The Myth of the Wolves

Chapter Four: Unwanted Answers

“Halo,” Damius called softly from the other side of the tent door.

“Yes, come in,” she replied.

Damius joined her in the tent with a warm cup of peppermint tea. “I hope this is alright. We don’t have sugar or cream here.”

Halo was sitting on the cot, the blankets wrapped around her as she shivered. She tilted her head, and Damius realized she probably never had either of those before, let alone tea.

“The bonfire is going strong if you want to sit by it.” Damius handed Halo the tea.

Her fingers brushed against his as she took the cup, a blush tinging her cheeks.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, sitting on a chair across from her.

“I think the fever I had is finally going away,” she responded.

Damius looked relieved. “I’m glad. Do you want to eat by the fire tonight or stay inside?”

Halo looked overwhelmed. She took a sip of her tea, looked up into Damius’s eyes, and she smiled lightly. “I think I can eat outside. I could use the heat of the fire.”

Damius sat and waited for her to finish her tea, and he realized they had grown quite comfortable with each other. The silence as she sipped her tea was calming, and Damius leaned back in his chair to take in this moment.

He finally found his mate. He was twenty-five, and it was considered late for an alpha to find his mate, and now he realized why: she had been underground, kept away from him. He knew she had no idea what a mate was, and he was surprised she was able to feel him, considering she had never experienced the powers that emanated from the moon. He had a lot of things to explain to her before he could claim her as his mate. He wanted to make sure she fully understood the mating-bond.

Halo watched as Damius seemed to be deep in thought. Now that they were with his own people, she wondered if he would act differently around her. He no longer needed to touch her, but she had grown to crave his touch and his warmth. He sat across from her instead of beside her, and she hated to admit that it bothered her. Why did she feel this needy with him already? She never felt like this with Timothy. She also wondered if he had a girlfriend or wife, and she found herself growing angry at that thought. She had no right to have these feelings.

She finished her tea and was glad that it significantly helped to warm her up. Damius gave her a questioning look, asking if she was ready to attend the campfire. She nodded, set down her cup, and she stood, following Damius out of the tent.

She was shocked to notice it was dark outside now. She stood still, staring up at the night sky, gazing at the twinkling dots that scattered throughout, and then she noticed it: the moon. She had been told stories about it. She looked for the fabled moon around the moon named Stella, but she was shocked that it did not seem to be there. Maybe it was just hiding? Or maybe some of the myths were inaccurate.

She felt Damius’s hand slip into her own, and she looked at him. He stood there watching her silently. There was something unreadable in his eyes as he watched her. She squeezed his hand, and they continued to the bonfire; to her surprise, Damius did not release her hand.

The warriors were loud. Laughing and talking in deep gruff voices, but they silenced instantly when they sensed their alpha. They were warned not to address him as an alpha around Halo; he did not want to overwhelm her, and he wanted to integrate her carefully to not overwhelm her even more. The warriors were aware that she was to be their future Luna, but they were told not to treat her as such yet. There was so much he had to explain to her, so much he had to tell her, and so much he had to warn her about. It all had to wait and be done carefully. He couldn’t risk losing her.

They sat around the fire, and to Halo’s shock, Damius had pulled her onto his lap after taking a seat on a log. She blushed and went to move off, but his arm was wrapped around her waist, his hand opening on her belly.

He pressed her firmly into him, making it known to those around them that she was his. One of the warriors had brought them bowls of warm stew, and that was the only time he had released his arm from around her.

After they had eaten, Ezra and Gamma Bryce approached them. Bryce went to bow his head but stopped himself when he saw Damius give him a look.

“A group of us scouted the area, and we found signs of the rogues,” Bryce informed them. “It seems they were alerted of our movements as they rushed to retreat just before we were able to confront them.”

Damius scratched his five o’clock shadow as he thought. “Keep scouting the area, and make sure we keep a lookout to the south. I expect my father to make a move within the next few days.”

Ezra spoke up, “how long do you plan on staying here?”

“As long as it’s safe. I don’t want to take any risks. The moment I hear of movement, we are leaving.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if we packed up and travelled together?” Ezra pressed.

