Called by the Goddess

Chapter 13: Memories

~Maya~

Just as I went up for breakfast at Granny’s house, I noticed the smell of French toast… yum! That meant that Diane was here. I was a bit surprised, it wasn’t time for her normal visit, but hey, I did not complain, bring on her fabulous French toast!

Just as I walked in I heard Diana say “... So here I am, finding the best piece of meat, because nothing less is good enough for our alpha and his precious heir.” and I literally froze and just stood there in the doorway, like an i***t.

So that is why she is here, extra ‘shopping trip’ to honor the fact that Eric is home. I felt myself going cold only thinking about him. Why did that son of a b*tch, even just the mention of him, still bother me so much? I sighed. I knew why. I thought he was my best friend in the whole world, but in the worst moment of my life, he just stood there, doing nothing, looking away even. I had never felt more betrayed in my life, not even by my dad. From him I expected as much. But not, never, from Eric.

How I had loved our moments together. We had managed to slip away a few times after I was demoted and secretly hang out together. I remember him saying to her ‘if I become the alpha, I will change those stupid rules and promote you back. Maybe even make you my Luna, who knows’. She scoffed at the memory. Eric… the boy she revered above all others. Until that dreadful day. As the alpha’s son, he was the only one there of higher ranking than that asshole Jonathan. So if anyone could have saved her, it had been him.

“Hey Maya, when did you get in? Are you ok? And how cool is it that my mum is here?” I heard Kate ask me, which abruptly brought me back to the present.

“Yeah, I am fine, and very cool”, I told her, trying to smile reassuringly.

“Come in dear, I made you an extra batch of French toast, I know how you love it’, Diana smiled at me, with a look of concern, like she knew exactly what I had just thought.

I smiled, more genuine this time. ‘Oh, what a treat, thank you so much! And good that you are here! I am so happy for Kate that she gets to spend time with her mum!’

Having said that, I turned to Kate: ‘But, young lady”, I said in my mock stern voice, “you were missed at training yesterday and skipped your morning workout, so I need you to come with me after breakfast for warrior training! Afterwards, you will be able to spend some more time with your mum’ I winked at her.

She flashed me back a grin. “Yes ma’am, of course ma’am!” she said in a soldier like voice, saluting me.

“That’s the spirit!” I grinned. I sat down and dug into the wonderful French toast, served with maple syrup and a side of bacon. Yum. “Why don’t you ever make French toast, Kate? Didn’t your mum teach you?” I asked her, in between bites.

“She tried, but mine always fail miserably… they somehow always turn out soggy” Kate admitted.

“And how would I otherwise announce I am here, but by cooking French toast for the order, so you all can sniff your way here!” Diana added.

“True…” I grinned, “that is how I always know you are here!”

After breakfast, Granny and Diana rushed us out of the kitchen. “We have got things to discus, and you two need to get to training!” Granny said, motioning us out of the door.

“Ok ok, we are going!” Kate said. “Djeez, you would think you guys would treat your chosen ones with some more respect!” she said jokingly. I liked that about her, dumbing down the hugeness of the responsibility on her shoulders, to be able to cope with it all.

“Ok, mighty chosen one”, I mockingly bowed to her, “did you ever wolf out again after your first time?”

Kate looked dumbstruck. “Djeez, no, now you mention it, I just have been so busy, haven’t had the time to think about that!”

I rolled my eyes at her. “So that is our chosen one. Special because she unites with her wolf so early and all that… but do you do anything with that? No!”

“If you put it like that... “ she started and then suddenly looked a bit insecure. “What if it only was a fluke, a one time thing, because I was so angry? What if I cannot wolf out at will?”

Another aspect of our Kate that I had come to love. Going from happy and confident to insecure and a mess in less than a second, and vice versa.

“You won’t know it if you don’t try”. I smiled at her reassuringly. “Close your eyes and connect with your inner wolf. Feel her, connect with her and let her take the lead”.

Instead of asking more questions, I saw her do as I said. She is so unlike any other young wolf that I knew, most of them would ask at least five more questions before they would dare to give it a go. Questions like, does it hurt as much as the first time, every time? What if I get stuck halfway into transitioning? But not Kate. I saw a smile reaching her face when she connected with her wolf, her body shimmered and poof, there was a gorgeous grey wolf.

