The Legend of The Gemini Wolves: Book 1 The Silver Wolf

Chapter 11: The Ancient Ones- Stephanie

‘Yes that Fenrir, he was younger than me and smoked, older than Romulus and Remus, but not by much. His human was corrupted. He was a pup when he was gifted to him. He thought he had to withstand the pain he felt when he was corrupted until it got to the point where they were both corrupted. Fenrir was willing to kill, no matter who it was. It took me and smoke’s merge to subdue him. He was banished to the underworld to serve the goddess of death. He has since been tamer, but he has not been allowed near to being gifted to a human since then. We were relatively young when it happened. It was still the start of the wolf cycle. I never had a mate until Titan. Titan was born 100 years into the war with Fenrir. He was gifted to an Alpha. My Human was mate less at 23 so was I. During the war, protecting her pack, the young alpha came and there it was. I had a mate, a mate bond that would last for eternity. Each wolf only had one mate for all eternity. To you it fated, but to us, it’s the same one. Fenrir had a mate; she became mate less after he was exiled. She passed away from this realm and the realm beyond due to sadness. Wolves are returned to the goddess after the death of their humans. Only something supernatural can separate a wolf from their mate. Corruption was one of them. They become blinded by the power of the wolf that greed would take over and they become ambitious. In the past, wolves weren’t as protected from corruption as they were now. That is why I decided never to take a human again. Until you.’ She explained. ‘Wait so this has happened before?’ I asked more. ‘Okay if…’ I wanted to ask about the thing with Titan, but I guess she understood.

‘Yes, and I know what you are thinking Steph. Yes, the goddess has given Titan another mate after I decided never to take another human, but to remedy the situation, the mating bond was given to two mated wolves. This meant that Titan was mated to Artemis, at one point, but Artemis was Remus' mate. The mate of two mated wolves doesn't have the same effect as a mated bond.’ She explained, ‘So is it the same as a chosen mate?’ I asked ‘There are three ways the goddess gives you a mate. First is the True mate, this is between two eternally mated wolves, like me and Titan. Second is the Goddess given mate, this is between two wolves mated with other wolves. It does not hold the same power as a True mate, and third is the Chosen mate, which you already know the concept of. Bonds between True mates are unbreakable. Goddess given mates can be breakable by marking, the chosen mate is those who haven’t been gifted by the goddess on purpose.’ She added. ‘Okay so true mates hold an unbreakable bond, goddess-gives are unbreakable until marking, and chosen are those who were deliberately not given a mate.’ I summarized ‘Exactly’ she responded.

We walked closer to the temple. Lou was talking to his wolf, so I did not want to disturb, the wolves were growing nearer and bigger. Thena was bigger than all three of them. They bowed their heads and they started to speak. Yes, you read that right, Speak.

“Sister” she called to Thena raising her head “Artemis” Thena replied. I barely got used to the fact that I had a wolf, and she is living inside my head, now I have to deal with the fact that both mine and Louis’ wolf can speak. Boy, this is one for the books. “Romulus, Remus” Thena greeted the twin wolves “Athena, it’s been a while” the brown wolf greeted, and excuse you, my wolf’s full name is Athena? This wolf is full of surprises. “It has” Smoke replied, “These are the wolves?” the gray wolf asked “Yes, we managed to retrieve them and take their humans to the hospital.” Thena replied. “How are the pups?” Artemis asked “Your pups are fine; I have retired all 10 of your new ones. I have yet to find the others, if they have been affected by the corruption or not” Thena explained “I see, how about mine?” the brown wolf asked “Yours are fine as well. Most of your new pups are accounted for. I have already sent word to the wolfen registry for the names of all the wolves to be sent to my human” Thena added “We are lucky you finally decided to take another human, Athena, we do not know what would happen if you didn’t. You and Silver are the only ones who managed to beat Fenrir the moment he got stronger. Your humans are strong enough on their own as well. You just enhanced the power they have.” The gray wolf stated. “Now Remus, you have survived a supernatural war, Romulus, you have beaten Fenrir before as well.” Thena looked at the gray wolf, which now I understood was Romulus. “Mother said that you only have 5 years left until his rebirth” who’s what now? “Who?” Smoke asked “Fenrir, his exile has finished. He has found out about his mate’s death from the goddess of death. She has granted him the permission of rebirth” Artemis replied “Ulmer is the only pup of his mates to have survived into being gifted. Ulmer cannot take corruption, I managed to calm him this morning, he ripped right through his human” Thena explained. “Then he will be protected,” Artemis added. “Zion and Winter are in your pack with Apollo and Kora. Our son Asher is with you as well.” Remus mentioned.

