Day one
It was a cold and wintery morning in the small mountain town of Telluride Colorado. The sun had just peaked up over the horizon causing pink and orange streaks across the sky. There was already a foot of freshly fallen snow on the ground. Jasper Monroe found himself lying on his side in the dense trees of a mountain cliff. He slowly stood up and found that he was on four legs, and he had four fury paws. A wolf. He shook his head to try to get use to the feeling of his new body flinging white flakes of snow off his wet mane. Jasper began searching for any sign of where he was located. He saw a sign about two hundred yards away and was surprised how well he could read it.
This was not the first time he transformed into a wolf, but he had never had this crystal-clear vision as one before. Jasper knew that something was different this time. Maybe it was the breed of wolf or maybe the sign was a lot closer than he imagined. The snow did seam to gleam in a way to make everything look like an optical illusion or maybe like a mirage. As the sun continued to climb away from the edge of the earth the difference became abundantly clear.
Jaspers paws curled in on themselves causing him to yip out in pain. His whole body felt as though it was going to turn inside out, and he felt like he was on fire. His body started to glow with a bright blue light as his torso grew even hotter still. Then in an instant all the agony dissipated, and he found himself in human form. Jasper was not just any wolf he was a Werewolf. Standing there naked Jasper said to himself “Great. Where the hell am I going to get some clothes all the way up in this mountain?”
Jasper noticed a small cave opening about a quarter mile from him and he decided to see if there was something that could help him in there. He made it over to the cave and slowly walked inside. The first thing he noticed was strange cave drawings on the wall. One in particular stood out among all the rest. It was in a spiral shape with a moon in the middle and four stars on each side. Jasper had seen this symbol before. In fact, he has seen it every day for as long as he can remember. On his left wrist was the same mark. It was somewhere between a birthmark and a tattoo, but he could not remember how he acquired it.
With every knew life Jasper started he would forget some aspect of his past. He had no idea why he lives and dies repeatedly, and he did not know what purpose his existence was supposed to serve. He wondered now if the symbol on the cave wall had some ties with his past or was it just pure coincidence. He studied the other cave drawings, and they piqued his interest. It looked as though it depicted creatures most people believed were fables. Jasper knew differently. He was proof of that.
Over the years Jaspers life had become dull. He was tired of the constant changes and not knowing who he would be from one day to the next. A few decades or so ago he decided he had had enough. He had begun searching for a way to end his eternal suffering. Yet he was no closer to finding the answer today as he was back then. At least this gave him some type of purpose now, even if that purpose was morbid.
Jasper noticed a bag sitting by a boulder the size of a small table. He went to investigate it and found it full of clothing and a sketchbook that looked centuries old. He took some clothes out and put them on. To his delight they fit him perfectly. There was also a pair of sandals next to the bag that formed to his feet like they were meant for him. He carefully removed the sketch pad and sat upon the boulder to look through it.
Inside he found descriptions of different werewolf packs. It had all their locations, the sizes of each clan, and even had pictures of some of the alfa wolves. There was one drawing of a she wolf next to a beautifully elegant woman. Something about her was familiar to Jasper. He wondered if he had met her in a past life, but he could not recall being a werewolf before. That was not a surprise though he only remembered his last fifteen lives or so. They became fuzzier with each passing day.
Jasper flipped through a few more pages until he came across a page with the same strange spiral symbol. At the top of the page there was something written in a strange language. “Order of the Supernatural. That is odd I do not recognize this strange language, yet I can read it without even thinking.” Jasper was stumped. He flipped to the very back of the ancient manuscript and saw something written at the bottom of the page. Jasper smiled wide with pure excitement. “Finally! After all these years I have located a clue to possibly ending this life long curse of mine!” The two words were written in the same strange language as before. It simply said Jason Monroe!
