Called by the Goddess

Chapter 9: Morning routine

~Kate~

My alarm went off at 5:00 am. I groaned, put out my hand to find my phone and managed to swipe the alarm to snooze. I turned around to find my comfy position in my bed again. Just a little bit longer… I yawned and blissfully closed my eyes and dozed off again.

Ten minutes later the alarm went off again. This time I made myself sit up, I yawned and stretched my arms and looked at my phone.

I still couldn’t really believe it, my very own phone, how spoiled I was. I never had one growing up, omegas couldn’t afford cell phones, they had to use the ancient land lines the pack provided for them and those were only to be used for work and emergencies.

But here I was, into my third week with the order. Time to start my day. I got out of bed, still sleepy, and walked into the bathroom. After a quick toilet visit, I splashed some cold water on my face, brushed my hair and put it into a quick and easy bun and put on my sweatpants and tshirt. I looked into the mirror again, I was wondering when the silver glints in my eyes would become normal, they still freaked me out a little.

“Ah well Katie”, I told myself sternly, “nothing you can do about it now, except to make the best of it and be grateful you have escaped the pack. Onto bigger and better things for you!” I said with a grimace. I still could not really wrap my head around the fact that I was revered as ‘the chosen one’ to most people in the order. Thank Goddess for Granny (I finally got myself to call mrs. Winger that), mr Winger and Maya. They did not mind putting me in my place and telling me off when I did something wrong. The others tiptoed around me, treating me like I am some kind of Messiah.. Djeez… I am just a 16 year old kid…

I went downstairs and found the kitchen totally empty and dark, just the way I liked it in the mornings, I loved being the first one up. Only Boris was there, waiting for me, rubbing his head against my leg. “Hey little one”, I told him, while petting him. “Mwreoaw”, he responded. “Yes, I know you want breakfast, you lazy cat, shouldn’t you be able to catch your own food?” I said mockingly stern to him, while I took out his feeding bowl and his favorite can of wet food. Boris stood up against the counter, his front paws trying to take the bowl from her. “You silly thing, impatient are we? Here you go, mister” I said as I put the bowl on the floor for him.

I quickly made myself a cup of hot water with a slice of lemon, and slowly drank that as I watched Boris enjoy his meal. She loved having cats around, in the pack pets were strictly forbidden. Well, for omegas anyway.

“Ok Kate, let’s go”. I put my cup in the dishwasher and put on my running shoes. Yep! I had running shoes now, and regular shoes, how cool was that? I just did a happy dance because sometimes I still could not believe how much extra stuff the order had given me.

I opened the door and was welcomed by a fresh morning breeze. I loved the scent in the morning, just around dawn, when the forest would slowly awake. “The perfect time to go for a run”, I told myself and ran off towards the track. Maya had devised a rigorous training schedule for her. She felt fitter that she ever had and she loved that she was allowed, encouraged even, to learn as much about combat fighting as she wished.

“As our future Luna, you should be able to lead us in battle”, Maya often told her. “That means that others should look up to you and not being able to put you on your behind in one simple move”, she usually added with a wink, after she managed to flip Kate through the air one way or another. She did have a lot of bruises the first week, despites the mats in the dojo, but slowly, she started getting the hang of it. She grinned when she remembered the first time she could throw Maya over her shoulder during a mock fight. That look of surprise, followed by a proud grin “That’s my chosen one!”, still made her glow with pride.

She still missed her parents dearly, even though they mind linked as often as was safe, which was in the little spare time her mum and dad had to themselves in their room. She learned by now that her parents were high ranking agents in the order and luckily through their contacts they regularly smuggled out some cake or Kate’s favorite foods. Last week mr. Winger brought a big batch of her mum’s Boeuf Bourguignon. So yum!

Mr. Winger came down in the evenings, every now and then, to visit his mum and sister, who was a teacher as well. She taught chemistry, and was just as good of a teacher as her brother. She had been happy to find out that there was a whole community, almost a pack on its own. The order, so she had learned, was there to keep the old religion alive. The religion of the Moon Goddess Luna, where the pack was originally named after. The Luna pack.

