"Life isn't easy. Part of life is pain…more of life is just pushing through and living. The hardest thing in this world is to live in it. It makes it worse when you are a shifter. People hunt you. People want to hurt you. People don't care that you have a human side, they see the beast. They see a monster. I show them what they want to see because even if I were to show them care… they'd still see the monster."
Gabriel was born on all hallows eve in 1985. Nothing really happened on that day. Nothing special to note. He was a happy bouncing baby boy. Good-natured and healthy. Nothing significant to note here.
Life is a funny thing. One day, you are living life and you have a family and your literally oblivious to the world. Then one day your life changes and while it's not for the better, it's better then death. Let me just explain something here. I was born in Melbourne Australia. This was my home. My parents were Preter Studies Teachers. They believed in equal rights and a belief in life that I'd not seen anyone else have. They were beyond pro choice. They even thought that if someone wanted to be a shifter or vampire it was their right. They went against the catholic church about their idea that voluntary vampirism was suicide. They said they still lived so they hadn't died.
Anyways, we were out shopping one day and we went into this pet store. There was this clouded leopard being shown around like it was a pet and well, I was only 13. I was stupid. At that age there are no consequences. I walked up to it and pulled on it's tail. It turned around and bit me in the leg. The next two weeks was hell. My parents thought I got infected with the flu. They never imagined what it really was. The fever was the worst. It's a wonder any of us survive. The night I shifted it was relief and also panic. I don't remember it at all but I remember when I woke up the look on my parents faces. They were all pro preter, unless it was their own kid.
I remember the drive around town and sitting in the middle seat of the backseat. I wasn't wearing my seatbelt and I was holding my favorite shirt. I remember them telling me to grab it. They told me to get out of the car when we were far into the outback. At least 6 hours from home. I slid out so excited that we would be going camping. I closed the door and looked around. My parents got out of the car and each one hugged me, told me they loved me and then my dad told me to go look at the camp he set up. I finally saw it and ran to it. I was very excited. I looked around the camp and then I notice my parents weren't there. I ran back to the road and I could see the car driving away. They must have been going to get food, I'd thought. I went back to the camp and looked around. It was a packed with food and my clothes and most of my stuff. I waited for a week. They weren't coming back.
I stayed there until the food ran out crying. I think I ran out of tears that night. I shifted again. When I woke up I was wrapped in a big dude's arms and he was cooing. I was so confused. I looked around. There were a lot a naked people there. It was horribly awkward. The man sat up and asked who I was. I told him who I was and what happed. He told me he was the Nimir-Ra of the local pard and I'd jumped into their hunt and took down a buffalo on my own. He said I had something called an Alpha strain in me and that the power I held inside was too strong for me to control. He said he'd teach me. I believed him… Another mistake.
He forced me to share his bed in Eros training. The rapes didn't stop even when I fought or when I lied there, it didn't matter. I was fucked again and again until it didn't matter anymore. Then I was put into fight training. It was hard to get at first as I didn't like the idea of hurting someone but I guess that's just the way it goes. Each time I misstepped, each error in the motions and I was beaten. I remember at times feeling like my body would fall apart. Soon enough that didn't matter either.
I picked myself up a mate. She was beautiful and she liked me. We were ruthless. The two enforcers to Aeryn's Pard. One instance, a Padma vampire who called leopards was misusing his ability and Lilly lured him into a forest. I came out of no where and severed his head from his shoulders. He shouldn't have misused his powers. We did as we were told and we didn't stop.
Two years later, Aeryn gave me the Eros trainer position after I killed our last one. Lilly didn't like that and fought with Aeryn about it. He exiled her from the Pard and told her that she had 24 hours to leave the city. She didn't leave. I was told to hunt her down or die. So I did. I found her in our spot and asked why she didn't leave. She told me Aeryn needed to be taken down. I couldn't let her go after him. She'd die. So I told her I was going to kill her before Aeryn did. I did. I stabbed my sword into her stomach and watched her die. Then I tossed her into the lake and walked away, her blood on my sword.
After that I watched Aeryn. He sat in his home and kept ordering the death of people without looking into the situation. One day, I had enough. I moved into his home. I took out my sword and stabbed it through his chest and left it there. I stood by his body and the pard walked in and saw the death. The second snarled and told me I had 2 minutes to leave and 10 minutes to get out of the city before he called a blood hunt and had me killed. I left. I packed what little I had and left. I got onto a flight, made it to USA and walked from New York and checked out each pard in each city I visited.
I made it to Boston and watched Julian for a long time. He was worthy and finally I got the courage to knock on his door. 'Here I am…Do you want me?'