SWNOVELS Chapter Prologue -
My name is Paulina Albright. I grew up in an orphanage in the pack of Orange River, where I was little more than a slave. Life in the pack was never easy and when the Alpha told me I was being sold to the highest bidder on my sixteenth found on day.. I ran.
That was nearly two years ago. I ran.. well.. Macie, my wolf, ran for four straight days. Now, I live as far away from Orange River as I could get. I found a job in a diner.. here in Montana. A small town called Wolf Haven.. ironically.
Saying I found a job, is highly inaccurate. A job found me.. The owner of Sadie’s.. Sadie O’Connell found me rummaging her dumpster, looking for anything that may be edible. I was too afraid to hunt, because of the pack close by.
Sadie made me come inside and have a meal. She asked me all kinds of questions.. and in telling her my story, I felt liberated.. heard! She took me in. Gave me a job. And a home. Something I never had before!
Sadie lost her mate ten years ago. She raised her two children and opened the diner. Now, her children live in different states and she is alone as I am. We became a family!
Macie is my best friend. Even though we argue.. A lot! We are always there for each other. But! She’s keeping secrets. We shifted at the age of twelve. I assumed it was my birthday.. so I changed it to that day, because the one Alpha Barnett gave me was the day I was found in the forest. I was four.
My last name is one that was given me by the Alpha…the only reason he knew my first name was it was embroidered on the blanket I was wrapped in. I still have the blanket! It was an expensive item. A mink lined cashmere blanket, with the name Paulina engraved in pink silk thread on the corner.
Macie searched my memories when we shifted. She knows things about my past, but will only say she will tell me, when we meet our mates. Mates! As in more than one! Yeah! Not sure how I feel about that! But, the Moon Goddess knows best and who am I to question a Goddess?
I worked hard to graduate early. Top of my class, too! That was the main reason the Alpha realized he could sell me to someone and, in his words, recoup some of the money wasted raising me.
That was not about to happen! I refused to allow it! I escaped in the night… three days before my auction. I crept to the border.. and waited for the changing of the guard. I knew I had five minutes to clear the border and run!
Once away from the pack, we ran full out.. the first two days. I could feel my mindlink being poked at. I was far enough away, I could maintain the block. But when I felt the Alpha’s anger, I immediately denounced the pack and felt the bond snap. That took me two hours to recover from! Ouch!
We ran for two more days and nights. When I spotted the lights of Wolf Haven, I shifted.. taking clean clothes from my backpack.. I dressed. I brushed my hair and pulled it into a high ponytail and walked right down the middle of town.
I was rummaging for food and Sadie found me! The rest is history! I am grateful for the love of this woman I call MamaSadie. She is everything I could have ever asked for in a mother.