Her Heart or His Desire

Prologue

(Deianira P.O.V.)

From the moment Alpha Amelia found those sketches her youngest brother, Tate, had hidden away, she had tried everything in her power to decipher their meaning. The first thing she did was contact Tate and see if he even remembered drawing this potential prophecy, which of course he did not. Many of his drawings were cryptic or a fleeting whim when he was bored. With different species that came and went through the pack house, his sketchbooks were filled with every species imaginable, so when we came across a handful of sketches that were hastily drawn out of a slightly similar version of Anya, Amelia's daughter, she became almost unhinged.

The drawings varied. Some had two men literally colliding into each other with Anya's future daughter in the middle. Or a sleeping child with a distorted skeletal figure looming over her. The most disturbing sketch was of Anya's daughter's face, fear and pain written all over it. In her eyes we could see the reflection of a large winged beast with black shadows pouring out from him. Despite the drawings all being different, they had three things in common: one: they had Anya's future child; two: there was always some male figure in the drawings. They were either in the form of a possible savior or the man trying to cause her harm. And lastly the style in which they were drawn was one that Tate rarely drew in. It was as if he was in a rush and his mind's eye was guiding his hands to do its bidding.

These drawings had a magical fingerprint and whether or not they were in deed a foretelling of a potential future or just a mere warning, it was something no one could ignore.

So from the moment of her conception we knew she would be in potential danger and she would be a special wolf. The sketches of her heart being controlled aside, her mother Anya was by far the strongest Alpha this pack has had since her grandmother Sadie retook it.

Alpha Amelia was a bundle of nerves throughout the duration of her daughter’s pregnancy. The thought of her granddaughter being controlled by evil weighed heavily on her. We worked tirelessly creating protection spells and amulets for her before her arrival. They took on the guise of whimsical dreamcatchers, sun catchers that would reflect the light into a million little rainbows and a matching necklace and bracelet set that would help ward off evil intent. And if that wasn’t enough, Amelia was able to convince Anya to let her help choose a name for the baby. After months of disagreeing on one name after another they finally chose the name Minka, meaning strong willed warrior and a warrior she would need to be.

The night of Minka’s birth was incredible. We had a full hunter's moon though you wouldn't know it since there was so much cloud coverage. The power and magic being emitted from the labor and delivery room had everyone buzzing with excitement and nervousness.

When her first cries echoed throughout the hospital's halls, the power she released cut the power to all the electricity in the surrounding area. When Minka’s father brought her chubby perfection to the window to see her in the light of the moon, it was as if the heavens themselves had parted the clouds so that the moon goddess could bask her within the glow of her moonlight.

The air had changed that night.

Minka’s birth had set off a beacon of power we had yet become aware of.

Something was coming that was about to offset the balance of power.

We just didn't know it yet.

* 8 years later*

(Unknown P.O.V.)

I rolled out of bed and slid into my favorite red and black silk robe. I walked to the mirror, exposed bone clicking on the cold marble floor.

My image made me retch. My skin was a perfect alabaster white, made paler against the darkness of my eyes and ebony hair. In the eyes of the rest of the world this form was the embodiment of perfection but this humanoid form was a foreign entity after being in my true form for so many centuries.

I ignored my appearance and continued the task at hand. With a bony finger, I touched the mirror and watched the image ripple and fade away until it showed my target.

She lay asleep, blissfully unaware of the plans I had for her and her unawakened powers. She was but a young child but when her birth awakened my one hundred hibernation and interrupted my transition, I knew I had to have her.

I watched with satisfaction as her face contorted in pain, her instincts aware of an invader trying to penetrate her subconscious.

As soon as I located the girl I began imbedding my presence inside of her dreams so when she finally became of age I would be the only one she was drawn to. I would be the one she craved and I would be the one she wanted to give her powers to.

The thought of all that untapped potential at my disposal made me snicker to myself, ‘Soon,’ I whispered to her, ‘Soon you will be mine.’