War Moon

A white wolf cub began to poke its muzzle through a trapdoor on the wall. She entered with caution and stealth watching any movement that was in the room, she is 3.2 feet tall which allows her to hide a little from watchful eyes. A sudden sound gives her a scare and quickly hides under one of the seats. Behind the desk is her father, Arseni Volkov, king of lycans and werewolves of Russia. A man in his twenty-eight years with blackish gray hair and amber eyes. Many would say that he is terrifying with his height of 6"5’, muscular body with white skin. A strong mandible and straight nose, his face reminds us of the times of the Tsar with marked features of the Russian aristocracy. Even so behind that appearance he has a big and kind heart, only allowing his family and pack to see that side. “We're almost done, get to the meeting on time, Jayden, I don't want excuses again." Arseni says in front of the big window with his back to her. She comes out again, almost crawling, until she reaches a coat rack near the door, where it has a winter cloak. The cub looks towards her father and then back to the cloak, she will have to do it fast, because her brothers are waiting for her in the secret corridor. She just jumps by throwing the coat rack to the ground and clutching between his teeth before running to the secret corridor on the wall. "What the hell? Kira! Come back here!" exclaims Arseni as he turn over when he hear the noise. Running towards the trapdoor in an attempt to grab his cloak without success. "It's nothing fun, kids!" hits the wall. Kira smiles naughty before advancing a little through the passage, trying not to step on the cape, being a little difficult by the size of her. It didn't take long to get to an wide hexagonal area, looks like an abandoned warehouse, where are four wolf cubs, her siblings. "I can't believe you'll make it, Kira," He growls the autumn red cub, but no words came out of his mouth but went through a mental bond. Lycans and werewolves can communicate in their wolf and human form through a mental bond between themselves and their pack. Only lycans, the only ones that are pure blooded , can create new bonds with other races or packs. "I told you, Garald, I can hide my smell very well, even from Dad," she smiles and raises her head proudly. "We're better off moving, Dad won't take long." The dark gray cub speaks, grabbing the cloak between his teeth. The rest of the children do the same. The five move with difficulty through the passages, it is not easy to coordinate being five cubs of the same height. They take a while but manage to find another trapdoor, pushing from it to open it. Stepping out into the ornate hallway, whose red walls and golden details shine in the light of the lamps. "Kira, Tatiana, Garald, Lev and Sergei come back here with that! I'm serious!" exclaims Arseni from his office door, "The reunion begins in fifteen minutes, for the mother moon goddess’s sake!" The cubs only laughed and tried to run away from their father faster. They barely manage to advance, with Kira being the one who goes to the front. At one point a deep tremor on the ground, as if something huge and heavy fell on the floor, they did not doubt for a second to whom they belonged and ran again. But they are entangled by the fabric and fall like lead on the ground. "What a genius you are, Sergei, look where you're going!" Growl Tatiana, the cub with a light gray coat. "Close the muzzle, Tatiana!" He says scathing and showing his teeth. He is the dark gray cub. "Try to force me, Sergei!" Tatiana sticks out her tongue and ducks on the floor, seeking to provoke her brother. "Really? Just what we needed," says the autumn red puppy. "Hey! Stop this nonsense!" "Now the voice of reason speaks, Garald the great," says the bluish-gray cub. "Shut up for once, Lev." Garald growls at his brother. "Great, we look like a monkey cage with meaningless fights," mentioned Kira, an unusual bluish glow on the back, legs and tail. Her yellow eyes look at her siblings. This is how their father finds them soon after in his wolf form of 7 feet tall. In a tangle of colors that are his six-year-old children fighting. Sometimes it is a blessing that the lycan are born in litters of three or more cubs, so they are prepared to be able to lead and live with the herd, without losing control of them; but in cases like these, it's more of a curse. Like any of the children born in the Blood Moon pack, his pack composed only of lycans of different bloodlines from other sister nations, the cubs are born completely like wolves knowing their real body and soul from the beginning. At some point when they reach the age of six, their body and power will be more understandable to them, allowing them to take on human form. Arseni walks towards them and after hitting the ground hard with his paw, breaking the fight of the children who jumped out of fright. "What have I told you about stealing my things before meetings with my betas, deltas and gammas? " Arseni gently growls at his cubs. "Don't let us get caught by you?" The five said in unison and with what may seem like a wolf smile. Arseni only laughed, he adores and loves his little four-legged demons of six years old. It's hard to stay angry with them for a long time, as long as they are unsyncing things. "Other than that, kids, at least I hope my cloak is still somewhat intact." Arseni looks at the fabric, barely having the tiny bite marks. "Are you going to explain to me why you were fighting now?" "They started! No, I don't start anything!" The