Prologue

DarkBeauty357

The day that Charlie was born was a new beginning. Leah adored him all day and all night no matter how much he cried. Alec adored him for all of four hours before he started to cry. Even though the first month of Charlie being born was nothing but crying, Leah was very patient with him. Alec tried the best he could but every time he tried to hold or console Charlie, he would just start crying even more. The only person able to hold Charlie for long periods of time was Leah. Even though it frustrated Alec a little bit, he still kept calm.

Being a parent is a life-changing event. When you finally find your life partner and decide to settle down and start a family; it's a new beginning.

There is the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Like when Charlie took his first steps. Which eventually progresses into Alec chasing Charlie around the house like a mad man trying to put his diaper on.

Or when Charlie had to get stitches on his forehead, and when he said his first curse words because of Alec.

You can imagine how proud Leah was when he said mom first.

It was around when he was seven months old. He was still young, but Alec and Leah's children would all develop physically and mentally faster.

Alec was at a pack and business meeting early that morning, so Leah was watching him home alone. She had to use the bathroom so she put Charlie in a pack n' play.

As sneaky as Charlie was, he crawled out of the pack n' play and began to get into trouble.

Leah found her little mischievous seven-month-old baby finger painting on the walls with his own poop. As disgusted as Leah was, Charlie felt her presence and turned around with an innocent smile on his face like an angel.

"Mommy," Charlie softly said and pointed at her. Leah grabbed her ***** baby and held him at arm's length, leaving the diaper on the floor for now, and carried him to the bathroom.

"Daddy is so lucky he's not here or he'd be doing this." She chuckled to herself at the thought of Alec complaining.

After Leah was done cleaning the baby, she cleaned the walls with bleach and threw away the dirty diaper.

•••••

Jealousy and anger are troubling emotions that any child possesses, and that makes parenting difficult. Charlie was only a year and eight months old when Alec and Leah had their second child.

A baby girl that had blonde hair like Leah with brown eyes. Alec named her Jade. Jade was Alec's first baby girl. His pride and joy. Truth was that out of all his children, her eyes- that resembled his own- could get her anything she wanted from her daddy. He was in trouble because most times when she would look at him, he couldn't say no.

The same day that Jade was born was a great impact on Charlie too.

Charlie cried for three days periodically after she was born, but he wouldn't say why. Eventually, he broke down crying into his mother's arms.

"You're gonna love her more than me." He let out the biggest cry as tears poured down his face. His precious brown eyes seemed to brighten more as his cheeks reddened. His medium-length brown hair was messy by running his hand through it so many times, he had been thinking about this all day.

Leah consoled Charlie and held him in her arms, rubbing his back to help stop him from hyperventilating. When he calmed down a little, Leah preceded to tell him, "Charlie, I love you both the same. Nothing is going to ever change that. You're very special to me." She said.

"You mean it?" He asked.

"Positive."

Leah talked to Charlie as Alec cared for Jade for the rest of the night.

•••••

The following year Alec and Leah had their third child. It was an unplanned pregnancy, but they were still grateful. Charlie was two years old and Jade was one. Their new daughter was named Blaire, who had brown straight hair and green eyes.

Alec and Leah now had three children and their hands were extremely full, they decided to not have children for a while. Although, Grace pitched in whenever she could to help out.

Grace, a kind soul but with bad luck, still wasn't able to conceive children. Even after all the doctor appointments, no one could give her an actual diagnosis or reason why.

She often times got frustrated and felt worthless. Rem, her mate, still loved her nonetheless. He gave her his endless devotion and helped her cope with this the best he could. There were times where she felt depressed and hopeless. When her depression got worse and she started to lose weight again, Rem put up the vodka bottle and the bongs to help Grace to his fullest ability.

No one could ever pull Rem away from his habits, even when Alice talked to him. But Rem gave it all away, and Grace didn't even ask him too. He did it voluntarily.

•••••

Having children changed Alec and Leah in many ways, but Alec's daughter, Jade, seemed to change him the most.

When Jade turned two years old, her parents took her into town to celebrate.

Alec carried her in his arms as they were window shopping. Suddenly, Jade pointed at a cat in the window of a pet store. The same place that Logan was purchased at, a small pang of pain ran through Leah.

