Ursanthropy

Doreen

Of course, I had seen the boy stand near my father the moment I had realised that our fight hadn’t been over. And by him standing that close to my father, and also as he spoke to him directly, was confusing me a lot.

Was he more to my father than just being one of his men? Hadn’t my father said that he’d only been a means to get what he wanted? But even so, as my father had publicly spoken lowly of him, the boy’s facial expression had been different. Was that anger? Shame?

Jack wanted to step in between me and him, as he was approaching us in a rapid step.

“Jack, don’t. He isn’t going to attack me.” I linked Jack, at which he turned himself towards me, furrowing his brows.

I couldn’t have been a hundred percent sure if he was going to attack me or not, but either way, his approach didn’t feel malicious to me. There was still something that was bugging me, something that he had figured out now, something that was still unknown to me.

But as he stepped closer to me, in my bear form, I took a deep whiff and a sudden, very distant familiar smell came towards me. Flashes of black hair, a soft voice and smile that could brighten up anyone’s day came into my mind. I had trouble trying to connect the dots, but why would he carry her scent? My mother’s scent…

“You can understand me right?” He asked me and I nodded my head. “So, you are not feral? You can change back and forth, anytime you want?” I nodded again.

“So can you.” Jack helped me with this conversation, filling in the part I wanted to say.

The boy looked confused towards Jack for a moment, and I knew that he needed proof for an answer. For a moment I looked back towards all the shifters that still came out of the forest, still a bit hesitant about accepting me as their Queen. But this boy here, and whatever information he has, was a little too important to not listen to right now. I decided I would talk to the shifters later.

I searched for the serenity in me being a human, letting my claws, fur and teeth retract. I lifted myself off the ground and stood on my legs again. The boy looked confused, yet somehow a little relieved to know that shifters are able to do this, that we in fact aren’t the uncontrolled beasts that he assumed us to be.

“How can I trust that what you have been saying, about a pack being like a well-oiled machine, if taken care of correctly, is all to be true? Did he,” As he pointed to my father. “… deceive me all these years?”

I smiled softly towards him. “You know the answer to that question already. You have the same hearing, the same sense of feeling and anticipation. You know when someone is lying or not, just by listening to their heartbeat and breathing pattern. And just by telling you this, I know that you are aware of what I’m talking about. Am I right?” I said and he slowly nodded.

“Don’t believe a word she says, Justin! This is just their way of manipulating you!” My father said.

Behind me I could hear a few growls as the Alphas there weren’t agreeing to what he had said. A sudden hand that was being laid on my shoulder, startled me, but as I looked behind me, I could tell that it was one of the Lunas.

“Justin, is it?” She asked the boy and he nodded to her. “Our Queen here, still needs to explain a lot about a lot of things.” She said as she smiled comfortably. “But because of what has happened here today, I can safely say that we accept her in that role. And about the things that you have asked, yes, you should trust her. Alphas and Lunas might be the ruling couple of a pack, but there wouldn’t be a pack if it weren’t for the presence of all the members and their participation in their own roles.” She explained and I smiled at her, happy that someone from all the Lunas and Alphas stood on my side and helped me with this.

Her explanation contributed heavily towards the statement I wanted to make towards this boy, Justin as it seems, to perhaps make him choose to fight on our side. But I also wanted my father’s men to understand that there is more to their assumptions than they initially had. Maybe if they saw the difference, they would decide to walk away, giving us a better chance to win this battle, with less casualties.

Justin sighed, and I waited for him to reply to all this information.

“I, I don’t know what to believe. I mean, I want to believe you, but my father has been-

Right after he said that word, father, and he looked towards him, my heart stopped. I switched my gaze between Justin and him, several times, not listening to what Justin was saying anymore. I couldn’t understand what he just said, this couldn’t be possible!

“You said she died!” I roared to my father.

“Yes I did, and it wasn’t a lie.” He laughed.

“Then how is this possible? She died when my baby brother was still in her womb!” I stepped closer towards him, but suddenly got pulled back by Jack. “They couldn’t have survived an attack of a bear!” I continued.

“Our mother wasn’t killed by a bear.” Justin suddenly interrupted me, confusion written on his face. “You told me she left me! You told me she didn’t want to take care of me!” He then roared to our father. “Had anything be true that came out of your mouth?!” He roared to him, and I could see fur sprout out of his skin, at the back of his neck.

