The ground shuddered in excitement and animals in the distance warbled in fright as the first storm of the year rumbled in aggressively. With wretched hands, the storm plucked the buildings of the village like fragile flower petals; trampling upon them in violent delight. It was in this evening, that the ground sighed in pleasure as it enveloped its roots round the many corpses which were chosen by the ancestors to act as sacrifice. Throughout the madness, a storm born baby arrived, believed to have the powers to stop the hell bent tempest in claiming more of the Tribes people. Her screams echoed the halls like thunder, but her parents, Tahki and Kago could only compare her appearance to that of a summers eve. They named their daughter Shira, for they believed despite her constant war cry, she would lead their people with her wisdom and poetry.

Shira lived that of a Princess, being the Chief’s daughter - she had access to whole different world than that of their people. The village took years to attempt to overcome the storm which battered their homeland, thus, Shira was very much accustom to decay and death. Yet, with childhood wholesomeness, the young Princess tried with all her might to bring positivity to her people; however, considering her age, she understood some of the looks that the Elders would give her as she offered them bread and water. Some saw her as a monster, rather than a blessing, a demon instead of their future leader; all because of the day in which she was born. Despite the taunting whispers of the Elders who had been in touch with their Ancestors, Tahki and Kago continued to shower their girl with love and devotion. Kago would teach the growing Queen how to fight, to show little weakness in the face of danger, whilst Tahki attempted with all her might how to show Shira how to be a lady.

At the age of 12, Shira was finally introduced to the life that was hidden within their tribe; they had all descended from the Moon herself, the majority of their tribe were wolves. This didn’t come as too much of a surprise to Shira - she could often hear the distant howls of lonely wolves from the deep belly of the woods which shrouded their village. The Elders told her it was also her destiny to be one of those wolves, hiding in the ankle biting shrubbery; lingering in the shadows not wanting to be seen but it was Kago who dismissed such claims and reassured his daughter she would be the pack leader, a female leader who would bring much needed change to their old ways. Despite the constant love and reassurance from her Father, Shira couldn’t shake the thought that the Elders had something up their sleeve. Due to the rumours casted by the Elders that Shira was a curse to their people because their village continued to struggle with the decay of crops, many young children refused to be her friend, and because of this, the young Princess couldn’t help but play up. As the years passed, the inner wolf began to grow and so did her temper - she would often lash out at her parents and their servants for not setting their people straight.

Many a night, Shira found herself sat at the boundary line. She would look into the belly of the woods to try and see the lone wolves which were no longer part of her tribe; they were her only friends. The wolves out there understood her difficulty and Shira could almost feel the tug to join them and would only try and egg on her inner wolf to take over yet she knew she had responsibilities here; she had to follow in her Father’s footsteps.

“They are criminals” Her Father once told her as he joined her at the boundary line. “They have done the most awful crimes known to our people” Kago never looked at her as he told her the brief story as to why they were out there, unable to rejoin their family and loved ones. “When your wolf is ready, you must never enter those parts of the woods, Shira.” His tone was authoritative before he wrapped an arm around her. “And when your time comes, you must protect your people from them - show your people you are not who they believe you to be.”

It was his final words which rang in her ears on the night of her 17th birthday - the wolf a year premature began to itch it’s way to the surface. Shira wasn’t ready and her tribe were certainly not ready for the young beast to enter their world - they had yet to truly teach her the ways of control on her first shift and how to not succumb to such brutality. Once again, the village was victim to Shira’s war cries which soon beckoned in the storm as if by magic and of course, the Tribe’s Elders who channelled their Ancestors powers in hope to kill the beast within The Chief’s Daughter. The Elders would mutter sorcery in a forgotten tongue as the cracking of her bones synced with each lightning strike. Hours had past and the Elders had yet to complete their task of ridding their Tribe from the Curse of Shira - Tahki and Kago were escorted off the premises, unable to protect their daughter from both the beast and the elderly women.

At the stroke of midnight, Shira had completed her transformation - she had transformed into a pure white wolf with the eyes as crimson as Persephone's Pomegranate Seeds. It was those eyes that fell upon the frightened Elders who continued their chant of expulsion. Shira allowed the wolf full control and in moments, she had slaughtered all The Tribe’s Elders for all they had done to her throughout her childhood - for the whispers they planted into other children’s heads and more importantly, how they made her feel like a criminal being born. The Storm outside continued to angrily pluck more lives of the village people as Shira ran from the crime scene and into the forest.

It wasn’t until day break, when a very vulnerable and naked Shira stumbled back into her village, unaware of what she had done previously - she was greeted by Tahki and Kago along with their guards. The moment she approached her Father, she knew she should have been six feet under by now - instead of the words of reassurance he would often speak, she now knew he finally gave in and believed The Elders. Shira was the demon, she was the curse and more importantly, she was the harbinger of death.

“The Curse of Shira, we now sentence you to banishment from The Tribe Fraxinus.” As Kago, her Father ordered her banishment, the drums began. Shira made her walk of shame into the forest where she would be greeted by the other criminal wolves; the young seventeen year old girl refused to look back upon her family as the shadows engulfed her. The young curse took that moment to promise herself, her wolf would always be more important than her human counterpart.

Shira spent a few years with her fellow convicts of Tribe Fraxinus, but it resulted in her getting frustrated at watching from afar as her parents welcomed in another child who would be their heir; their little Prince. It took no more than a second to make her decision to travel and to be a lone wolf in the world. Shira’s traveling took her to Robinson Forest in Illinois under a new name, Makani Duncan - she picked up bar work to at least try out the curious life of a human. Yet, in the 12 years of banishment, Shira had never transformed back from being a wolf - thus, being human is beyond comprehension.