Northern Lands: Bound by fate

Chapter 1

ZANDER

⌘ Northern Lands, Earth.

I drove my motorcycle up the dusty old road to the Drunk Kraken, a bar on the outskirts of Northern Lands territory. The light of the moon was my companion in the eerie breeze of the night. While my wolf could pick up the faintest of sounds, tonight I heard only the rumbling of the engine over the crickets in the woods. For once, I welcomed the silence.

Even if in my head it was never truly tranquil with Conan, my wolf had been feeling restless lately. The full moon wasn't due until next week, but he kept running around in my mind, waking me up in the middle of the night to go for a run.

Winter arrived a couple of days ago, tainting the night skies with an array of beautiful colors from the Aurora Borealis. It was beautiful to look at. The forest had a snowy blanket, and the mountains reflected the light of the sun and the moon. I couldn't blame Conan for being excited.

I had zipped up my leather jacket, the chilly wind was sharp against my cheekbones as I rode through it. The feeling that we could expect an arctic blast soon overcame my wolf and I. Being a werewolf with a high metabolism, and an increase of bodily temperatures, we needed little to keep warm. But as we now all lived in the North, precautions had to be made.

As the Gamma of my pack, I had a job to do, on top of helping with the duties given to me in my position. While the Alpha and Luna were the leaders of our vast pack, and the Beta was the second in command; the Gamma was the strategist. For example, I provided infrastructure and housing. I was also the one to go to if we ever headed into battle. I was the one who knew the terrain and how to move the troops. After the move to the North, I needed a breather. I wasn't complaining, I just needed a break from it all. Get some damned rest.

Conan ~ We could take a stroll through the mountain's again.

Zander ~ Not tonight, Conan.

Ever present in my head, Conan interrupted my trail of thoughts from time to time. We were a great team, but sometimes butted heads, quite literally.

I wanted to enjoy the ride on my motorcycle and have a wolf-brew at the bar without the constant pressure of duties on my back. I was on the way to the only supernatural bar to ever exist on Earth, with openness and acceptance.

Because that's what Northern Lands was about. A place where we didn't have to hide ourselves from the world. Where we weren't hunted down and killed like freaks of nature. Humans had never been accepting of us throughout the course of history. Not even of their own species because of the color of their skin or the shape of one's eyes. What did we think they would do when they found out about mythical creatures living amongst them and magic?

They would hunt us down.

And so they did. While we were integrating in their society, functioning normally, hiding our true selves; they considered us an enemy to be eradicated. Thus began The Uprising. They massacred or took many of us away to perform experiments on.

While on Earth, werewolves and vampires existed, weaving through the many tales of folklore and legends. Both were born out of curses by the Gods; other mystical beings came from adjacent realms and appeared on Earth through magic portals.

As more of them arrived from realms like the Shadow Isles and the Mayim Depths; our cover was harder to maintain and humans became aware.

A few of us stepped up. Mages, werewolves, vampires, witches, and more; aligned to form a plan to ensure the safety of our kind and the generations to come. With magic, strategies and meticulous planning, we reached abandoned lands in the North and claimed them as our own.