Half My Identity

Given a Second Chance

Fires ravaged the Tepes Castle and the village surrounding it. A large group of rogue werewolves had initiated an attack on the peaceful vampire territory. A woman dressed in lavish clothes ran from the castle through the blazing village. She had pale skin, long silvery white hair and crimson eyes. She was a vampire. She was carrying a sleeping newborn infant who was the spitting image of her. Normally she would fly to safety, but her large black bat-like wings had been badly damaged when she manifested them to try and flee earlier. She barely managed to escape. On top of that, the rogue werewolves had used holy water when they attacked so her healing powers weren't adequate enough to restore her to full health. As she ran, the eerie sound of anguished screams, howls and snarls tore through the atmosphere all around her. Alas, she made it to the forest where she kept running. Not far behind, she could hear more howls and growls and the crunching of leaves on the ground as the werewolves chased her. She was running out of stamina. Knowing that, she knew she had to at least give the child in her arms a chance. So she found a thicket and gently placed the sleeping baby girl inside it. "Live, my little one. Live on. I love you..." The woman said with tears in her eyes as she ran away to divert the attention of the werewolves away from the thicket where her precious child lay. It worked and she ran for as long as she could until the werewolves caught up to her. Shrill screams and snarls rang throughout the foggy forest. Once the rogue werewolves had left, it was eerily silent once more except for the occasional hooting of owls.
~History~
This night would go down in history as the biggest and bloodiest rogue raids since the Great Werewolf and Vampire War and became known as the Howling Massacre. There had always been tension between the werewolves and the vampires. But about 200 years ago, the leading werewolves and vampires signed a pact. The majority of the two supernatural races adhered to the peace treaty. Of course, there were those on both sides who did not agree with the ceasefire. They were called dark rogues. Now there were also rogues that had been cast out of their packs or clans but cause no trouble. These were called neutral rogues or just neutrals. Recently, there had been an increase in dark rogue attacks from both sides and this was one of them. When rogues attacked, it was law for the nearest appropriately sized pack or coven to come to the aid of the victims. If rogue werewolves were the attackers, it was a pack's job to deal with the situation. If rogue vampires were the assailants, it was a clan's job to help out.
~Back to the Story~
Eventually, the baby woke up to find herself all alone. She was in a dark unfamiliar place and her mother was gone. She started to cry, her voice echoing through the forest. Her cries caught the attention of a pack of werewolves, but not the same rogues that had attacked the Tepes Castle and nearby village. Rogues don't live in packs, they're lone wolves. But sometimes they band together for their own causes. But this group of werewolves was the Eclipse Pack, one of the largest and strongest of packs under the Celestial Alliance which is a large region consisting of multiple pack territories. The Eclipse Pack was sent in to provide aid to the vampiric victims of the Howling Massacre. They had just arrived near the outskirts of the location where the cries of the baby girl could be heard.
"Do you hear that Alpha Raizen? It sounds like a baby." A large, well-built male werewolf paused and said to his Alpha, Raizen Calysto, who was even more large and muscular than him.
"Yes Devin, I do." Alpha Raizen said to Devin Roth, his Beta.
"Devin, you stay here with me and help me look for the child. Everyone else, go to the village and the castle and see if there are any survivors that need help and deal any rogue werewolves if you find any." Alpha Raizen ordered his pack. Beta Devin stayed behind with the Alpha while the rest of the pack ran towards the village. The two then started looking for the child, sniffing the air and following the cries. They came across the corpse of a female vampire that had been mangled beyond recognition.
"Ugh, this is awful! Why would anyone want to break The Pact and do something like this?" Beta Devin said as he frowned in disgust. His Alpha sighed.
"There are those who do not wish to keep the peace with the vampires." Alpha Raizen said with heavy sorrow. His voice was deep, the kind of tone that gave off a wise and patient vibe. The Alpha leaned down and sniffed the woman, picking up another scent on her, that of which might belong to the child they were searching for.
"Come Devin." Alpha Reizen said as he began following the scent trail the woman left behind before she had succumbed to her injuries and the rogue werewolves' brutal assault. The scent trail and cries led the two males to a thicket where they found a pale baby girl wrapped in a blanket with big crimson eyes and wispy silvery white hair. Alpha Raizen nuzzled his snout against the infant who immediately stopped crying. She grabbed his muzzle and started babbling away happily as if nothing had happened. The Alpha chuckled as he shifted from his wolf form to his human form. He delicately picked up the baby in his large burly arms.
"Alpha? What are you doing?! You're supposed to remain in your wolf form for this! What if there are still rogues out here?! And besides, she's a vampire!" Beta Devin raised his voice, but Alpha Raizen shot him a stern look which immediately made him back down.
"I can't carry a child in my wolf form, Devin. And if there are rogues, you can deal with them. You are a very capable fighter. That's one of the reasons I chose you as my Beta. And though this girl is a vampire, she is just an infant. We can't just leave her here to fend for herself. She would not survive. We would be no better than those rogues that ravaged her home." Alpha Raizen told Beta Devin who sighed.
"Alright. But this may come back to bite us later on." Beta Devin said as they began to walk towards the village to catch up to the pack and finish their mission.
~Time Skip~
The Eclipse Pack had finished providing aid to the vampires of the village and Tepes Castle and had gathered near the edge of the village. The Gamma reported everything to Alpha Raizen.
"Thank you Lukas." Alpha Raizen thanked his Gamma, Lukas Grant, for the report.
"Now that everyone is here, the surviving vampires have been helped and all the rogues we could find are bound, we can head back. You know the drill once we get home." Alpha Raizen said, wrapping up the mission.
"Yes Alpha!" The pack said in unison as everyone began to head back to the Eclipse Pack Territory. As the Alpha walked home with his pack, the baby girl in his arms giggled and grabbed at his shirt.
"You really intend on bringing this baby into our pack and raising her as one of us, huh?" Beta Devin said to Alpha Raizen.
"Yes, I do. I'm sure my mate will be fine with it since we have no children of our own. Plus I need someone to take charge of the pack once I'm gone." Alpha Raizen said as he cradled the newborn baby girl in his arms, rocking her back and forth. Beta Devin furrowed his brows.
"While it's true that Luna Lilia cannot bear children of her own anymore, will she be okay with you adopting a vampire child?" Beta Devin asked, but immediately cupped his mouth as he realized his mistake. Alpha Raizen's facial expression hardened. This was a bit of a sore subject for him. Years ago, Luna Lilia was pregnant with twins, their first children. But late in her pregnancy, a large group of rogue vampires infiltrated and attacked the Eclipse Pack Territory. The Alpha's mate was one of the more severely wounded victims of the assault. Her twins had perished in the mauling. Luna Lilia managed to survive, but the pack doctor told them that she would not be able to bear anymore children due to the damage done to her reproductive tract. Alpha Raizen sighed as he remembered the events leading up to the loss of his children and future children.
"The fact that she is a vampire should not matter. She is my daughter from now on. And you will treat her as if she is one of us. Do you understand, Devin Roth?" Alpha Raizen said firmly, using Beta Devin's full name to make himself clear. The Beta just nodded without saying a word. Alpha Raizen was a kind and caring Alpha, but he could be fierce when he needed to be. The air he gave off was gentle yet strong with authority and power. His physique was massive and muscular and his piercing eyes were the color of emeralds. He had lightly tanned skin and short dark brown hair styled in a fringe up haircut. Above his lips, his chin and jawline there was a slight stubble which the baby girl really seemed to like petting. It looked kind of funny to see such a large, tough-looking well-built man holding a baby so delicately.
"Who cares if this little one is a vampire. She's totally attached to her new daddy! And she's adorable." Gamma Lukas said with a cheerful grin on his face as he playfully wrapped his arm over Beta Devin's shoulders. Beta Devin just sighed and rolled his eyes at Gamma Lukas's nonchalant behavior.
"So, whatcha gonna name her Alpha?" Gamma Lukas said, his eyes sparkling with anticipation. Alpha Raizen thought for a moment as they walked.
"How about Reina. Reina Calysto." Alpha Raizen said, looking into the baby girl's crimson eyes with his emerald green ones. The baby girl giggled as if she approved of the name.
"Looks like she likes it!" Gamma Lukas said, clapping his hands together once. The Eclipse Pack soon returned to their territory. The warriors took the captured rogues to the dungeons while the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma went back to the pack house. Luna Lilia was awaiting their return. Her fair-skinned, tall, curvy and slender yet toned figure standing on the steps as her long, slightly wavy platinum blonde hair glowed in the moonlight. She was surprised to see her mate carrying a baby in his arms. She gave him a perplexed look, her head tilted slightly to the side. Her light blue eyes were filled with curiosity.
"We found her in the forest just outside the village. Her mother was murdered by the rogues." Alpha Raizen explained as he showed Luna Lilia the baby girl. Immediately, the Luna smiled warmly and took the baby from her mate's arms and cradled her back and forth. "Oh Raizen! She's beautiful! Did you name her yet?" Luna Lilia said, looking up from the baby girl to Alpha Raizen. "Yes. Her name is Reina." Alpha Raizen said with a low gentle voice. "See Devin? Luna Lilia doesn't seem to care that the girl is a vampire." Gamma Lukas said, smiling as he elbowed Beta Devin in the side. "Oh shut up." Beta Devin scowled at Gamma Lukas who just chuckled. "Reina Calysto... from now on, this is your new home. You're one of us now." Luna Lilia said to the newborn as she booped her on the nose with her finger, making the baby giggle which made everyone chuckle. Even Beta Devin cracked a small smile. And thus, Reina's new life among the werewolves began.

