RI
“I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, RIANNE PAINE!”
Instantly, I opened my eyes and looked around. My heart beat fast and my wolf rejoiced inside me.
“What was that?” I asked Cassy inside me.
“Our mate! Our mate!” She rejoiced as she answered me. “He is trying to connect to our bond but because of the distance, it was almost impossible to connect.”
“So how come I heard him?”
“I guess he really tried hard. I don’t know how or why but I really feel his wolf calling out for us and this time, I feel like it’s not only him.” She smiled inside me.
I raised my eyebrow. “Impossible!”
“I know but I think there is more to his rejection than what we know.”
“I don’t care! He rejected me and if he wants me back, he should do everything to win us back!”
I felt Cassy got excited with what I said. Of course, I would accept him; he’s my mate after all. And like Cassy, I felt that there is something more to his rejection since I saw his pain when he did it to me.
“He needs to prove to us that he is deserving of our forgiveness.” I added.
“Perfect!” she grinned at me as I smiled at her inwardly.
Sixteen Hours later…
“Welcome to Cebu!” Justin greeted us all as we stepped out of the plane.
We walked outside to look for the ones to pick us up.
“Tatay!” Mom exclaimed as she excitedly ran towards a man who is likely at his late 40’s or early 50’s. The man smiled as he met my mom in a tight embrace. He also acknowledged and nodded at my Dad and eventually hugged him as mom pulled away from him.
“Welcome to Cebu!” he greeted us. “Oh! I am Tatay Orly,” he told us.
(A/N: Tatay is a Visayan word for Daddy or Father as Nanay is the equivalent for Mommy or Mother. Nowadays, Tatay and Nanay are also used to call grandfathers and grandmothers, respectively.)
Drew was the first to go to him. He held Tatay’s right hand; brought it to his forehead and let the back of Tatay’s hand touched his forehead. We also went to him and did the same.
(A/N: The act of touching the back of the hand of an elder to the forehead by the young ones is what Cebuanos call as “AMEN” or in Filipino, Mano to show respect to the elders.)
Tatay’s face brightened up as I did what the boys did to his hand. “Oh, Princess!” he exclaimed and I felt my cheeks warmed. I heard him chuckle.
“Now, now. We need to go! Your Nanay is waiting, along with the rest of the pack.” Mom smiled widely as she excitedly grabbed Dad’s arm on her own and held the other unto Tatay’s arm.
An hour later, we reached a forested area where we passed. Minutes later, we reached a place with tall walls. Then, a gate, that looks like three big trees stuck together, opened to another forested area. We entered and we saw more trees.
A few more minutes, we came into a mini town where few people stay. It has small stores, a few shops and about a dozen houses.
“Where are the rest of your pack members, Tatay?” I asked.
“They are in the pack house, Ri. Only the fighters and some guards stay in those houses during their break since the territory is quite big.”
Not long after, I saw a huge house and people who are busy doing some things while others are waiting for us in the house’s front.
The car pulled in front of them. My mom excitedly went down and ran to an old woman, who I think is Nanay Mira. We went down, too and were surprised when we were hugged and passed from one arm to another.
“Princess!” Nanay exclaimed when she finally saw me. She grabbed me and engulfed me in a tight hug. I blushed once again.
It really makes me embarrassed when they would call me that.
“Nanay!” I gasped which caused her to chuckle.
“Ri!” I heard Justin called me. “I want you to meet our other cousins, Jey, Rod, Cris and Van!” He introduced me to these boys whom I just met. They were younger than me for more than 3 years.
“Oh, hi!” What followed after that was a bunch of craziness together with these boys. I enjoyed their company so much!
“Kids, time to eat! Come on!”
We went to the backyard and I was surprised with how the people are doing. Each one seems to have their own assignment but you see the unity and cooperation within them.
We had a nice dinner together with most of the pack members who welcomed us followed by a nice and enjoyable bonfire.
After the sumptuous dinner and the welcome party, Nanay and Tatay led us to our rooms. I slept immediately as soon as I touched my back unto the bed.
