Mark You in This Life

6: The Prophecy

6: The Prophecy

Kai's POV

The whole time during the meeting, I was focused on Freya's reactions as Alpha James explained the circumstances behind her and Darius's birth. I couldn't believe it. My mate had been the direct result of the Moon Goddess' blessing. It made me feel even luckier to have been fated to such a powerful mate.

When Elder Marius explained that he believed that Freya, Darius, and I were part of an ancient prophecy, my heart skipped a beat. I was learning so much in such a short time.

Orion...are you getting all of this?> I asked my wolf, hoping that he'd been paying attention during this meeting.

Yes, Kai. I always knew that we were special.>

I cleared my throat, breaking the still silence that hung in the air. "I'm afraid I'm going to need some clarification, Elder Marius," I said, "What do you mean, you believe that me, my mate, and her twin brother are involved in an ancient prophecy?"

Elder Marius gave us an understanding smile. "I do apologize. I know that this is a very confusing situation for all involved. You see, we had to wait for Freya to find her mate in order to see if it was true. Ever since the twins' birth, we have had every reason to believe that they are the reincarnations of the children of Selene, herself."

Freya gasped. "I'm sorry, but what the hell? In twenty-three years, no one thought of telling Darius or me that we might be reincarnated children of the freaking Moon Goddess?!" Though I could tell that she was doing everything to maintain her composure, I couldn't blame her for feeling upset. Something had been kept from her whole life. She had every right to be upset.

Alpha James sighed. "Freya, you have every right to be upset with us. You too, Darius. There still is so much we haven't explained. The reason that we believe that you're both tied to the prophecy is, that when you were born, you were both born in wolf form. Naturally, we had to alert the pack Elders, as this was unheard of. It was Marius who thought that you would be tied to the prophecy first, seeing you in your wolf forms."

Marius nodded. "The prophecy states that two thousand years ago, the children of Selene, the twins Antatole and Neoma, bonded to the wolf spirits Apollo and Diana, respectively, were killed at the hands of Romulus, the first werewolf that Selene blessed with a wolf spirit, over his jealousy of Neoma being mated to his twin brother, Remus, bonded to the wolf spirit, Orion. In her grief, Selene cursed Romulus to eternal life with never knowing a mate, and Romulus would soon form the Wild Hunt, his pack of rogues, which dedicated itself to hunting supernaturals so that he could kill and claim their abilities for himself, feeding his power. It is said that Selene, wanting to give her children and Remus a second chance, would eventually reincarnate them, the twins to an Alpha and Luna that had suffered a great loss, and Remus to a powerful Alpha bloodline. The twins would be born in wolf form, and come into great powers once the reincarnated Neoma found her destined mate, Remus, in her new life. Once mated and marked, Neoma would come into powers like no other, having been blessed with magic by the goddess of magic herself, Hecate. Together, with her twin brother and mate by herself, she would be able to stop Romulus and his Wild Hunt once and for all. But - Romulus himself has been waiting thousands of years for the she-wolf to believe his rightful mate to be reborn. Should he succeed in claiming her for himself, he will gain power like no other, and rule the supernatural world with fear and an iron fist."

My head was spinning. I was a reincarnation of an ancient werewolf who had been bonded to the daughter of the Moon Goddess in a previous life? It was almost too much to take in. Was that the dream that I had last night? Was I reliving a memory that I had when I was Remus, as apparently, he was the first life that I lived?

Orion. Is what Elder Marius is saying true? Were we Remus in a previous life?>

Yes, Kai. I have been waiting for you to finally find out. We needed to meet our mate first. She is more important than anyone could ever know.>

Speaking of my mate, I looked over to where Freya was sitting next to me, her face a mix of features, confusion, hurt, and anger. I couldn't blame her or Darius in the least. I wondered if my own parents knew about the prophecy, too. It would have to be a conversation to be had when I got back to Silver Mountain.

"If we were born in wolf form, then why weren't we always bonded to them, then?" Alpha Darius asked.

Luna Sylvia looked at her son, giving him a sympathetic smile. "Upon discussion with the Elders, it was decided that allowing you to grow up bonded to your wolf forms would be too dangerous for you both, especially if any enemies of the pack found out. We asked my friend once again to lock your wolf forms until you turned eighteen when they would come out naturally on their own."

"Um, I have a question," Sergei said from his spot where he had been leaning against the wall. "Romulus...he's a myth. The Wild Hunt is a story told to pups at bedtime to keep them from misbehaving. 'Be good and listen to your Alpha and the Elders or Romulus and his Wild Hunt will get you'. You're saying, he's real? He's been out there, kidnapping powerful supernaturals this whole time, and no one has thought to hunt him down and stop him?"

"The problem with hunting Romulus and stopping him, Beta Sergei," Elder Marius said, "Is that he is nearly impossible to track and find. Over the years, he has kept to the shadows, and is very good at covering his tracks. His targets are never found, and it is believed that he uses powerful dark magic to hide himself. The only hope is the White Diamond Wolf, Diana, and the one she is bonded to, Freya, coming into their full powers to stop him. And that starts with her accepting her mate, and them finally being able to mate and mark each other."

"And what if it just leads to our deaths again?" Freya spoke up. "You say that this is all part of some ancient prophecy, but you never thought once to tell Darius or myself so that we could prepare! And what about Kai, does he get a say?" She balled up her fists, fury in her eyes as she stared at the Elders and her parents. "For months, I've been having these horrible dreams. It all makes sense now. In those dreams, I'm Neoma, and I find my mate dead, murdered before we could accept each other and solidify our bond? How can you stop that from happening again?! You can't! If this Romulus is so determined to have me as his own, something tells me that he won't care about some prophecy, and will just murder my mate again! Every morning, I wake up in a cold sweat, my heart aching, having found my mate dead. I know it's not real, and apparently, it's just a memory from my past life, but Neoma's pain is just too much to bear, over and over again."

I gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "I haven't gone through what you have, Freya. I am sorry that I wasn't there to help you through the pain of reliving such a horrible memory from your past life. But I had a dream, too, last night, for the first time, which I now know was a memory of my past life as Remus. And in that dream, he met Neoma for the first time. And what he felt in that moment, that bond, was what I felt for you when we first met. I don't know what happened in the past. But I do now, I will never let anyone or anything take you from me."

Freya looked down at her feet, and I could tell that she had a lot on her mind. I didn't blame her one bit. This was almost too much to take in.

Darius cleared his throat. "And where do I fit into all of this, if I'm also apparently a reincarnation? I've never had any dreams about Anatole, or what happened in the past."

Elder Marius looked at him. "The twin wolf of Diana, Apollo, is supposed to amplify the powers of his sister. It is also believed that because Anatole never found his mate in his past life, Selene reincarnated her son to give him a second chance, to find his mate, and to lead his pack."

Darius nodded, that answer was acceptable to him. I looked back over to Freya, who still had a sea of different emotions on her face.

"I...I feel like I can't breathe," she said, and I noticed her eyes clouding over, turning a bright purple. "I can't be in here! This is too much! You lied to me! You lied to us! You kept secrets from us!" Her voice sounded merged, and I could tell she and her wolf were speaking together. She jumped off of her chair, her features changing as she shifted, her clothes shredding, and seconds later, a gorgeous, sleek, wolf with shimmering white fur and a crescent moon symbol over her left eye stood in the room. Her eyes were a deep violet, and she was bigger than any other she-wolf I had ever seen, almost as big as an Alpha would be. Everyone stepped back, giving her space. She growled, before springing at the closed door, breaking it open. There were surprised shrieks as she ran through the packhouse, and out the door.

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