A New Era

Chapter Two - Leaving More Questions

Hanna wakes up in a panic in a bed she doesn't know, with the smell of ginger in the air. The room is perfect, with a homey atmosphere and the ideal skylight. There is a balcony and a bathroom in the other room, connected by a door. "H-Hello?" Suddenly, a woman walked in with a smile on her face, "Well Hello Alpha, you're finally awake." She looked at her with glitter on her face as if that was how she always looked. Hanna looked at her in shock, "Who the hell are you calling Alpha? What the hell even is a Apha?" the girl looked at her in confusion. "I see, Your... Lack of our knowledge. Let's start you with a bath." She put her hand out to Hanna, "I don't even know you, I'm not getting undressed and getting into your tub." The girl looked at her with the softest look. "Miss Hanna, you live by yourself and are unable to hold a full-time job because of school, you are without water or clothes that properly fit you that why you wear the same black leggings and tank top each day with boots. Please, Miss Hanna, forget about your old life and let us at least try to help you, and if you don't like it, then so be it. We will send you home, and we will select a new Alpha based on fate, but the moon goddess has picked you."

Hanna looked at this pale-faced girl with what she was now realizing was long black hair and a slender but strong frame. Hanna looked down and grabbed the girl's hand, "Ok... Maybe a bath would be nice." The woman clapped, and suddenly three other girls entered the room. One with clothes, another with a towel, and another with a jewelry box. The woman walked her to the bathroom, and it was filled with unlit candles. The woman set the belongings down and left the room after showing her how to work the water. Hanna took off her clothes and got into the bath, and with a wave of her hand, the candles were lit. She grinned and got into the water. The hot water was the first thing she felt this warm in a long time. As she finished, she got out of the bath and wrapped herself in the towel; her hair smelled all rosy. She had never smelled such expensive soaps before. She put her hair up with a band, put on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and put her boots back on. She looked at the candels and they went out instantly, and she stepped out of the room, where she was met with the girl from before. "So now that I've bathed, please explain yourself. Start with your name and then information on this whole alpha thing," she says as she runs the towel through her red, shoulder-length hair.

She instinctively reaches for her pocket to find nothing there, "Right, not my pants..." she murmured. The girl across from her handed her a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, "What did you guys go through my stuff?" she snapped and then snatched it from her and lit it. "I was wonderi-" the girl went to say, and Hanna looked at her, "My questions first." The girl with long black hair looked at her and smiled, "My name is Kelly Hallings. I'm a part of the Raying Pack." Hanna looked at her, "That's my name." Kelly nodded, "Yes, we were marked the Raying Pack almost a hundred years ago. We have never had an Alpha with the name, though, that's why the previous Alpha assumed you would be the next. An Alpha is the leader of the pack, usually male, but our Alphas have never had a mate or offspring. Thus, the Pack has been passed down for generations based on the previous Alpha's wishes." Hanna leaned against a dresser that had been sitting against the wall and lit her cigarette. As the smoke left her mouth, she looked at Kelly and asked, "Did you guys know my parents? The previous Alpha, as you say, must have met me and my parents and me before even knowing of me." Kelly laughed, "The Alpha had run into your parents once, one time. We don't go into town often unless we have to, but the last Alpha loved the human world more than anything, found the fact that we could look like humans meant we should learn to blend in with them. Many disagreed, but challenging the Alpha would've been foolish because of his strength. Once when he traveled into town, he ran into your mother. He was the first Alpha to ever find a mate as far as we knew, because your mother was it. But she was already with child, married, and she was nonetheless human, and our laws were clear on interbinding. Or so we thought."

Hanna looked at Kelly, "It was the fact that he saw her as his mate to begin with; we had never heard of any of us mating with a human, so it seemed more likely that she wasn't human. He sent me out to watch her day in and out, and then I saw it happen. The day of their accident." Hanna stopped, "You were there the day of the accident?" Kelly nodded. "I saw the accident happen, the car lost control in these very forests, your mother tried to stop the car, all of the rain seemed to stop in mid air, my hair started to float, but the car was moving too fast and had never seen her use magic before, and all the time I watched your family. Almost eighteen years. With a Witch not using magic, it dulls over time. With the car moving that fast and the rain... Her magic wasn't strong enough to stop it." Hanna looked at her in confusion. Her mother knew she was a Witch, and never thought to tell her that she might be one too. "Did you know? That I was a witch too..." Kelly looked at and started to laugh to the point that tears dripped down her face. "Of course we did, that comes down to my question from earlier, if you're a witch, then why don't you light your own cigarettes?"

Hanna looked at her blankly, "I've never met another witch. I don't know how to control it. Candles are easy; they kinda speak to me." Kelly didn't seem surprised, "Hanna theres a reason youve never met another witch, and probably the same reason your mother didn't tell you. Likely, your witch gene didn't awaken until the trauma of your parents' death. The final thing is, the last known witch died almost seventy-two years ago; someone from your mother's bloodline slipped through during the witching war. Ever since the gene was awaken they must've taught their children how to hide it. To protect themselves and their line. Anything else about it you'd have to ask the elders."

Hanna was in shock. She was by herself, "So if I'm a witch, then why would I be chosen as the Alpha even if my name is relevant. I'm not a werewolf." Kelly smiled, "Well thats the thing, your father reacked of werewolf and every full moon he would be hit with the curse of the moon and turn into a wolf. See, only a couple can turn at will, only a few, and no one knows why they can. Your father would leave in the middle of the night every full moon and run deep into the woods. There were more than one time I transformed with him. He always knew I was watching by my scent, but your father left the pack long ago to be with the witch he was in love with; he had also been her mate. It happens quite often beleve it or not. There aren't many female werewolves; only three out of ten females born in a werewolf family actually have the werewolf gene. You have it, but it seems like it hasn't activated, or more or less, your witch gene is more powerful, and it's drowning out the werewolf gene." Hanna started to giggle, "So not only am I from a witch blood line that shouldn't even still exist, but I'm a werewolf that could transition any full moon without warning?!" "No, you haven't met the requirements to turn into a werewolf. You'd have to come face to face with a vampire and live, whether you know or not, doesn't matter; if you run into one and walk away, you turn next full moon. But unless the full moon is the next day, you will know about it before it happens. Like instincts taking over your body and telling you what to do. Once again, that can be broken down more by the elders." Kelly stood up and took a deep breath. "One last thing before I take you to the elders: no more smoking or drugs. You can drink, but that is it. Werewolves drink to cope. It's hard living with what you do when you aren't in control, let alone if you can turn it on command; it comes with its own regrets. Anything else you can't do, it runs werewolves out of control once they turn. And for witches, one thing I do know from the olden days is that witches' powers are dulled by other substances." Hanna instantly looked at the cigarette and put it out. She looked at Kelly with a stern look. "How many werewolves?" "Not including you, roughly twenty to fifty per pack, twenty-two in our pack. Three other packs in the entire world. The werewolf population is still working on its comeback after the witching war."

Hanna took a deep breath, "Take me to the elders."