1. Prologue

Prologue

A long time ago

A majestic white stag made his way through the forest. There was a beauty and a symmetry to the way he ran. When he jumped, he looked like he was soaring over the grass and the shrubs. The blessing of the Luna goddess rested on him. Through her, he blessed the forest. The trees grew taller and thicker, and there was always game for the hunters to feed their families and village. The gloss of moonlight that came from his coat kept the forest safe for all.

Darkness crept into the forest. The goddess of the Dark Night was jealous of the way the Luna goddess blessed the forest, never allowing it to become so black that the hunters or the animals could be led to their deaths. She sent a dark creation. The goddess of the Black Night’s creation didn’t have a name, but it was dear to her. Her creation stalked the stag for many nights, looking for the right time to attack.

It was known throughout the villages and the forest that the white stag was protected. It was never to be harmed. The blessing of the forest relied on the white stag.

Hunters entered the forest as the change of the season was upon them. They were looking to stock up on game for the colder seasons. One last big hunt to make it easier when they sent the younger hunters out.

The white stag passed them. They stopped to give the stag and the goddess respect for what she would and had already provided for them. They were eerily silent as they moved through the forest looking for big game. It was only by chance that they caught the shadow of the creature sent to the forest by the goddess of the Dark Night.

The hunters deferred to the leader. Were they to keep hunting, or did he require they do something else? The leader worshiped the Lunar goddess, believing their prosperity was due to the gift she gave them. There was a foreign presence in their forest. One that may not understand the sanctity of the white stag. The leader broke the group into two and gestured for his warriors to hunt, while he and the five warriors with him followed the dark creature.

They tracked the foreign presence for two days. Every time they got close, it avoided being caught. When the leader believed what they were tracking was nothing more than a shadow, there was a cry that came from deep in the forest. They ran, arriving as the dark creature landed the killing blow to the stag.

Without looking, they flanked the dark creature using the maneuvers they used to take down big game. The creature turned to find itself surrounded by hunters. They left him no avenue of escape. They ran the creature down, giving him space to move with the leader while the other two quickly and silently boxed him in. There was no room for him to run or leap. When the attack was ready, the leader went in for the kill, sharing the glory with his warriors.

They would not eat the creature, it was vile, and they believed that to eat it would be to pollute themselves with the same vileness. They would burn it after the goddess came to see what happened to the stag. This creature was the proof that the hunters and the other beasts in the forest hadn’t harmed the stag.

The goddess of the Dark Night was the first to show up. She stood tall, with skin several shades lighter than Mother Earth. Her hair was black as a raven's wing and tumbled down her back. She had dark eyes that fit the name Black Night. When she saw her beautiful creation dead at the feet of the hunters, she sank to the ground, rendering a cry that made the sky shout.

“You.” She stared at the leader before looking at the other hunters. “You killed my creation.” The accusation in her voice was heavy. There was a feeling in her words that made the hunters nervous.

“It killed the white stag.” The leader was furious that something not from his forest would walk on land that didn’t belong to it and kill the blessing the goddess had given them. If she lifted her blessing from the land, they may not be able to feed the village. The hunters would need to travel further out for food. The further they wandered to feed the village, the more dangerous it became. He had heard and learned well as he listened to the elders talk of the time before.

“What concern is the white stag to you? It was no concern of yours.” The goddess stroked the flank of her creation as her tears flowed down her cheeks onto him. “You dared to interfere where you were not wanted. For that, I curse you and every warrior that haunts the forest tonight. As long as time has no end, you will remain upon this earth. You will have no mate or younglings. Thus, I have said, so must it be.”

“Black Night,” Luna’s husky voice called. “What are you doing in my forest?” Luna’s pale skin was glowing in the moonlight. Her white hair tumbled down her back, looking like the moon at its peak. Her silver eyes were so light that they could be mistaken for white.

“Your hunters killed my creature,” she spat at Luna.

“A creature who was not welcome in my forest. A creature who killed my stag.” The moon’s glow lit Luna from the inside out.

“I cursed them.” The goddess of the Dark Night stood. There was a small smile on her face.

Luna took in the scene. The deliberateness of it was stark.

“Your purpose was to kill my stag and curse the hunters I have blessed.” Luna’s rage and scorn were easy to hear.

She spoke a language the hunters had never heard before. The scene replayed in front of them, ending with Black Night’s curse.

“The goddess’s curse cannot be removed. You will indeed live until time is no more. For your fierce protection of the stag, I will grant you a boon. I will grant each of you one fated mate. This mate will walk the earth one day as an omega. Only this soulmate will travel through time with you. I grant you children and the life that Dark Night thought to deny you.”

The goddess of the Dark Night went to her knees as she cleared a place on Mother Earth. She wrote as she talked. “I lay into the firmament that every male and female born will know that omegas are an abomination. Each abomination is to be killed at birth. Not one shall see its first year. If any omega survives birth and mates, they will only be able to birth omegas. Thus, I have said, so must it be.”

“Are you finished, dear?” Luna’s voice was as sweet as the sap that came from the trees and as heavy.

The goddess of the Dark Night stood and conceded the land. Luna went to her knees and cleared a section of Mother Earth. She wrote and spoke her words, but the language was the one the hunters didn’t understand. “It is the language of the moon,” she whispered for their ears only.

When she stood this time, she waited for Dark Night to stroke her creature. It rose as if death never touched it.

“You cannot undo what I have done.” The goddess took her creature and left.

Luna stroked the back of the stag, and he disappeared. She sent out a call and a young white stag appeared. She brought it close and kissed its forehead. It grew into a mighty stag that would protect the forest. It took off, taking the light and the blessing of the goddess Luna with it.

“No male should have to walk the world endlessly in one form. I grant you another form that will help with your hunts.” The hunters turned into black wolves. “Your wolves will always be black as a reminder of the great evil you defeated and the courage you displayed.” She touched each wolf on the head, imparting another gift.

She stood and said something in the moon language. “Stay ever ready. When your mates come, the fight to claim them may be long and hard. The victory will be worth the fight.”