Alec and Leah knew exactly what she wanted. Ever since she was able to talk she always mentioned that she wanted a kitten. Yet, she never got one because Alec always hated cats. Not only was it against his werewolf nature but every time he was around a cat, it would attack him.

However, this time Alec actually caved in and let Jade have a cat. After all, how could he say no to his daughter's big brown eyes as they peered at him like puppy dog eyes.

When they brought the small kitten home, Jade called it Snow.

By the end of the night, surprisingly, Jade and Snow were fast asleep in Alec's arms.

The next morning Alec denied even sleeping with the cat, but Leah had pictures to prove it. Perhaps, Alec was starting to like the white, fluffy cat.

Month after month, Alec formed an attachment to Snow. No matter how hard he denies it, he did like the cat after all.

•••••

When Blaire, Leah's third child, and second daughter, was two years old, Leah had another child. His name was Peyton. He had blonde hair and green eyes just like Leah.

Blaire was very accepting and caring toward Peyton. Anytime he would cry she would always give her mother his baby bottle. Even though she was too young she would always try to hold her baby brother.

Blaire was the good child of the group. Always trying to help clean even when she too small, most times Leah would find her trying to sweep the kitchen anyway or mop without water. She was kind and had a gracious smile around everyone. She was not shy and she never told a lie.

Many times during the week, Alec would take his two daughters, who were his world, to the park to play.

When Peyton turned one, Charlie turned five. Turning five was a big deal for a werewolf. It was time for his training to start. Maybe not physically but mentally. Also, decided to start introducing him to vampire venom.

Truly, the younger they were the better. It is less painful to start building an immunity at a young age than when you're older.

Those were some of the hardest days of Leah's life.

The first time when Charlie had vampire venom in his veins, he cried out in pain and collapsed down on his bed. He wasn't able to move for two hours.

The venom that Alec possessed was from Cevielle, the pack witch. She had high connections with elder vampires, and since the venom was from an elder it was more potent. It was a good thing that Cevielle was around because Alec hated vampires with a passion. He entirely loathes them, and nothing would change his mind. He hated everything about them, and the fact that his own mate got attacked by one, years ago.

As months went on, Charlie's screams lessened and finally he was completely immune to it. Those were the times when Leah finally stopped crying after hearing her own child's screams.

Charlie knew that he had to do it. He wasn't forced to, in fact, the five-year-old was pretty intelligent and he knew the world was a dangerous place. Vampires made it more dangerous. They are unpredictable vile creatures with no respect for others.

And when Jade turned five, she started and completed the vampire venom process.

And when Blaire turned five, she started and completed the vampire venom process.

And when Peyton turned five, he started and completed the vampire venom process.

The year that Peyton turned five was also the same year that Leah gave birth to her last child. The youngest baby boy in the family, the one that could get away with murder and the one that was babied, or so his older siblings said.

His name was Kai. A cute little blonde headed boy with brown eyes.

When he was born, Leah and Alec's world was complete. Their family was complete.

Leah's youngest child, Kai, grew up differently than the others.

When he was growing up he never smiled, and he didn't even respond to his name at first. He showed no signs of social anticipation, and no social babbling when he was just a couple months old like the rest did.

Although, his physical abilities weren't hindered like his social abilities. He started to crawl at four months and he walked at six months old, but Leah paid close attention to the different hand motions he made. He would always shake his hands or flip them, and it could worse when he was mad or upset.

When Kai would be upset or mad, even scared, he expressed his emotions in a different way. He would get violent easily or throw things.

When he was around two years old is when he started to show interest in playing with toys. Leah noticed his odd behavior, but she thought he would grow out of it or maybe it would get better. It wasn't until around Christmas time that she knew he needed to be mentally evaluated.

It was December twentieth, four days before Christmas, and the whole family got together. Christie and Chris brought their five-year-old daughter and their two-year-old son. He was around the same age as Kai, so Christie left the two boys in the living room to play, while she helped make dinner. Periodically, the adults would check up on the little ones.

Christie's son, Toby, was fully developed. He was able to walk and talk perfectly fine.

