Isabella Di'Giotanno
I always thought I was different. I was certain that I was. Most of us change for the first time around age ten. But that was not my case. So, although no one made me feel strange, I felt like the weirdo. I think my last name kept everyone from rejecting me.
Unlike what happens in most packs of the world, in this one, my mother is the beta. This pack is from our Luna, but she transferred it to the Alpha when she had her first pup: Eric.
Eric is the eldest son of the Alpha and is the beloved of the entire pack. He's a great guy. Sweet, intelligent, funny, and charming. He is my best friend and I love him so much. He will turn nineteen next month.
Will you think it's strange that, at almost nineteen years old, he's still in high school? There's nothing strange about it. When he turned sixteen and after attending the Assessment, Eric went on a school exchange to the royal pack. He was there for a year. He has never told me what he did when he was there.
Regarding the hierarchy, the Alpha did not want to change it, since the pack worked like a charm. The pack members organize themselves well, work hard, and show great empathy. Our philosophy of life is “do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you”, therefore, everyone seeks to be on their best behavior, under any circumstance.
We are a calm pack who always dialogues to resolve conflicts. Those who do not share our way of life leave without the alpha asking them to.
Our people, despite being a calm pack, are brave. We understand that peace must always come first, but we must be prepared for battle, since we do not know when a war may break out. That is why every member of the pack must train, whether child, adult, elderly, man, or woman. Training is mandatory from primary school, secondary school, and institute.
My mother is a tough woman. She fought with everything she had to prove to everyone that she was the best person for the job. And she was right. She is the right hand of the alpha. Our pack loves and respects her for how tough, hard-working, and exemplary she is. I don’t talk about my dad. That will be a story for another day. Do not ask.
So, as expected, everyone wanted to see me change. I remember that both Alfa Patrick and his Luna Ayme waited impatiently for my shift.
I will never forget my mother’s disappointed face when I don´t shift. Although it was only two seconds, it was enough to mark me. The Alpha looked at me with a pitying face, but his Luna hugged me and comforted me.
I remember what she told me, “Don’t worry Isa, it’s okay... You’re just a late shifter wolf. Your wolf will come. You smell like one. Like any important woman, she keeps herself waiting. Maybe she’ll come when you turn eighteen”.
I watched the Alpha carefully and saw how he nodded to his wife’s words. Then I looked at my mother and a sweet and warm smile adorned her lips, accompanied by, “Calm down, my sweet girl. As our Luna said, your wolf will come. We knew this could happen. Remember that it has happened before in our family.”
Of course, I understand her words were intended to be reassuring and bring with them a glimmer of hope for the future, but they were the complete opposite. I knew that by not shifting at ten, the chances of being a gifted wolf increased and, if so, the probability of having a normal life decreased exponentially.
My family is one of the oldest in our world. Some generations before mine were born gifted. It is said that when a Di’Giotanno woman is born; it is because the Moon Goddess has a Plan B. Our history, so it says.
Usually, only men are born into our family. I am the last in a long line of platinum-ranked wolves. Since the birth of women is rare and rare, my ancestors sought refuge. That’s the main reason my family has stayed in the “gentle dawn pack” for almost a hundred years. The hunting.
Di'Giotanno men pass on the dormant gene, while only women receive the blessing of special abilities. For many years, women were hunted and taken over, taking advantage of their gifts for selfish purposes. There was a time when there were many. Some had control over all elements, while others could heal or influence emotions with a single touch. The convergent had all the gifts. That’s why she was called “very dangerous she- wolf,” since no one could control her.
Their essential characteristics were purity and goodness. Living in a world dominated by power and greed, it was not a loving home for my ancestors. Only the hunting stopped when they moved to this pack. These people promised to defend us until their last breath. And it has remained that way for a hundred years.
By not shifting at ten, also, I could not take part in “The Assessment”, which is our system for evaluating bass abilities. We are measured by speed, strength, agility, strategy, and defense. It is an individual test in front of a panel of five experts. They vary every year to avoid fraud.
Every year, all sixteen-year-old wolves gather in a random pack. This year, our pack is hosting all the country’s candidates. Based on the results, they give us a rank.
There are those with the platinum rank, who achieve a perfect score in all items. This rank generally is intended for royalty and the occasional exceptionally gifted military or alpha.
Gold rankers are those who get a 4/5 rating. It is for Alpha men and Alpha women to get, and rarely any beta. My mom is the exception to that rule. What did I tell you? badass woman!
Those of silver rank: 3/5. Intended for betas. They are the second in command of any pack.
Those of bronze rank 2/5. Destined for the gammas, our best warriors.
Those of steel rank 1/5. They are the deltas. They are our patrollers or any regular member of the pack.
Those who don’t get any perfect scores are wood rank, usually the omegas. They are the base of our hierarchy. As the weakest, the pack protects them more fiercely and they repay the protection with hard work.
Once you know your rank, the alpha of each pack decides whether to transfer you to another or give you a specific task. During the entire time the alpha has been in charge, no one has transferred to other packs, but we have received new members in the past recent years.
Each rank is marked with a tattoo on the right wrist in the color of your level. All youngsters under the age of sixteen are unranked wolves.
And there I was. A woman of almost eighteen, without a wolf, mate, or rank. What a failure!
