The Alpha’s Goddess

Chapter 23: Goddess

“Am I dead?”

“If you want to be?” I turn around and see Selene behind her are two portals but one appears to be getting smaller “your window is closing child, you have to choose what you want now” nod and I walk towards the shrinking portal “the dagger responds you” is the last thing I hear Selene say.

************

Gerald is in front of me, the dagger is in my chest, my brothers, Nereus and Lare are running to me when a blast of energy escapes me and pushes them back. An invisible shield appears stopping the others from reaching me and Gerald, whose hand is still on the hilt of the dagger. “Gerald” I say his name and tears well up in his eyes, he sniffs to push them back then he tries to pull the dagger out of my chest but it doesn’t bulge. There is shock evident on his face, I smile and look him in his eyes

“You will get what you are owed” I say but my voice doesn’t sound like me, it sounds like the voice of fifty women speaking at once. A glass-like cocoon starts to form around my body. The dagger is sucked into my chest, Gerald is startled and takes a step away from me, the cocoon starts from my chest, my hands and feet and spreads across my entire body that is now elevated in air. As soon as the cocoon is completed, I feel a soothing silence and with it a warm feeling spreads through my entire body then crescent moon scars in different sizes appear all over my body.

*************

In the field where all the rogues were cured, the black liquid substance which left their body starts to pool together and when it is fully formed together, it moves in a rapid serpentine-like direction towards the cave.

************

The cocoon breaks and I am in the air, I look at Gerald and in the same distorted voice I say “I will give you what you are owed”. The broken cocoon forms into a ball and is filled with a dark looking liquid, it is Gerald’s blood but it is cursed because that’s what he used to turn innocent humans into subservient rogues. “Tolle quod merentur” I say and the broken cocoon ball with its contents swim into Gerald’s body, he lets out a wail and soon his body turns into stone then it crumbles to the ground. The shield disappears and I come back to the ground. I have expended so much energy without realising so as soon as I get down I feel myself falling but Nereus grabs me just in time and holds on to me.

Today

That was a month ago.

I spent two weeks healing, resting with Nereus hovering over me while the rest of my family and the other Alpha’s joined efforts to ensure all the humans turned into rogues were returned to their rightful homes. Violet and Hunter are in pack jail now but Hunter is undergoing therapy.

My Parents and Lare came up with a spectacular story of a strain of wolfsbane they developed to help combat the rogues and how that somehow resulted in their healing, so far everyone seems to be buying it. Nereus asked me to marry him but there is one more thing we need to do before that can happen.

I am staring outside my window when Nereus walks up to me and hugs me from behind “are you sure?” he whispers in my ear, I turn to face him and bury my head in his chest. I have decided to bind my powers, doing this means I will no longer be an aetherius I will truly be the last of my kind as it will not pass on to any children I have and I will be a normal she-wolf. “Yes I am” I say to Nereus.

“Everything that happened was because the aetheria existed, what Selene meant for good was polluted and turned into something awful. Men will always selfishly crave more power than they actually need, and I am only safe now because nobody knows yet but we wouldn’t be able to keep up this ruse forever and when people begin to find out, another Calix will rise. I can’t do that to my children Nereus and I won’t”

He sighs and kisses my forehead “you are as wise as you are beautiful” he says. Then hand in hand we begin to make our way down to his private study “so I am going to perform the binding ceremony tonight, there’s a full moon so it’s perfect” Nereus nods agreeing with me “but before then I would really love to see how this plays out” I add and he is bemused “what plays out?” We get into his study and waiting for us are my three brothers.

“You’re five minutes late” Noah says to us then he gestures to a chair and says to Nereus “Please sit” Nereus looks to me and then to them as he sits.

“Okay you guys have fun, I will be looking forward to the results” I say

“Wait, you’re leaving me alone? With them?” Nereus asks, I nod and give him a kiss on the cheek

“A-hem” Gregory says and I make my way out of the room. As I am leaving, I hear Noah say “So you asked my sister to marry you, are you secretly from the past?” I giggle then I go downstairs to join my mum and Alyssa. We are going wedding dress shopping.

