Legend Has It Book I ~{COMPLETE}~

Chapter 3 Phoenix

As my 18th birthday neared, the pressure to find a mate was becoming stronger. My wolf was just as restless as my parents and I was finding it difficult to think for myself.

My father, Alpha Khane McClaran, of the Death Moon realm, was ready for me to assume the responsibilities of Alpha so he could spend more time hunting and fishing. Alphas weren’t required to have found a Luna before assuming the role, but my wolf was naturally programmed to want his mate. We were still a bit young for this, though.

::We NEED to find her!::

I was hearing my wolf cry this phrase more and more, but my wolf, like me, was still not quite mature. I hadn’t completed my first shift, which would take place the evening of my birthday celebrations under a full moon.

I didn’t know who my mate was yet and that both thrilled and terrified me. The Moon Goddess worked in mysterious ways, for sure.

My parents were threatening to arrange a business marriage to strengthen our already powerful pack. An agreement had been made shortly before my 4th birthday, to wed the firstborn of Alpha Mason Triplett of the Silver Moon realm. It was a rare phenomenon for the firstborn of an Alpha to be a female, and the soon to be infant’s parents wanted her protected by an alliance with my father’s realm. There were universes who would not accept a female Alpha and would try to destroy her.

The union would have physically combined our realms—a phenomenon that hadn’t occurred in centuries. The Inter-Universe Council hadn’t even been formed then.

Our allies were supportive. My father postulated our allies wanted the honor of saying they were alive to witness such a rare event. Others, not so much. A war amongst the realms could be ignited.

Every precaution had been taken with extra patrols and volunteer Guardians, but the attack had still taken Silver Moon by surprise it seemed. The realm still existed, but had been utterly destroyed. Only one warrior survived long enough to mutter the words, “Vampires and demons.”

Neither the bodies of the parents or the infant had been found and the family was presumed dead.

I hated the fact that an entire realm had been destroyed, but I also hated that my father planned to go against the Mate Bond with me.

{~>*•**•*<~}

“Alpha Khane, there’s news from earth,” my Beta interrupted my thoughts to deliver the message.

The Empathic Guardian, Juanita, had succumbed to what was presumed to be the ugly human weakness of cancer. Her orphans were being protected by other Guardians, although the fourteen of them had to be separated.

I had planned to travel to earth to assess one of the girls. My sources reported there was a female child of possible wolf descent. They believed the girl had a Mind Shield and were, therefore, unsure, but she was the right age to be the missing Alpha female.

The m******e my pack had assisted in cleaning up made me doubt the child had survived, but two important bodies, three if we considered the child, had not been found. Vampires and demons usually attacked for the sheer fun of it and liked to leave behind lots of evidence. The wreckage was almost as if nuclear bombs had gone off, but that wasn’t possible. Not at the altitude nor with the atmosphere our realms existed in. Only earthlings had nuclear bombs. The reality was, only Ancient magic could have been involved but we had no other answers.

With no bodies, we could only speculate that the Tripletts had escaped, but to where? Death Moon would have been the logical place to go.

Kidnapping was possible, but did not seem likely, as surely a ransom would have been issued.

My pack, with the assistance of our many allies, interrogated all potential enemies. We’d used every known spell, potion and torture method but all possibilities claimed not to know what happened to the Alpha and Luna of the Silver Moon pack. All had seemed quite upset about not knowing. We were happy to put their minds at forever, irreversible ease.

The thought made me smile. We prefer peace, but, we’re werewolves, for f**k’s sake. We definitely enjoy a good kill.

I’d had to postpone my trip to Juanita’s realm. War had broken out between two other, but neighboring realms and I had to put an end to it before it spilled over into my realm. Now my son’s 18th birthday was fast approaching. Perhaps I should send him in my place to assess the girl after his ceremony. The Mind Shield was definitely interesting and could indicate the involvement of a witch to conceal her.

“We’ll go after Phoenix’s shift,” I informed Beta Mario.

The girl was safe with the Guardians, most of whom were highly trained Mages or werecats. As a sort of mothership, created and protected by a power higher than the Moon Goddess, earth was a fairly safe place for creatures who were peaceful and didn’t attract attention. Enough humans knew of our existence and how to destroy us that vampires and demons usually steered clear.

Earth’s stronger, gravitational pull also affected us a bit. Especially us werewolves. Werecats, with their feline agility, were definitely more suited for Earth and, therefore, as Guardians. They weren’t as large as many of us werewolves and were less likely to be detected by ordinary humans so the Hunters didn’t mind them as much.

If the girl was the missing Alpha, her instincts would most likely protect her from harm and though both my son and the girl were still a bit young, perhaps the mate bond would present itself. They would not be expected to consummate a marriage, as even werewolves frowned upon sexually active minors, but they would likely have a strong bond, like that of best friends until she matured.

Oh, wouldn’t that round Phoenix out? Werewolves weren’t complete without their mates and my son could be quite the obstinate ass sometimes.

While it was important to exhibit strong leadership skills to maintain control, Phoenix had yet to learn when to show mercy and when to kill.

The girl would need training, too. Having been raised on earth, her instincts would protect her there, but not here in the Death Moon realm that hovered near the shores of Ireland. Few dared to invade our realm, but a female Alpha, while very powerful, could also invite unwanted guests.