~END OF CHAPTER~

Thanks for reading chapter 1 of "Half My Identity" an original work of mine. I hope you liked it! This is technically my second original work. My first original work was called "Reptilian" and I started it in middle school. It wasn't very good and I had no idea where to go with it, so I scrapped it. Back then, I really struggled with writing. I may decide to rewrite it some day, but for now I'm gonna focus on this one and my fan fictions. I made profiles with images for the characters introduced in this chapter. Below are the URLs. You'll have to copy and paste them into the address bar because, for some reason, you can't put working hyperlinks in your works on Wattpad.

Reina Calysto: https://www.deviantart.com/xjustforfanficsx/art/Half-My-Identity-Novel-Character-Reina-Calysto-972246488

Raizen Calysto: https://www.deviantart.com/xjustforfanficsx/art/Half-My-Identity-Novel-Character-Raizen-Calysto-972248719

Lilia Calysto: https://www.deviantart.com/xjustforfanficsx/art/Half-My-Identity-Novel-Character-Lilia-Calysto-972266845

Devin Roth: https://www.deviantart.com/xjustforfanficsx/art/Half-My-Identity-Novel-Character-Devin-Roth-972267876

Lukas Grant: https://www.deviantart.com/xjustforfanficsx/art/Half-My-Identity-Novel-Character-Lukas-Grant-972277763