“This is the most of the 10 oldest wolves that exist in a pack Thena, the dark wolves will target the pack. The goddess worries” Romulus warned. “This is the first time 10 ancient wolves exist within a pack. My children are back at the temple awaiting the goddesses’ orders.” Thena mentioned. “A war is coming then” Smoke replied, “Indeed it is brother, I’m afraid it is not with other packs but with the supernatural.” Thena Replied. “Until a cure is made for the victims of the corruption, a new wolf will not be gifted. Mother has told the seers of this through a vision just now.” Romulus added “Then we must create the cure now. Take the pups to heal for now. They must have been exhausted.” Thena mentioned. “We will, Thena, we must warn you, limit the shifting to only those who are part of protection units, ordinary wolves can be affected by the corruption at any time.” Remus warned “I will work on the cure.” Smoke said, “I will leave the talk to you sister, the pack and the council need me” he added “Be careful brother.” Thena replied Smoke nodded ‘See you at home Steph’ Lou linked ‘See you there, take care’ I replied. Smoke then ran back to the pack. Thena called to all the wolves to enter the temple and they did. Ulmer entered last. “Ulmer” the wolf whimpered. “You are not in trouble, little one, you will be under my sister’s protection” Thena told him. The wolf nodded and went with Artemis who was guiding the wolves.

“Thena, the blood moon back and Nightwind pack are this packs strongest allies, but they are the ones with the most corruptions. The oldest of all our children are the alphas and Luna’s of the packs. Alaska is monitoring winter moon as we speak. But be warned, there are those who wish to harm your pack for other reasons. You are being one of them.” Remus warned, “How come?” Thena asked “Your human is powerful enough as it is, with you as her wolf, Thena, you are a wolf goddess, you, and smoke. If others know of your existence or that you are back, they will not stop until they take her.” Romulus explained. “Understood” Thena responded then nodded “Tell mother I said hi” Thena added. She sounded like an 18-year-old girl, or was that because of me? “I will sister” Remus bowed and went inside the temple. The temple stopped glowing light now that the wolves are back to wherever they were.

‘We have to get back now, it’s almost midnight’ Thena reminded ‘right, let’s go’ I replied. We ran from the field to the training grounds. Andre was now closer. The smell of cinnamon, strawberries and vanilla lingered around the area. ‘Titan is near’ Thena mentioned ‘You miss being around him with a human around, don’t you?’ I asked, ‘I do’ Thena replied. Sadness surrounded her tone. ‘I almost lost titan to another wolf because I didn’t want to be gifted to another’ she explained ‘Why did you not want to be gifted until now?’ I asked her. ‘Titan was one reason, the Lancaster’s prayed for you be his mate, the goddess listened, I was told of the events to follow. What’s to happen is something that I cannot handle alone. You were born with gifts far greater than that of any other Gemini twin to exist. It’s like the first set of twins, my first human, was reincarnated into you.’ She explained. ‘I had wolf pups with Titan, but when I did not wish to be reincarnated again, a wall started to form between us. It hurt me. I asked the goddess to rid me of the pain, she told me to tell him everything from that day on.’ She added.

‘I did not wish to be gifted until I was needed. I dedicated my life for centuries to protecting wolves from corruption, which meant that I cannot be given to any human as that would mean I would be prone to it too. Our children became the oldest wolves to be gifted. The Ancient wolves were to be given only to Gemini twins. We trained our children to protect themselves from corruption. Whoever from the ancient wolves are at the temple must teach the wolves to protect themselves from protection. Ulmer, David’s wolf was just a pup when I took care of him. I didn’t have him long; I was instructed to go back to the human world. I thought I was going as a wolf, but I was given a gift. I had to hide from you for a while as instructed. Healing you I helped, but the rest was all you. It was there that I realized that I was needed. I heard the prophecy from smoke. Something, or someone was coming. I was needed here.’ She explained ‘How did Titan take it?’ I asked ‘He never wanted to be gifted again after he found out the reason, he never wanted to lose me to corruption. He wasn’t gifted to anyone until years ago, to a Gemini twin, with my brother. None of the ancient wolves wished to be gifted again after knowing that we were much more to succumb to the corruption than those we trained. The moment my brother and I became minor wolf gods, we were immune to corruption. Other ancient wolves aimed for that as well. Which is why they wished never to be gifted until they are needed. We all possessed a certain chain of qualities which were of great use in time of need.’ She explained. ‘What about the ancient wolves and their children?’ I asked another question.

