Prologue- Kano's Red Wolf

“This is an outrage!” Emon shouted, pointing his finger at Kano. “That… that monstrosity is not fit to be alpha of Blood Moon and I won’t remain here if he is to be!” Cheers of agreement flowed around the town hall as they glared at the twelve-year-old boy who hung his head terrified of what was to become of him.

His father silenced the group. “Kano is to be alpha when it is my time to step down. It is his birthright. His wolf is”—his father peered down at him—“a minor inconvenience, yes, but certainly with time…”

“With time?!” Emon fumed, cutting him off. “He is a red wolf! We have spent our lives eradicating the disgusting mutation. Has the alpha now reconsidered because it’s his own son?!”

Looking among his pack, Alpha Simon sighed. “No. The law is the law.”

Kano’s eyes teared. “Father.” He looked at his younger brother Cayden, who was held in his place by their mother.

“Shift, we can make a run for it!” Cayden linked to him.

As Kano looked around at the angry pack members—their eyes full of disgust—his small body shrank further and further until it slowly shifted. His red wolf appeared to a gasp of horror from those around him.

“Vile Creature!”

“Abomination!”

“Repulsive!”

His eyes teared again, then widened at the sight of an object flying towards him. He tried to cover his snout, but the glass of a bottle shattered against his face.

“That’s enough!” Alpha Simon shouted.

Shifting back into his human form, Kano grabbed his wound. The blood pooling from the gash to his face terrified him as much as hearing his mother’s silent cry. Cayden broke free from her grasp.

“Cayden!” she shouted, but he ignored her as he ran to his big brother.

He pulled out his handkerchief and wiped the blood from Kano’s wound. “Just look at me. Look at me, and nobody else,” he repeated, cleaning the blood from Kano as best as he could. The vertical gash mark that ran above and below Kano’s right eye laid against his skin as a now permanent fixture. Cayden wrapped his arms around him. “You and me, let’s make a run for it,” he whispered.

Kano knew if they did, they would be rogues and hunted down, and the idea of letting that happen to his brother petrified him more than the angry crowd surrounding him. He whispered back, “Take my place.”

“What?” Cayden asked as he pulled away from him.

“Take my place.”

Cayden shook his head. “I-It doesn’t work like that. You are the rightful alpha.” He saw the desperation in his brother’s eyes.

“Please… I’m begging you. Take my place as alpha. They’re going to kill me.” The heat from the anger of the surrounding wolves terrified them as they continued to whisper.

Cayden nodded. “Okay,” he said, and he looked at his father. “I’ll take Kano’s place as alpha when the time comes.”

Alpha Simon glanced at both of his sons; his eyes trained particularly on Kano. He wanted to reach out and hug him. He longed to kill the one who’d assaulted him, but he shook his head and turned back to his pack. “From this day forth upon my departure, my son Cayden shall be heir to the title of alpha,” he said.

The murmurs of the pack slowly died down. Cayden puffed out his little ten-year-old chest and stepped forward. “It shall be an honor to serve you all,” he said. He didn’t mean it. He hated every wolf that sat among him, spewing hatred towards his favorite person.

Slow claps filled the area, and someone shouted, “Finally a respectable future alpha!”

Cayden closed his eyes, the pain of his brother tearing into his rage. He linked to him, “I’ll take care of you, okay? You and me, always.”

Kano linked back, “You and me, always.”

The celebration of the town hall for the soon-to-be new alpha was no celebration at all for the true alpha who was brutalized because of his rarity as a wolf. As the royal family quickly departed, Alpha Simon turned to his sons.

“This shall be a secret of the pack. No one must know what we have done tonight,” he said.

Kano and Cayden nodded and spoke in unison. “Yes, father.”

He gently touched Kano’s wound, and Kano tried his best to be strong. Alpha Simon sighed. “You can’t be seen anymore, Kano. You have the mark of the true alpha. If anyone outside of our pack finds out—”

“They won’t. I’ll make sure to never be seen again.” Kano slowly walked towards his family castle, his eyes low towards the ground, knowing that this would be the last time he would ever leave its walls. Saying nothing, the two boys walked hand in hand towards their shared bedroom. Their parents looked from one to the other.

“We’re doing the right thing,” Sarah said absentmindedly.

Alpha Simon rubbed his face. “Then why does it feel as though I’ve just sold my son’s soul and masked it as protection?”

She whipped around and faced him. “Do you want him to be killed?!”

“No!”

Her eyes teared. “We can’t protect him when we’re gone. They will wait until we’re dead to kill him, Simon, you know that!”

“I know!” he roared in anger, and she lowered her head in submission. He caressed her face. “I’m sorry, my love… I just don’t… how can he be a red wolf? There’s only roughly twenty left in the world and they’re all in hiding from us.”

Her lip quivered. “Perhaps it’s Karma. Oh, Simon, what have we done? We slaughtered so many innocents for the sake of these primitive laws. We’ve killed children; newborns. Their blood is on our hands, and now so is our son.” Walking away from her husband, Sarah entered Kano and Cayden’s room. The dark circles around her eyes seemed to deepen as she watched them sleep. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her hidden silver nitrate.

“I-I’m so sorry, Kano,” she cried, ingesting it. She wobbly walked to his bed and laid beside him. “My sweet boy,” she murmured, holding him close. “You’re meant to do great things. Please, Kano, do great things.”

Stirring at the sound of her voice, he whispered, “Yes, mama.” Waking Cayden, she beckoned for him to join them in the large bed. She stroked Kano’s raven curls and hummed, drawing both sons closer to sleep. Kano turned and held her close and grieved for the first time in the night. Sniffling, he tried to gain his bearings and whispered to her again, “I-I can hide, mama… I don’t have to be seen. I like Cayden being alpha. He’s strong, he’s smart, he’s—” He heard her sob and tears welled in his eyes. “Did I say something wrong, mama?” he asked. She kissed his head and remained silent. Holding her boys close, they drifted off to sleep.

In the middle of the night, Kano awoke to coldness against him. He peeked around, using only the cascade of the moon shining through his window to see around his room. He saw Cayden in his own bed fast asleep, and he looked at his sleeping mother, soon realizing her porcelain skin was cold to the touch.

“Mama?” He nudged her, but she didn’t move. “C-Cayden, something’s wrong with Mama!” he shouted, waking his brother. The two boys tried their best to wake her, eventually realizing she was dead. Kano placed his legs to his chest and rocked back and forth.

‘Did I say something wrong, mama?’

He watched his brother cry tears of anguish while holding their mother’s body against him. Knowing his words had killed her, Kano decided not only would he never be seen, but that he would never speak again.