Blood Moon Rising

Chapter 5

The sound of pottering roused Kassidy from her rest. Sunshine peeped in through the tiny gap in her curtain. Reaching for her phone she realised that she never unpacked it from her duffle bag. She climbed out of bed, her muscles ached, especially the muscles she never even knew she had. It was 8.30am, she had 2 missed calls and 3 messages, her phone battery was almost dead. Knuckles wrapped against the door as she was searching for her charger.

'Come in'.

Konrad peered his head around the door.

'Morning, are you decent?'

Kassidy looked down at her penguin pyjamas.

'Yeah, come in'

Konrad stepped into the room and smiled at the sight of his daughter surrounded by items she had pulled from her bag.

'I wondered if you wanted breakfast'

Right on cue, Kassidy's stomach growled. They both laughed.

'Okay, do you want breakfast up here or do you want to go to the pack kitchen?'

Kassidy thought about that for a moment, she was really nervous about meeting the others.

'Is Kade awake?'

Konrad shifted slightly to look at the door behind him.

'Err, I don't know. I can check?'

'Don't worry, I'll just link him' she said with a smile.

Shock entered Konrads face.

'You, you guys can do that?'

Kassidy didn't understand the big deal, he could mind link with Karla, what was the difference?

'Yeah, why? Is that bad?'

Konrad rushed over to her and they both sat down on the bed.

'No sweetie, not at all... It's just, well usually only wolves who are part of a pack can mind link with their pack members, or mated wolves can link with their mates'

Kassidy still wasn't following.

'But I thought we were part of this pack? Both me and Kade?'

Konrad's eyebrows pulled together.

'Well yes technically you are, you always will be, but when you were hidden with the humans, we had to break your link to the pack for your own safety. Until you are initiated back in, you won't be able to mind link with any of them.' he paused. 'Well you shouldn't be able to anyway. Sorry, go ahead and link him'

Kade, you there?

Silence.

'Maybe it doesn't work if we're not close to each other' she mused.

Kade, can you hear me?

There was a moment of silence but he finally responded.

Y-yeah, I'm up, what's wrong?

'He sounds sleepy' she giggled to Konrad. 'I think I just woke him up.'

Can you come into my room please?

Yeah, I'll be right there.

Within a minute Kade strolled through the bedroom door.

Konrad watched in amazement

'Remarkable' he whispered.

'What's up sis?'

Kassidy smiled warmly at him.

'Where do you want to eat breakfast? Up here or down in the pack canteen?'

Kade looked at Konrad.

'It's up to you two'

Kade looked back at Kassidy.

What do you want to do sis? We don't have to meet the pack yet if you don't want to.

She nodded.

'I think we'll have breakfast up here today please'

Konrad rose from the bed.

'Great, I'll have one of the Omegas brought up to whip you something up'

He disappeared out of the room.

Kade and Kassidy grinned at each other in disbelief.

'Can you believe this?' he gushed. 'Breakfast cooked for us? I'd be eating a bowl of cheerios if I was still at home'

Kassidy thought about her parents, Lorraine and Jerry.

'Do you know which bag my charger is in?'

Kade pondered, thinking back to last night.

'Yeah, it's in the front pocket of this one' he said, while pulling it out of it's hiding place.

'Thanks, I want to message home. I bet my mom is still so upset'

Kade located a plug socket.

'There you go' he held the charging end up to Kassidy.

'Thanks, bro' she imitated. They both chuckled.

'I'm heading in the shower' Kade called as he walked towards the door 'I'll see you at breakfast'

Kassidy quickly composed a messaged to Lorraine.

Hi Mom, how are you? I miss you. See you soon. Love you x

She read her other messages, both were from Andrea.

Hey, how are you feeling? X

Please message me so I know you're okay x

She sighed heavily, Andrea was such a good friend and now she didn't know if or when she would see her again but she had to reply to her to stop her worrying.

Hey Andrea, I'm still feeling pretty lousy. Mom said no visitors in case I'm contagious. I'll see you soon. Thanks for checking on me x

Kassidy left her phone to charge, grabbed her washbag and headed for a shower. The ensuite bathroom was as big as her bedroom at home. A mirror as long as the wall hung directly in front of her with a bright white sink embedded into a grey marble counter. The marble flowed through to the floor which was cold beneath her feet. A simple white modern toilet sat to her right and a square chrome shower head hung down in the centre of a brilliant white walk in shower cubicle. Fixed to the far left wall next to the shower was a heated towel rail, with brilliant white fluffy bath sheets precisely hung in a vertical row. Kassidy opened the glass door and stepped into the cubicle, adjusting the dial on the tiles, the hot water streamed over her aching body. She was certain this must be what heaven felt like as she stood under the spray for a while. By the time she left her room, Kade was sat at the breakfast bar watching a girl preparing food in the kitchen, the aroma of bacon filled the room.