My father started to laugh at Justin’s display of power. “Neither of you know the truth. As soon as I found out that your whore of a mother,” At which both Justin and I growled. “had found her destined mate at the McCormack’s pack, I knew that Justin wasn’t my own blood.” He explained.

So Justin wasn’t my full blooded brother? And my father wasn’t my mother’s destined mate? Then what happened to her!?

“What? But…”

“Don’t lose your intellect now, daughter of mine, because I have never tolerated anyone that was against me, so what do you think happened to her?” He asked me suddenly.

I was dreading my own thoughts and didn’t want to answer his question, even though I already knew what her faith had been.

“When your mother had gone out of the house, in the middle of the night, I knew where she was headed to. So I took my gun with me and followed her. I had watched her, give herself completely to that asshat of a lousy Alpha, in the middle of the forest behind our house, and without a doubt I shot him right between the eyes!” My father told us, while pointing his fingers as if he was shooting the gun right now.

Jack

It took me plenty of power to hold Doreen close to me. She was growling with each passing word that came out of Damien’s mouth.

I could understand that she was confused, sad and angry even, as learning about having a brother, and the fact that her own father probably had done something to her mother himself, made her feel like this. But I couldn’t let her run towards him, as his complete army behind him, was armed to the teeth!

One act of running towards him, to rip his throat out, would result in them shooting at will towards her. It would kill her on the spot, even before she would have reached him at all, so I kept my arms tightly secure around her.

“The Spanish words that the Alpha had spoken to her, as he was assumedly visiting from Europe, was making me curl up in laughter, as I couldn’t understand what she had seen in him! And the face of disgust that your mother had, over me killing him, made me furious beyond any normal reasoning! She had explained earlier, that the bond that was between mates, is sacred, something you can’t mess with. But I didn’t care! How could I care? SHE WAS MY WIFE!” He roared.

“So, what? You killed her?!” Doreen shouted and I could feel the anger boil inside her. Her fur was sprouting out and it became harder for me to keep her steadily in my arms.

“Only after she gave birth to him.” Damien simply shrugged her question off, while pointing to Justin.

Shit, Damien was succeeding in tormenting Doreen’s thoughts, knowing that her own father killed her mother. The only person she has ever loved, more than myself, as she had kept that necklace with her all those years, before we found out what it did to her.

She was growling in my arms, growing bigger as she almost let herself shift into her bear. I held her in my arms, using all my strength to keep her with me. But no one was keeping hold of Justin, and he was growling in anger, just as much as Doreen was. But he was hesitant as well, as I could see the confusion in his eyes, contemplating whether or not he should be giving in to his own anger.

“You know what happens when you shift! If you do, you lose control!” Damien tried his best to gain back some of his trust from Justin.

“Justin!” I roared to him. Hoping to snap him out of his thoughts.

He snapped his head towards me, not knowing what he would do with himself, if someone wouldn’t explain it to him. Apparently he hadn’t been shifting much, as according to Damien’s words, you’d lose control of if you did.

“You won’t lose control! It is your perfectly normal nature to shift when angered, to shift when you want to protect someone else! You can always return to your human self!” I explained. “But not right now! Look around you, there is too much danger! You have to protect your sister!” I continued.

I could see him think about his own thoughts, switching his gaze back and forth between Damien, Doreen and all the people around us. He was definitely conflicted by his own fury and all the things that he had learned today as well. I think he still wasn’t sure as to who had been telling the truth to him. Had it been Damien, who he had been with for all of his life, or was it Doreen now, who apparently had been his sister? But even though he was confused, I knew he was bending to our side now, because otherwise he hadn’t been growling towards Damien.

“No need for that, my King!” I heard the same French wolf that had attacked me earlier, speak up as he came to my side, while I was still holding Doreen with the best of my capability. “I’m sorry for following the wrong person before, but I know now that your Luna is our destined and rightful Queen. We will protect her, at all cost!”

My jaw dropped in surprise, of all of the shifters that decided here and now to follow their Queen’s ruling. Like the Luna had said earlier, they have all accepted Doreen to be their Queen. But for them to decide to protect her was something entirely different compared to just accepting her. But because of her father that said all those things; because he had killed their previous rightful to be Queen, Doreen’s mother, as well; they had all decided to fight for her.

Damien had sealed his own fate.

“Allons-y!” The man roared in French to urge on for everyone to shift and fight.