Kai always wanted to be by himself. He hated sharing, communicating, and just being social in general. If it was up to him then he would just be playing by himself in his closet with his legos or finger painting.

So you can imagine the glare that Kai gave Toby.

Toby was another social butterfly, a common trait in a werewolf pack. All Toby wanted was to be friends, he always knew that Kai was cold to him and to anyone in general. Toby watched Kai, who was still in a onesie because normal clothes irritated him, play for a while with his legos and cars, without saying anything to him.

Toby reached for a metal toy car, and when he grabbed it, Kai freaked out.

Kai squealed in anger and grabbed another metal toy car and threw it at Toby's face as hard as he could.

Toby wailed out in pain and grabbed his face. A deep gash was just above Toby's eyebrows and blood seeped out of the wound.

The cry of agony alerted all the adults in the house. Leah and Christie, being mothers were the first ones to rush to the room.

Leah picked up Kai in her arms and Christie grabbed her baby. Leah apologized, "Christie, I'm so sorry. It won't happen again."

Christie didn't say anything to Leah. As a parent, she was a little mad and upset, but she knew that Kai wasn't exactly a normal child. Everyone knew that.

Chris, on the other hand, was more than angry. His eyes were a bright yellow, and he made long strides toward Leah. Leah stepped back a couple of feet and Christie's eyes went wide. Before Chris could touch Leah and her kid, Alec stepped between them and pushed him back. Damon stepped in front of Leah, protecting her as well, with his canines elongated. Chris let out an animalistic growl and bared his teeth at Alec.

Alec growled back as well, but Chris tried to get through Alec again, so Alec grabbed Chris and slammed him through the living table. Alec latched into Chris's shoulder with his teeth and ripped out a small chunk of his flesh. Forcing Chris to Submission, it was over.

When both of them men calmed down, they were breathing heavily.

"Chris, he is just a kid!" Christie screamed, "Why would you do that!"

Chris didn't reply, he just shook his head and walked out the door. Christie looked at Leah, "I'm sorry for everything." Christie apologized looking guilty and grabbed her daughter's hand before they left.

Charlie and Jade, who were ten and nine at the time, volunteered to help clean up the pieces of wood that were once the living room table.

Eight-year-old Blaire was just happy to get rid of the ugly, old coffee table, and six-year-old Peyton was still sleeping in the recliner. It was safe to say he was a heavy sleeper.

Later when everyone calmed down, Alice approached Leah, "Hey are you alright?" She asked.

"Yes, have you heard anything about Toby. Is he okay?" Leah asked.

Alice nodded her head, "I just called. He is fine." Alice looked away. She didn't want to bring this up, but the situation needed to be brought up. "Look, Leah, I hate to say this but I think it's time to see a therapist or a psychologist. Kai isn't your average kid and we've all known this for a long time. Like the kid is a two-year-old and he still isn't talking like he should."

Most werewolf children are about to talk around six months old and they are fully developed at two years old. Kai could speak sometimes, but not in full sentences. Leah tried working with him daily, but he was just slow at talking. Although, he showed great artistic ability and creativity for his age. Regardless if no one realizes it, Kai was actually pretty intelligent. He was actually the smartest kid that Leah had, he just didn't know how to express it through words. At least, not yet.

Kai who was still in Leah's arms clung around her neck and hugged her even tighter. Just because he didn't speak fully, doesn't mean he couldn't understand them.

"I think you're right." Leah agreed.

•••••

A week later, Leah made an appointment with Doctor Ardelean after finding out he had a doctorate degree in psychology. Since he already knew that Kai was a hybrid, it would be easier to see him because Leah wouldn't have to take time to explain his situation.

Leah loaded Kai in the car seat of her red shiny SUV that Alec bought for her birthday two years ago. Doctor Ardelean agreed to meet Leah and Kai at his house since it would be convenient and private for both of them.

"Kai," Leah called her son as she started to drive to Doctor Ardelean's house. Kai actually nonverbal responded to his name. He was slowly getting better. "I love you."

"Love too," Kai said monotonously. Kai seemed to do better around his mother when they were alone. Out of everyone, Leah and Alec understood him the most, but Kai leaned toward Leah the most.