I looked again, something was different than other grey wolves I had seen. And then it struck me, Kate’s wolf wasn’t grey, she was silver. With silver blazing out of her eyes as well. I quickly changed into my wolf, and couldn’t help but walk up to her reverently and nuzzle her.

I mindlinked her: “How did that feel?”

“Like becoming one with myself, such a cool feeling!” she responded. “Come on, let’s go for a run!” and off she went, forgetting I was the one training her and instinctively taking the lead. And instinctively, I followed.

We ran like the wind through the forest. Wow, Kate is fast! The first wolf that could outrun me! I really enjoyed the feeling. Until suddenly, I realized we were very close to the perimeter of the forest, almost in pack territory.

“Kate, wait up! Don’t go any further that way, you will get too close to pack territory” I told her through the mind link, my old roll as her teacher taking over again.

“Thanks for the warning, Maya! I was enjoying myself so much that I forgot to look where I was going. There is some strange pull I am feeling that way though. What could that be?”

“I don’t know, I never really felt something like that. Maybe you feel your dad?” I suggested.

“Hmm, strange. Oh well, let’s go to the training grounds!” Kate shrugged it off and changed directions. I was happy to follow, being so close to pack territory with our young and untrained chosen one made me feel very uneasy.

~Eric~

“Ugh, I hate this place, I hate my dad!” I fumed to myself in my head. I had just had to endure a big lecture from my father about how to run the pack and how to behave myself properly towards the other wolves. I hated behaving like the crown prince, being bowed to even by omegas that passed me by. Some of the customs we hold are so outdated. The only thing I did was holding the door open for an omega that had his hands full. That is merely called being considerate, not stooping down to their level. And how bad would it be, if us higher ranking wolves sometimes got our hands a little dirty, other than by warrior training? But no. That was absolutely not done in my father's eyes. “You were born to lead, not to serve!” he had boomed at me.

I was back from college for a weekend, and the whole pack was in turmoil. There had to be a big feast with a barbeque in my honor and I just felt like returning home to his college dorm, in between the humans, where people just thought he was a rich, spoiled kid, being prepped to take over his dad’s business.

Well. I was a rich kid, being prepared to take over my dad’s business. That just entailed a little bit more than my friends in college could imagine.

I sighed. It was such a burden and since he had been away to college, his old doubts about how the pack was being led had begun to resurface. The doubts that had been buried through the speeches and indoctrination of his dad, telling him that they were the better wolves. That it was an honor for the omegas to serve them, that we did them a kindness by letting them.

He remembered having to come see his dad, because he had been spotted being friendly with an omega girl, when he was only six years old. That this girl had been the gamma’s daughter not too long ago and his best friend as they had grown up together did not matter.

“Do you understand the consequences of your actions, son?” his father was fuming. “If anybody else had seen you, what would they think? That the alpha’s son fraternizing with an omega, hugging her even, meant that he may not be fit to lead the pack? That you have omega tendencies yourself? Do you want our family to be overthrown? Don’t you EVER let me down like that again!”

“But dad, ...” I started, wanting to explain that it had just been Maya, who had sat in his lap not too long ago. But before I could finish my sentence, he struck me with the back of his hand. Pull your pants down and bow down over my desk, his father had growled, pulling his belt from his trousers... I had not been able to sit for days. That was the first time he had felt anything other than admiration for his dad. He had been his hero, the alpha, and I had been so proud to be his son. But that day something cracked.

Especially since the day after was that dreadful day that that bully Jonathan beat her to an inch of her life. The only thing I could do was just stand there, I knew my father had a clear view on that playground and I knew that he was watching me and I would only make things worse for Maya if I intervened. I had never really liked Maya’s father and that day proved to me that he at least was rightfully demoted to omega status.

Maya had died in the pack hospital, and Jonathan had been so proud, he remembered trying very hard not to let his real feelings show, but I never really wanted to hang out with Jonathan after that.

I shrugged off these horrible memories and wolfed out. Time to go for a run, that was the one thing I missed being away at college, not being able to wolf out whenever I wanted. It felt good, letting my wolf out and just running, being one with nature!

Suddenly I stopped, realizing I was in a place I usually avoided. I was nearing the border of the forbidden forest. Weird that I ran here. Why did I go here? I stared into the forbidden forest and felt the need to turn the other way. But at the same time I wondered why a small part of me wanted to venture in there.

“Don’t be crazy Eric, you are letting your imagination run wild, let’s head home, everybody knows you shouldn’t set foot in that creepy place!”