“I’m not sure I want to travel with an entire brigade, but that might be something to think about,” Damius thought out loud. “Honestly, I didn’t want to suggest it because you realize what that would mean, right?”

“I don’t think you should be travelling alone,” Bryce urged. “I am more than ready to accept any consequences.”

Ezra nodded in agreement. “I don’t think you realize how many here would do the same. There are many who have waited for a moment like this.”

Damius paused for a few seconds before answering. “This is something we can talk about tomorrow morning. We need to plan our next movements, and if I have support, things can go in a whole different direction. I need to fill Halo in, and we can discuss what she wants to do first.”

Halo’s ears pricked up. She assumed this conversation had little to do with her, and she was starting to zone out. Ezra and Bryce nodded, being dismissed.

Ezra chugged the beer that was in his hand and sat down lithely.

Bryce sat down heavily on the log beside them, scratching his thick and unkempt beard. He looked at Halo in Damius’s arms and decided to introduce himself. “It’s nice to see you moving around. How are you feeling?”

Halo smiled at the man. He had warm looking eyes, and she found herself feeling instantly trusting of him. “I feel much better than earlier. It’s just been a long few days.”

Bryce nodded in understanding, his eyes twinkling because of the fire. He leaned back and grumbled in content, enjoying the fire's warmth.

Ezra stretched in his chair, “we would give our lives for Al- Damius. You can feel safe here.” Ezra was an extremely handsome man. He was tall and lean, but power rolled off him. Halo felt safe in the company of all three men.

Soon the men were telling stories and laughing. Laughter rolled off Damius’s chest, where Halo had found herself leaning comfortably against him. Cedar and pine, which she had learned to be his scent, comforted her further. She wanted to snuggle against this man and stay there forever.

The fire flickered, its warmth enveloping them, and soon Halo found herself growing tired. She leaned back against Damius, feeling comforted by his closeness, and she drifted off against him as he wrapped both arms around her.

She awoke as Damius set her down carefully in the cot. “Thank you,” she mumbled, pulling the blankets around her, and moving so that Damius could lay next to her. He smiled brightly and joined her on the cot.

They kept a distance between them. They both laid awake, staring at the ceiling of the tent.

Halo had so many questions, and she decided now was the time to ask, but she didn’t even know what she wanted to ask. Finally, she spoke up, “where am I to go?”

Damius turned his body, facing her. “We can take it one day at a time, but I want you to know that I will go wherever you are. You are not alone.”

“I don’t want you to do that just because you helped me to leave my village.”

“That’s not why, Halo,” Damius sighed. “I think the first thing you need to know is that you weren’t living in a village. You were living in a pack.”

Halo could feel the heat radiating off him, and she wanted to wrap herself around him, but she refrained. Her feelings about him were confusing her. “Like a pack of wolves?”

“Like a pack of werewolves,” he answered.

“Is this some weird cult?”

Damius suddenly laughed out loud. “No. Maybe it is better if I showed you, but I fear you’ll be scared, and that’s the last thing I want you to feel about me.”

Her heart thumped in her chest. What did he want her to feel about him?

“Are you still tired?” He asked.

“There is no way I’m going to sleep anytime soon,” she replied.

“Alright, let’s go, but I must warn you. I will be turning into a large werewolf. Are you ready to see that?”

Halo was beyond weirded out at this point, but she agreed, nonetheless. She was stuck there with these people. Maybe she could convince him that he was being delusional. “Okay,” she replied, and they both left the tent, walking a good distance from the camp.

The leaves crunched against their feet. Snow was just starting to stick to the ground, winter fast approaching.

Halo shivered and moved closer to Damius, feeling his heat without having to touch him.

Damius stopped and began to undress. Halo’s eyes went wide. “S-Stop!” she yelled, shielding her eyes.

Damius let out a loud and deep laugh. The most attractive sound Halo had ever heard. Her cheeks flamed, and she turned around.

Damius continued to undress behind her. “I’m about to shift. You can watch me shift, or you can turn around after. Up to you, babe.”

She knew he was teasing her, so she turned suddenly, refusing to allow her eyes to leave his. Knowing he was n***d though and seeing his large statue in her peripheral vision was enough to almost set off her heat again.