When they arrived, Leah knocked on his door and was greeted with a big smile. "Good morning, Doctor Ardelean."

"Please call me Alin."

Leah talked to Alin, in his office, about all the signs and possible symptoms that Kai portrayed, while Kai played on the floor. He was steadily coloring, not caring about anything else.

"Well, from your description I would say it seems like he suffers from autism, but I don't want to make a hasty diagnosis. So I would like to have sessions for an hour with him. I would like to wait at least one or two years to officially diagnose him. In the meantime, I can schedule speech therapy." Alin said. Alin spent the rest of the time trying to interact with Kai and observing him. Leah stayed quiet and watched her son coloring inside the lines of a realistic coloring book for adults. He never preferred children coloring books.

•••••

Kai was five when he was officially diagnosed with high functioning autism. His speech got better over the years due to speech therapy, but he still never went out of his way to speak to others. He preferred staying to himself and his family, and coloring or playing with legos.

Luckily, the wolf gene did combat with his autism, Doctor Alin said that if he was a human then his autism would be more severe and he wouldn't be able to talk at all.

When Kai was seven, Leah thought it would be a good idea to put him into school. He would go into the first grade at the tri-county school for werewolves. Everyday Leah would drive forty-five minutes in the morning to drop all her kids off at school, and pick them up.

On the first day of school for all of her children, she was more excited then they were. She had all of their lunches packed and was ready to get them out of the door.

"Come on guys let's go!" She shouted up the stairs to her older children.

All five of them packed into the SUV, with Charlie in the passenger seat. All the kids talked excitedly about their first day except Kai. Leah kept her eyes on him using the mirror.

Kai was quiet which was normal. He was overwhelmed already on his first day of school, his other siblings sensed his uneasiness. They tried to include him in the conversations and encourage him to talk as much as possible on the way to the school. They were all very gentle and understanding toward Kai. Kai was like the glue of the family. He was adored by everyone in his family, he was everyone's personal favorite.

The school that Leah's kids were going to was specially built for werewolves, so humans wouldn't know about their secret. It had pre-kindergarten all the way up to the twelfth grade. There were also special education teachers and teacher assistants for students like Kai. Leah checked into it last summer. It was a small class of only three other students like Kai because cases like this are rare amongst werewolves. They would be separated from the main population, except for recess, but a teacher assistant should always be near.

Leah approached the gigantic school, that held more than two hundred thousand students. It was a very intimidating sight at first to humans, but wolves loved it.

The other children left and said their goodbyes to their mom and Kai. Peyton was the last to leave, "I'll see you at recess Kai, have a good day."

"Thanks, Peyton. You too." Kai replied.

Leah and Kai waited a couple of minutes for the teacher assistant to arrive at the drop off zone.

"So are you ready for your first day?" Leah asked excitedly.

"I want to go home." He said enthusiastically. 

"I'm sure you'll change your mind after today. A school is a fun place." Leah tried to cheer him up.

"I'm seven. Not stupid." He remarked.

"What do you mean, honey?" Leah asked.

"Kids like me don't fit in, or they get made fun of. At home, they obviously can't bully me, but I see the way they look at me. Like I'm some disabled kid that is just a troubling thought for my parents." Kai said. For a seven-year-old, he surely was smart and logical. He had always been mentally intelligent, and thanks to speech therapy, he can now voice his opinions

"You'll never be a trouble to me or your father. Regardless of what people think, you're not disabled, you are special. You're the smartest, most creative, and the most organized kid I've ever seen. Not to mention, you succeed in magic on a whole different level, you're even better than your siblings actually. You're actually the most powerful kid I have, which is impressive since you're the youngest. I'd like to see other kids do what you do because I bet they can't." Leah told Kai.

Kai gave her a small smile, "I love you, mom."

"I love you more, my darling."

"I doubt it. You don't love me as much as I love you." Kai got out of his seat and lean forward to give his mommy a hug. He was a huge mommy's boy.

"Nothing can compare to the love of a mother for her child." Leah side hugged her baby boy. She pointed out the window, "There is your teacher."

"Bye, mom."

"Bye, have fun. Love you." Leah gave Kai a quick kiss on the cheek.

