Primal

Prologue

Everyone had expected the next major war to be World War III. With all of the political turmoil and tensions between world powers, most believed that another war of that magnitude would be inventible. I was one of those people.

No one expected werewolves. They came out of nowhere, attacking Washington D.C. first. They crippled our government before any news of what was going on had a chance to go viral. It was clear that the coup was well thought out and meticulously planned.

The military was deployed to try to take control back, but they were no match for the werewolves. The beasts were stronger, faster, smarter. They even healed at an abnormal rate. A bullet would barely phase them. There was nothing the military could do.

Early in the war, America's allies sent troops to provide assistance. When they were slaughtered at alarming rates, the countries pulled back, knowing that any attempt to stop the werewolves was useless.

It took less than a month for the werewolves to gain full control of America and Canada. Once the human governments were out of the way, they began to create territories. They forced the humans out of their homes and into designated sectors, usually within large cities. The sectors were designed to keep us controlled and make it easy for the wolves to keep an eye on us. Their domain was the wilderness, the forests, the plains, the mountains.

Each territory included at least one human sector and a vast amount of land for the werewolves to take advantage of. The territories were ruled by Alphas, the strongest, fasted, most dominant and deadly werewolves. They demanded respect, killing those who disobeyed. Each Alpha had a Beta and a Gamma to assist the running of their territory. They, even more so than the average werewolf, were not to be messed with.

I had loved growing up in Denver, Colorado. It was the perfect city; it was why I chose to attend the University of Denver. The werewolves loved Denver too. Its proximity to the Rocky Mountains made it desirable real estate. And that is why the most powerful of all the werewolves chose this territory to control.

The Alpha Commander's title alone sends shivers down anyone's spine. Even the other Alphas bow before him. It was clear from the start that he was their leader, their ruler. I had never seen his face, and I never wanted to. He only came into the Denver human sector every once in a while, when members of the Resistance were acting up. He always walked in with one mission: seek and destroy. Most people who had come face to face with him did not live to tell the tale.

The Resistance sprung up almost immediately after the werewolves took over. Their goal was to take back control of the United States and Canada. Easier said than done. For the most part, they were a clairvoyant group, only meeting to discuss ideas and come up with plans. They were the ones who discovered the one weakness of the werewolves: silver. Too bad the wolves had already destroyed most of the silver on the continent by the time that they had unraveled this information. The Resistance still found ways to get their hands on the material, but they didn't have much; they had to use it carefully.

Sometimes, the Resistance would manage kill a werewolf. It was rare, but in the two and a half years since the werewolves took over, they were able to take down almost 100 wolves. From the first attack, I believed it was a lost cause however. For every werewolf death, there were always more human ones in retaliation. Suspected members of the Resistance were always killed on the spot, or taken out of the human sector. If the Alpha Commander hadn't come to neutralize the threat himself, the humans were taken to him. One could only imagine the horrors that he put them through.

To me, it seems pointless to try to fight the werewolves. We will never be able to defeat them. All the Resistance is doing is getting themselves, and even some innocent people, killed. The wolves know that the Resistance is based in Denver. That much is clear. It is the human sector with the most problems, the most death. And the wolves chose to punish every human who lives in Denver for it. We are always being watched. The streets are littered with werewolves. Most remain in their human forms, machine guns clutched in their abnormally large hands.

Eventually, as the number of werewolf deaths grew higher and higher, they decreased the number of rations humans in Denver received as well. It is likely they are trying to starve the Resistance out. They do not bat an eye, however, when an innocent, like a young child or senior citizen, dies of starvation.

I've never liked the werewolves, no human does, but I'm no fan of the Resistance either. In my opinion, they are almost as responsible for the deaths of all of those human as the werewolves are. Everyone would be so much safer if the Resistance just gave up. I had a friend in the New York human sector who I eventually lost contact with. However, when I could speak to her, I learned about how lovely life was for humans on the East Coast. The Resistance was nonexistent over there, and the humans were well fed, well taken care of. Obviously, their situation was still not ideal, but at least innocent people weren't being killed for things that they had nothing to do with.

Originally, I, like many others, were shocked that the werewolves did not immediately begin to slaughter the human race. In fact, the only humans ever killed were suspected members of the Resistance, or people unfortunate enough to be caught in the crossfire of the two groups. It was later revealed why they chose not to hurt us, in the form of a human girl.

About three months after the werewolves had taken over, a girl who lived in the same apartment complex as me, was taken. Her name was Isabelle Torres. The Gamma, or third in command, to the Alpha Commander was inside the Denver human sector one night. In fact, the Resistance was the reason for his unexpected arrival, as it was the night of their first attack on a werewolf. They hadn't managed to kill the wolf, but they did severely injure it with silver. The Gamma was on the streets, trying to figure out who had attacked the wolf, when he saw Isabelle.

People who were on the street when it happened described the Gamma as going into a frenzy. The second he saw he, he grabbed onto her immediately, growling one ominous word: "Mine." He took her out of the human sector, ignoring her screaming, pleading, and crying. Apparently, any wolf in his path not only bowed to the Gamma as usual, but also congratulated him. For what, we were unsure.

As time passed, more and more humans were being taken by the werewolves. After enough incidents, we finally had enough information to know what was going on.

The werewolves have mates. Short for soul mates. Each werewolf is destined to be with one person for the entirety of their lives. Wolves do mate for life, after all. Their primal side, their beast, can sense their mate. It is not a choice, there is no dating. There is just one moment in which the werewolf recognizes their mate. From that moment on, they belong to each other.

Most of the times, werewolves are mates with other werewolves. But not always. Not in the case of Isabelle and the Gamma. When a werewolf finds their human mate, they take them back to their territory immediately. It is the only time humans ever leave the human sectors. No one knows what happens to them once they leave. They are never seen nor heard from again.

My father once described werewolves as being dominant and territorial creatures. He was right. But those primal urges are multiplied by a thousand when the issue concerns a wolf's mate. They are jealous, protective, and incredibly possessive. There is a story circulating from human to human of an Alpha from the Chicago sector who found his human mate while she was out with her boyfriend. Apparently, he ripped the man to shreds before he stole his mate away.

There is a saying that goes "Do not get in between a werewolf and their mate. They will tear you apart before you can even blink." Every time a mate is taken, humans know to look down, to not interfere. They know the wolf will kill them if they try to separate them from their mate. It terrified me, the one time I saw a mate get taken. In that moment became clear to me just how easy it would be for a werewolf to kill me, especially if I did something to their mate.

I can only imagine that there is one thing worse than getting in between a werewolf and their mate... actually being a werewolf's mate.

~*~

Hey guys!  That was the prologue for my new book, Primal!  I'll try to update both it and An Alpha's Love as often as I can, but with my next semester of college starting up in a few days, I'll be very busy.

Sorry if this prologue was hard to read, there was a lot of information and like no dialogue.  Don't worry, that was just to set the scene! The following chapters will have much more dialogue.

I really hope that you guys enjoyed the prologue!  Thanks for reading, and all votes and comments are very much appreciated!

- Nina