Horizon

Damien was born the product of bad timing and good intentions.

Caught up in a love stronger than they'd ever imagined, the pairing of {Marceline} and Samson Aetius settled down to create a home for themselves amongst the male's thriving pack. It was a secure, pleasant life, and so the couple did not see any reason to rush with beginning their own family until Marceline reached four years of age. Not long after that year's snows melted away, the woman's abdomen swelled with pups.

Peace, however, ceased the following season.

A plague fell upon the land with spring's arrival. Prey numbers dwindled and countless wolves either perished or departed—Samson's pack was no exception. It was a time of misery and famine amongst them, claiming the lives of almost everything that breathed until only a handful of survivors remained. For reasons unknown to her, Marceline found herself to be one of them. Her mate, however, had not been so lucky.

Drowning in grief, pregnant and starving, she left the only home she knew behind.

Damien arrived into the world soon after his brother {Lestat} and minutes before the birth of his sister, {Valley}. They were frail, helpless things, and in that moment Marceline's biggest fear evolved into a reality. Due to her condition, she would not be able to provide for her children. It was a brutal fate, and yet she could not bring herself to abandon them completely, even if it guaranteed her own survival. Instead, she let out a summoning call for any of the neighbouring packs and lingered, watching, until an elderly female detected the wailing whelps and carried them to safety.

Her name was Willow Aderly, and although she was a meek, tired creature at the cusp of her eigth year, she cared for the children as though they were her own. From then on, Damien's childhood passed haltingly up until Willow's death at the beginning of early autumn. It was his first encounter with loss, and having eventually learned that the woman was not the mother he assumed her to be, the event left him with the belief that he and his siblings had been made from something broken.

From that point on, the majority of his life slid into obscurity. He was taught how to hunt by The Haven's huntsmen, found himself amongst them soon after, and eventually even became somewhat of a teacher himself, though his communication skills with children were never too impressive.

Each year at the beginning of winter, it was tradition for wolves of various specialties to leave the territory for days at a time in search of supplies for the forthcoming season. For yearlings and novices, it was the ideal time to prove themselves and gain their desired ranks. The annual custom did, however, render the pack weak, for their numbers were drastically cut in half. In The Haven's 8th year, an opportunistic, nomadic pack took advantage of the circumstances. The territory was raided.

Unable to properly defend themselves, most wolves either perished in battle or fled. Damien, driven by adrenaline and the need to protect his apprentices, did what he could to guide his packmates to safety, however was ultimately hauled away from the territory by Lestat. This later led to a conflict between the siblings that resulted in their paths splitting.

Completely alone in the wake of the invasion, the male had no choice but to seek out a new life elsewhere.