Do you know the stories of werewolves, the beings that shift into wolf form on full moons with no choice in the matter, whose animal instincts take over, with bloodshed inevitable? Those stories are true...well, everything but the full moon bullshit.

My name is Amberle Crest. I'm supposed to be a Beta or Head Tracker due to my bloodline, but you would never have known that otherwise. I come from a modest pack, Forest Paw. It's a stupid name, I know. My pack is situated in the middle of the forest in northwestern Ontario, close to a place humans call Sauble Beach.

The thing about my pack is that it's supposed to be a family; people loved you no matter who you were or what happened. Everyone is family, and we help each other in times of need, or so they say.

I've never had any sort of family relationship past the age of eleven. The only familial love I felt in my life came from the Alpha named Blue. He treated me like family when I wasn't busy with meetings or pack business that involved travel. But when he was out of pack territory, my life was a living hell. Since I was eleven, I knew a lot about how a pack could turn on you, even at such a tender age. It was a horrible experience.

After a painful twist of fate made everything fall apart for so long, my life finally took a turn for the better when I turned eighteen. But before I get ahead of myself, how about I start from the beginning?

The First Shift

I whimper as my bones break and realign themselves. I remember waking up feeling sick and mother and father saying I could stay home from school for the day. About an hour ago, I went to the kitchen for a drink, and that's when it started. My ankle somehow broke on its own, and I let out a blood-curdling scream, causing my parents to dash into the kitchen towards me. It was then we realized that I was shifting.

"She's only six! She shouldn't be shifting until she's sixteen!" My mother's voice is laced with fear and worry. I then realize that the fever I had since last night wasn't a cold or flu. My body has decided that now would be the time to shift into my wolf form for the first time.

SNAP

I cry out, my voice mixing with a howl. How could anyone expect a six-year-old to handle so much pain in one go? I know the risks of an early shift. Father made sure that we knew that the first shift would be a painful process, but he reassured my siblings and me that we would be fine when it happens at sixteen. But I'm shifting now at only six years old.

All I want at this moment is the pack doctor to come and help me. Tears are forming in my eyes as I helplessly look towards my mother and father, begging for help.

"It just means our little Amber will be mated to an Alpha one day, maybe even a Royal." My father says with pride as he reassures my mom that everything will be alright. He hugs her briefly before bending down and holding a bottle of water with a straw to my lips.

"Drink, Amberle. It'll help." I do as he says, and I quickly drink as much of the cold liquid as fast as I can despite the tiny straw. He's right; it does help the burning feeling inside. But my skin feels like it's on fire, like when I accidentally burnt my foot with hot tea, but ten times worse. More bones break and shatter before reforming, the pain causing me to retch up any fluids inside my stomach.

SNAP

My body contorts with pain as I shift to all fours, changing from human to wolf. The pain is way more unbearable than before. Tears were streaming down my face as my jaw becomes longer to form a snout, my teeth sharpen unnaturally, and fur covers my skin.

SNAP

My mother leaves the room in tears, knowing that the possibility of me making it through the shift at this age is low. I could die today just from the shift.

GROWL

My father wipes away the sweat and blood from my forehead, caused by the fur that continues to pierce my skin like sharp needles. The ears that now shifted to the top of my head flatten with pain.