five shouted and growled at the same time. "Enough, don't start over." Arseni sighs and lays on the floor to see them better. "Cubs, what have I told you about the importance of coordination and harmony?" "Without them the pack does not last nor does it survive," Garald says with some embarrassment. "Very well, Garald, it's an unofficial rule, but it’s a heart motto that werewolves and lycans follow." Arseni I look at them calmly. "I understand that you are siblings and the fighting between you is normal. I had my own problems with my sisters, but we always left our differences behind the castle gates. The unification of the pack begins in its leaders, if there is hopelessness and panic it can be destroyed if their alphas keep their heads clear and up." "You should listen better to your father, my little ones," says Sonia, an elegant woman with autumn red hair and eyes of a vivid green, wearing a long black gown with small white splashes that resemble the stars. It is the dress worn only by the moon queen, only used for meetings with the king's inner and external circle, meetings with the pack, international visits or the organization of the Asian kingdoms. Arseni returned to the human form, preserving the elegant costume of the Lycan king, an old-fashioned costume made of the Tsar style ivory white and the coat had a hairy part on the upper edges. "Hello, my beloved moon," Arseni takes his wife's hand and kisses the back. "That's disgusting, dad!" exclaim the five cubs. "You will have your moment when you find your soulmate, kids." He smiles at his children's faces. "Come on, my little ones, we will be late for the meeting." Sonia pulls five thick gold necklaces from Arseni's cape. Each carries a huge oval gem, embedded in the head of a wolf. The two adults put one on each of the cubs, according to their birth order. Kira has a violet sapphire with light blackish tones. Sergei has two chrome diopside, combining perfectly with his eyes similar to those of his mother. Garald has one aquamarine stone and two medium-sized moonstones on both sides. Lev has two large topazes and two medium-sized peryls. Tatiana has three rhodocrosite and two pink quartz of medium size. These are the necklaces of the heirs to the throne. "Come on," Arseni surrounds his queen with one arm. The family began walking down the hallway to the meeting room. The royal family came to two large doors of black wood and gold knobs. It is the partially secret entrance to a private meeting room. Arseni opened the door, revealing a large ornate room. Natural light entered perfectly through the large windows that overlooked the red square and people could be heard passing by. A rectangular table occupies a large part of the room, already occupied by eight people, each has a high position in the pack. Except for the omega pair on the other end of the table. "Until the important ones arrive," says Giovanni di Rossi with a sarcastic tone. A blond man with brown eyes and an intimidating aura. It is the beta of Arseni, an Italian alpha lycan, second son of the king and married to Annika Volkov, one of the younger sisters of the alpha. Arseni smiles at the insolent tone of his right hand. They met during the war of the giants, who had invaded Italy, both had a correct respect and worked well together. Giovanni had decided to submit to his position after the victory even though he knew that his blood was of an alpha. Before he could say anything, his children decided to say hello first. "Uncle Edmon!" The five scream before jumping into his lap. The reddish-haired man barely manages to maintain his balance in the chair. Edmon Vasiliev is the older brother of the moon queen. "Wow, guys, you have grown up so much!" Edmon laughs. "Of course, go with the most pathetic and forget the others," says Vladimir, a young man with dark blonde hair at the other end of the table. "Please, Vladimir, don't be jealous just because the bored Edmon likes it more." The woman speaks next to him, she has mahogany hair and hazel eyes. "Hey! Speak for yourself Natasha!" Edmon says feeling insulted. Kira got up and jumped on the table, running very fast. Before Natasha knew it, Kira had fallen on her lap and was showering her with licks. "Hey, no! Kira stops!" laughs Natasha trying to stop the cub without much success. Each of the puppies, acting as one mind, go to other occupants, doing the same as their sister. It doesn't take long before the cubs come out of the bottom of the table, attacking each of the different members. Arseni laughs low, lifting one of the cubs in his arms. These are the children of his inner circle, only a couple of months younger than his cubs. It is a tradition that the first litter of the alpha will always be the oldest in age. "Enough kids." Arseni sits at the head next to Sonia and puts the cub back on the floor. "Kira, take your siblings and friends to the playroom." "Come on, Dad, we are having fun and can we stay this time?" Kira groans playfully. "Kira," says Arseni with a slight warning in his voice. Kira growls low, but she knows her father's temperament well enough not to pressure him in meetings like that. She jumps off the table and lets out a slight howl to grab the attention of the other cubs, as she approaches one of the walls, nose pushing a hidden hatch. It is a well-kept secret between the royal family and the inner circle that there is a network of secret tunnels behind the walls. One by one of the thirty-seven cubs leave the room, starting the small journey to the playroom next to the meeting room. When