Cockiness and amusement lit his eyes, and she could see his smirk. “I’m about to shift, are you ready?”

She nodded affirmatively.

His forest green eyes suddenly changed to such a light green, the colour of pastel. They glowed, radiating in the dark. She gasped and took a step back.

“Are you sure you’re ready, Halo?” He asked, growing concerned.

She stood up straight, looking him straight in his eyes. “Yes.” This time she was ready. Her doubts began to subside as she accepted this new possibility, that werewolves existed.

She heard the cracking of bones before she saw them. His eyes never leaving her, he began a quick transformation, basically in an instant. In front of her stood an extremely large pure black wolf with pastel green eyes.

She did not feel afraid. In fact, she felt safe. Reaching out, she wanted to feel his fur beneath her palms. He understood this and moved closer to her, offering his snout.

She first felt his wet black nose sniffing her hand. Then she glided her hand down his snout and to his ear. His pupils dilated and he released a content growl as she scratched behind his soft ear. She giggled, meeting his eyes with hers for a moment. Then she moved around him, taking him all in, touching him. The way he was growling was hypnotizing her, but he growled out in warning when she touched him too close to his belly. She moved her hands back up to his back and couldn’t help herself. She hugged him tightly, pressing her cheek to his thick warm black fur. She had to stand on her tiptoes to lean her cheek against him, and even then, he was crouching down. He was large and magnificent.

He moved away from her, and just like that, he shifted back. There was a warm smile on his face. His forest green eyes were lit up.

“You weren’t afraid,” he noted.

“I felt safe with your wolf,” she responded.

He nodded.

“You said before that I was a she-wolf. How come I can’t shift?”

“Let’s sit down here,” Damius led them to a couple of boulders in front of a small pond. She could hear the crickets chirping and the wind blowing softly against the leaves that had not yet fallen, emitting the clattering noise of dried leaves struggling to stay on their branches while others flowed freely around them. The pond looked black, reflecting the night sky above them.

“There are things we need to talk about -things you need to learn,” he began.

Halo moved her legs closer to her, preparing herself for the information that was likely to overload her.

“Your pack is called The Moonlight Pack.” His voice was soft, attempting to comfort her, despite the content of the words he was about to release. “Your pack was forced underground about three-hundred years ago, if not more. You were forced underground by my pack, The Dark Moon Pack.”

Halo tilted her head, waiting for him to explain.

“It all happened obviously before I was born, but I have had a hand in enforcing this inequality since I was born, as I am the next alpha of The Dark Moon Pack.”

Hurt filled her heart, but he was quick to continue.

He kneeled before her, taking her hands into his. “That all changed. I plan to correct the mistakes of my pack, and the mistakes of my own past,” he pleaded. “Please believe me.”

She had too many questions, and her heart hurt too much, but she was done being weak. She needed answers, and she was going to ask them. “What has been your own personal role in this?” She had to know what he was capable of. She felt deceived.

Damius looked like a lost puppy. He stared down at their clasped hands as he began to confess his sins to his mate.

The Cabin

“I don’t know where to begin, but I supposed I will start by explaining what my pack did to yours, hundreds of years ago.”

She wasn’t sure what to feel about that. It was hundreds of years ago. No one was still alive who started this, but there seemed to be plenty of hands in continuing it. For what purpose? She had so many questions. She patiently allowed Damius to tell his story, trying not to hold anything against him unless she had reason to.

“From what I know of The Moonlight Pack, they were once one of the most powerful packs in the world; in fact, they were often blessed by the Moon Goddess, given many gifts. These gifts helped immensely in securing their strength.” He was still kneeling before her, avoiding her eyes, but he shifted to his feet, keeping her hands in his, and sat beside her. His leg brushed against hers.

Keeping one hand in hers, he leaned back, looking up at the stars in the night sky. Halo followed his lead, staring intently at the moon. Half the moon was shadowed, but she felt an odd strength emanating from it. She felt her skin glow lightly as the moon sang to her powerfully in the sky. She had never felt so much peace.

