# 2 - BLOOD TIES' BEGINNING

YEAR TWO, MIDSUMMER

• - The Blood Ties pack began on a simple whim many years ago, when the first wolves inhabited the highlands. Many were descendants of one of the Titans, a pack of larger than normal wolves. One of the sons of Greece, a bastard in the eyes of the pack, left the Titans to find a more accepting environment, though he wasn't without the mental damage of being shunned. Finn found a small group of wary, bad tempered wolves in the forest just past the entrance to the western caverns. Their leader was Akat, a small she-wolf with a red-tinted pelt. She had a curious marking, black streaks on her cheeks that continued down her neck. A few others of the group had the same marking. Finn asked where these wolves had come from. Akat tilted her head, her blue eyes narrowing as she told him they came from the mountain ranges through the caverns' mazes and camp in the crumpled structure not too far from where they stood now. Finn was amazed that a large group of wolves had made it through such a trial. He asked if he could join them, and Akat refused him. This did not phase the male, for he was used to rejection. Instead of leaving, Finn lingered near the fringes of the pack, studying them. It created much tension and Akat often confronted Finn, demanding he leave them alone. Finn never faltered in stalking the pack's every movement. He wanted so badly to become one of them. -
• - Finn stuck close, admiring the alpha female of this pack he came to know as Blood Ties. She was a bit sickly, but nothing that could infect others. Her illness seemed to infect her confidence over time, even when she tried to be the best alpha for her pack. One day, Finn approached her when her legs seemed to ache the worst and she wandered away to the creek that her pack deem Hawk's Creek when they found that hawks nested there. Akat was solemn, laying down on her side to rest from the pain inflicting inside her body. He joined her, and the two spoke quietly, bonding. Each day when Akat wandered off to rest, Finn was there with her. Without Akat's knowledge, there seemed to be a revolution happening in secret in the hierarchy of her pack's ranks. Her beta female, Anne was plotting to overtake the alpha's position and she was gathering support. This went on for a very long time, the betrayal of Anne infecting the wolves. Finn caught wind after overhearing two members talking, but didn't tell Akat of the plot, only thinking it was simple bickering.  -
• - The coming of spring and the new year brought with it a surprise for Akat's pack. Their alpha female gave birth to a litter of two pups, Camila and Draco. Their father was revealed to be Draco, the newly chosen alpha male and mate of Akat. It wasn't long after their birth that Akat fell ill, very sickly and failed to produce enough milk to nurse both pups. Anne, who recently lost a litter due to their premature births, adopted Camila and nursed her. Akat was grateful for her best friend's help, but what she wasn't aware of was the horrible plans Anne had forming. On a rainy day when lead a group out for a hunt that was much needed, Anne finally struck. She and a gathering of members started to attack the guards keeping watch over Akat's den. A member who'd been lounging around caught the fight and bolted to inform Finn of the treason taking place. Anne injured Akat dragging her from the den and ordered a member of her group to take Draco. Finn abandoned his hunt once the news reached him, and thankfully he wasn't too far off from where the den was located. He found Anne with her jaws locked around Akat's throat, strangling the bleeding and frail alpha. Seething in rage, the alpha male lunged and tore Anne off of his mate. The struggle between the two was short, for Akat called out for Finn not to kill Anne. Though he thought his mate was being foolish, he turned his dark eyes upon the traitor, tail raised and told her to leave the highlands or be slaughtered where she stood. Anne promised that the two would rue this day. The member that had taken Draco was stopped shortly after he reached the forest and slain without a hint of mercy. The pup was returned, but half of the pack and Akat's daughter, Camila were gone. The mournful atmosphere that followed was never forgotten by the wolves. -
• - Finn took matters into his own rule after the attack. He punished any wolves that even thought of praising what Anne had done to them. Many suffered the lash of his teeth and rage. Some were even executed publicly. The pack began to fear what their alpha male had become. Akat was never the same, always sulking and in grief over losing her daughter and best friend. No new beta was selected for the pack. They lived on their toes, always watching Finn snarl and brutally attack any member of their pack that dared get out of line. Somehow the name Blood Ties was adopted for the pack's name. They believed it was because to be in this pack, you stayed with your life's blood as loyalty, or watch it be spilled by the alpha male. It was also clear that Finn wouldn't take in any outsiders. If a wandering Titan came on their territory, they were met with hostility and chased off, usually more injured than unharmed. It was then that Greece sent his son a warning. If he would honor that no wolf of his pack would enter Blood Ties' lands, but if another wolf was harmed by one of them, it would be a war that Finn would never want. Finn scoffed and taunted his father, telling him that his words were empty and nothing of concern. Let him try to wage war with him. Finn would insure that his pack was the victor of any outcome. -