passing to the other side when opening another trapdoor, they find a spacious place with a number of toys and obstacle routes; including a wooden house with slides and ropes to help them climb, using their strength on the muscles of their teeth and face. Each of the children ran in different directions of the area, playing with each other or competing. They knew each other quite a bit almost since they were born; it's not hard to think about it, considering who their parents were. Kira looks intensely at Aristide, the eldest son of Giovanni and Annika, a dark gray puppy with a toasted yellow underbody; she begins to get close and stalks him. Aristide was scratching behind his left ear, when his intuition began to warn him. Lycans have a rather strange intuition in several things, but at the most opportune moments it serves something more than a lifesaver. The young wolf barely had time to turn his head before he felt Kira's full weight on him. Rolling on the ground, he feels Kira’s teeth wedged into his neck. He manages to slow down the turn by resting his paws against the wall, propelling himself upwards and destabilizing Kira. Some of the advantages of the fights between them, being descendants of lycans and most alphas directly, who undergo another is more difficult. "Give it hard, Kira!" Tatiana says excitedly, releasing the chewing toy on the floor, while her sister and cousin fight almost on two legs over how they hook each other. "Oh, please not again. All these toys, and you two prefer to fight?" Snorts a pale reddish cub rubbing the pink, for the slight white tone on the lower part of the body. "You always act like a little princess, Agna, and you're not even one," another puppy says, rolling her eyes. Her fur is a toasted golden reminiscent of the Tuscan sun. "Because I am one, Sarka," Agna says and raises her head proudly. "While you on the other hand..." "You better not complete that sentence, Agna," Kira growled, leaving when she already had Aristide under her. Kira approaches her, threatening. Unlike her, Agna is descended from an alpha father and a delta mother, Kira surpasses her with a more dominant aura. Not to say that she acts like a doll, she being the only female in the litter of Edmon and Astrid. She was pampered quite often. Agna shrinks on the ground with her tail between the legs and whimpering, putting her ears flat against her head, showing a submissive behaviour. Kira is bigger than her by half a foot. "Be careful what you say, Agna, Sarka is as strong as any of us and part of the family, do you think I will allow you to insult her?" Kira growls showing her teeth. The fur on her back standing up making her look bigger. "I'm so sorry," Agna whimpers without moving from the ground or looking directly at Kira. Sarka just smiles satisfied. "What do you think our parents are talking about?" Sarka questions while lying on the floor by the windows, taking the opportunity to have some sun. "You know the same as always, things of the kingdom," Lev says while approaching her with his siblings. Agna simply went with the other girls to play. "Rumors are heard that vampires have begun to advance through Ukraine, in a campaign of conquest," says Aristide together with one of his brothers. A chocolate-colored puppy, named Adone. "Again with that? They are an annoying plague," Adone muls between his teeth. "There are always some rebels who can't stand being ruled by others," Sergei says sitting next to Kira. "We have good relations with other vampiric nations under our kingdoms, but they still maintain a certain sovereignty." "Following our rules still," Tatiana continues. "Actually, I think it's something else," Says Grigori, a young wolf with wine colored fur. The others look at him waiting for him to continue. "The climate has begun to change drastically, the winter will come earlier and colder. That’s at least the rumor." "We are in Russia, it is only natural that winter is ahead," Tatiana yawns, enjoying the warm autumn sun. "Say it to those who come on vacation," Adone says, rolling his eyes. "I think it will be enough for them just like that thing the adult drinks, what is it called again?" Kira asks by tilting her head sideways. "Dad calls it drink from the gods, even though it tastes horrible." Sarka puts on a disgusted face. "No, that's the liquid they drink in the glasses and it's red, like you Grigori, " says Garald. "Hey, you are also red and I am not a strange liquid!" Grigori says indignant. "Are you secretly drinkable, Grigori?" Kira makes a little fun of her friend. Grigori shows his teeth, threatening although it is only playful. "What other weird things do you know, Grigori? Apart from an earlier winter." Kira decided to continue, although she began to feel weird, the skin under her fur was itchy and burning at the same time. "In St. Petersburg a rain of stars was seen in the middle of the day. Although I’m not sure. You shouldn’t see stars at that time of the day," Sarka replies, noticing Kira's discomfort. "Are you okay?" "I'm not sure, I feel weird and itches everything," Kira growls and scratches in frustration, the feeling of warmth begins to increase and her interior feels painful. "Maybe you have fleas, Kira," mocks Lev. Kira shows him her teeth, growling. "The rain of shooting stars reminds me of that old story, the one Dad tells us sometimes." Kira begins to feel dizzy and sore. Her inner power is behaving strangely. "That one about the wolf of Ragnarok, Fenrir right? What about that one? It's just an old man's tale," but he stopped