“Wake up, sleepyhead…” Zaden blinked his eye to open. It was way brighter than normal with the sun heating his back. He looked around to see Selena sitting at his feet.
“What time is it?” he asked in a husky low voice.
“About half-past 12 pm. Why?” Zaden snapped up to sit.
“How come no one woke me up?”
“Who would want to mess up with a sleeping alpha?” she frowned coldly.
Makeala sent an email to Selena of the translated letter and Selena got it printed out. Grandpa Kai, Zaden, Orion, and Selena sat down as Grandpa Kai started to read the printout.
I am in pain, in great pain.
I can feel my baby dying, his soul slipping off my grip every second.
His heartbeat slowing down to almost none.
It has been days–my baby is suffering for days.
An innocent soul who never committed any sin, has not even harmed an insect yet he is suffering a painful death. Why?
What sin did I do to deserve such a heartless punishment?
I loved a werewolf, is love a sin?
If so, God is the one to be punished for giving me the ability to love a beast.
God, including your Moon Goddess, is the one to blame, not me or my baby.
Mark my words, you will pay.
You will pay for the slow death my baby and I suffering now.
You will regret the minute you left me to die, tied up here, on this tree.
I will reincarnate, somewhere in the corner of the world and I will come to find you
I will hunt you down, every single one of you.
I will rise again from the peak of mountains, with my own army of loyal followers, raging with red-eye.
When I do, you are no longer the king of beast.
Mark my words, your kingdom is no more yours.
You will be spellbound and beg for death under my feet. Under my feet….
All eyes snapped to Selena. She was the only werewolf born after 5 generations and she remained hidden for 24 years, even after her first shift. She is the one who came to Mountain Manuka with the intention to hike it. Ozrain Samrat, a whole army of Samrat and their rogues have been hunting for her, yet she slipped his grip. Ozrain is known to travel around the world to find his bloodline when she was just 10 hours away but she still hasn’t found a trace of her. The writer was angry with God, and Selena doesn’t believe in god too.
“What?” Selena asked in confusion at their judgemental eyes.
“Don’t you see? This manuscript is referring to you. You are the rebirth of Elisa Mitkoi!!!” Orion exclaimed. Selena shot up from her seat.
“What makes you think that Elisa Mitkoi is the one who wrote the manuscript? ” they were all dumbfounded.
“Then who do you suggest wrote this?” Zaden questioned
“I don’t know, maybe someone who took Grandma Carol’s bedtime story a bit too serious. All I know is that my mom was obsessed with my moon mark. Even she could have written it, who knows!!!.” She made sense and they didn’t have a counter statement to hers.
“Let’s assume the manuscript is original and written by Elisa Mitkoi. Look at me!!! Do I look like I can take down an army of werewolves? Have I ever consciously shifted to a wolf? For god sake, are you guys 100% sure that I am a werewolf? Have you seen my wolf? Think Zaden” Selena snapped.
“I have seen your eye changing color,” Zaden said low
“Excuse me!!!” Selena jerked her head back a little with a frown
” You were angry with Orion yesterday and steaming in your room, do you remember me coming to coax you? You looked at me and your eyes were pitch black with silver rim” Zaden said. Somewhere in his heart, he knew she will find a way to counter this and he hesitated.
” It was a dark room Zaden” giving up, Zaden pushed his chair back vigorously and walked out of the room. His anger was rising every minute he is here, trying to prove to her that she is a werewolf. Orion ran following him and grabbed his arms but he yanked it away before storming out of the house.
Selena kept staring blankly at the manuscript. The original wood slab is quite hard to replicate but again, how did a dying woman manage to carve out a letter on tree bark? Her heartbeat slowly started increasing but she didn’t notice it as her thinking is focused on the manuscript.
‘Mom did a DNA test from an unknown sample that matched to me. Could the sample be from the manuscript?’
Blood started rushing up to her head causing slight dizziness. She blinked for a second long as she tries to snap out of her dizziness.
‘ If the sample is from the manuscript, it matched me!!! Which means I am related to the writer. But again, what if mom wrote the manuscript? Being her daughter, of course, my DNA matches with hers.’
The room around her began constricting as a sudden chill crept up her fingers. That’s when she realized she is having another panic attack. Her eyes fluttered around, trying to compose an action plan. It was too close–she can feel it. She ran to her bathroom, took a bottle of pills from the cabinet, and refilled a cup nearby. Absent-mindedly, she plopped a handful of sleeping pills and raised her hand up.
Orion grabbed her hand with pills
“What are you doing?” Orion asked
“Let me go…” her voice was way lower and doesn’t sound like her. Her breath trembles as well as her hands. Sweat dripped profusely from her face, collecting at her chin.
