This mess had all started a little over five years earlier when, much to the chagrin of Alpha Julian Thurgood, he reluctantly caved-in to the wishes of his sister, Teresa, and allowed her to adopt and take in those two 'outsiders' into the Rainier Pack.
Since then, it's been nothing but grief and frustration while trying to deal with and placate the dissension among most of the pack over this rash decision.
'Outsiders', that's what most of the pack referred to the two of them as, always looking down upon them with disdain and ostracizing them; even despite the fact that they were adopted by the Alpha's sister and were technically 'legitimate members' of an Alpha level family.
Yet still, regardless of that, they were viewed upon as nothing more than lowly 'Omegas' ... sometimes even lower than that, considering them as despised 'rogues' ... in a majority of the pack's eyes.
The only ones in the pack who fully accepted them and truly loved them were Teresa, obviously, who considered them to be her own daughters; Luna Sarah, who fully supported her sister-in-law in the adoption; and Jacqueline, Alpha Julian and Luna Sarah's daughter, who viewed them more like 'sisters' than 'cousins'.
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They were both around eight months old when taken in ... both hailing respectively from the Slavic and Balkan region of eastern Europe ... Romania and Transylvania to be more precise.
Sasha was first taken in under the assumption that she was just an inconsequential, little rogue she-wolf; but this all changed a few years after her arrival ... when it was discovered that she was actually an Acrilian she-wolf.
Acrilian she-wolves are a uniquely rare breed of werewolf ... even differing from their male counterparts ... that possess physical characteristics and inherent traits that make them the perfect apex predators in the ongoing, somewhat clandestine, invasion of demons into the human realm.
Basically ... they are designed by nature to instinctively hunt down and kill demons.
This is why over the years, Demon Lord Bezarius had made it one of his top priorities to have his demon forces attempt to locate and eliminate any and every Acrilian werewolf they came across; especially the Acrilian she-wolves.
Digressing back to their unique qualities ... one of the special characteristics that Acrilian she-wolves have is that they are able to shape shift into all of the three Lycanthrope forms ... human, wolf, and Lycan ... as early as four years old: five at the latest.
And this was how the pack realized that Sasha was an Acrilian she-wolf; she was capable of shifting when she was three years old, which was not only early for Acrilian she-wolves, but virtually unheard of.
But, instead of viewing this as a stroke of luck, taking in a usually respected and most coveted breed of werewolf ... because of Demon Lord Bezarius's recent campaign of having his demonic forces focusing on finding and eliminating her kind ... they realized that at some point, if found out about, Sasha would become a target in the Demon Lord's crosshairs...
Potentially making them possible 'collateral damage'.
They still have no idea who Sasha really is ... or just how powerful she is destined to become.
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Then there was Katarina ... grandniece of Countess Esmeralda Ardelean, the Matriarch of the Order of the Old Clan in Transylvania.
Wanting to procreate a hybrid vampire with witch attributes ... specifically the ability to wield magic ... Countess Ardelean had convinced her favorite nephew to conceive a child with a witch as surrogate mother.
Unfortunately ... because that witch had failed to tell them that in truth, she was only a half witch; the other half only human ... no magic capability was passed on to Katarina...
She born as a lowly dampyr; half vampire, half human.
Regardless, Countess Ardelean still had her mind set on someday appointing Katarina as her successor as the new Matriarch of their clan.
Needless to say, this didn't sit too well with a majority of the clan ... especially those on the Council of the Immortal Ones; comprised entirely of some of the actual remaining members of the original royal vampire families ... who are totally opposed to the idea of allowing a mere dampyr to become their Matriarch.
Out of concern for the well-being of her grandniece ... worried that Katarina may become a political target for those dissidents within the clan ... Countess Ardelean had her sent away as a precautionary measure.
Countess Ardelean was correct in thinking that.
One of the major opponents of Countess Ardelean is Princess Analiese Vodrak, who is one of the most powerful and feared members on the council. And, in order to see that she prevents the countess from somehow managing to convince the clan to accept her grandniece from the position of Matriarch sometime in the future...
Princess Vodrak made a secret deal with Demon Lord Bezarius, asking for his assistance in eliminating Katarina.
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And this brings us to this inauspicious night...