EPISODE HUNDRED AND TWO
THEME: The Will Of Fate
MOON STONE FORTRESS
The family and pack council members were all dress in black as they all stood by the graveside as Carl Damien gets laid to rest. Just like he had requested before his death to have a graveside funeral, it was done that way. After everything was done, without exchanging any form of pleasantries or heart felt words towards each other, they all headed back fast to Moon Stone Fortress auditorium to meet with the pack members who had come to pay their last respect to their dead Alpha and also usher in the new Alpha.
Meagan bit on her fingers as she tapped her legs on the floor lowly but rapidly. She felt restless, knowing doom was about to burst up in all of their faces. As discussed with Julius, the Seer was to be called over to address the pack members and announce their new Alpha.
Jayden sat with a relaxed pose as he sneered inwardly at his brother who had his shoulders slumped. He was still weighed down by the death of their father. Not that Jayden couldn’t look devastated too but being the incoming Alpha of Moon Stone Fortress, there was a need to learn to keep his emotions at bay.
Everyone looked tensed as the whole hall stayed quiet. Julius walked in with someone who looks like a Shaman behind him. Meagan sat up again with the hairs on her back standing in high alert.
Gabriella watched her daughter in law battle within herself to keep still. She had intentionally switched seats with Mrs Swift to sit next to Meagan just for this moment. She touched Meagan’s right hand and patted it softly.
“Don’t fret Meagan. You can’t lose your mind at the very beginning. You need to stay strong till the end. And don’t forget I will be right here with you.” Gabriella encouraged.
Meagan nodded slowly with her voice shaky. “Thank you so much Gab. I feel like I would explode, this is so unfair. Why would the Moon Goddess decide to do this to our family? We have been good people all our lives and so my sons don’t deserve to be enemies with each other. It doesn’t have to be this complicated. They had both chosen their paths, but she had to ensure a war that seem like we intentionally started evolve on its own.” She wailed in a low tone even as she sounded exhausted.
Letting out a long sigh, Gabriella wished she could explain it to Meagan and tell her she knew exactly how she felt. It was really a tricky twist of fate on the part of the Moon Goddess. Glancing round the room, she pictured the anticipation on the pack members faces, the assurance Jayden had on and the mourning look that spread through that of Jaylen’s face.
Trouble was definitely going to loom but she hoped Carl’s spirit lingered around to strengthen his mate from the despair that would come after the big announcement.
Stepping on the podium, Julius looked around at the sea of heads that gathered around in the Fortress auditorium occupied by more than thirty thousand members of the Moon Stone Fortress. The auditorium had been a result of Carl’s dream to be able to address every member of the Moon Stone Fortress under one roof. He had changed Moon Stone pack to a fortress after fifteen years of his rule. Everything Carl had done for Moon Stone had been out of pure love and service to the members. And Beta Julius felt proud for being part of such greatness in his lifetime.
Beta Julius cleared his throat as he glanced over the room, hoping there wouldn’t be a form of ruckus after everything gets put out in the open.
“Good day to you all Moon Stone Fortress members. It is sad to announce the demise of our amazing Alpha King Carl Damien. At the same time we feel grateful towards the Moon Goddess for enabling him a remarkable life. As much as it hurts, there is a need for us to fill the now vacant post of the Alpha. To ensure the smooth running of the Fortress, Alpha Carl would have wanted that too.” Julius gulped hard before he continued. “In a bid to do this, I would invite the Great Seer to address us all first.”
Beta Julius stepped down to ushered the Seer to the podium. Murmurs spread through the hall and some members of the council wondered what was going on. Everyone knew it was a norm for the old Beta to announce the next Alpha. Why they had to call onto a seer made everyone curious.
After glancing at the numbers of heads in the auditorium, she didn’t waste too much time in making the announcement. “It is with the ability bestowed upon me by the great Moon Goddess that I announce to you all that your next Alpha of Moon Stone Fortress will be the younger one of the dead Alpha’s twins.” The great seer said, putting everyone in confusion.
“What?!”
“What’s going on?”
“Why Jaylen and not Jayden?”
Series of questions that didn’t have a direct answers to echoed through the auditorium. Jayden and Jaylen had the most perplexed look on their faces.
The Seer got down from the podium almost immediately after making the announcement. It was never her thing to break things down for others. Late Alpha King Carl must have also thought it through when he had made the recordings that he had given to Beta Julius and that included a new one which he had handed in just few days before his death.
After the necessary connections were made to the speakers in the auditorium, Beta Julius in turn played the tape for everyone to listen. The Great Seer’s voice was the first to come alive as she told Carl and Meagan about the card of fate being played with their children. Meagan shivered as the tape played and it dipped her back into the scene of years back that she was trying so hard to delete from her memories.
The whole hall stayed quiet when Carl’s voice came on. ‘I want to understand that if everyone of you is listening to this I must have been buried. Don’t worry my memories won’t leave you all so easily, I have decided to take course in haunting everyone of you when I get to the Heavens.’ He chuckled at his own joke. And everyone in the hall made a teary laugh.
The tape played on. Carl took a deep breath after pausing for a while. ‘Fate has played a whole lot of games on my family and I. But I also want to believe everyone of us is an actor in the movie of life called fate. I would not play victim, rather I would love for us all to accept this new reality of ours. Twenty five years ago, I and Luna Meagan had been so excited with the inception of our child. We had called onto a seer as expected by the Alpha of the pack. The seer made it clear to us that we would be having twins which I am sure you had heard in the first recording. What it means in essence is that Jaylen Damien and not Jayden is your assigned Alpha. This can’t be changed or gone against for the peace and growth of Moon Stone Fortress. Jayden son, I promise I know nothing about this. I know you have lived all your life believing you would become the Alpha and we as your parents were beyond confused as to what we were to do. You can have the rest of the business and other things but I implore you to let the Alpha position go to your brother. Please son. To you Jaylen, I promise the last thing your mother and I want is to pull you into something you do not want to do. However, who are we to question the Moon Goddess? Remember I told you, our job as the Alpha clan is to serve the pack members. To the pack council members, please do not go against fate in a bid to please a certain party. I promise this is really hard for me too. To the pack members, do understand that your new Alpha hasn’t been around much. Try to love him just as you would love any of us. Accord the same respect to me when I was alive to my son, Jaylen. I love you all. And thanks for the wonderful moments I got to share with you all throughout my years on earth.’
The tape ended and the whole hall sounded empty. No one said anything as they had all become dumbfounded.