his sentence when he saw his sister fall to the ground as a log. Kira is barely aware of what is going on around her, whimpering from the pain she can feel the inner power pressing on each of her fibers, as if they want to claw their way out while her body could fall apart. She could hear the voices of her brothers calling her from far away. The four princes moved restlessly trying to get her to respond without success. They could only think of one thing at once and shout it for the bond. "DAD!" Arseni listened to the report that Vladimir had brought him. Apparently in the Arctic Sea the amount of ice was increasing, according to the mermaids and newts of the Arctic. Usually they put light barriers in the bond, a way to give children privacy in their games. Arseni felt an intense headache before the barrier fell, the scream of his children and Kira's pain sensation filled his mind. Look at his mate, who was pale like the others, before getting up suddenly and running to the next room through the trapdoor. "What happened?" Arseni says, approaching Kira's body that was burning. "She said that everything stung her and she felt strange," Tatiana replies nervously. Sonia caresses Kira's head whispering reassuring words "Breathe, Kira, concentrate. Remember what we told you, about your changing power." "You can do it, little one, let it be released," Arseni speaks again, trying to encourage his daughter. Kira, between pains and warmth, concentrates as best she can her internal energy towards the fibers of her whole body and her brain, where she would need it most. Slowly his paws turned to fingers and hands, gradually losing the fur around his body. The process only lasted five minutes. Where before there was a wolf cub, there is now a pale girl with long white hair, lying unconscious. Arseni peels off the cloak and covers Kira with it, holding her in his arms. "Congratulations, Alpha!" says Bridgitte, a dark blonde woman, she is the gamma against part of Jayden, her husband. "The princess looks beautiful." "Of course she's prettier as a lycan," says Jayden, a dark-haired American. "Jayden!" exclaims his wife with laughter and scandalized. "Don't worry, Brigitte, I know he's just kidding," smiles Sonia. "Mom, what happened? Is Kira okay?" The puppies started talking all at once, triggering questions by which they could hardly understand each other. "I think it will be better for us to leave the meeting for later. I think we owe the kids an explanation," smile Edmon. "Good idea," Sonia says, as she writes on her cell phone to one of the maids, so they would prepare the room for Kira. The group separated in the corridor, the castle being so large the inner and outer circle of the pack live there, but in designated areas according to their range. The rest lived throughout the city, which managed to maintain control over the other creatures that lived there. "Mommy, what happened to Kira? " Sergei asked his mother again, as he walked alongside her. "Do you remember I told you that werewolves are born human? That's because their wolf soul is not connected, as if to say a wolf trapped or asleep in the wrong body. Many millennia ago, when man did not have as much technology and his ambition was to live and conquer, but religion and the gods at that time were more respected; humans began to discover the magical gifts of nature, something that was not given to them at first, experimenting with it and playing with forbidden arts." Sonia opened the room that the children shared. It is a large room with windows overlooking the garden, illuminating the five beds at floor level and winter decoration, using blues of different shades and whites. Arseni put his daughter on the bed that had her name engraved on the headboard and covered her with the blanket. "Prohibited arts?" Lev questions. "Dark magic, soul magic, light magic, transfiguration, among others. That magic is related to the gods, gifts given to the creatures descended from them. Men sought to obtain more strength, more power, using animals as a reference. The moon goddess created the lycan, a more powerful species to protect the creatures of the night and follow their teachings." "Like others who sought the strength of other animals, they were punished for their ambition. They will be able to change shape but never completely, their soul and that of the wolf will never be one," says Arseni. "That's why Lycans and werewolves are different, they are born differently, but they have completely forgotten their origin." "Kira managed to gain enough understanding of the power we were bestowed upon, at age six, internal power gains an impulse that needs to be directed in another way, so she was able to change." Sonia continues. "Would she stay like this?" Sergei asks worriedly. "Of course not, little one, she will return to her wolf form whenever she wants, but becoming human will need training and she start a more specific training." Arseni laughs when hearing the simultaneous whimpering of the four puppies. "Don't worry, you will go through the same process at some point, all lycan cubs do it." The cubs breathed easier. Even though they would have to go through a painful process, Kira is their sister and friend, they don't want to leave alone. "I have another question, sometimes you've told us about the wolf of Ragnarok, how does it come into this story?" Garald asks now. "The old story of the end of the world," smiles Arseni, is one of the oldest legends of the Lycan and one of the ones he liked the most. "You will remember that in the world