He let her go and she quickly swallowed those pills with gulps of water. She mentioned taking 10 pills but there is nowhere near accurate. She must have swallowed at least 25 of those, enough to kill a human being twice.
“Is that sleeping pills?” Grandpa Kai questioned and Selena nodded, leaned back to the bathroom wall, swallowing gulps of air trying to cope with her body.
Realized what is going to happen next, Orion grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the bathroom across the room, and outside of the house. Leonardo and Aaron who were discussing Zaden storming out are now shocked by Orion’s action, pulling half-sober Selena out of the house.
They ran behind them and managed to stop in front of Orion.
“Let her go!!! She is sick” Aaron burst out. Selena couldn’t keep her eye open as her head rolled up and down uncontrollably. Drenched in sweat as she breathed out loud. Leonardo snatched her out of Orion’s hand and hugged her to his chest where she finally got a place to rest her head.
“Leonardo, please… Let me explain. She is not having a panic attack” Zaden came out of the woods rushing towards Orion. Orion looked behind him.
“Zaden!!! She is having one more of the panic attacks ” Orion clutched his waist explaining to Zaden as if he is also having a panic attack. Zaden looked up at the sky
“It’s a full moon. She is having an attack on a full moon. Meaning, she has been shifting every full moon!!!” Zaden rushed towards her
“Leonardo please, let her go. She will be right here–right in front of you, I assure you that” he said trying to change Leonardo’s mind.
By now Selena had blacked out. Before Leonardo could say anything, they heard a low growl from Selena, hidden in Leonardo’s chest. It was pretty dark out here that Leonardo started looking around for the source of growl before noticed Zaden’s eye focused on Selena. He looked down as he heard another stronger growl from her. He lifted her head up to face him. Her face was white as snow. At first, Leonardo thought she is pale until a glimpse of shine caught his eye. She has a sheen of silver on her skin.
Her hair slowly started changing from the root, black to very light silver. Leonardo’s eye widened and he froze, holding her unconscious in his palm. Zaden had to act quickly as he grabbed Selena’s arm and carried her to a clear space. He gently placed her down and stepped back. Orion took his phone out as he recorded what was going to happen. Selena’s dead-like body is now moving slightly as she bends to fetal position and then suddenly arches her back as her hand got thrown to the side. A series of bone snapping and twisting sounds came along, cringing Leonardo and Aaron.
Orion fumbled to grab his head before passing the phone to Aaron, who is now officially freaked out. Orion’s wolf screaming in his head to be released. Zaden has much more control over his wolf but not for long as his breath hiked, watching Selena transform. Selena started to grow a thicker layer of silver fur. Her short nails have grown out into claws. Her spine twisted and elongated. Her face elongated to snout and within the next minute, she had turned into a complete wolf.
Orion had initiated his shifting but Zaden holds himself back from shifting. He needs his human to face her wolf, just in case she became intimidated by other wolves around her. Selena’s wolf is much, much bigger than what Zaden has expected, almost as big as his wolf. Zaden carefully steps towards now fully transformed Selena. The wolf was still unconscious. He bends forward to have a better look at her. Simply divine would be the correct description. A complete silver wolf wearing her leather necklace from the waterfall. The fur coat was super soft and shiny as it reflects the moonlight. A lump of black fur formed a moon mark even on her wolf form, right below her ears, just like her human form.
Zaden placed his palm on the silver wolf’s face to only cover 1/3 of it. The wolf suddenly huffed out a breath and shook its head, effectively moving Zaden a few steps back. She stood up with 4 legs and staled a bit to left and right before coming to a steady stand. Panting, she slowly opened her eyes and focused on Zaden, who is now awestruck. A pitch-black eye with silver rim, staring back at him emotionless. A beast by nature, that is as beautiful as the moon itself. Ironically, for someone who is so blessed by the Moon Goddess, she doesn’t believe in the superior power.
Zaden stood with a straight back, fist by his side, and fixated sharp into her pitch-black eyes. The size contrast might be vast between his human form and her wolf form but his dominant aura towered over her, alonely wolf who never had a leader. She refused to bow nor did she rebel, causing Zaden to smirk. He shifted in a second under her stare, a pitch-black wolf with golden eyes, soon accompanied by a golden brown and dark brown wolf. Her eyes swept from right to left, landing on Orion’s golden brown wolf, to Zaden’s pitch black wolf and Grandpa Kai’s dark brown wolf.
They all waited with anticipation of what she would do next. Naturally, a sense of protectiveness surged through 3 of them towards her. One–because she stood there as a living Samrat’s heir who can be their alpha and wolf’s basic genetic make-up is to obey and protect their alpha. Two– she is an innocent Bambi, hidden within a Samrat that needs their protection until she learns to defends herself. Three– they felt a certain attachment or could be exaggerated as ‘fell in love’ with her beauty.