‘The goddess might think this is bigger than any of the other wars of the past for her to give an entire pack with 7 ancient wolves and a great wolf. Your father has Asher, Artemis’ son, Ethan has Apollo, your mother has Kora, Luna has Winter, the Alpha has Zion, and your mate, Andre, has Titan. Wolves who held great power. Kora is a mother wolf. Of all the Ancients, she has the most pups. She is gifted to humans who are rejected by Alpha mates, she protects her humans better than most of us. Winter is Zion’s mate, she is a snow-white wolf, she is the guardian of the winter moon pup. Her first human founded the Winter Moon pack, your Luna is from their pack, right?’ Thena asked ‘Yes, she was’ I replied. ‘Kora was gifted to Blood Moon a couple of times. Apollo was gifted to Nightwind a few times.’ She explained. "We're here," I told her.

We went through the back and went directly to my room. My parents had created a set of stairs designed for wolves and I used that to climb up. I shifted back before anyone noticed and went back down with clothes on. I put on the first thing I could pull out of my closet. I pulled out a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. Andre was downstairs. ‘Rest Thena, you worked hard today’ I told her. She nodded and retreated to sleep.

“Hey” I walked in and all of them, even Louis, were there. Andre was there, he left a space for me to sit in, and I did. “How are you in love?” he asked whispering “I’m fine” I replied “And Thena?” he followed “Asleep” I replied. “We need to talk,” I told everyone. Louis nodded his head in approval. “No one apart from those belonging to the 5 units are allowed to shift from now on.” I told everyone. They all looked at each other in curiosity as to the sudden decision. “What do you mean by that, Steph?” Alpha Charles asked “The ceasing is what the wolves called corruption. It's when the greed of humans, the hunger for power dominates that of the natural power of wolves. The wolves cease in fear of becoming a dark wolf. It’s a curse passed on from a common ancestor” I explained. Everyone in the room was quiet. “I was told about the Legend of Fenrir’ I started ‘Fenrir… isn’t there something in the library about that?” Andrew asked “I think so” Luna Elaine Reply “I’ll have to look into it” she continued “No need” I replied. “The Legend of Fenrir is a story about a dark wolf. From Thena’s perspective, Fenrir was gifted to a young Alpha from a now extinct pack. The Legend of Fenrir is the start of The Legend of the Gemini Wolves” I explained “The name of the human has been lost to history, but his wolf was forever to be known. It was said that witches cursed the young alpha into corruption. That he would be gifted the power to protect himself from wolfsbane and silver. Become invincible. He was indeed gifted this power. He would be gifted this ‘gift’ from the witch, the moment he took over the pack, he started the war of the full moon.” I added “The war of the full moon?” My mom repeated “No…” a voice from across the room said in a shaky voice. Everyone else turned their back on Aunt Angela.