Damius continued, “there was a pack that competed with the strength of The Moonlight Pack. This pack was The Dark Moon Pack. Whether you wish to call it jealousy or not, the stories differ depending on who you hear it from. What I can tell you for certain are the facts of history. Despite the blessings from the Moon Goddess, The Moonlight Pack did fall.”

Damius rubbed calming circles in the palm of Halo’s hand with his thumb. “Before they fell, however, The Moon Goddess had given them one last gift: her daughter, Stella. There used to be a moon around the moon. This moon was called Stella. Since this gift to The Moonlight Pack, Stella’s moon never returned.”

Halo realized the stories she heard growing up were quite similar to the one Damius was telling, though she never heard of Stella being a gift to The Moonlight Pack. That would explain the moon’s absence, although the entire thing sounded ridiculous to her. Although, werewolves’ existences were ridiculous to her up until a few moments ago. She released a sigh, unsure how to feel about everything she had believed to be fiction before.

“Apparently, what happened is that The Moon Goddess had gifted her daughter to The Moonlight Pack, to be reincarnated again and again. She also gave The Dark Moon Pack a gift, or a curse, depending how you see it. She gave them Stella’s mate, to be reborn again and again.”

“That seems kind of… mean?” Halo stated. “Sort of like she cursed her own daughter to be alone forever.” Halo felt sorrow for Stella and her mate.

“Well, I think of it this way,” Damius reasoned. “She loves all her children so much that she gave up her daughter in an attempt to bring the packs together. I didn’t always think that way.” He scratched the stubble on his face and sat up straighter. “In any case, the stories had been twisted in so many ways. There are a lot of interpretations. The interpretation my father loves the most is that the Moon Goddess is punishing her daughter and The Moonlight Pack for being unthankful for the gifts she had given them.”

“The Dark Moon Pack views it as retribution for the many years that The Moonlight Pack were favoured. They think it is their right to punish The Moonlight Pack, keeping them hidden beneath the ground, slaving away, and collecting precious metals, ensuring the strength of The Dark Moon Pack, both materially and in the power we possess.”

He paused for a second before continuing, “as long as The Moonlight Pack remains separated from the moon, they remain powerless. As far as The Dark Moon Pack is concerned, the threat is dealt with.”

“As for my own actions in this mess,” Damius took in a breath, “I fear I am not blameless.”

Halo squeezed his hand to encourage him to continue.

“This is not an excuse, but an explanation. My father is an evil man, and I did not see it until recently. I mean, I’m not blind. I know he is extreme and abusive; I just never traveled beyond my pack to see the conditions that he rules over.

I had heard of The Moonlight Pack, and I felt driven to become involved in circumstances around them. At first, I had assumed it was because they were a threat that needed to be controlled, but as I began to visit the underground, the truth became glaringly apparent.

My father had moulded me to lead over our pack, and he had instilled into me the necessity to exploit The Moonlight Pack to ensure our continued strength and safety.

In doing so, he had tasked me to spend some time in the shadows underground. I was expected to punish dissenters. Many people have been abducted, tortured, and even burned alive by my own hands.”

Suddenly he stopped talking, removing his hand from Halo’s. Halo was so shocked; she had allowed his hand to slip from hers.

“I am not a good man, Halo.”

Halo had sat up. The last sentence repeated itself in her mind. He had said that many people had been abducted, tortured, and even burned alive by him. Burned alive. Could he have murdered her family?

Unsure of how to feel about this development, she got to her feet and left him there. She could not look at him anymore. She was correct in her earlier assumptions. She had been deceived. He was an evil man.

Damius was broken. He bore the entire weight of his sins. He did not deserve a mate, let alone one so perfect as Halo. He sat for several hours in the darkness of the forest, long after Halo had left him, heading in the direction of the camp.

***

Soon after Halo left Damius behind, disappearing into the trees on the way back to camp, her thoughts reeled nonstop. She wasn’t sure she could forgive him for this. She didn’t even know how to look at him after all he had said. She was so disappointed, and her heart felt broken.

Suddenly she heard shuffling in the bushes beside her. She wasn’t far from camp, so she readied herself to scream and run, but by the time she opened her mouth, she felt a hand over her mouth and a needle in her neck.

All went black.

***

A Very Feral Alpha.