So there Kai was, the first time away from his mother, ready to start an adventure.

Kai grabbed his backpack and walked up to the young teacher. "Hello, you must be Kai?"

"Yes, Ma'am." He nodded his head. His cute straight blonde hair was swept to the side, and his eyes showed that he was nervous and untrusting of his surroundings so far.

"I know it's such a big place, but don't worry. We have each other. Call me Mrs. Haven." Mrs. Haven reached out and lightly touched Kai's shoulders. Giving him a warm trusting smile, she guided him to the class, and on the way, she was explaining the school system and the schedule to him. She also told him that he didn't have to socialize with the others if he didn't want too and that if he preferred one on one interaction with just a teacher, then that was fine.

Kai walked into a small one with three other students around his age, and another female teacher sitting at a desk.

Mrs. Haven said Kai could sit anywhere and there were only two tables with four seats at each table. The other third kids occupied the one table so Kai sat at the other table alone. Kai observed his surroundings. Bright colorful toys were scattered across the room. In one corner there were two rainbow beanbags and a mini-fridge. That was where they had group snacks. In the other corner, there was a desk with two computers.

Posters and pictures of the alphabet and nursery rhymes hung up on the wall. Kai sighed to himself. This was going to be a long day.

The first thing on the schedule was building socializing skills. Even though the little social exercises would only last for thirty minutes, Kai was excused. The teachers didn't want to push him too far. When he was ready then he'd join them.

Before the rest of the class started, Mrs. Haven gave him a couple of coloring books. When Kai's face scrunched up in disgust, Mrs. Haven knew something was wrong. "What is it?" She asked.

"These books are too childish. Do you have adult coloring books?" Kai politely asked.

"No, but I could buy some for tomorrow if you'd like?" The teacher said.

Kai nodded, "Do you have any books to read?"

The teacher showed him a bookcase. The right side had the children's books, and the left side had the teacher's books.

No child had ever picked anything on the left side, but Kai did. Kai picked up To Kill a Mockingbird. The teacher wasn't expecting him to read such a challenging book for a young child. Perhaps, he was smarter than she thinks.

After the one activity was done, they did another group activity but Kai was already bored reading so he looked around the classroom and found some paper. He picked up the paper but it wasn't normal coloring paper, it had multiplication problems on it. He loved multiplication and frequently worked on it with his mother.

He sped through the problems and set it off to the side reading his book. This time he was so indulged in the book that he didn't realize a teacher was examining his work. This teacher, Mrs. Johnson was less interested in helping kids with special needs, she only took this job position because she needed money.

"You didn't get one answer wrong." She stated.

"The problems are too easy," Kai said. Most of the time he spoke he would lack emotion and sometimes that could be mistaken for disrespect.

"None of the other kids can do this."

"We all are not like each other," Kai replied.

"Okay, then what is five hundred and forty-six times three hundred and twenty-one." The teacher said in a triumph tone.

Kai set his book down and thought about it for a minute.

"My point exact-" The teacher was about to say but Kai cut her off.

"One hundred and seventy-five thousand two hundred and sixty-six," Kai said and stared at the teacher. Waiting for her to check his math. A small smirk on his face.

The teachers stared in shock but quickly reached for her phone for the calculator.

"You're right." She said.

The day seemed to go by faster. Soon enough lunch came and went then it was recess time. The special education kids would go outside with a smaller group of just one hundred regular students to play.

Luckily, Kai was placed in the B4 group and Peyton was going to be there. This age group ranged from seven to twelve-years-old.

There was a big playground, and a soccer game going on but Kai didn't want to be involved with any of that. He just stayed on a bench, near the basketball court, and sketched in his book. He had his backpack with all of his different pencils and everything.

A couple of kids came over and kindly asked if he would like to join them because he seemed lonely. Kai politely denied.

Peyton was playing basketball with the other guys his age, but he kept a close eye on Kai.

A boy around twelve years old sat down on the bench with Kai. "Hey, watcha drawing?" The kid asked, in reality, he didn't care at all. The boy just wanted someone to pick on.

"My dad." Kai shortly answered.

The kid snatched Kai's book out of his hands without asking and observed the picture. It was a realistic drawling of Alec in his wolf form. "Can you give my book back, please?" Kai asked.

