The Lunar Bond

Heart Connections

It's been a whole day since Empress left her pack to go after Jason, but she had still not seen him.

After reading the message on the tree, she was certain that he would be close by, but she didn't see anyone.

She shifted back to her human form and sighed loudly, then spoke softly to herself. “Moon goddess, you led him to me, and you not only did that, you told me and showed me things about him. Now, he's gone, and I don't know where to look. I have to go back to my people, but I have to find him; he is still injured, and he could die. I am torn between decisions.”

When she was done, Empress paused, and a sudden gust of wind rustled the trees around her, their branches swaying not with violence but with a strange soothing urgency like a whisper urging her to listen.

The leaves above her shimmered again, and a glowy white feather drifted down from one of the trees and landed in her open palm, and somehow she knew without words that Lucas would return, so she had to return to the pack.

Empress felt peace as she made her way back to her pack, but as she got close to her pack entrance, she paused because standing at the entrance were Jason and the pack elders.

“We were worried about you.” He stated when he saw her, relief evident in his eyes.

“Thank you.” She wasn't in the mood to talk, although she saw that the elders were gearing up to ask questions.

Rachel folded her arms and looked behind Empress skeptically. “So, where's the stranger?”

“I didn't find him.”

The elders and Jason turned to look at each other when she mentioned that.

“And you think we are safe leaving him roaming out there?”

“What do you want from me, Rachel? It's a problem when he's here, and it's also a problem when he's not here.”

“I am just concerned about the welfare of our people, Alpha. You left the pack to go after a stranger, leaving us vulnerable.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Empress asked her with creased brows. “Leave the pack vulnerable? The Beta and Omega of the Pack were here, weren't they? How was the pack vulnerable?”

Rachel was about to reply, but Empress cleared her throat and pulled on her full alpha weight.

“Rachel, I will say this one last time. Although you are a very old wolf, I am the alpha of this pack, and so you will respect me or face the consequences soon. Are we clear?”

Shifting backwards from Empress' fixed glare, Rachel raised her hands in surrender.

“I mean no disrespect, Alpha Empress. It's just that your actions recently have made us concerned and even fear for our lives.”

Although Rachel uttered the last sentence softly, Empress realized that if she didn't act fast, the old wolf would become a problem very soon.

Empress shifted backwards and ensured that she held the gaze of everyone present, one after the other.

“I know that we've had trouble looming around us for a while now, but I strongly believe that very soon we will conquer it.”

She turned her head to face Rachel. “You point judgmental fingers at the stranger, but that stranger saved Jason's life. He was almost gone.”

“It's true.” Jason murmured, and everyone looked at each other, stunned at the news they had just heard.

“I had a vision from the moon goddess who informed me that the stranger will either bring victory or destruction to us, depending on what we choose.”

Upon hearing her words, Rachel gasped loudly. “And you choose to bring him here knowing that he has the potential to bring destruction to us.”

“No! Rachel! The ‘Alpha’ brought the stranger here, knowing that he has the potential to bring redemption and victory.” Jackson, one of the elders, shouted, clearly irritated with her obvious show of disrespect.

Rachel knew that an older generation werewolf respect was being accorded to her by the alpha hence the reluctance to give her a backlash, but Rachel was hellbent on abusing opportunities.

Jackson feared that very soon, Rachel would get what was coming for her.

“I have to go now,” Empress informed everyone as she suddenly felt tired due to the recent activities. “We have a lot to plan for and prepare for, so we will continue our meeting soon.”

Jason watched as Empress walked towards her chambers with the prideful strut that he had always admired.

He knew that she was tired, so he didn't push or ask her questions about Lucas.

Immediately, he thought about Lucas, Jason felt as if he heard him cry out for help.

“Did you hear something?” He asked the elder close to him, but the elder shook her head.

The gnawing feeling grew within him, and he felt strongly that he had to help Lucas, so he made as if he was going to the center of the pack, then turned through a hidden path and headed to the path that led out of the pack's territory.

He didn't know where he was going to but somehow he felt as if he was on the right path, and a sense of urgency grew within him. He started running.

“Something is wrong. I can feel it strongly.” He said to himself as he ran.

Jason arrived at a moonlit glade filled with stone ruins and stopped sensing that Lucas was close by, and still wondering what the place was.

He had never seen anything like it nor even been in that part of the forest.

“Jason?” Lucas called from behind him, and he turned.

“I am glad to see you.” Lucas replied. “I have circled the place so many times, I realized after the fourth time that I was lost.”

“How did you…?”

