These Feral Bonds

THE FOUR PACKS OF SYLVAN CITY

As decreed by the Lycan Hegemony in the Age of the First Pact

SILVERFLAME PACK Warriors, cursed bloodlines, heirs of the old war,and wolves whose violence is not a choice but an inheritance they wear like a second skin.

MOONBOUND PACK Moonstone wielders, seers, those touched by Maeris's direct blessing, and the spiritually gifted

STORMBORNE PACK Strategists, boundary keepers, those who survive not by strength alone but by knowing when to strike, and wolves whose minds are sharper than their claws

UMBRABANE PACK Shadow wolves, those who turn darkness into something living, hunters who need no moonlight to find what they seek, and those whose power Maeris has never been able to fully name Prologue

UNKNOWN POV

The first time our village was attacked by vampires was twenty years ago. It was a jolly night full of feasting and laughter. Bonfires were lit, children ran around playfully, couples could be seen slinking away into the cover of darkness. We were happy.

Then they struck.

Pale skinned people with red eyes and sharp teeth that fed on the blood of humans. They moved fast, faster than the eye could see. Our swords and sticks were no match for them. Laughter turned to screams, the fires died and the forest floors ran with blood.

A lot of our people were taken that day. I lost two of my sisters to those beasts. The attacks didn't stop. They kept coming and coming and coming, dwindling our population until our once prosperous city was s*ck*d dry. It was as if all hope was lost.

Until one day.

A group of people, men, bigger than any I had ever seen, arrived and came to see the chief, my father. I hid, listening to their conversation. They came with the promise of protection. Inside a bag was the head of a vampire, the beasts that had been terrorizing our village. These men claimed they could kill them. My father asked how, as we've done everything possible to kill them. Swords and local guns had no effect on them. In a flash of blinding light, one of the men standing turned into an animal–a wolf. Werewolves.

They said they would protect us, if we gave them our land. Their original home had been destroyed by the black plague and they needed a place to stay. They talked of coexistence but I saw only one thing–slavery. My father’s resolve, weakened by all that was happening and desperate for a solution, agreed to the terms. We were running away from one monster only to be trapped by another.

And thus, a new age began.

The next time the vampires came, they didn't find us so defenseless anymore. Soon, it was the vampires who were screaming. The wolves were strong and fast. I watched, in awe, as a single bite from them weakened a vampire. Those blood sucking beasts ran for their lives and never came back. The werewolves had already started living among us.

Father had given them the best of everything while the rest of our people had to live with scraps. They didn't see us as people. They saw us as less, treated us like dirt. Soon, they became more hostile. They began to demand more things from us; our food, our land. We became servants in our households. And father let it happen. Things became even worse after he died. I found out he had willed the entire town to them just days before his last breath,stripping me of my title and my future.

They were our rulers now. The werewolves became ten times worse to us. Sure, they expanded our territory and kept us safe, but in exchange for that, we had to give up our basic human rights. I was taken as a maid in one of their territories.

The Alpha then, Kayden, took a certain liking to me. I hated him but I could hardly refuse his advances so I endured. I needed to get closer to these wolves, find out more about them. their strengths but also their weaknesses, something we humans could use as leverage.

Werewolves were creatures of the moon. They served the moon goddess and every full moon, they liked to run free in the woods in their wolf form, howling all night long. They had exceptional healing powers, superhuman strength, speed and eyes that could see in the dark.

They had one weakness that I knew of though;Silver. It burned their skin and stunted their healing properties. I had witnessed it by mistake when Kayden was torturing one of the rogue wolves.

Silver.

If we had enough silver, we could even the odds. But that was a far-fetched idea. Silver was expensive and I had nothing to my name anymore. Plus there was no one I could rally. My people had lost the little fight that was in them since my father died. This was the life we were doomed for.

Everything changed for me when I got pregnant. Kayden, who was ever so loving to me, cast me out the moment he found out. He was repulsed, saying such a child, born of werewolf and human blood should never exist. He asked that I terminate the pregnancy. I refused.

Kayden threatened to kill me so I ran. Ran away from the place I had called home all my life. I barely managed to escape and I was only to fully escape by faking my death. lived in the woods all through my pregnancy, living on the help of some of the villagers who came to me in secret. The pregnancy was a difficult one. One that killed me and my baby.

The baby came out, a stillbirth. I had already lost too much blood and with no one around to help me, I felt my life seep away. Or not. Because I woke up and the first thing I saw were red irises, staring down at me.

“Welcome back.” Said a man, in a deep husky voice. He smiled at me and I caught a hint of his fangs. Vampire. I looked around frantically for any way to escape but there was none. I was in a room of sorts, a cell but cleaner.

How was I even alive? I was sure I had died but now I seemed even better than before, except for a dull pain in my neck. My hand went to it and unsurprisingly there was a bruise there. Like someone had bitten me.

“There's no need for escape,” the vampire said. “You're one of us now.”

He stretched out his hand and I looked at my baby one last time, covered in blood and lifeless before taking the hand of the monster who turned me. What I didn’t know then, however, was that my baby didn't actually die. She was taking her first breath in a world that would never accept her—and her existence was about to change everything.

HAZEL’S POV

My heart thumped wildly in my chest as I faced Talia, my opponent in the demi fighting ring. I got in position, knees bent, feet slightly apart. Talia did the same opposite me, a stupid smirk on her face that I was only too eager to wipe the floor with.

This was my first test on Predatory Arts and I was determined not to fail. Students of Holloway preparatory gathered round, watching. I could feel their hostile stares directed at me. They all wanted Talia to win, I knew. Wolves would always support their own, not a human like me who they thought didn't even belong here.

“Begin!”

I lunged first, wanting to have the first hit. Talia shifted at the last minute just enough for the punch to miss her cheek by a hair's breath. She stumbled back with a growl and came at me wildly, throwing any form of precision to the wind.

I blocked her blows, with some of my own. Kick, block, strike, deflect. I followed the movem