“Angela, how is David?” my mother asked, “he’s asleep, he was just given something” she replied “it’s a temporary antidote” Louis replied. “I’m still trying to figure out what Elizabeth meant by some of the texts. Smoke is still asleep so there really isn’t anything I could base the cure on. Thena is asleep as well, but I don’t know if she could help in any way at the moment.” Louis added. Aunt Angela let out a huge sigh. “They have to take it every day until we find the cure. Until we do, I don’t want to risk waking them up.” Louis explained “Why?” Uncle Henry asked “Currently, they are woofless. Their wolves ripped out of them in fear of corruption. It’s a wolf’s primal instinct to protect themselves. They are taught even as young pups to protect themselves from corruption by ceasing. We all thought we had time, and that David was just an isolated case. It wasn’t until I realized it was a full moon and when it wasn’t” Louis explained “I started feeling Ulmer cease, I had to hold back as best I could. Both me and my wolf. We would’ve killed them both if we didn’t. He wasn’t himself; he was pushing every known button to mankind. I felt the same for the 10 people at the presentation. That 10 then became more. I felt more wolves cease from all over the country. We had to place a beacon to call on all the wolves who ripped themselves away from their humans. There were more than 100 of them, all mere pups. We were told that there would be no wolf to be gifted to anyone until we know what exactly is causing the corruption.” I added “You felt Ulmer ceased?” Angela asked “Ulmer is merely a 30-year-old wolf. He is a pup but wolf standards. He is the first and the last descendant of Fenrir, which makes him even more vulnerable to corruption. It could erase both him and his human from existence permanently.” I saw David’s entire family turn pale at my words. “You mean?” Izzy asked. “Yes, They both would cease to exist if Ulmer didn’t do what he did” I confirmed. “I have already contacted all of the packs. They are rushing most of the time here. We are more equipped than most. We have a full-size hospital with a full set of staff both wolf and human, we have the twins to add to that. I have a meeting with the council tomorrow to discuss everything. By then I have to know everything about what you two know” Alpha Charles announced, “Does everybody have all night?” Louis asked, “We don’t have a choice, do we?” Ethan flatly stated. “Right,” He answered.

Andre held my hand while I laid my head on his shoulder. I was tired. I used a lot of strength for tonight. Both me and Louis were. It was our first shift; we just had our bones broken and reattached. We needed to rest. ‘I’m right here love’ he linked then kissed me on the forehead.

“Right, so let’s start at the beginning I guess?” I said, breaking the silence. “Go ahead dearest” my mom gave me the go signal. “The Legend of the Gemini wolves begin simply at the birth of our wolves. They were born the same day we were. After them, there was Artemis the wolf hunter, then Fenrir the young turned dark wolf, after him there were the twins Romulus and Remus, named after the twin who were taken in by the she-wolf. Then Zion, the Alpha Wolf, Winter, the wolf of winter, Kora, the mother wolf, Titan, the wolf giant, and Apollo, the wolf of sun dance. These 10 Ancient wolves were True Mates to one another. Zion and Winter, Titan and Thena, and Artemis and Remus. Apollo was mated to Alaska, one of Zion and Winter’s Children, Kora was mated to Asher, Artemis, and Remus’ eldest. Smoke is mated to Aurora, Zion and Winter’s child as well. Their child, Frost, is known as the winter wolf. He is usually the wolf gifted to the Alpha of a winter pack. What we know so far is that we have 7 of the 10 Ancient wolves and there are 3 children of the ancients who are to be gifted to the pack within the week before the official close. We have to find out which wolves are about to turn within the week and get them to the stadium. They have to shift there. We don’t know which ones have the wolf until then. I will try everything I can to find out where the three children are. But until then, train the wolves. War might be coming right to our doorsteps.” I narrated.

“The antidote is written in ancient wolfen. It will take a while before we will be able to translate the entire thing. I will work with Smoke as fast as I can.” Louis added “Right about the Legend, Athena and Silver were not the first wolves to be gifted to humans, they were not the ideal candidates as they possessed more godlike than wolfen instinct. Most of the time Romulus and Remus, and the rest of the 10 wolves were sent as gifts, including Fenrir. I already told you about how Fenrir became a dark wolf, but I never told you where he went after. It was at the peak of Fenrir and his humans’ power when they were sent as a gift to the young Alpha of Blood Moon and his Luna, a Child of Nightwind. The twins were just like us, the second and third child respectively, born on the same day of the same month.” I continued “Twins, founded the pack all those years ago. Are these the?” Alpha Charles asked “Yes, your direct ancestors Alpha Charles were the first to host our wolves. The twins went on to fight Fenrir and The rest of his pack. The twins threw the final blow, separating Fenrir, and his human permanently. His human went on to die in battle, and the battle of the great wolves started. It took 100 years before Fenrir lost. It took Thena and Smoke finding their true mates to overpower them. Gemini wolves draw power from one another, in any way possible, through a connection or through death. Having a mate bond strengthens their individuality, lessening the need for the other twin leaving them stronger as individuals than as a set. Our wolf’s mates were born 100 years after ours were. When Titan and Aurora came into the picture, and were gifted, they found their mates and that helped strengthen each individual twin’s power without the need for the other. Fenrir lost and was banished to serve the goddess of death in the underworld. Since then, the goddess gifts the entire wolfen community with a set of twins who have the power to protect other wolves from any harm that it may cause either the wolves, humans, or both. Since that day, Thena was sworn to take care of the new pups, teach them how to protect themselves and their humans from corruption. Ceasing was never one of them, so is jumping out. Something is happening.” I continued.

