Chapter 3
Jinx Willow's P.O.V.
I'm dragged out of bed in the middle of the night on my eighteenth birthday and dragged downstairs. Upon glancing at the person dragging me, I find that it's the Luna...my mother. She throws me down on the ground outside the pack house at the feet of my father who nods to two warriors who snatch me up by the arms and chain me using silver chains laced with wolfsbane and spikes. I'm chained to this pole with my hands above my feet, my feet chained to the pole at the ankle.
"Now," Alpha says "The omega turns eighteen today...happy happy birthday, omega!"
Everyone cheers but I know it's no good by the silver and wolfsbane whip in the Alpha's hands. My siblings smirk.
"So," Alpha says "To celebrate her birthday, we're going to give her eighteen whips...per person."
My heart drops to my stomach. I won't survive that, that'll kill me.
It's okay, little one. You are much stronger than you know. You are the Gaia.
A tear slips down my cheek as a warrior steps forward, cutting my sweater and leggings off, leaving me in my undergarments. As Alpha is explaining the procedure of how it will go, my spine begins to ache, my bones feeling tight. As the whipping begins, my bones get tighter, starting to hurt more as my skin aches to be released. A pressure in my head starts and I cry out, unable to continue to bite my lip to keep from screaming as blood is already streaming down my chin. They stop, watching me in horror. My bones crack, breaking and shifting. The chains binding my hands above my head snap and I fall to my hands and knees, crying out in agony as the pain increases to a dramatic length, my body unable to handle the shift anymore since I wasn't trained to handle it. After hours of screaming and crying, the pain stops and I look up, everyone staring at me in shock.
"A-Alpha," A pack member says "She's a...a...she's the..."
"Gaia," Alpha whispers "She's the Gaia..."
"Catch her," Luna says "NOW!"
I take off running for the trees, tripping and stumbling as I try to get adjusted to running on all fours.
You must not tell anyone. You must be careful of whom you allow to see you in my form...of who you tell what you are.
I keep running until the voice tells me to stop, that they're no longer following and that I'm safe. I collapse, my body shifting back to it's previous form as I tremble from loss of blood and from the cold of being naked.
Derric Shadow's P.O.V
I'm sitting in my dad's office when a hellhound bursts in.
"Alpha," The hellhound says "Her presence...it's stronger."
There's a burst of pain in my head and my wolf growls lowly.
What was that?
"I don't know," I lowly mutter, clutching my head "There's a strong pain in my head...my wolf feels it, too."
"She must be shifting," Dad says "How strong is her presence? Can you smell her yet? The scent will smell the same to all of you."
"No," The hellhound says "We can feel her. We heard her screaming. She was begging for it to stop."
Suddenly, the hellhound drops to his knees, clutching his back.
"It's begun," Dad says "She's shifting. They'll all feel it."
Mom rubs the hellhound's arm. After a few hours, he stops feeling any pain.
"Her presence is very strong," He says "I smell her."
I inhale, smelling a strong lavender scent mixed with rosemary and peppermint.
"Track her," He says "Let's go."
Dad, the hellhound and I rush out the door, gathering the other hellhounds and hounds. We all shift into our wolves, running the woods. We skid to a stop outside of a gated territory.
"Her scent disappears into here," A hellhound says when we all shift back "We can't get in."
"That's alright," Dad says "I know which pack this is. Come on, let's head back. We'll get her."
We all shift back into our wolf forms, running back to our territory.
Pierce Sinclaire's P.O.V.
I walk into the pack hospital with Paul and Joey, the two flanking my sides. The strong, intoxicating scent of lavender hits me, making my wolf go crazy with desire. I walk into the hospital room of the unknown female to see Dr. Jacobson, one of our female doctors, leaned over the female, carefully changing one of the many bandages on the small form.
"Dr. Jacobson," I say, clearing my throat as I draw my wolf back "What have you found out?"
"She's newly shifted," Dr. Jacobson says "Her wolf's scent is so strong that you can tell she's a fresh shifter. She hasn't woken up yet, she's been unconscious since before the warriors found her outside the gates. Her injuries don't look like the injuries we've been facing with the hellhound that's been attacking, though she does have traces of hellfire saliva on her forehead, arms and legs. Her wounds, however, have traces of wolfsbane and silver, but it doesn't seem to be effecting her like it does us."
"Well," I say "How is it affecting her then?"
"It's not," Dr. Jacobson says "Not even her healing is slowed down by it. The silver and wolfsbane is almost completely out of her system. It's like her blood has eaten it, Alpha. I've never seen anything like it. I don't know what species of werewolf this female is...but whatever it is...she's incredible."
"So," I say "Why hasn't she healed? Why isn't she waking up?"
"That's due to her being freshly shifted," Dr. Jacobson says "As you can see here, you can see the scars from the injuries that have been here. These are fresh and they're almost gone. Silver and wolfsbane would not have allowed that...but a fresh shift would have."
"Wait a minute," Joey says "You're telling us this female is completely unaffected by silver and wolfsbane?"
I lean over, pushing her hair back to inspect her neck, despite the sparks that fly up my arms from the contact of her skin on mine.
"Dr. Jacobson," I say "What's this here?"
"I'm not sure," Dr. Jacobson says "It looks to be a birthmark."
"That's a strange birthmark," I say "Don't you think?"
"It is," Dr. Jacobson says, nodding "It's very strange."
We all peer at the mark; a simple empty circle with a star entwined with a heart in the middle.
What is the mark on Jinx's neck? What does it signify?