When Damius returned to camp, he noticed his mate’s scent was faint. Usually, he could smell her vanilla and lavender scent at an intoxicating strength. He knew instantly she did not make it back to the camp. In fact, he smelled the rotting smell of those same rogues they came across in the caves.

His eyes instantly turned pastel green. His pupils dilated, and he growled viciously. He didn’t need to mind link his men for them to come running out of their tents, baring their necks in submission. He was ready to murder every single person in this camp if he could not find his mate.

Bryce stood in front of him, kneeling. “Alpha,” he greeted.

“Halo is missing,” Damius growled out; his voice was more animal than man.

Bryce’s eyes went wide.

Ezra slinked down on his knees beside Bryce, “Alpha, any ideas of why and where she could be?”

“Everyone needs to join their regular patrols and scout the forest,” Damius boomed. Even before waiting a second, he yelled, “NOW!”

The warriors were on their feet instantly, organizing into their regular patrols, scouting the forest.

Damius had yelled at himself internally for being a gentleman. He should have marked her the second he found her. He should have ripped off Timothy’s head for thinking he could touch what belonged to him. He shouldn’t have allowed her to walk back to camp on her own.

Unable to control himself any longer, he shifted into his wolf, shredding his clothes. He didn’t have time to spend thinking about this. She was probably abducted hours ago. He let out a mournful and vicious howl, sniffed the air, and began to track his mate.

The Rogues.

Halo regained consciousness; however, before she opened her eyes, she remembered what had just happened to her, and she kept them closed. She decided to pretend to still be unconscious. She smelled something rotting.

From what she could tell, she was tied up to a chair. Her wrists and ankles burned, as if the bindings they used on her were dipped in acid. She felt weak and her mind muddled. What had they injected her with?

She heard the creaking of a chair, as if someone was sitting in front of her, waiting for her to wake up. She felt a hand on her knee, and she felt it snake upwards. She jerked her head up, opening her eyes quickly. “Do not touch me.” Her voice was venomous, but the inner power she usually felt when standing up for herself was just not there.

The man in front of her had a slimy-looking smile on his face. His eyes, which met hers momentarily, stared at her body with barely held back desire. He licked his lips and brought his hand up higher on her knee, despite her warning. She felt a growl leave her throat before she even knew what was happening. Did that come from her?

The man looked up, a little shocked. “You shouldn’t be able to access your wolf,” he reasoned.

Just then the door banged open, and Halo took in her surroundings with clearer eyes. Her mind felt a little less muddled. She felt like she was quickly gaining back the strength she had lost.

They were in a shabby looking cabin. The wood around her was rotted more than halfway up its height. If she could guess, from glancing past the door that had opened momentarily and looking through the single window to her right, she was in a small cabin in the woods, which had at least one other room connected to hers.

The man who had opened the door took in the scene in front of him, “let go of her. He said not to touch her.”

The man in front of her let go of her leg with a scowl on his face, “she’s so soft.”

Halo felt disgusted. She also felt angry, and she especially felt angry that she wanted Damius right now. She didn’t want to feel this way about Damius. She was mad at him right now, and she definitely wasn’t ready to forgive him.

“I think she needs more wolfsbane. She’s looking way too coherent for someone that just had a full dose two hours ago,” the man from the doorway reasoned.

Her eyes went wide. She didn’t want them to inject her with anything again. She felt panicked, and screamed in her mind for Damius, begging him to find her.

“It’s alright sweetheart,” the man from the door prepared a shot for her and put it up to her neck. Without thinking, she quickly bit down on his hand, causing him to yell and drop the shot. “b***h,” he screamed. He backhanded her powerfully over her left eye. She felt her upper cheek split open with the force, and she yelped.

The man picked up the shot from the floor, a smirk on his face. “We can do it the hard way then.” He grabbed her hair, pulling her head back. He leaned in and sniffed her neck. The man behind him laughed coldly, “hey, no fair.”

‘I would mark you if I could,” he moaned into her neck. “I would do a lot of things to you.”

A third person entered the room. It was a female voice, “he will kill you if you do that.”

The man growled in frustration. “It had better be worth it,” he said before he injected her. She felt the ice-cold liquid enter her system just before she lost consciousness.