The Scent of Destiny

Kida

Darkness surrounded me with its cold embrace. Alice's pain seeped through our connection and the distant voices resounded like an echo in the void. Ever since I came to existence, this is the first time I experienced what helplessness felt like. My senses were numbed, and it felt like I was in a sleep-like state. This sleep was different, aware of everything that surrounded me, but restrained from taking any sort of action.

As time went by while trapped in this state, the darkness gradually dissipated, but I was still bound to the void. No wolf should ever be forced to experience this; it was a sacrilege to who we were, and what the Moon Goddess wanted for all her children. It felt like this void would end up consuming me if I stayed here any longer.

"Kida, are you OK?", I could hear Alice calling out to me, but I was unable to answer her.

"I'm here, Alice", no words were able to reach her. No words came out from me. I could only talk to myself. The bond between our souls was there, but whatever entrapped me in this void wouldn't allow us to communicate. It was beyond irritating, and made me anxious because I wasn't there to protect her, to comfort her.

A shock of pain invaded my senses. Somebody was hurting us. How helpless I felt, since I wasn't there to stop this. There was nothing I could do to help her. I felt foreign hands touching us. Alice was uncomfortable with this unwanted contact and when he tried to reach her breast, I raged. The darkness dissipated for a very brief moment and I saw a distorted shape in front of us. My anger was such that I made Alice headbutt whoever was there. I knew she defended herself successfully from our aggressor, since I felt the pain in our forehead. A few moments later, it became hard to breathe. We were being choked and our hands were restrained. My strength waned entirely, and shortly after, everything became dark again.

When I woke up, I found myself in a beautiful glade surrounded by all sorts of plants, flowers and trees. The air was impregnated with a mystical aura and a thin mist covered the forest bed. While walking aimlessly trying to get some recon of the area, a pathway suddenly opened up for me through the mist, revealing a path that led inside the forest. I wasn't sure about following it, but it was a dream, I figured, and followed it against my good judgment.

Venturing inside this forest was almost fairytale-like. Just like in the books Alice loved to read about when she was a little girl. Her memories were available for me to scrutinize, so I took time when she slept to go through each one of her childhood memories so I could get to know my human counterpart. All sorts of fairytale-like flowers and plants surrounded the trees. Others hung from the branches and some of the flowers that grew from the vines shined with different vibrant colors. The pathway in the mist took me to a small cave entrance under a gigantic mountain. Its summit was lost above the thick clouds of white and blue that adorned the sky. I sniffed around the entrance of the cave. ", I told myself, but sometimes my instinct compelled me to do so, sometimes against my will.

Even in doubt, I took a step inside and slowly made my way deeper into the cave. The passageway was narrow, which made me feel claustrophobic, but I encouraged myself to continue. The narrow path became wider as I delved deeper into the cave, and just when I thought the already dim light that was left from the exterior was starting to wane completely, small specks of blue, purple and yellow started to adorn the cave walls, making the already huge cave shine with an almost mystical gloom. I made my way to one of the walls and then noticed that these small specks were miniscule mushrooms that grew on the cave walls.

Huge stalagmites and stalactites that were on the ground and ceiling appeared before me the deeper I went into the cave, and soon after, some of them fused together, forming huge columns that were covered by the same glowing mushrooms. As I kept walking, a loud sound I couldn't recognize resounded through the cave walls. Once I reached what I thought was the end of the cave, I saw a small crevice, just tall enough for me to easily walk into. I walked in.

What I saw before me were stalagmites and stalactites of all shapes and sizes adorning this cave, but it was different than before; the floor was covered in a thin layer of soft moss that gave this place a vibrant aspect. White crystals of all shapes and sizes were imbedded on the cave's floor and around the columns, some of them giving off a faint glow.

On the furthest side of the cave there was a small, noisy waterfall that came from a huge c***k high up in the wall, and it fell into a large well filled with beautiful crystaline water that reflected everything, almost mirrorlike. The waterfall atomized into thousands of water particles and even from where I was, I could feel the particles falling on my coat. The well was illuminated by a single beam of light that came from a huge crevice in the roof, almost a mile from where I was. The particles in the air reflected the light, and formed a beautiful rainbow.

