The Alpha’s Goddess

Chapter 2: Prophecy

I find myself in front of a door that has one of the ancient runes of the moon goddess carved on it. I don’t know what this rune means; I never know what they mean but as usual I am drawn to this door. My curiosity is driving me insane so I push the door open and I land inside a garden. It is dying, the oak tree in the middle of the garden barely has any life, all the grass is brown and the pond is dried up.

This is usually the time she shows up; the guide, that’s what I call her. “One imbued with all of the moon’s might, the last seed of Aetherius” that’s her voice but I don’t see her but it’s the same thing she says every time. “One imbued with all of the moon’s might, heal the garden last seed of Aetherius” she says again and this time I see her, she looks like she could be my age but I know it’s still the same guide. She beckons me to move towards the tree, I take a deep breath and walk towards it, as I get closer I see that the rune on the door is carved on the tree too, so I place my hand on the rune and I immediately feel something warm flowing out of me into the tree. My entire body is live it feels like electricity is coursing through my veins, then I called out to it “Prodire!”. Light envelopes my body and goes  into the tree and everything comes to life, flowers begin to bloom, the grasses are becoming green and the pond becomes a spring. I take my hand off the tree and the light swims around me for a while and slowly fades away settling inside the soil of the garden.

  *********

I gasp and open my eyes. It is dark and I can see the sky, I can also smell grass and wet soil. My eyes begin to adjust and then realisation hits; I am in the backyard. I dust off my pyjamas and make my way back into the house. I am careful not to make any more noise, I don’t want my Parents running out of their room claws out. I also want to avoid the worrying look in their eyes when they realise that it has happened again. The dreams and sleepwalking started when I turned Seven; I still remember the first time I woke up and found myself standing in the driveway, how my parents had rushed out ready to rip apart the person that dared to step into their home and they saw me instead. As my eighteenth birthday draws closer however, the dreams are becoming a lot more frequent and so is the sleepwalking. I guess it is a normal symptom for most wolves, I just wish it wasn’t such an inconvenience. I make my way back into my room as noiselessly as I can manage. I get in and check the time and it is 06:00, there’s no way that I could go back to sleep now so I roll out my yoga mat and decide to stretch. It’s six months away from my full moon ceremony and I begin my training at the academy today and luckily I am getting an early warm up. After a while I hear footsteps heading towards the living room and then into the kitchen then I head into the bathroom to take a shower.

In truth, you have probably met a werewolf at least once in your life, maybe not a pureblood but a descendant nonetheless. That friend of yours that has Impeccable hearing or a shockingly strong sense of smell, that neighbour that seems to effortlessly communicate with any canine they meet, or that person at the gym who casually bench presses 355 kg, Yeah that didn’t seem a little suspicious to you? And let me guess, they probably told you it was a gift or it was practice or it was genetics… Well, the people who said “gift” and “genetics” weren’t lying. 

I make my way down stairs and my mother gives me a knowing look as I sit at the dining table. My dad walks over to me and hands me a plate of his “world famous” banana pancakes, leans over and kisses my forehead before asking me if I am alright. I nod in response to him and as I am about to take a bite out of my delicious looking breakfast my mother says “Sweetheart we heard you this morning”. I sigh and look up at her “it was the same dream and that weird woman keeps showing up” I say. My parents exchange concerned looks and my dad proceeds to sit beside me. He holds my hand “you know, if you’re not feeling up to it, you don’t have to start training” he says. I shake my head “you have nothing to prove Celeste ” he continues, “you can at least wait until after the ceremony” my mum chimes in. I stop eating and lean my head on my dad’s shoulder exhaling, there’s a little pause then I ask “will you still love me if I don’t change? If I can’t change?”, My dad hugs me and my mum who is sitting across the table from me stretches out her hand beckoning me to put mine in hers, when I do she looks me in my eye and responds “you are my child, I have loved you since the day I set eyes on you and I will love you regardless. Pure blood or not ” then my dad says “pack warrior or not too” I smile and my dad kisses my forehead once more. Then we hear a car pull into the driveway and I immediately know it’s my second oldest brother Gregory. My Dad looks at me again and repeats that I really don’t have to go for the training if I don’t want to and I assure him that I am fine and I want to. I get up and open the door for Greg and as soon as he sees me, He looks slightly puzzled and then asks “what’s on your head?” I am surprised at the question and then I turn to look at the mirror that’s by the coat rack right next to the door and I see it. It’s a scar around the edges of my hair on my right temple and it has the shape of a crescent moon.

The Alpha’s Goddess

Werewolf 101

This is the part where I tell you to forget everything you know about werewolves or Lycans (as some prefer to call us) because most everything you know is inaccurate. So I will give you a brief history lesson.

Lycans were created a long time ago by Zeus (yeah that guy). Lycaon and his seven sons; Aegaeon, Charisius, Eumon, Heraeus, Lycius, Nyctimus and Peraethus and their families were cursed because Lycaon in a bid to prove his undying devotion to Zeus killed a human and served him up on a platter for the thunder god. Zeus did not approve and so he punished this devoted servant of His. However Selene the moon goddess took pity on the family (mostly out of spite for Zeus in my own opinion) and made it so the curse only took effect under the moon.

Soon Lycaon and his sons realized that their curse could be utilized in different ways. They had all the heightened abilities of a wolf but the reasoning of a man. And so the “Sedes lycaonis” was established the werewolf council had seven seats to represent the families and all the severe matters were handled by this council. These were the most powerful wolves and they had the ability to fully shift anytime as long as they were under the moon.

As time went on and the packs spread into the world, The “curse” began to water down and most lycans now can’t even shift. Only the enhanced human abilities remained; Inhuman strength and speed, heightened senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch, Impeccable night vision and excruciating long existence. We are not Immortals, we just live for a very long time.

At this time there is no true werewolf anymore (well, that I know of). The packs of Lycius and Nyctimus only mated with each other so as to keep their bloodline pure. It is said that Nyctimus had a child with Selene (the goddess) and Female descendants of that line known as the “aetherius” were marked with the shape of a crescent moon on their body and possessed the ability to increase the power of a pack or their mate tenfold. Naturally, they were hunted into extinction. About 500 years ago packs began to follow the pattern of the Lycius and Nyctimus packs and that brought about the “Pure Bloods”. These Pure Bloods have the ability to shift only during the full Moon.

My family happens to fall under that category, pure bloods of the Heraeus pack. My parents and my three older brothers have all shifted at their coming of age full moon.  I on the other hand haven’t shifted yet and as my 18th birthday approaches along with my full moon ceremony, I am filled with dread. I really shouldn’t be bothered because my family is Pure blooded but therein lies the problem. You see, I am adopted.