A few hours laterJasper had trekked the two miles down the mountainside into the small town. He had ventured into the only small café in this quint town. Jasper was standing before a notice board with flyers of all kinds all over it. He was most interested in the help wanted section. There were various job postings and one-time gigs. Jasper needed to make some quick cash so that he could sustain himself for the next ten days. Not to mention travelling around in search of a way out of his own personal hell. There was an add for a gladiators contest. They were searching for men and woman to compete. He memorized the address and left the café.Over the years Jasper had become a rather masterful fighter. He was well versed in all types of combat technics from street fighting to martial arts, and all others in between. Jasper may not be able to remember each fighting style from memory, but his body could. It reacted accordingly with whomever Jasper was fighting at the time, without him ha
Later that eveningJasper was sitting with all the other contestants for the fights. Bud was going over who would be fighting who in the first matches. It was a pyramid win system. If you won in the first round you moved on to the second. There were six matches in round one, three matches in round two, then two matches in round three. Once it was done to one winner, they then had to go against the top champion from the previous competition. Most of the gladiators here today were seasoned and excellent fighters. Jasper however knew in his heart he could beat them all.The only thing he was worried about was it getting closer to dark. He needed to be away from here before the pitch-black darkness of night set in. He did not know if there was a way to stop his transformation into a werewolf and the last thing, he needed was a bunch a people trying to kill him before he made any progress with his quest. Jasper has been killed by man before many times, and usually he just sees it as part o
Jasper stared piercingly at the man before him. He was trying to process what Sabastian had said to him. How could he be his father. It was so improbable and yet Jasper believed what he said. And apparently, he had a mate as well. “Please forgive me, but did you say that I am your son?” Sabastian looked at Jasper with pride in his eyes. “Yes. I am not sure why you do not remember me, but I promise you once you come back and see the pack you will remember.”Jasper went willingly with Sabastian to his wolf packs den. It was about ten miles up the mountainside. As soon as the two of them were through the trees and out of sight of prying eyes Sabastian changed into his wolf form. He looked at Jasper expectingly. He did not know how to change on cue, at least he thought. He closed his eyes and imagined himself transforming and just like that his body changed with little effort.The two of them started running up the mountainside with Sabastian taking the lead. Jasper was deep in thought ab
Jasper stood in the shadows of the trees observing the man before him. The strange symbol grew brighter before burning out completely. A few moments later the mountain wall began to shift ever so slightly. You would miss it if you were not looking directly at it. It made no sound, but it let off a kind of shimmer.The man took a few steps backwards as the wall began opening revealing a doorway in its place. The man entered as the opening started to close behind him. Jasper took off running as fast as his legs would carry him, yet it was no use. The mountain wall had sealed up back to its original form.Frustrated Jasper howled deep and loud, alerting the others in the pack to his distress. He had to calm himself down. He closed his eyes tightly and swiftly changed forms. He wondered to himself if all werewolves could change on demand and with such ease like his pack could. Or maybe it was just him. He pushed the thought away, a question for a different day.A few moments later Sabasti
Jasper’s teeth hit their target dead on. The other wolf began to yip in forfeit. Jasper let him go and waited for him to change. Once he did, Jasper followed suit. “You are far more stronger than I remember! Let us talk and bury the hatchet.” This wolf knew he was no match for Jasper. So, the only thing he could do was bide his time and pretend to forgive. “Like I was saying I know not who you are, so I do not know of my wrong doings please enlighten me.” Jasper said innocently.“The name is Thane. A few centuries ago, you were the cause of my father’s death. I have never been able to forgive you for that. You told him that you wanted to meet to talk about our packs becoming one, but when he arrived at the place you were supposed to meet him a group of men attacked him. At the time he was in his wolf form and the members of our pack heard his cries of pain. We rushed to his location, but it was too late. That was also the last day anyone ever saw you again.”Jasper was dumbfounded. He
Before the she wolf could attack Jasper Thane jumped and changed form in midair. He clenched his teeth into her hind leg causing her to fall flat on the ground. She yipped out in pain. Thane began growling, he was having a conversation with her that none of them could hear. A few moments later they both changed shape.“Please excuse my sister Andrea. Like me she wants nothing more than to avenge our father’s death. She did not know that we have called a truce.” Jasper waved his hand. “No blood no foul. Let us get on with the ritual and put this unnecessary violence behind us.”The ritual consisted of three parts. First, they had to say an oath. Then they sealed their bond in blood. Lastly, they run as a pack. It was all rather simple, but these rituals were not just mere words. It was a magic that a shaman passed on to them long ago. If any member of either pack broke this bond in anyway, they would be met with instant death. If any of them had ill intentions against another they woul
The man stared at Jasper with his mouth agape. “How did you know the name of the order!” His skin started to glow, and Jasper took a step back. This man before him was suspicious of him now and had some murderous intentions at that moment. Thane put his hands in the air and said, “Woah calm down Burne. The Storm Rose pack is our pack. Let him explain how he knows of them before you go jumping to conclusions.” The aura around Burne dissipated and he said, “Yes Alfa. Please forgive me for not trusting you. Tell us how you know of their existence.”Even though he knew they were going to think he was insane he told them about the two men who came out of the mountain side. Thane surprised him by saying, “I believe what you are saying for I too have seen this strange magic before. It was roughly a century ago. I was taking out the cubs of the pack for their first transformation. When I caught a glimpse of a strange man in a robe. I saw the mountain open up and he disappeared into it. After
The three of them followed the man into a large tent. Inside was nothing but a few chairs, a table, and what looked like an alchemy set. “Sit down at the table over there. By the way my name is Tomas, please tell me what do they call you. I am sure you do not wish for me to continue to call you shapeshifter.” Tomas said with certainty.“I am Jasper. Tell me Tomas, are you some type of scientist?” Tomas smiled slightly at him. “In a way you could say that I am. I am what most people would call a wizard if they believed such a thing existed. I am somewhat the shaman to the good people of this village. They know not about magic. They believe my healing and predictions come from the concoctions I make them, but in truth it is a type of earth magic. Now please lay your left arm across the table, and I will help you activate the sigil.Thane and Jasper were mystified. A sigil! Does that mean there was more to this symbol than meets the eye? A sigil was like a teleporter that could send you