'Something smells delicious'

Both Kade and the girl turned to look in her direction.

'Morning Miss Kassidy, please, take a seat, breakfast will be ready shortly'

A wide grin spread across Kade's face, Kassidy could tell he was loving life here. She took a seat next to him at the breakfast bar.

'She's cooking scrambled eggs and bacon, with homemade hash browns on the side' he whispered in excitement. The saliva gathered in Kassidy's mouth.

'This is definitely my kind of breakfast' she whispered back.

She felt quite awkward just sat there expectantly, watching the girl toss eggs in a pan.

'Are you a chef?' she asked, hoping to break the tension.

'Sort of, Miss Kassidy' she replied sheepishly. 'There are a few of us who work in the pack kitchen'

'Oh, so you have a job here in the castle?'

She blushed crimson at the question.

'My parents are Omega's Miss Kassidy, we've always helped out around the castle along with the other lower ranked wolves'

Kassidy felt awful for embarrassing her.

'I'm sorry, this is all very new to me.' Kassidy admitted. 'What's your name?'

The girl looked up from her feet.

'Lisa, Miss Kassidy'

Kassidy didn't understand why Lisa was addressing her in such a formal manner.

'Well Lisa, this breakfast smells amazing, thank you. And please, just call me Kassidy' she smiled.

Lisa blushed once more.

'I'm afraid I'm not allowed to Miss Kassidy, it's tradition.'

Kassidy looked to Kade in confusion.

She's showing respect. Lower ranked wolves must address higher ranked wolves with their title. Once we are initiated, we will be Alpha's.

Her eyes opened wide to this new information as Lisa set down two plates on the breakfast bar.

'Thank you Lisa' Kade grinned.

The elevator doors opened to reveal a radiant looking Karla, her hair half up and half down. A cream chiffon dress draped down to her feet.

'Morning my darlings' she beamed as she drifted through the living space to the coffee machine.

'Hi Lisa, how are you today?'

Lisa set the frying pan down and turned to face Karla.

'Morning Luna, I'm very well thank you.' she smiled shyly.

'Thank you for making breakfast at such short notice'. Freshly ground coffee began filtering through into the jug below.

'It's my pleasure Luna, I'll finish clearing away and then I'll be out of your hair'.

'There's no rush dear, take all the time you need' she smiled politely.

She poured herself a mug of coffee and sat with the twins at the breakfast bar.

'Konrad has called a meeting with the entire pack, they'll be in the great hall at 10' she looked at her watch. 'It's 9.15 now, we'll head down once you've finished eating.'

The twins looked at each other nervously.

'There's nothing to worry about' Karla reassured them. 'The pack will be so excited'.

Lisa finished clearing away and excused herself just as Kassidy finished her last mouthful.

'I just need to use the rest room' she muttered before scurrying off to her bedroom. She studied her reflection in the wardrobe mirror, wondering if she should change into something more presentable. She slid open the door and pulled out her favourite lilac sundress to change into. The colour complimented her platinum locks and emerald eyes perfectly. Applying a small amount of clear lip gloss she smacked her lips together and took one final glimpse at herself before returning to Kade and Karla.

'Darling, you look stunning, shall we go?'

Kade and Kassidy followed Karla through the illustrious castle hallway and into an enormous wooden paneled room filled with rows of pews that were facing towards the back of the room. It was empty apart from Konrad stood at the podium at the end of the Isle that ran down the centre.

'Perfect timing'

His voice echoed as it bounced from wall to wall. They joined Konrad at the back of the room and took a seat on the chairs he instructed them to. The butterflies danced inside Kade and Kassidy's stomachs as people began to filter into the hall. Karla joined Konrad at the podium and Kade squeezed Kassidy's hand between his own. A tall man with dark wavy hair that was peppered with grey saunteted up the Isle and bowed.

'Alpha, Luna'

Konrad shook his hand a gripped it tightly.

'Graham, thank you for organising this meeting'. He walked him over to where Kade and Kassidy sat.

'Oh my, look at you!' he enthused, placing a hand on each of their cheeks.

'Kids, I'd like you to meet Graham, my Beta. He's second in command and looks after things when me and Karla are away'

'Nice to meet you' they both smiled in a friendly manner.