Jason stopped mid-sentence because as soon as Lucas stepped on one of the stones, visions assaulted him in reddish colors. Jason could see the visions as well.

He saw a burning castle, a woman who looked like Lucas calling him prince, and a dark pact sealed with blood.

The clearing became windy, and lightning struck the huge stone in the middle, and the sky around the glade began to darken.

Soon, the shadowy creatures arrived and started hovering around the glade.

Jason rushed forward and stood beside Lucas, then glanced sharply around him, gauging how many creatures had come and their positions.

One of the shadowy creatures moved closer to Jason and uttered muffled words. “Step aside, wolf. We just want the prince.”

Jason flared his teeth and moved in front of Lucas. “You'll have to go through me first.”

He was about to shift to his wolf form when Lucas’eyes glowed a bright green, and a similar colored glow came out of his hand. Then he rolled his hands around his head, turned the glows in his hands into mini balls, and started attacking the creatures.

As Jason watched Lucas take on the creatures by himself, he realized that he had never seen power like that before, so Empress may be right about all she had said.

In a final showdown, Lucas pushed both hands out, and a humongous bright ball of light spread from his hands and hit the creatures with full force. They ran away, screeching.

Jason decided to take Lucas back to the pack, and the walk back to the pack was quiet because Jason kept thinking about all that he saw Lucas do. And Lucas seemed to be preoccupied with his thoughts as well.

“It’s unimaginable!” He exclaimed loudly.

“Beta Jason, we've been looking all over for you.” A young wolf rushed towards Jason, his countenance filled with urgency.

“What's going on?”

“Please, come with me. One of the elders has been poisoned.”

“Oh no!” Jason rushed after the young wolf with Lucas behind them.

“Empress!” He shouted as soon as he entered the healer’s quarter and saw Maya and his alpha bent over one of the elders. “What’s the hold?”

“Shadow poison.” She replied with creased brows. “The same type that got hold of you.” Jason knew that she was worried.

“Lucas is here. He’s outside.”

“What?!” Empress was already rushing outside. “How..Where did you find him?”

“It’s a long story, but I believe that he can dispel whatever has got a hold of Elder Jacob.”

Soon, they ushered Lucas into the healing quarters, and as soon as his eyes rested on Elder Jacob, they took on a faint glow that became brighter as he moved closer.

The dark tentacles that wrapped around his body began to screech as if in pain.

“You have no place here! You have no place here!” Lucas chanted repeatedly as he made his way to the elder who lay on the bed, groaning.

Immediately, he placed his hand on the elder's chest, the markings on his body glowed, and a bright glow emanated from his hand on the elder’s chest.

The screeching of the tentacles became louder and mixed with the loud shout of Elder Jacob.

The dark creatures were adamant to lay hold of him, but the light from Lucas caused them pain.

Lucas raised his hand and shouted. “You. have. No. place!” Then smashed it hard on the elder's chest.

A bright light burst forth, and a deafening screech followed, which made everyone present close their eyes and press their hands hard against their ears.

Soon, the dark tentacles began to fade off as dust from Elder Jacob’s body, then he made a loud relieved sigh and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

“He’s free.” Lucas said to no one in particular, then turned and left the healing quarters.

Jason followed after him, then sent one of his pack soldiers to take Lucas to his quarters, where he would wait until Empress sorted out the elders who had started gathering. The news spread fast.

“I heard that the stranger is back and he healed Elder Jacob from his strange affliction.” Jason saw that Rachel had gotten to Empress already.

“Yes, he healed Elder Jacob just as he did to Jason.”

“And you think that he is not the cause of the strange affliction?” Rachel replied with a raised brow.

“How dare you accuse him of such? That’s preposterous!”

“How dare I not accuse him of such? Huh? You know nothing about this stranger, and he comes with strange powers. The attacks on our pack became frequent as soon as he showed up. When Elder Jacob’s affliction started, we did all that we could; we consulted with the spirits far and wide, and we got nothing. But somehow your stranger knows how to cure it. He afflicted Beta Jason before and surely brought the affliction back to elder Jacob.”

“He sent an affliction, then healed it back. Why would he do that?”

“Many reasons,” Rachel smirked, seeing that many of the pack members had gathered to listen to her dialogue with the alpha. “He wants to gain our trust so that when we least expect it, he will strike.”

Jason sighed softly as he watched the old elder he was tempted to strangle. She was so calculated, she knew exactly when to spit out conspiracy theories that would shake up the pack in fear.

The pack members gathered around were torn between fear, doubt, and loyalty to their alpha, it won’t take long for them to demand Lucas’ dismissal.

The big question was, ‘Would Empress agree to that?’