The North Star Chronicles

Chapter 5

Andy

My body writhed on the ground, my watch now beeping rapidly.

The green hooded figure slammed my wrist on the ground in attempt to silent the watch, I choked out a whimpered cry. I became acutely aware of my clothing being torn from me. The whir of a belt being removed and hands fumbling excitedly with the buttons of my jeans sent my body into convulsions.

I could feel myself dissociating, and wondered eerily for a moment at how it was that I hadn't blacked out from the pain yet. I could see the stars from on my back in the alley and called to them in my desperation. The hands that were on my throat were too busy undoing their pants.

I opened my palms wide, my arms splayed on either side of myself like the points of a star as words escaped absentmindedly from my tongue, forgotten as quickly as it was spoken. "We are born from dust, we return to dust. Polaris, the north star, the bringer of life and maiden of light, protect me."

The deep rage that I felt deep within me that I'd felt so many times before in the midst of an episode, racking against my rib cage with the force of a wrecking ball, gave way. All the energy inside of me slammed up against a tiny singular thread that I could see vividly in my minds eye. An iridiscent white blue thread with papery golden flecks crumbling away until there was none left, leaving the strand so bright that it illuminated every crevice of my soul.

An animal roared inside of me, one that had been present all along. She screamed her fury as she showed me in our minds eye what I'd known all along.

The stars listened as I beckoned them, I crooned my hearts song as I pulled their energy into me as my own, letting it fill me until I felt the energy in every fiber of my being. And then I let it go.

Gale

Gale was there within seconds of jumping from the port dock, but just as quickly as he reached the mouth of the alleyway, he backpedaled, to stay clear of the blast. But he saw her, for the very brief moment he saw her eyes, pupilless and glowing, a blinding, bright iridescent blue so pale that it could be mistaken for white to the untrained eye.

Kaito snarled, screaming in both fury and triumph at seeing their mate for the first time.

"She is Polaris. She is the North Star." Kaito's fur stood on end as the energy poured from the blast flooded through him.

Gale looked on in wonder. The buildings surrounding the alleyway burst at the seams, gaping holes worth of brick and mortar obliterated in an instant. The four men that Gale had scented that were instances away from becoming headless, were no longer there, erased with only traces of dust in their places. The blast covered a radius large enough to park multiple city buses, and just as quickly as it occured, the light and energy radiating around her and in her eyes was gone, her body going limp amongst the dust and absence of rubble.

Gale removed his outer layer, covering her naked frame and lifted her in his arms in one fluid motion, brushed her bright red hair away from her face, her curls soft against the pads of his fingers. She was the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen. Upon boarding the watercraft, he identified the nearest Omega responsible for manning this route on Elliot Bay. Gale didn't have to muster a mind link before the Omega quickly sought clothing and blankets for the unconscious figure. He made his way towards the private cabins out of the view of any onlookers. As they pulled away from port a handful of human police cars arrived at the scene of the explosion. Even from this distance he could see the dumbfounded expressions on their faces.

The Omega approached with hesitation, all but shivering as he neared his Alpha, and who he knew to be his Alpha's truemate. Gale lowered his mate gracefully down onto the bed, careful to keep her concealed. He bowed his head, averting his gaze to spare her decency before exiting the room as quickly as he came.

Gale just sat with her then. Watching her chest rise and fall beneath the wool blanket he'd covered her with. Her hair fell around her like a halo of flames. And even with all of her beauty, he was still most mystified of the single thread that formed the beginnings of their bond. There was no longer the golden flecks of magic encasing it. Instead there was only the pure white blue strand, glistening now in all of its radiance. The binding on her was gone.

Andy

This must be what astral projection feels like. My body was physically exhausted, unable to function properly outside of being unconscious. But while my body rested, my mind raced, whipping through memory after memory of my childhood. My parents.

My given name was Andromeda, Andy for short. My mother's name was Lyra and she had been beautiful. She'd called me her starchild. Her hair was the color of honey and her eyes were a vivid emerald green. She was the Luna of my families pack and a healer of magnificent talents. My father's name was Leo, and he was as kind as he was fierce. He was a loyal and brave protecter as Alpha of our pack.

On my tenth birthday a pack elder had called upon our ancestors to identify my wolf. It was against tradition, as usually the ceremony occurred on one's sixteenth birthday. But my powers were already beginning to show, and the results were catastrophic. The council had hoped identifying my wolf would give us the information we needed to learn how to control my power. When they discovered that Polaris was my wolf, my parents were overrun with fear. It didn't take long before several members of the pack knew who, and what, I was, and within days, a mage that had captured an Omega from my pack was able to extricate the information from him, putting my life in the greatest danger. My parents immediately called upon the great northern witches. I remember my mom doing her best to hold back tears as she stroked my hair. I was splayed out on the stone table within our pack chamber, my hands bound at my wrists and ankles as if mounted to the stars. I remember the agony of my bond being cut between myself and Polaris, and now realize that every episode, every instance of intense agony, was Polaris trying to mend it, pulling our bond back together in a desperate attempt to protect us.

"I can feel you." I said, breathless on the bond link that I could now recognize.

"You saved us too, you know." Polaris responded, her voice a melodic, gentle rumble in my mind.

I could see her then, in my minds eye. Her pelt was a pure white with not so much as a glimmer of color through her fur. And her eyes, though much like my own, swirled with luminescent pools of blue tinted white, pupilless even now.

"I don't understand why they took you from me." I whimpered across our mind link.

"They did what they thought was best to shield you from mages and control your power so we couldn't be found. But if our bond went unmended it would be lost forever, and with us being lost to eachother, we would lose our people."

The memory of The Barren Times flooded through me. The loss of so many children, so many women mourning the loss of children they held in their wombs, mourning the children they'd never carry.

"But it's time. It's time for us to save our people." Polaris's voice crooned against our bond thread.

"How?" I asked, nervous as she turned to retreat back into the corner of my mind, no doubt wanting to take her own rest.

"You've already begun." She responded, turning back briefly to look at me with her piercing gaze. "Now that you have access to every part of our mind, you can see that what you thought was one singular strand, is two spun so tightly together that they've become one. They are the same in nearly everyway, because one ties you to me, your kindred spirit, and the other ties you to our truemate, the other half of your soul. Together, we are all parts to the same whole. But you must accept and complete the mate bond to save our people."

"What if I can't? What if I mess it up? What if we're out of time?"

"You'll find your answers soon enough. Go to him, little one." she nuzzled me away from the safety of the cavern in our mind.

I could feel the heat emanating off his body so close to mine. My eyelids fluttered open, working to stay open long enough to make out my surroundings. There was motion beneath me that swayed ever so slightly. Immediately at my side, there he was.

My voice as I spoke aloud was hoarse. "It's you." I said simply, the thread of our matebond vibrating as I spoke.

"It's you." he answered back. A gentle smile spread across his face as a single tear formed in the corner of his eye. "I've been waiting an awful long time for you."