YEAR FOUR, MID WINTER

• - Draco was a devote son, always wanting to please his father. Though he frowned upon the treatment his father gave to Blood Ties' members, he didn't dare defy him. He stayed respectful, always humble. His mother's constant depression had Draco coddling his mother with affections at any given time. He seemed just fine with following every order given to him, and eventually was assigned the role of beta. The pack members saw Draco's rise in ranks as a welcomed change. With their new beta male's gentle behavior, perhaps one day they could live in ease and not worry of any harm coming to them. It all seemed to mellow out after that. One day, Draco was ordered to go with a group to spy on the Titans, as they had been very quiet over the last year. With no question, the male of the same white pelt as his father lead his group to the loch, where they were glimpsed by scouting Titan members. They returned to their alpha and told that Blood Ties were infiltrating their territory. Greece was immediately enraged. How dare his son think he could send wolves onto his lands when his own pack stayed so far from theirs? The response was to ambush the wolves and drive them back into the highlands. Greece joined this party and in the scuffle, injured his own grandson. Draco stared into the eyes that reflected his own and felt the agony of Greece's fangs buried deep in his shoulder. He ordered his group to turn and flee back into the highlands. Greece celebrated, unaware to him that he had just driven a resentment deep into Draco's heart for him. -
• - Upon seeing his son injured, Finn lost any form of control. He gathered a war party to push into the center lands, driving their ranks to attack the Titans near the beginning of spring. Draco accompanied the party, his goal on inflicting the same pain on Greece. For days, the battle raged on, both packs losing numbers rapidly. When Finn cornered his father, he turned to his son and told him that this was the wolf who had discredited him of his heritage for years, and was Draco's grandfather. Greece was stunned. He had injured his own kin, had gloated over seeing the terror in the young male's eyes. He could see it now, the same color in Draco's eyes as his own. How he felt ashamed, regretful as Draco narrowed his twin eyes at Greece and watched Finn take his breath with his teeth. -
• - A young she-wolf was discovered in the mist that Finn's wolves claimed was Camila. Her fiery temper matched Finn's and her pelt was a mixture of red and white, just like Finn had remembered her to be. His heart broke when he saw his daughter had found loyalty in the Titan's ranks. She was rabid, spitting out that they were all murderers, saying that they had killed her mother. Draco watched in shock as Finn snarled out that Anne wasn't her mother, never was and surely didn't deserve the claim she put on Camila. Camila turned her eyes- the same as Akat's- onto Finn and said he was mad. Finn gestured towards Draco, demanding that she look at him and tell him that she didn't remember her brother. The two siblings stared at each other for a long time before Camila's eyes went wide. When Finn spoke up again to tell her that she could come back home with them, Camila whirled on him, claiming that she would rather die. "Then be it so," Finn told her, but as he went to deliver a swift end to Camila, Draco intervened, blocking his father's path. He begged for his father to just let her go, as the alpha was already doing so with the youngest members of the Titans. Finn told Draco to step down, or be punished. Draco did not move. Finn tried to shove his son aside, but Draco found himself acting without really thinking. His teeth drove into Finn's throat, cutting into the flesh. He tasted his father's blood on his tongue and let go, but it was too late. Finn crumbled in a matter of seconds, coughing and spluttering through the tear in his windpipe and the blood pouring from his vein. The packs that were divided watched in horror as Draco sobbed out that he didn't mean it, and that it was going to be alright. Of course, the damage was done. Finn died there. Draco took a deep breath before turning back to his pack and telling them to return to their territory. Eyeing their beta, the wolves slowly left. Camila looked to Draco and admired him for his bravery. He spat that it wasn't bravery and if she hadn't been so stubborn, their father wouldn't be dead. Camila retorted with that Draco was a fool if she thought that she would ever live under Finn's tyranny. Draco said she was selfish. The two parted on these terms. -
• - When he returned without Finn, Akat howled with misery. She was inconsolable, her grief too heavy. Draco felt terrible, never telling his mother that Finn's death was by his own power. Slowly, he watched his mother wither and her death was too quick to stop. The pack says she died of a broken heart, never knowing what became of her daughter and the loss of her mate was too much. Draco took over the role of alpha, but never took a mate. The lover that he had was a she-wolf that was a rogue, a scandal among his pack. When the pups came of age, she abandoned Draco when it became clear that Draco would never return her love. Their three pups, two sons and one daughter, were raised with the knowledge that their mother couldn't look at them after their father refused to return her affections. One of his sons, Ructoro, blamed every narrowed look he got as he grew on their father. When Draco died of an illness three years later, Ructoro took over the pack. His brother, Moonsight, and sister, Demonwolf left the pack before their father's death. -