Moon Daemon

Chapter Five - The Book

When we arrive back to the castle, I jump off Thorin's back and watch as he stalks around the walls. I look around at the others returning as well, and watch as some of the wolves start to shake around me, turning back. A wolf who is white and tan approaches me, shaking wildly, and I raisee my hands in defense as it starts to shift before me.

I watch Accalia take form, her perfect naked body breaking back into her human self. I didnt realize when they shift back they would be fully nude, and I look up to the sky respectfully.

"What the Hell are you?" She asks me, grabbing a robe from the front steps and wrapping it around herself. "I watched you fight, and you're different from the others."

"I'm a shadow manipulator, you can call me Rae," I tell her.

"A Shadow Daemon?"

"I guess," I shrugging.

"So, you can manipulate just about anything?" she asks.

"As long as it is covered in shadows, yes."

"Accalia," Marrok says, walking out from around the corner in jeans and a white T-Shirt that makes my heart pound. "Have some decency, Esmeray is not use to all the nudity."

"Well, get use to it. The human body is beautiful," she winks at me. "Welcome to the Pack, Rae."

"Thanks," I mumble, as she walks away from me and into the castle.

"Are you okay?" Marrok asks.

"It went suprisingly better than I thought it would," I smile.

"What happened back there?' he asks me, coming closer.

"I don't know," I tell him. "I've never had a Transfused sniff me out before. I didn't even know they could do that."

"They can't," he says. "That one was different.

"Aerith," I tell him. "That was his name."

"Whatever his name was, we have to figure out why he is different from the others," Marrok says, reaching out to me.

"Marrok!" I hear screeched from behind him. The voice can only be compared to nails on a chalkboard, and I feel myself wince from the sound.

"f**k," he whispers, turning around and revealing a beautiful blonde she-wolf, with gorgeous long legs and a petite figure.

"Are you hurt?" she whimpers, coming up to him and pulling him into an embrace that ignites a fire within my heart.

"Nova," Marrok says. "How many times do I have to tell you to not call me Marrok."

"Well what should I call you then?" she purrs.

"Alpha," he says, bluntly.

I could see her mouth about to speak out against this request when she stops, sniffing the air before looking around him and finding me.

"What is that horrible smell," she giggles looking at me.

"I don't know whats worse," I tell her. "Your dog stench, or your cheap perfume."

"Excuse me?" she growls, stepping away from Marrok. I don't know why I said it, something just came over me and the words left my mouth before my brain could convince me to stop.

"Enough, Nova," Marrok snaps, pulling her away from me.

"Me?" she shrieks. "What about this creature?"

"You will be wise to leave my Mate alone," he growls.

I can see the wheels turning in Nova's brain as she realizes the words that just came out of Marrok's mouth. Her eyes widen and she inhales sharply as the realization hits. She takes a few steps away from Marrok and I, her hand covering her mouth. "Mate?"

"Yes, Mate," he nods.

"But," she stutters. "It's not even wolf."

"I'm a she," I tell her.

"No one is speaking to you!" she growls.

"Nova!" Marrok roars. "I will not tell you again! Enough."

I watch as Nova recoils from his shout, her head dropping submissively. "Yes Alpha," she whispers. "I'm sorry."

"Leave," he snaps.

She looks up at him one final time before meeting my eyes. Her eyebrows furrow and if looks could kill, I would absolutely be dead right now, but without another word, Nova turns from us and walks away.

"She was nice," I say, sarcastically.

Tala and Conan approach us, Tala glaring at Nova the entire time.

"Alpha?" Conan asks.

"Nova is not to approach Esmeray, under any circumstances," he tells them.

"Copy that, Alpha," Tala smiles. "I've been waiting for a reason to kick her ass."

I smile back at her, appreciating her beautiful red hair and infectious grin. "Rae," I tell her, reaching my hand out to shake hers. "Sorry we didn't meet under the best circumstances yesterday."

"Tala," she beams. "I'm so glad I finally got to meet you. This is my Mate, Conan. We're the Gammas of this pack."

"Gamma?" I ask.

"Wow," she smirks. "We really do have to teach you everything."

"This is my first conversation with a werewolf," I laugh. "They teach you about them in school, but not everything. I honestly thought you only shifted on a full moon."

"The rumors got a little ridiculous," Marrok says.

"We've got time to go over everything," Tala smiles. "Alpha, what do you want us to do about the rest of the pack? The cats out of the bag now that the Alpha has mated a non-wolf."

"Is that going to be a problem?" I ask.

"Not a problem," Conan says. "But it is a little unorthadox. The last time an Alpha mated a non-wolf, it was a neighboring pack, and they did not accept it."

"He was also mated to a Human," Marrok says. "That's different."

"How?" I ask.

"Humans are the reason for all of the dismay in the world," Marrok tells me. "Wolves consider them the enemy."

"But I'm daemon," I whisper. "It's my blood they want."

"Exactly," Marrok smiles. "There is no safer place for you to be than in a werewolf territory."

"I will cause trouble," I tell them. "They already know I'm here. Maybe I should just go."

"They know of your eistence now," Conan says, catching me off guard. "They will never stop hunting you."

"This was a mistake," I whisper.

"You listened to the Moon Goddess," Marrok says, making my stomach turn. "There's a reason you are here."