there are several religions, one of the oldest is the Nordic. We do also follow some of its teachings. An old legend tells that the moon goddess Dianica descended from the heavens to the earth to enjoy the northern lights. While admiring them from the coldest point on Earth, she was watched by a wandering walker, a god hidden among the mortals who expected nothing more than to enjoy a couple of jokes." He sits on the floor to be more comfortable. "His name was Loki, the god of deception and antics of the Nordic gods and one of the most misunderstood. Seeing her he was mesmerized by her aura and energy that she detaches from her appearance. He did everything in his power to get her attention, from jokes to small shows." "But Dianica was not so easy," Sonia continued, "although if he made her laugh, the moon is not something that is easily reached. But the perseverance of months paid off, little by little, she heard his stories, whether they were invented or true, and he won her heart. Those nights were the bright and powerful ones for the children of the night, because Dianica and Loki's happiness was pure. For months the moon disappeared completely from the sky. People called it the dead night." "Odin, god of the gods and adoptive father of Loki, was furious, and like most of the gods in Asgard, he wanted an explanation. Thor and Odin went down to the Midgard, where the two had met," Arseni explains. "It took them a long time to find Dianica in a cave, with a cub of a wolf newborn and still in childbirth. Odin was furious and he took her arm by force, leaving the cub to fall to the ground; but the puppy instead of squealing, jumped against Odin by nailing his fully developed teeth against the leg. He kept the gods long enough for Dianica to give birth to his other brothers: Hela and Jormundager." He takes a deep breath before continuing. "Odin decided to condemn both of them for their disappearance, punishing Dianica by locking her in the night sky thanks to the sun god, unable to see her children. Loki, despite his protests, was left to take care of his children alone, while their mother could only go down during the eclipses." "That’s cruel," growls Tatiana "But it is not over yet," Arseni continues, "things would get more difficult. Odin can see the future thanks to the gifts bestowed by the tree of nine realities, the Yggdrasil, and he knew perfectly well what the birth of those three meant. The end of the world or Ragnarok was approaching. He commanded Hela to control the world of the dead and Jormundager to the depths of the seas. But there was still a big problem, Dianica and Loki's firstborn, Fenrir. He had become too huge and uncontrollable for the gods, and he did not seem to stop growing, but their pride is pretty obvious. Creating a special rope and under deception they managed to catch him, but not without it costing the arm of one of the gods." "It is said that when he is released, chaos and death will be near and bring Ragnarok closer," Sonia ended the story, smiling as the children began to yawn, at least this time they had heard it in full. "Come on, little ones, it's nap time." The two parents lifted each one up, taking them to their rightful bed. Sonia took off their necklaces and put on plastic heads for each one, while Arseni closed the curtains. They turned off the lights and left the room. Sergei is the first to get up, still sleepy, jumping into Kira's bed and making a ball next to her. Almost instantly, the girl put her hands around his neck and plunged her face into his fur. Each of the siblings joined the same bed, surrounding their vulnerable sister. ~~0~~ As the night falls, Kira opens her eyes, still feeling sore and exhausted, but she was thirsty, she just had to get to the phone in the room. Carefully, she moved her brother from above, noticing then that her appearance was very different. She is a naked human now, after a few minutes she comes out of her stupor, walking crawling on the others reaching the edge of the bed. "This will be a challenge," she muls between his teeth. Slowly and with trembling legs she manages to stand on her feet, barely maintaining her balance, swinging from side to side. "How do dad and mom make it look so easy?" She starts moving, leaning against the wall, making small steps and a little terrified of falling. "I'd rather walk four," letting out a little scream when he stumbled upon a toy and faced the floor. "Shit." Curses She looked ahead, still had about a hundred steps or two hundred left if she kept falling. "Maybe I can still be a wolf again," she closes his eyes, again seeking to concentrate her energy in the body. She jumps off the ground turning into a wolf. She groaned in pain, even her body resents the transformation. "Better," she joges a little toward the door. She only had to activate the communicator together at the entrance, one of the maids would come no matter the time. But she stopped, the strange air felt even hot, something not normal in the Russian autumn. "Daddy?" She asks both through the bond and out loud, although it sounded more like a bark. No response. She pushes the door hatch out into the lightly lit hallway. No one is in sight. "Well, look at what I have here." A piercing and sharp voice entered a new bond in Kira's mind. She jumped and turned growling, but she stopped when saw the monstrous figure of a black wolf. "A mischievous puppy out of bed, even brave for his age," says the stranger. He was bigger than her father, with a dangerous aura. Kira wanted to run away but couldn't move.