The Alpha’s Goddess

Chapter 15: Feel Your Feelings

“Mater Mae” a young girl calls out to the Sacredos “a woman is here to see you, she has a child with her” she adds. Kairos steps out of the inner part of her chambers and instructs the girl to usher the woman in, a pubescent Shaia and her mother; Irene are then led in both of them look exhausted. Kairos instructs the maid to take Shaia elsewhere and the maid does, leaving Kairos and Irene alone. “what happened?” Kairos asks “Calix has forged a creation dagger ” Irene says “That’s impossible” Kairos responds, “only the combined power of the Aetheria in a living vessel can-” “he claims to have found a way around that Kairos” Irene says cutting off Kairos. “Was he successful?” Kairos asks and Irene shakes her head “he is mad, a new wolf outside of the seven bloodlines has never been successfully created” Kairos says, Irene begins to sob and Kairos holds her “I barely managed to escape, he killed my sister and I felt the magic drain out of her” Irene says amidst tears. “He still needs a living vessel, a pure blood aetherius with two parents descended from the original” Kairos says, Irene gives a sad laugh then she asks “did you ever trace Athanasios’ ancestry?”

************

I am floating in the air, I am so close to the ceiling, I can reach out and touch it and my bed is all the way down. I stretch out my hand and I touch the ceiling and I smile… wait a minute, I am floating. As soon as realisation hits I immediately feel my body dropping back and obeying the law of gravity, I hit my bed in a soft Ploof and I am so grateful that Lare decided to change my bed. The levitating started about two months ago on the first night Lare and Nereus brought me home to the Lycian mansion, I had passed out in the car while being a brat (as Nereus refers to it) and was carried to my assigned bedroom. When I woke up, I was 7 feet away from my bed and the landing was painful. At first I was really happy thinking I was finally accessing a new gift but every time I wake up I am unable to sustain it. I let out a frustrated groan and roll out of bed to get ready for my combat training.

Since I got here, Nereus and I have been at each other’s throats because he is a pompous arrogant spoon face who thinks that I am childish. I am literally the most powerful creature he has ever encountered you would think that he would treat me with a little more respect. Am I childish? Maybe a little but I am trying to unlock my abilities here because there may or may not be a bad guy lurking around. The least he can do is cut me some slack and be a proper guardian, whatever the microwave that is supposed to be. According to the history lesson I got from Alpha Zander (Nereus’ Father and former alpha of the Lycius pack) a very long time ago his forefather someone named Aithan bound his bloodline to be my protector so that’s why my bracelet and Nereus’ family heirloom necklace glow when they get close but his necklace is also supposed to glow when I am in danger. According to Zander there is some bad guy named Calix who tried to create wolves and was unsuccessful then he kidnapped my mum. He is very dead now but as my guardians it is their sacred duty to protect me and train me (Nereus added the training part, I swear that guy hates me). He has the right idea but all this combat training is actually taking away time that I could be using to figure out how to levitate, plus I still haven’t gotten around to reading the book Shaia gave me.

I make my way to the training hall, it looks like a dance studio, it is sound proof and there are mirrors that cover the entire wall on opposite sides of the room. When I get in Nereus is there with Lare and I immediately roll my eyes “well nice to see you too” Nereus says with straight face, I fake a smile at him and nod then I look at Lare and mouth “what is he doing here?” before Lare can say anything Nereus responds. “Either or not you refuse to acknowledge it young woman there is a threat looming and you haven’t even harnessed 10% of your powers” at that point Lare is somewhat urging Nereus to be gentle but he ignores Lare. “no she needs to hear this” Nereus responds to Lare “your moon ceremony may be a year away but that gives you absolutely no excuse to be lazy and not try at all. You are really turning out to be a disgrace to the Eques name” the moment I hear those words something in my brain snaps and I see red.