"I'm just trying to help out. You're missing something." The kid said and grabbed the pencil. He continued to draw stick figures in front of Alec's paws, and blood dripping from his mouth. He completely ruined Kai's drawing. "There. For all the people and packs your dad has killed. That suits him better." The kid laughed and stood up still holding his book.

"Give it back now!" Kai growled and bared his teeth.

The kid laughed, "Wow, so Alpha knine's retarded son does fight back after all. I'm surprised he has a son like you. A weakling that should just go kill himself already."

"I'm not weak and I'm not going to ask again. Give it back!" Kai was starting to have hairs sprout across his body. His eyes were flickering from human to wolf form.

One thing about Kai is he can have an episode real quickly. If this kid didn't back off then he was going yo find out too.

"I wonder what your father thinks about you. You disgraced his legacy, and I'm surprised you're even here at this school."

"Don't talk about my father like you know him, bitch!" Kai stepped closer toward him, but before he could do anything Peyton punched his classmate right in the face.

The boy fell to the ground and reached for his nose that was now gushing blood. "You stupid prick." The boy got up.

Peyton went over to Kai who was seething in anger. Kai was more than angry though, he was furious, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could take before he exploded.

"How's your grandmother? Hopefully, your mother ends up just like her," The kid stopped and gave a fake expression of pain, "Oh, I meant not like her. My bad."

Kai flipped out and charged for his throat. "Kai no!" Peyton yelled and grabbed his hand. But Kai turned around and clawed his chest.

Kai speared the boy to the ground and punched his face repeatedly. No one was going to talk about his mother like that.

It took five teachers and Peyton to separate the boys. One teacher was guiding the hurt boy, who was crying, to the nurse's office, but Kai wasn't done.

As anger clouded him and got worst, water droplets traveled down Kai's arm and into his palm. Since his element was water, Kai wanted to give him a little treat before the other boy stepped inside the building. All the water froze in Kai's hand. Peyton noticed and gasped. He wasn't supposed to be doing magic at school, but luckily no one noticed because all the teachers were surrounding the boy.

When the water froze into ice, Kai chucked it at an angle to where it launched over the teachers and hit the boy between the eyes, knocking him completely out. He and the teachers never knew what was coming.

Peyton and Kai both laughed and clapped hands. "Score!" Peyton yelled, "Uh-oh."

Both of the boys watched as more teachers come out and headed straight for them.

All of them were sent to the office and Leah was called to the school. She was not happy at all.

"Okay, so where was the teacher assistant at. Because this is not acceptable," She pointed to the mockery drawing that the bully did to Kai's drawing. Leah spoke again, "So let me get this straight. My son, Peyton is getting suspended because one of your kids is a bully." Leah yelled folding her arms. She had been yelling at the principal for thirty minutes, needless to say, she is winning this argument.

The principal replied, "That "bully" is being sent to the emergency room."

"And rightfully so. I already talked to both of my children out there." She pointed toward the main lobby. "It was wrong of that kid to bring up the death of my mother, me and his father. Actually, nevermind, * you. My kids will be going on a vacation then. So you can take your ten-day suspension and shove it up your . And I'm pulling Kai out, so I can homeschool him since your teachers can't even do a simple job, such as watching him. And you're lucky. Very lucky."

"How so?" The principal prompts.

"I was about to go to the store. Two minutes later and your phone call home would have been made to Alec." Leah replied.

The principal paled slightly. He knew what family he was talking to, but he still had to be stern with punishment to some degree.

"Exactly. I wonder what he would think of his autistic son being bullied and Peyton being punished for standing up for him." Leah questioned.

"Well, we can shorten the days of suspension to five." The principal blurted out. He wiped the sweat off his face.

"No. Like I said. Peyton is going on a vacation. I'm taking my boys out to lunch. Have a good day."

•••••

Throughout the years there were many ups and downs, but as a family, they were all very close.

It wasn't until around Christmas time that everything changed when Charlie was nineteen, Jade was eighteen, Blaire was seventeen, Peyton was fifteen, and Kai was eleven. Everything changed that year.

~🖤~

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