I woke up early the following day. I took my time taking a bath (not a shower) and cleaning myself. I got some clothes from my bag (still packed), put it on and went out. I was surprised when I saw some girls (members of the pack, not family) who were preparing the food. I went to them and they offered me a coffee. I grabbed it after saying thanks and went out to the backyard.
I was stunned to see men there. Few of them were chopping woods while others were sweeping. They were laughing while talking and doing their tasks at the same time.
“Good morning, Princess!” I jumped in surprise when Tatay greeted me.
“Good morning, too, Tatay!” I smiled at him.
“How was your sleep?”
“Never been better!” I looked at the pack members again, still amazed.
“Enjoying what you see?”
“Yes!” I turned to him. “They are so amazing. It’s so new to me. I’ve never seen people woke up this early to do household chores. Our former pack never does this. And they seem happy.”
“That’s because they are. Each of them were given tasks.” He said looking at the members. “And instead of complaining, they accepted it and as you can see, no one is a fence-sitter. Everybody is working.”
“But why are the guys doing the sweeping? Aren’t it for girls?”
“In here, Ri, what girls will do, will also be done by the guys and vice versa. Of course, except for chopping the woods and fetching the water. We may be using the faucets in the bathrooms, but not when we are doing the laundry.” He smiled at me. “You see, Ri, despite the electricity we are enjoying, we don’t have the usual appliances like washing machines or even gas stoves/electric stoves. We do the laundry manually and cook food using firewoods.”
I literally dropped my jaw with what Tatay said. “But of course, we still have those for entertainment and education purposes.” He added.
He continued to explain how things are done in the pack. Later on, I heard my mom, dad and brothers going down.
After breakfast, Tatay took us to survey the rest of the pack territory. I met most of the members and their jobs in the pack. There were assigned to the mango, coconut and banana plantation; others were taking care of the livestock; others on the stable while most men were in the mini town.
Some of the kids are in their own school inside the territory while those members who were in college were in the city, an hour away from here.
As we went back to the house, mom met us and led us to the office Tatay has. (Tatay is still the Alpha of this pack. My uncle Ronan is the Alpha-in-charge though. Uncles did not want him to step down yet.)
“Tatay, I would just like to remind you that tomorrow will be Ri’s 18th birthday!” My mom told him worriedly.
“Ahh, yeah!” he sat down on the couch and looked at us.
“I guess the time has come for me to tell you about the prophecy.” He started as he looked on each of our faces again.
The whole family is complete tonight. Nanay Mira, my two uncles , Ronan and Jedd together with their mates Moira and Kiara respectively; my cousins Justin and Jezer, Rodney, Chris and Vaughn; my mom and dad and my brothers and of course, me. Everyone has the curious yet excited look on our faces.
“The prophecy involves four girls who has the power of each of the four elements; their mates who has the same element power and the sole girl who has the power of the four elements.
It is prophesized that when time comes that the youngest of the five girls who, also has the power of the four elements , comes of age at 20, the invisible barrier that protects the mystic world, werewolf world in particular, will slowly deteriorate and will shatter exposing us totally to the human world.
Now, you may think how come there is a barrier when some people like the hunters knew about us? Well, hunters are special people, too. It’s like they have, in one way or another, a connection to us. Of course, if you shift in front of a human, that is really exposing yourself. But, take note, no one has ever seen a wolf anywhere even if there are humans around. When you are in wolf form, you seem to be invisible to them but with only one exception, if you have a human mate.” He explained.
“So Tatay,” I asked. “How does it involve us? I mean, of course, it involves us as we are wolves but how does it involve the family?
“Simple.” He smiled at us. “We have the power of one of the elements. Or four, as in the case of your mother.” He smiled at mom.
“And Ri, Tatay!” Mom answered shyly.
Tatay’s eyes widened. “Really?” I nodded.
“But how do we know who are directly involved?” Drew asked.
He nodded and continued. “It is also prophesized that on the 18th birthday of the youngest girl involved; a mark will appear on those who are involved.”
“So, how does that involved the four of us, Tatay?” Rochie spoke for the first time.
“We are thinking, since you have the power, and with Ri’s powers, that those involved in the prophecy are the five of you!”
“What?!” We all exclaimed altogether.