Episode 1

Narrated by Vincenzo (supreme alpha),

The chill evening breeze brushes through my fur as I dart across the dense forest, feeling the damp leaves and twigs beneath my paws and every scent surrounds me with exquisite detail. This is what hunting entails – my instincts magnify, and my wolf asserts dominance. With heightened senses, a distant, vexing sound wafts through the trees. Following the noise, I soon identify it as the wail of an infant. Driven by sheer instinct, I pursue, given no human settlements lie near my pack’s dominion.

Before long, I locate the source of the commotion, and as I suspected, it's a baby – a human by scent. Oddly, I detect no other presence; the child must have been abandoned.

For a moment, I'm lost in time as the infant's cries harken back to bitter memories, filling me with a wrath aimed at all humans. Blinded by emotion, I resolve to bring the child before the pack to execute her, to show an example.

Shifting from wolf to human, I scoop the noisy little being into my arms.

"You are incessantly loud! Be SILENT!" I snarl, teeth clenched. To my astonishment, the crying ceases, and she gazes up at me with deep brown eyes.

The journey home, hindered by my human form, is protracted. Upon arrival, I signal Lara from downstairs of my return, asking for her presence at a forthcoming assembly with the pack.

"I shall stand with you," Lara's faint and sorrowful voice reaches me.

My sister Lara is overcome with grief, having lost her pup, and due to complications, she's been told she can't have more, plunging her into a severe depression.

The infant's wails snap me back to reality.

"BE QUIET," I inadvertently bellow, taken aback by the growl resonating from the stair's summit.

Facing the stairs, I see Laura beholding me, her eyes aflame with ire, and she starts transforming.

"Lara? What’s overcome you?"

I watch as Laura descends step by step, never breaking her gaze from me and the baby.

When she reaches the bottom, she snarls angrily and lunges for me. I have no choice but to drop the infant to shield myself from Laura's assault. Just as I'm about to react, a forceful shove sends me crashing onto the wooden floor. Confused, I see Laura cradling the child protectively.

"Lara, has madness taken you?" I query, edgy.

"VINCE, I know what you plan for this baby. I won't allow it," she retorts, her lupine gaze fierce.

"Do you fail to see she’s merely human?" I try making her understand. "I intend to kill her, to caution humans against trespassing my terrain..."

Her sad look stifles my words.

"You're heartless! She's vulnerable, alone, starving, and cold – and your solution is murder? You hardly resemble the brother I know." Her gaze chides me, and despite my better judgment, I relent, for she is my sole kin, the only one left.

"What do you expect me to do with this child?" I ask, gesturing to the baby she's holding, a smug grin forming on her lips, certain of her victory.

"I want her," she asserts without hesitation.

Predictably, I exhale deeply and reply:

"You may keep her, but keep her distant from me and confined to the house." My head throbs at the thought of the pack's reaction to housing a human in the supreme alpha's home.

"Thank you, Vince, for the kindness you're bestowing," Laura grins, a sight I've missed.

Not one for seeing my dear sister saddened or cross, as always, I give in.

Months later,

My sister treats the child as her own, bestowing upon her the name of our mother, Elizabeth. While unsuitable for a human, I am consoled seeing joy return to Lara's life.

After a year, Elizabeth walks and begins to talk. I hurry to assist upon hearing Lara's cries from Elizabeth's room. To my dread, it’s tears of joy – she's called Lara “mommy.” I glance at the child who approaches me.

"Mommy," she utters. I'm unmoved; if she expects coddling, she's mistaken.

"Vince, unaware of her uniqueness, abstain from harshness, for my sake – I cherish her more than life itself," Lara pleads, a near-impossible request, given my disdain for all humans, but for her, I may try.

"I shall endeavor," I reluctantly concede, "no promises."

Elizabeth's third birthday looms. Lara wishes to declare her as her daughter during the celebration. Despite my foreboding, I suppress it, allowing Lara's wishes to prevail. As Lara rises to retrieve Elizabeth, outside shouts break the calm.

"FIRE, FIRE!" Alec, my beta, disrupts the festivity.

"ROGUE WOLVES, ARSON AMONGST HOME!" Without hesitation, I transform and sprint to protect the pack. I confront the invasion’s leader, engaging in brutal combat until I triumph, parading his body as a warning to all trespassers. After the ordeal, I return home, horrified to discover blood on the stairs. I follow the trail to Elizabeth's disheveled room to the grim sight of Lara lifeless, protecting the child.

"No, no, no! This must be a nightmare," I cry. Important to Lara, I confirm the child still lives – just unconscious. Bloodstains echo an escape.

I summon Alec, who promptly arrives.

"Pursue this wretch responsible for touching my sister; I wish to end him myself," I command with full authority. Gazing at awakening Elizabeth, I shield her eyes from the horror and console her.

Following Lara's funeral, my thought turns to raise Elizabeth to be strong and independent...

Six months post-calamity, after careful consideration, I resolve to seek a mate and inaugurate Elizabeth as my daughter. I allow her to turn five before enrolling her in the pack’s school.

Years later,

"Father, shall you accompany me to my first school day?" She inquires, now a young lady, sheltered from the world except for a select few.

"Father?" she recalls me from my reverie.

"Darling, forgive me, I was reflecting," I begin, cut short.

"On what?" Her glowing eyes like bright sapphires.

"I must enlighten you about us, especially about our people," I ponder how to divulge our lupine nature and her human difference.

Tonight, I will reveal my form to her and later introduce her as my kin.

"Daughter, your father will become a lobo, a grand wolf, yet I’ll still be your father. Do you comprehend?" I explain, and with her mute nod, I shift before her eyes. She recoils, then musters courage to approach.

"I thought only mom could do this," she asserts - had she somehow known?

After the declaration ceremony, I announce my departure to find a mate with Alec tending to her during my absence.

"Father, are you leaving me?" she laments, but her education here is essential.

"Yes, for a brief period. Alec will watch over you," I reassure her. With a somber air, I kiss her, gather my belongings, and embark on my quest seeking a partner, hoping to swiftly reunite with my little one. Some oppose Elizabeth as my heir and future alpha - may the Moon Goddess shield her until my return...

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