They had multiple houses in the forest. Granny’s house of course, where Granny and her daughter Tanya lived, but also mrs. Hughes who did most of the cooking and Tara and Jasmin, two of the priestesses of the order, who were in charge of her education on the old religion. There was an orphanage, where children like Maya (they’ve told me how she was rescued) were raised, barracks for the training of the warrior wolves of the pack, Maya lived there, but she loved to come down for breakfast at Granny’s. There was the temple school, where novices were trained to be priestesses. And there were of course also regular families, living and working and contributing to the wellbeing of the order.

Every month there was a joined ritual, where everybody who was part of the community that made up the order attended. During that ritual, the spell that kept pack members away from the forest was reinforced, so that it would never lose its strength. Spells were made up of energy, I had learned, and energy could dissipate over time, making the spell less powerful or even disintegrate. I just missed the last ritual, and I couldn’t wait for the next one. I really couldn’t envision what it would be like, but I sure wanted to find out!

I had been taught that the Luna used to be the natural leader of the pack, not just the wife of the alpha. She reigned together with her mate, not by force, but because she was the best one for the job. “Yeah right, Kate, like you are such a natural born leader”, I sighed to myself, feeling the weight of the prophecy crash down on me once more.

I had just finished my first round of the track, so I figured I did have a proper warmup now, so I dispelled all other thoughts out of my mind and started running as fast as I could!

After my morning run, I took a shower, got dressed and went downstairs to help set up for breakfast. Since I was an early riser and was used to helping with the breakfast shift ever since I was a little pup, it made sense to me that I should help. I was there, awake and with nothing else to do. And I did bake some mean pancakes and waffles, if I said so myself. And the absolute plus side to making breakfast here in Granny’s house, is that I got to eat right after I was done and did not have to clean up the dishes.

I hummed to myself, as I was putting trays of bacon in the oven, and started to whip up some batter for the pancakes. Mrs. Hughes came downstairs, she was one of the other wolves that lived in Granny’s house I soon discovered and she used to be the one making breakfast for everybody. She hadn’t been too pleased with me taking over her kitchen at first, but after she tasted my pancakes she had embraced my help.

“Morning love!” she winks at me. “Up at the c***k of dawn again?”

“Yep, you know me, mrs, H., I love to have a morning run when everything is still quiet!” I winked back at her.

“I don’t know how you do it, this is early enough for me!”, she replied, while taking out a big bowl for the eggs. “It is about time you started calling Angelica Kate, all this mrs. Hughes makes me feel old”.

I grinned, thinking to myself “but you are old”, but thought it best not to say that out loud. “I’ll try.” I told her.

When we finished setting up for breakfast, the other inhabitants of the house slowly came down. I quickly grabbed a plate and started putting food, took my favorite mug for coffee and sat down at the breakfast table. Man, all that running made a wolf very hungry, I could tell you that!

When I was finishing up my second round of food, Granny came sitting next to me. “This morning, I will take over your lessons. We will go outside, it is time you were introduced to our most sacred space in the forest!”, she said.

“That sounds wonderful!” I said. I loved being outside! And I was very curious to see this sacred space, where the monthly ritual was being held as well. Plus lessons from Granny were always extra special. Don’t get me wrong, Tara and Jasmin are wonderful teachers as well, and I truly can say that learning about our old religion was the best part of my day. It really felt as if something clicked with me and I found my right place if I was with Tara or Jasmin. But that feeling was multiplied by the force of energy that always seemed to emanate from Granny. It truly felt like coming home.

“Go get some cushions for us to sit on and some extra blankets to keep us warm, then we can go!” Granny informed me. I did as I was told and I followed her to the training grounds I thought at first. But then she led me to a different path and after a few minutes, we came to a huge clearing in the forest. What I saw there made my jaw drop to the ground!