My entire body is trembling in anger and in the corner of my eye I see concern flash over Lare’s face, I am a disgrace? I am a disgrace?! I duplicate the staff in my hand and twirl it and shock flashes across both Nereus and Lare’s faces, while I let out a laugh it sounds dark and disturbing even to me. I start advancing towards Nereus and Lare runs to grab a second staff and hands it over to him. I hit Nereus and he barely has time to block it, he loses his footing a bit and I keep attacking him. “I am a disgrace” I say as Nereus and I start fighting “I lost the love of my life, I had the power to stop it and I didn’t know” with every word my voice was getting louder and I am getting angrier “I haven’t seen my family in almost two years, because according you and everyone else I am basically a walking nuclear weapon. I spend everyday training, first in your useless physical one and then the stupid mental one trying to figure out this whole power thing” at this point the entire room is buzzing with energy and lightening is go off in the room “Celeste!” I hear Lare scream but I am too angry to focus on his voice. “All you’ve done is judge me and punish me and you pay me no regard at all and now I’m the disgrace?” I add while still attacking Nereus. I am sad and frustrated, I have been trying but finally letting all these things out I realise that I am also exhausted, maybe Nereus is right and I am just an embarrassment, so what’s the point of even trying anymore? I drop my staff and the duplicate disappears. Nereus wasn’t prepared for that sudden movement so he unintentionally hits me in the belly. I throw Lare and Nereus far from me and create a force field like a shield of protection around the both of them then I break every glass in the room and send everything flying towards me in a menacing way.

The Alpha’s Goddess

Chapter 13: Aetherius

“you already took everything from me, did you have to take her too?” Calix says accosting Athanasios and Laos who are making their way to the Armory. Laos looks at Athanasios and silently asks if he should take care of Calix, Athanasios shakes his head and both of them move on ignoring the former. Calix runs up and stands in front of Athanasios “You can’t-” he doesn’t finish his sentence as Laos strikes his face “that’s enough insolence from you” Laos says then he and Athanasios continue on their way. Athanasios stops and walks back to Calix who is still on the ground “you know, I came this close to killing you when Niovi told me what you did. She asked me to spare your life” Athanasios says looking Calix dead in the eye ready to snap his neck “If you ever come near her again, I will kill you”

************

Almost everything I know and have ever been taught about the aetherius has been a big lie… according to Shaia. In the past one and half years that I have spent with her, everything she has said has turned out to be true and all the old books she’s shown me seem to make a lot of sense. So it’s either I have been on one very long high or it’s the truth. Shaia is an aetherius not a moon shaman as my parents refer to her and she’s apparently been alive for more than five hundred years. She is being preserved by the magic of my birth mother; Niovi, who was the strongest aetherius ever (also according to Shaia) not because of her powers, she was apparently a very skilled swordsman. However, it is not my mother’s power alone that has extended Shaia’s life thus far.

Nyctimus did not have a child with Selene, he did have a daughter that he absolutely cherished and that was the child that Lycaon killed and served up to Zeus. When Selene reversed Zeus’ curse, she brought the child back to life and infused her with powers; that was the first aetherius. The ability to channel the moon goddess powers was only passed down to the women of that bloodline, descendants of the first aetherius and yes they were marked with crescent moon scars. So Shaia is a distant cousin-ish of mine (many times removed). “Argh!” I scream as yet another ball explodes. My lesson for today is telekinesis but all the balls keep exploding instead of lifting into the air. Shaia says my unresolved emotional issues are blocking my powers, but I have no idea what she is talking about. “Well done” she calls out to me as she is making her way back into the cottage, I am still unable to wrap my head around the fact that she always genuinely means what she says and she is never sarcastic at all.

An Aetherius comes of age at 21, that’s when we discover our dominant power. There are many abilities an aetherius can possess but at our moon ceremony one ability becomes dominant and that is what the aetherius is then associated with. So it would appear my dominant ability is exploding things not that I have some unresolved trauma. I am getting frustrated so I take off my bracelet and I try again, the bracelet was specially crafted by the sacredos that helped hide me. Shaia describes it as a regulator; since I am not emotionally stable enough to control my powers it helps me. Honestly, this thing is a restraint and no one can tell me otherwise. I focus on another ball and this time it begins to rise, I feel excitement rush all over me, the ball at least two feet off the ground now then suddenly it explodes and all the remaining balls explode along with it. I am about to scream in frustration then I remember that would lead to a major explosion so I put my bracelet back on before I scream. I am done for the day so I begin to make my way back to the cottage.