As I walked towards the well, the transparent waters allowed me to catch a glimpse of the hundreds of living creatures that lived in this unique ecosystem. It was something I had never seen before; different types of fish and amphibians lived here, all with unique and amazing colors. Some hid behind the crystals, trying to stay out of sight from their predators, some others coexisted in harmony.

I looked up and through my peripheral view, I noticed that at the base of the waterfall, right next to where the well started, there was a woman sitting on top of some flowstones that formed and extended past the limestone wall. I looked at her to catch a better view. She was sitting with her legs close to her chest, her right arm rested on her knees, while her left hand caressed the surface of the water. She had extraordinary beauty, and there was something about her that made her seem fierce, but wise at the same time. Her pale skin contrasted so well with the white limestone that it made her hard to spot.

She noticed my presence and smiled gently when she looked at me. She stood up and walked towards my direction, her long hair went all the way down to her feet and it dragged behind her as she walked. She leaped and gracefully transformed into a beautiful pure white wolf. I recognized her. I had never seen her before, but my instinct told me everything I needed to know about who she was.

"Moon goddess?", I asked.

"It's been so long, my daughter. I've awaited centuries to see you once again", she said. Her voice was ancient and powerful, but at the same time, gentle and caring.

"See me once again?", I asked, confused.

"You don't remember who you are?", she said with surprise. I didn't know how to answer her question. So I stayed silent.

She tilted her head slightly to the left. I could've sworn I saw her raise an eyebrow.

"Is this a dream?", I finally asked.

"You can't remember". She looked down and pondered in her thoughts briefly, "This complicates things. My child, there isn't much time for me, but what you must know is that all my children reincarnate at some point. You must visit the forest that grew from my blood and find the Cave of Memories. My power grows weaker and I can't protect my children from the darkness that's about to come, and I won't be able to stop the upcoming war. You and Alice must unite us once more, or peace between werewolves will be no more".

"Why moon goddess? Where is this place you speak of?", before she could answer, a loud scream resounded in my mind that made me flinch. It was Alice begging for help. "Kida, please help me! Kida!", her desperation made me panic. I looked everywhere looking for a way out, but before I fell into desperation, I closed my eyes, trying to keep the terrible feeling from taking over completely. There was an overwhelming heaviness in my chest, and just when I wanted to ask the moon goddess for help, she vanished as soon as I looked up. Out of nowhere, all the crystals in the cave became brighter, and a cloud of darkness appeared where the moon goddess once stood. The cloud swirled and slowly formed the shape of a dark wolf with bright red eyes. The dark silhouette walked towards me, he stepped on the water and slowly made his way towards me, , I said, amazed. He growled in my direction, challenging me. I knew deep inside that if I wanted to get out of here, I had to beat this creature.

I prepared for his attack, I growled at him, and as soon as I did, the shadowy wolf ran towards me and pounced. As he glided through the air with his jaw wide open, ready to land a bit on me, I stood on my hind legs and used my left front leg to scratch his snout before he could reach me. The wolf whimpered as he landed on his side, but quickly recovered and I took a bite on my right leg as soon as it touched the ground. The pain from this attack was unbearable. His bite was stronger than Athena's, but I quickly bit him on the loin, returning the attack. When he let go of my leg, and before he was able to do anything, I used all my strength to pick him up and throw him to the nearest stalagmite. He landed head first on it with a loud thud that resounded through the cave, and fell on top of the glowing crystals, shattering some in the process.

The shadow wolf became distorted somehow, his shape became inconsistent and bursts of dark energy emerged from him and tried to reintegrate its shape without success. As it happened, I noticed something inside his chest as the darkness kept swirling around him. He quickly made his way out of the geode of crystals he landed on and when he finally made it out, he seemed whole again. , I asked myself.

He continued to growl at me as he slowly walked around me, his red eyes were fixated on me, but seemed more cautious this time. My leg was bleeding profusely. I inhaled and exhaled, trying to ignore the pain coming from my wound. I braced myself for an attack, but a sudden splash in the water distracted me for just a few seconds. I looked back at the wolf, only to find that he was gone.

