon phase of the moon cycle. Nothing else in my life had gone smoothly, so I didn’t expect this to.

Werewolf shifters were born from the light side of the moon, so a sliver of the moon had to be present in the night sky to allow us to shift. We’re strongest during the full moon phase and most vulnerable during the new moon phase when we can’t shift. Our inner wolf lives within us. Though they are a part of us, they can think and speak independently.

Lycans were born from the dark side of the moon and are at their strongest during a new moon phase. Lycans are a bigger and more savage version of a werewolf. They’re faster and stronger and prefer to run on two legs instead of four. Unlike werewolves, they can shift any body part at will. Their senses are just as sharp as their long claws, and their inner wolf is a feral beast controlled by instinct.

The only shifters who will get to enjoy a night run tonight are the lycans.

I set Nessie down on my dresser beside a photo of my parents taken just outside our home in Scotland. Brushing my unruly hair absentmindedly, I wondered if the cabin my father built with his hands was still standing. I wondered if another family had moved into it… if my growth notches on the doorjamb of my bedroom were still there. I wondered if my childhood home was still home.

With a sigh, I continued brushing my hair and braided the crown into a halo, hoping it would look tame. My hair was neither curly nor straight. It was a wavy and wild brownish-red color that required a great deal of effort to control. I looped my earrings in place as I made my way down the stairs into the kitchen.

“There she is!” Nan greeted me, setting a plate of food on the table.

“Happy Birthday, Sweetheart,” Grandad said as he hugged me.

“Well…” Nan started. “How do you feel?”

I took a seat and reached for a slice of bacon. “I feel just the same as I always have.”

“No sudden urge to go for a run or try sniffing out your mate?” Nan questioned with a smile.

“Nan, you know I can’t do that without a wolf,” I reminded her. “Besides, I’m not sure if the Moon Goddess is matching anyone up with mates anymore. I think there’s a good chance she’s given up on that.”

“Nonsense,” Grandad shook his head. “A true mate is a gift. If anything, she’s probably just giving the younger generation a longer wait so they can appreciate finally finding their mates.”

“Then I probably won't find my mate until I’m thirty,” I smirked.

“I have to get to work now, but I can’t wait to celebrate with my girls tonight,” Grandad said as he kissed Nan goodbye.

Nan turned to me, “I’m only working through lunch today, so I’ll have plenty of time to have your birthday dinner ready. Can you drop me off at the mansion before you head to the library?”

“Of course,” I replied, shoveling a forkful of breakfast potatoes into my mouth.

I graduated high school a few months ago and started working at the pack library. My mother was an Omega like Nan, so I knew I would most likely be an Omega. Instead of training to protect the pack, an Omega’s job was to help take care of the pack. Nan worked in the pack kitchen, and Grandad became the head groundskeeper when he reached sixty a few years ago and retired as a pack warrior. Sixty wasn’t old for shifters because aging is slowed down for us, but most retired to train the younger generation or work in other areas to support the pack.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I had always wanted to find my mate, have pups, and do something meaningful in the pack. I had considered studying medicine or plant science, but I was still uncertain. My grandparents worked hard, and I didn’t want to burden them any more than I already had. Sometimes, families saved for college so their offspring could pursue their dreams, but often, it was the Alpha who invested in the future of his pack members and paid for tuition.

If I wanted to attend University, I’d have to submit a request to the Alpha and present a plan. The plan needed to include what I wanted to study, the costs, and the benefits it would have for the pack. After graduation, I’d be expected to return and use my new degree to help the pack succeed.

The closer I got to eighteen, the more I felt the need to return to Scotland, though I didn’t know why. A few months ago, I received a letter from my former Alpha at the Highlands Pack, Alpha Louise Lawless. She had passed the pack to her son, Hamish, but was still involved in all matters. Alpha Louise informed me that my father had left me with a small inheritance to attend school and that she had connections with both Glasgow and Edinburgh University. I had been tempted to respond to her and return to Scotland, but the thought of leaving my grandparents weighed heavy on me.

I shoved the last slice of bacon into my mouth and washed my plate. “I’m ready when you are, Nan.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to have a sleepover for your birthday?”

I laughed at the idea. I had graduated high school and was eighteen now. I wasn’t a silly little girl who needed a sleepover. “Dinner will be fine.”

“Since you won’t be taking your new wolf out for a run tonight, I thought a sleepover might be distracting.”

“It’s just one more night. I’ve waited so long; another night won’t kill me.”

“A lot can happen in one night,” Nan said with a smile. “I bet you find your mate!”