As I walk back to the cottage I try to think of my birth mother; Niovi. I had asked Shaia to tell me about her one day, she must have really been something if about 30 women were willing to sacrifice themselves for her. The person my adoptive mother calls “The bastard” was a childhood friend of my birth mother, maybe even her first love but he was so obsessed with power and the only reason he got close to her was to use her. Something happened though and he left my mum, then she met my dad, they fell in love and she got pregnant then Calix (the bastard) came back and ruined everything. Shaia promised to tell me the full story soon but right now, I wonder what my mother would say if she could see me, I was only supposed to be with shaia for a few months to figure out my powers but it’s been more than a year now and I am still as clueless as when I first came. Would she tell me “oh it’s fine sweetie, you’ll get a hang of it eventually” or would she tell me to do better to focus more. I am almost at the cottage then I look up and I see a black escalade parked close by and I have my guard up immediately, I hasten my steps and when I get into the cottage there are two men sitting with Shaia drinking tea, I recognize one of them;Alpha Nereus of the Lycius pack. All three of them pause and look at me as I come in, then Shaia says “Domine mi, your guardian is here”.

The Alpha’s Goddess

Chapter 11: Loss

“That doesn’t make any sense” Leah says as she paces the cottage trying to calm herself “Yeah if that were true, that would mean you are at least 500 years old” Malcoy adds he looks slightly calmer than his wife “when we found Celeste she was barely a week old, her umbilical cord stump was still attached to her body” he continues. The old lady sighs “did I not just tell you her mother was a time aetherius?” Leah and Malcoy remain silent “well if she truly wanted to hide her child from danger, where would she send her?”

************

I run into the palace to go find my parents, the rogues that aren’t dead yet are retreating. When I get inside the palace walls I take off the helmet that’s part of my pack warrior uniform, I throw it on the floor and I bump into someone who is running towards the west gate. I apologize to him and continue running, I need to find my parents. I make my way to the courtroom and there are twenty guards by the door about five of them point their guns at me and immediately I scream “I’m Celeste Eques, I’m looking for my parents” one of the guards recognizes me and says “Oh that’s Gregory’s little sister, let her in” the guards lower their guns and let me in. As soon as I get into the room I spot my parents with Mirena and Alyssa “where the hell were you?” my mother says as soon as she sees me, I hug her and my dad “I was with the guards at the west gate” I say “You were what?!” the entire group screams “I’m here now and I’m fine so lets focus on that” I add, my dad gives me a look that tells me we will circle back to this discussion later but he doesn’t say anything else. “Do you have any idea where that blast came from?” Mirena asks, I rub my right thumb in the middle of my left palm and hope to the goddess that my parents don’t notice what I just did, I respond to everyone saying that I have no clue where the blast came from. Technically, it’s not a lie, I have no idea how that blast came out of me and I am sure if I say it out loud as soon as this rogue situation is over I might find myself in a nice institution with a lovely jacket on. The courtroom doors open again and the guard who recognised me earlier walks in to announce that we are safe now and the teams are returning.

Everyone is rushing out trying to find their loved ones. I am outside with my parents, Alyssa and Mirena anxiously looking out for my brothers and Gerald. The cars arrive at the palace and all the different uniform colours are mixing together. It’s chaotic but at least everyone is safe. I begin to feel panic rise in my chest then I hear Mirena say “praise gaia” I turn and I see Anthony and Greg walking in and just behind them Noah is helping someone in blue all three of them are fine there’s not a single scratch on them. My relief is dashed when I see that the person Noah is helping isn’t Gerald. They get to us and there’s hugs all round then I start looking around again, my entire family is standing behind me now, my mother rubs my back “don’t worry honey, he is going to show anytime now”. It feels like we are all holding our breath now, I am digging my nails into my palms, then I see someone in blue walking up to me. I smile as Hunter stands in front of me “Gerald?” I ask and he swallows then opens his palm revealing a blue tassel that has the initial “G” on it, the tassel I gave to Gerald in the morning.

************

the hooded figure stands in front of a cave, all the rogues return and stop in their tracks when they see it. “Did you get it?” it asks when the final rogue returns, the rogue lowers its head to the ground admitting that it has in fact disappointed his master. The hooded figure walks up to the rogue and breaks its neck causing the others to flinch in fear. “Pathetic” it says as it walks away from the dead body and the other rogues

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.