"Hekate," I mumble. "She's the one who sent them here. Aerith said they were told about me by the Moon Goddess."

Tala and Conan look from each other to Marrok. "That doesn't make any sense."

"That's what they said," I tell them. "The only reason I am here is because Hekate told me my destiny was here, and I could learn about my heritage and past here."

"Then that's what we are going to do first," Marrok says.

"What do we do about Nova?" Conan asks. "You know she's going to start spreading around the territory that you are Mated to a daemon."

"Let her," Marrok shrugs. "I have no reason to keep this from our pack."

"Marrok," I whisper. "Hold on. I haven't accepted the mate bond yet."

"And there is no rush for you to do so," he tells me, reaching out and touching my arm. "But I will not hide you. I am not ashamed that you are not wolf. I'd rather those around here get use to the idea, so if you do come around, they will already welcome you."

My heart skips a beat at his words, reassuring me that I had the power to decide my future here. I didn't know if I could trust Hekate, or even some of the wolves here, but one thing I was sure about was trusting Marrok.

"Okay," I smile. "The secrets out then, what do we do now?"

"I have a feeling I know where we should start our search," he tells me, grabbing my hand and leading me into the castle.

I notice how the others look at me. Some with curiousity, some with gentle smiles, and some with no smiles at all. Several she-wolves glare at me as I pass. I feel my shoulders hunch forward, trying to make myself as small as possible.

"Don't worry," Marrok whispers to me, bringing my hand to his mouth and gently kissing it. "It won't be like this long."

We come to a large set of double doors at the end of a hallway. The doors look like they are centuries old, the carving and intricate details that flow throughout them had me in awe.

"Welcome to your new favorite room," Marrok smiles, opening the doors, revealing the largest room I've ever seen in my life, comletly filled from floors to ceiling with books.

"Oh my Goddess," I gasp, staring at the walls of books around me.

"If we need to learn anything about who you are and where you came from, it is somewhere in this room," he tells me.

"Do you have books on daemons?" I ask.

"There's sections for all the Goddess's creatures," he informs me. "Daemons, wolves, vampires, sirens, pixies; all of them."

"This is incredible," I motion around me. "Can I look around?"

"Of course," Marrok says. "This is as much your library as anyone elses."

"Thank you," I whisper.

"There's also a back section," he tells me. "There isn't as many windows, so it remains pretty dark at all times."

"Where are the books on daemons?" I ask.

"This way," he says, leading me down a long hallway. The amount of books that have to do with daemons in general is breath taking. I look around, running my hand along the spines of the books, until I feel something familiar wash over me. I hesitate, turning slowly towards the feeling.

"Esmeray?" Marrok asks.

I don't answer him; I slowly walk away from all the daemon books and into the section of the moon goddess. The book resides in the back of the library, where the darkness becomes more prominent. I can see the sky starting to lighten as the sun begins to move up the horizon from the other windows.

I stop before a huge shelf, looking up to the top shelf, where I see a book that almost looks like it's glowing.

"Do you see that?" I ask Marrok.

"What?" he asks.

"That book up there," I point. I hear as he walks away from me, walking towards a ladder that slides amongst the shelves. He pulls it towards where I pointed and holds a hand out to assist me.

I climb the ladder and find the book that so mysteriously calls for me. It's entitled Moon Goddesses.

"Goddesses?" I whisper to Marrok. "I thought there was only one."

"Bring it down!" he tells me, holding the ladder for stability.

I pull the book from the shelf, and I'm met with an unseen force that knocks me backwards and off the shelf. I drop the book and reach for the ladder, but I'm already falling too far. I try to muster shadows around me but instead I am met with strong arms wrapping around my body.

I look up at Marrok who is now cradling me like a child, his face stern and concerned.

"Are you okay?" he asks me.

"Good catch," I joke.

"What was that?" he asks.

"I dont know," I tell him, realizing my hands are across his impressive chest and our faces are very close. I breathe him in, closing my eyes and inhaling as much as my lungs will allow.

I hear him cough lightly, and realize he's trying to put me down.

"Sorry," I blush. "That was not intentional."

"You can be that close to me whenever you want," he smirks.

"I want to know what knocked me over," I tell him, feeling my feet hit the ground. I reach around for the book that is now on the floor.

"Moon Goddesses?" Marrok says.

I flip through the pages and notice that every chapter is another name. My eyes catch the name Hekate - Dark Moon Goddess. I flip to the next chapter and see Neoma - New Moon Goddess, followed by Hilal - Crescent Moon Goddess, and Nikini - Full Moon Goddess.

"There's more than one?" I ask.

"It looks like theres a Goddess per every phase of the moon," he says. "I never knew that."

"Hekate talked to me," I tell him. "She's the one who spoke to me when I was a child, and she's the one that came to me and told me to come here; plus I think she just lead me to this book to let me know she hasn't told the Transfused to me."

"Dark Moon Goddess," he says. "How is that different from New Moon?"

I look down at the page for Hekate and begin to read. "Dark Moon isn't the same as new moon," I tell him. "It's centered more around eclipses."

"When the moon takes over the sun," he nods. "That makes sense. I've always felt different when that happened."

"That's when I'm at my most powerful," I smile. "The world becomes encompassed in shadows for a few minutes."

"So if Hekate is the one that is helping you," he looks down at the book, his big hands landing on top of mine. "Which Goddess is trying to hurt you?"