My anxiety grew; he vanished as quickly as he appeared, so I had to tread carefully, or I would not make it out alive. I breathed slowly to try and remain calm. My mind didn't work the same if I wasn't in the right mindset, so I slowly breathed in and out, and paid attention to anything out of the ordinary. I couldn't smell, but my audition was highly developed. I listened carefully to the torrential sound of the waterfall, which was the louder sound in this place; the crystals somehow emitted a strange and very low vibration that I hadn't paid attention to until now, and then there was something more, a more violent vibration that came from behind me.

I moved just in time before the shadow wolf attacked me with all its might, leaving a small fissure on the floor, right where he had just pounced. He was more aggressive than before, and after an exchange of bites and blows, I ended up a bloody mess under him. I used my front legs to keep him away from me, as he tried to crush my chest. He kept growling and violently throwing bites. He was resolved to kill me with a bite to the neck.

Weak and very wounded, I was just about to give up until I heard Alice's cry for help again. "Kida! Help me! Please!", her voice was loud and clear this time. She asked for help again and again, and her cries gave me the strength I needed to pull myself together and keep fighting. I used all my legs to push him away from me, and a warm feeling in my chest filled me with energy, making me feel very powerful for a brief moment. I threw him hard towards the light that came in from the huge crevice in the roof, and the creature stirred and whined because of it. He was disfigured once again as the dark energy swirled around him. As I ran towards him, what I noticed on his chest before became evident now; it was a wolf's bane flower inside an obscured crystal sphere.

I quickly walked towards him. The wolf was barely able to move anymore because of how badly he struggled to keep his shape together. I looked down on him, he whimpered and growled yet again, but I had no intention of showing mercy. I crushed the orb and when I did, a loud howl resounded across the cave, and he disintegrated into tiny black particles that vanished into the air. I looked down and noticed that only the flower remained on the floor. The flower glowed and a sudden burst of light blinded me once again.

When I opened my eyes, just like that, I was back with Alice. The first thing I saw was Carlise's hands going up and down Alice's thighs, he kissed her neck and chest over and over, and he was still struggling to take her clothes off. She kept telling him to stop, with no success. There was no holding back anymore; there was no more trying to not get in trouble; I was not going to accept this fate for her.

I took over and partially transformed her teeth into fangs, and her nails into claws. That warm feeling from before rose up again, and with all my might I grabbed Carlise's arms and dug my claws into his flesh as I sank my fangs into his neck at the same time. He let out a loud scream as I wounded him, and he punched me right in the gut, which made me lose my grip on him. He stepped away from us. His hands went straight to the left side of his neck and he tried to stop the profuse bleeding coming from the wound I inflicted. He groaned in pain and roared curses on end. The taste of his blood was bitter, and I spat it out trying to get it off my tongue. I growled fiercely.

"How dare you! You are going to regret this you stupid b***h!", he roared, threateningly, "You will become my Luna, one way or another, you w***e!", there was a dangerous look in his eyes, which somehow, for the first time, terrified me. He was not the man we knew from training. He was malevolent this time, there was evil in his eyes, and poison in his words. I heard men yelling out orders from outside the room, and heard various footsteps heading towards us. This was only about to get worse.

There was a window next to the bed Alice was lying on, and I didn't think twice. I punched the window and jumped out of it. A few seconds passed and then we landed on one of the hedges of the courtyard, which broke our fall. It was still painful, but it worked and saved us from an uglier injury.

"Kida...", said Alice, she was crying in my head.

"I told you I would always be there for you", I got off the hedge and completely transformed into myself. I felt sorry for Alice's clothes, this was her favorite outfit. "We have to leave the pack, Alice. Let's go get Kate and Natalie. There's no turning back now, little one", I told her as I made our way towards the mountains.

"What about our parents?", she asked.

"Its about to be sunrise, it seems... They should be back soon, and I know they'll try and find us".

I sprinted as fast as I could and made my way into the forest, taking the route we knew best so we could reach them in time and leave this wretched place forever. What would happen after that? We didn't know, but so far, nothing went according to plan, so there wasn't much to think about anymore. This time, it was all up to our destiny.