“We were just told that Fenrir has gained the favor of the goddess of death, and she has granted him the gift of rebirth. We don’t exactly know when that is, but 5 years from now was the timeline given to us. It could be less if he felt the need to come back earlier. But the other wolves are thinking that his imminent return is disrupting the balance that lasted over 1000 years” I ended. Everyone else was quiet. They all realize the weight of the situation. The silence itself was enough to kill if it wanted. I was growing tired. Louis, who was sitting beside me, drifted off to sleep while I explained. I had to stay awake, though leaning towards my mate is not really helping in that department. “SCARLET!” Louis screamed awake, which shocked most of us, awake. “An omega wolf from another pack is seeking for the pack's protection, she is still too far away, but she has a child with an alpha’s blood?” I asked “Yes” he replied. Everyone else was curious as to how I knew but Louis did not seem to mind. “I’m going to her” I told him “I’m…” Louis attempted “No, you will stay, you healed over a hundred people, you are not yet fit to shift. I’m fine, " I insisted.

“I’m coming with you,” Andre volunteered. “So will I.” Ethan added, “Fine, I’m not arguing, seeing as to whatever I say next would become irrelevant. We’re going now” I told them. I took my coat and ran towards the door. Andre was already in the car when I came out. The mate bond was strong, but at the moment I had other things in my mind. One of them an omega wolf, along with a child, an alpha’s child “How do we know to trust her?” Andre asked “It’s her child” I answered back “Love, we have to be reasonable, you just said…” Andre was about to say something, but I had to reply before he even finished. “I know what I said. But that wolf is a child of beta, on orphaned one to be exact.” I explained. “Which pack?” Ethan entered the car and asked. I looked at them both and merely said “Let’s go.” Ethan drove the car and we rushed out the pack border and saw the omega four kilometers away from the pack gates and only a few hundred meters away from the border created by Luna Elaine and my mother. “There” I told them pointing at the girl, she was weak, but her wolf was seeking… her wolf. Thena rushed awake at the scent of the wolf. ‘This was a mother wolf; they are always gifted to betas by blood. This is Kora’s child’ Thena' mentioned. ‘Kora, you mean?’ I asked ‘No, she is not the one who we are looking for, but she will be safer here’ Thena replied ‘We need Aurora and Alaska, more specifically, Aurora, she is Smoke’s true mate, and the only solution to our entire dilemma’ Thena replied. Right, mates are strong bonds that possess a power of their own.

“She was rejected, and the father attempted to banish her and have another take care of her child” I explained “Love you’re scaring me right about now.” Ethan looked at Andre as he called me “Love? Dude, no, back… s**t, no, oh no, no, no, no” Ethan in state of shock “Dude your sister just explained that her wolf’s mate is my wolf, even before we were even born” Ethan trying to snap Ethan back into reality “STOP HERE!” I screamed, which was enough to snap him back and step on the breaks. I got out of the vehicle to find her asking for help “Asylum, I need, Asylum. I was just made a rogue, I, they were” she struggled to get the words out of her mouth “I know, I understand, asylum is something I cannot grant, but I can get you inside, Tempest” Scarlet’s face filled with shock. She never introduced herself, but I knew her name “Later dearest, but we have to get inside” I managed, with Thena, to calm her down. I underestimated the power of the calm as I first used it in its full capacity. It managed to calm everyone, even those within the border. All the fast-beating hearts started to calm down. She then passed out which in turn, Ethan caught. “She belongs to the D’Angelo’s pack” I told them “What in the lunar goddess are you trying to say!” Ethan asked. Andre who I assumed received an earful from my brother was quiet.

‘Dre?’ I asked through the link ‘Love?’ He replied. We locked eyes and I did not have to ask before he said ‘Your brother gave me an earful of a warning, but understandably so. I had to take it in whether I’m the alpha, he will always be your brother. I’ll be fine’ He nodded his head and went to help Ethan carry her to the car.