Cry for the Moon

Lycaon and Gilgamesh

Hera POV

At first Cronos and I believed that one of our cubs would show more dominance and be the obvious choice for Alpha. The other would be assigned their place, whether their position be Beta or a mid ranking wolf. We just prayed that neither would be deemed as Omega.

However, as they both grew, neither asserted dominance over the other. They were both showing assertiveness and confidence early on, showing a lack of fear and extreme curiosity

The biggest thing that worried us, was the fact that they were never apart. Usually an Alpha shows all these traits, but would seek to strike out alone and show their confidence. Our cubs didn’t do that independently, they did it together. Instead of dominating each other and choosing who was the boss, the boosted each other’s confidence, cheering each other on.

As their mother, it was amazing to see and filled me with pride that they showed such love for one another.

As a wolf, fear enveloped my heart, this was not how wolf hierarchy worked and left them vulnerable. If others saw their caring nature as a sign of weakness, they could be targeted. All possibility of either of them being alpha, could be ripped from them before they even got chance.

Wolf hierarchy is a complicated and fragile thing. We are deemed as strong, steadfast creatures, with a well thought out structure for dominance. The problem is that many have forgotten how our way of life began.

Centuries ago, we were merely humans, there was no talk of creatures unknown, simply animals or humans. Two lines of werewolves appeared, one started in Uruk, Iraq, the other in Arcadia, Greece. New lineages have since began to appear in many countries, such as Iceland and France. However, the two original lines are deemed our true ancestors. The line of Gilgamesh and the line of Lycaon. Many of us followed the ways of Lycaon, seeing his beliefs as our religion and way of life, however, some followed the power of Gilgamesh, believing that he had the ultimate power and knowledge of the world. This caused great wars between wolves, many years ago, both sides fighting for their beliefs and for the respect of others. Things were different now, wars of that size were unheard of, of course there were the odd battle for dominance, but mostly packs kept to themselves. This was thanks to the Royal pack. It was discovered that the great Lycaon had made a deal with the Moon Goddess, to be reincarnated on Earth, every 500 years. This created the Royal lineage, as Lycaon had returned in wolf form and had been given to a human. The human would be mated to a werewolf, deemed to be true of heart and loyal minded. They would be the ones to lead our kind into happiness and prosperity, so they were announced as the Royal line. For 500 years, that bloodline would rule as King and Queen, until the return of Lycaon.

Everyone knew of the ways of Lycaon, how he would not necessarily chose the same line of wolves to reincarnate to, many prayed for the honour. The current royal family had kept the crown for 1000 years, having Lycaon choose 2 from their family, recurring. This had caused some jealousy in the packs, creating tension across the country, leading to wolves being banished from their packs. More and more wolves were going mad with the thirst for power, creating the Rogues we know now. Unwilling to be in a pack anymore, barely human and rarely leaving their wolf form, they had become a threat to society. Almost 500 years ago, there had been a cull of rogues. Many Alphas had sent their hunters and warriors to search for any rogues, ordering them to kill on site. It was an upsetting time for all, as the family of the rogues, who were still in the packs, felt the pain of their death. There was no mercy for these poor creatures, no matter their age or health, they were cut down in masses. What nobody expected was that many of the rogues had formed their own families, with their wolves urging them to breed, as a natural animal instinct, they had created their own small packs of families.

When the packs heard of the brutality of the attacks, with not even children being spared, there was a revolt. Many called for the Alphas, who had sent them, to be replaced. That no true alpha would attack the innocent and what was more innocent than a child, a child that couldn’t even shift yet. The Royal family had to step in again, putting a stop to the attacks and revolts, giving the alphas a warning for their actions.

Some were not happy with the alphas only receiving a warning and decided to seek out the packs favouring the line of Gilgamesh. Cutting ties with the packs of Lycaon and bidding their loyalty to Gilgamesh. Anger radiated out from the packs, families torn apart by the actions of a few. More rogues were created that day than any other, some losing all faith for Lycaon, Gilgamesh and the idea of a pack.

What few knew was that Gilgamesh had also made an agreement of his own, not with the moon goddess but with a demon, Asmodeus. He also shall be resurrected every 500 years and nobody had yet worked out why there was always a war when the new Royal line was chosen. Gilgamesh would choose only an Alpha to resurrect with, he would find one with a burnt heart, filled with fear and hurt, he would twist it into anger, using it to create these outbreaks of war. He had created the cull of rogues to anger the werewolves of the world, for an hurt heart is an easy one to lead astray.