Graham took a seat on the front row next to the isle, just to the right of Konrad and Karla. A younger fairer man joined him a minute later and took a seat next to him. Within 5 minutes the hall was full and buzzing with people wondering what the meeting was about, some had noticed Kade and Kassidy sat in the corner and eyed them quizzically. The room fell silent as Konrad raised a hand in the air.

'Good morning Silver Lake' he began.

'I'm sure you are all curious to know why I asked you here on such short notice' rows of heads nodded in response.

'A lot of you may remember a terrible night 15 years ago when our child and heir was born sleeping.' He wrapped an arm around Karla's shoulders and squeezed her gently.

'Well today we are here to ask for your forgiveness'

The crowd of faces looked to each other in confusion.

'With the other packs rising up, threatening our position and our Luna, we felt it necessary to protect our heir by pretending to everybody, including this pack, that our child didn't survive the birth'

Gasps could be heard throughout the sea of wolves and some could be seen putting two and two together, suddenly realising who the mystery teenagers in the corner were.

'We apologise whole heartedly for lying to you all, but we couldn't risk any other pack finding out just how rare and spectacular the heir to Silver Lake is'

Konrad turned to Kade and Kassidy, beckoning for them to join him. They rose nervously from their seats and walked slowly towards the podium.

Chatter erupted wildly amongst the wolves at the scene playing out in front of them.

'I'd like to introduce you to our children' he boomed. The room fell silent once again with many faces gawping in disbelief.

'On that fateful night, my beautiful Luna gave birth to not one, but two wonderfully healthy wolves. Although they are merely 15 years old, Kade and Kassidy are fully grown. Their wolves awakened this week, the week of the blood moon. They were also born under a blood moon making them very rare indeed.'

Konrad smiled at the twins in wonderment.

'The rarest wolf is a Blood Moon wolf, legend tells of a wolf born under a crimson moon of both Alpha and magic blood, incredibly powerful and almost indestructible.' the pack watched Konrad intently.

'And Silver Lake, we have two'

The pack explodes into a round of applause, joyous hollering vibrates through the hall.

Konrad raises his hand to silence the pack for a second time.

'In order to keep them safe, Karla cast a spell of protection which broke the link to the pack. I have gathered you all here today to be present and witness the initiation of Kade and Kassidy back into the Silver Lake pack.'

An older gentleman in pale silk robes drifted down the Isle, gently swinging a silver globe that contained burning insence from side to side as he walked. He chanted methodically with each step until he reached the podium.

Karla turned to the twins

'Shaman Tobias will initiate you, kneel to him and repeat the words he speaks'

They quickly drop down on one knee.

'Kade and Kassidy, the children of Alpha Konrad and Luna Karla. You are the rightful heirs of the Silver Lake pack, with these words I will restore your powers and ranking within this pack, now, repeat after me. In the presence of those who bear witness and the Moon Godess, I solemnly declare my loyalty and allegiance to The Silver Lake pack. I will endeavour to serve both Alpha and Luna in all that I do. I vow to fight along side the pack and die alongside the pack from this day until my last day'

The pack watched on as both Kade and Kassidy recited the vow.

'Now stand' Shaman Tobias commanded. He handed Kade a chalice of water.

'You will both now drink from the chalice containing water from lake Silver. With this consumption, your bond with the pack will be complete'

Kade gulped a mouthful and passed the chalice to Kassidy who did the same. Shaman Tobias resumed his chanting as the smoke from the insence surrounded the twins. They gasped and grabbed onto each other as a flow of energy passed through them. A low frequency buzzing reverberated inside their ears as their minds seemed to expand to allow for an entourage of voices to burst through. They could feel the electricity of every wolf in the room as their minds connected to become one with the pack.

I can hear you, I can hear you all

Kassidy projected excitedly.

Me too

Kade happily confirmed.

The pack erupted in cheers as Konrad embraced Karla and the twins in a tight family hug, the initiation was complete.

The pack headed towards the doors chanting 'Pack run pack run'

Konrad chuckled at their enthusiasm.

'We'll meet you there' he bellowed.

'Yes, Alpha' they chimed in unison.

Kade and Kassidy stood there in a daze. Konrad shook Shaman Tobias' hand.

'Thank you Shaman, we appreciate your attendance'

'You're very welcome Alpha, I hope you realise just how powerful your children will become over the coming weeks. By the next full moon Kassidy will possess a magic that may well surpass that of the Luna's' he warned with a wagging finger.

'You would be wise to begin training immediately, teach her how to take control of it before it takes control of her'.

'Yes Shaman' Karla nodded compliantly before planting a kiss on each of his cheeks.

He departed swiftly, leaving the family dumbfounded in his wake.