Moon's shadow

Unbecoming

Elias stood, silent, his gaze directed towards the ground. His reaction mirrored that of all the alphas present in that gathering except for Lumina. The hunted turned out to be the hunter, so it seemed.

“You should answer your sweet daughter, Elias.” Kieran taunted, a cold smile spread over his lips. He smirked proudly watching the scene unfold in front of him. “Very well. If you don't, I will.” he raised his arms in the air, before turning to Lumina, watching her intently. His voice, however, as he spoke was powerful and vibrated clearly to all that stood in the huge Greywolf clearing that even the warriors set to watch out for Keiran’s rogue wolves were tempted to abandon their attentiveness and tilt their heads to listen to the tall tales of how they got to own the lands they now protected with blood and sweat.

“Years ago,” Keiran began, his expression softening, his eyes glinted with nostalgia as he narrated his story. Lumina thought she saw a flash of heavy pain and sadness pass through Kieran's glinting eyes. She squinted her eyes, and tilted her head, gazing at Kieran. Kieran nodded at her with raised eyebrows. He continued, his powerful voice ringing out once again. “When the North was plagued with unending drought and excessive hunting for wolf skin and hides. A pack of hunger-stricken northern wolves, desperate to survive, had no choice but to leave their home to cross the monstrous northern sea in search of greener pasture and peace. They were led by a young alpha who had just lost his father to the persistent drought. For many months, deep in the unforgiving sea, they faced thirst, disillusionment, rage, angry sea monsters that caused many deaths. The Alpha thought they would never make it out of the sea alive, especially when a raging storm accompanied by thunder, swept over their small boats and threw them into the cold sea. Lying on a small piece of the broken boat, he held on to his young wife and a very young pup, and left all to fate. It was by a miracle that they drifted to the shore of a new green southern island. They gathered, moaned their losses and started fresh. Alpha Santora, his beloved son and his beautiful wife, led the remaining members into the dark foreboding forest to begin anew. It was not long before death sneakily stole his bride. Left alone with his grieved son, Santora focused on building boats, sending them to the North to rescue other packs from danger and drought ferrying them to the south to start anew, as he had done. Years passed, and the forest filled with packs, who lived happily, showed great respect to Alpha Santora. Of course, the son of the great alpha also grew into a teen. Except he made the mistake of falling in love. With a human.” Kieran's voice broke, he looked away from Lumina, his soft features hardened as his eyes grew colder. A deafening silence fell over the clearing. Alphas shifted uneasily.

“What happened next?” Lumina found herself asking, with urgency.

“When they found out, the alphas forbade it. They formed a council, summoned the great alpha Santora and forbade him from allowing his son to court, let alone marry a human. ‘It is a danger to us’, they said. My father heard them, understood them, but he stood by me. His only son. ‘Brothers, I understand your fears, but not all humans are the same.’ he said. ‘This girl is my son's mate.’ he pleaded with them. The council acted like they agreed, ‘it is okay,’ they said, so the wedding day was set, and when it came, alcohol was brought and meat was sizzling on open fires. I was ready to take my bride. The humans came in good faith, and brought along gifts for everyone. An alliance was formed, we drank and danced, and I married my bride, her parents became my parents, her sisters became my sisters, and her family became mine. I took her to my chambers, and we made merry and giggled sleep. I held on to her, my hand in her tummy, where my unborn son kicked and breathed. All was well. But in the dead of the night. A desperate piercing scream roused us from deep sleep. I saw the fear in my bride's eyes, even as I told her to stay, I would check what was wrong and come back to her. It would not be long, I thought. As soon as I set foot outside my chamber, the back of my neck felt heavy. I moved my finger, right here, there was liquid on my hands, my eyes grew blurry and the next thing, I was lying on the ground, paralyzed, cold and confused. I watched unblinkingly as Morrok r***d and killed my sister-in-law. I watched all of you murder my family, my father, who brought you all here. You slaughtered him like a goat. Your fear of humans turned you into something you feared the most! Cold-blooded killers.” Kieran's voice was low, his eyes hard, he coldly gazed at all the alphas that stood in front of him. No one could meet his eye.

“ You called me here for judgment.” Kieran laughed bitterly. “Judge me now. But do it after telling me which one of you killed my lizzie and our unborn alpha, otherwise every single one of you, prepare to meet your maker.”

A wave of confusion and hushed whispers washed over the packs, members looked at one another inquisitively. “Is it true? Did this really happen?”

“Speak!” Kieran growled. Lumina was taken aback by the sudden outburst. Her heart jumped out of its skin. Pack members moved back rapidly, steering clear of the man whose face resembled that of the grim reaper.

“Dad.” She looked at her father. “Is it true? Answer me!” She was overcome by desperation to know the truth.

Heads turned towards the rustling of leaves at the edge of the forest. Rhea Silverclaw walked with her head held high, as she made her way to the midst of the clearing. She had a victory look on her face, as she took her place beside Kieran, she placed a hand on his shoulder. “Tell her Elias, tell your beloved daughter how you really are. You have a tendency to keep out important details of your childhood faraway from your present. It has caught up with you now.” Rhea mocked him, looking at him with contempt.

Elias glanced around at the other alphas. Not one of them wanted to speak. He took a step forward and leveled with Kieran. His eyes bore pain and regret. When he spoke his voice was low, his forehead wrinkled as he moved his lips. “Kieran Northstar, son of the great Santora Northstar. I, Elias Greywolf, stand before you to confess my guilt over the death of your family, beloved wife. There is no excuse under the moon that could explain the part that I took in it. Your father brought us here from the North. He gave us his lands and trusted us to keep the peace. Our greed and fear of being hunted down and killed for our hides got the better of us and did what we thought was best for our packs. Now I see how foolish it was, to be driven by fear and not love and trust. Rhea, our relationship was not working. Many times we talked about ending it, but we kept on living in a loop of misery and pain. The way I chose to end it was not wise. And for that I am sorry. I have never regretted knowing you, or the happy moments we shared. I will not apologize for falling in love with Erica. She was and still is my only mate. My daughter. I know, I'm not the father you thought I was. I have kept things from you that you were better off knowing from the beginning. Whatever I did, I did it with the hope of creating a better future for you. I was wrong. We were wrong. Everything the Northstar wolf says is true. The council you see here was formed long before you were born. We felt afraid of humans after they had hunted us down in the north. We knew they were all the same. So we made a plan to protect our own. But after that night, we realized there was no difference between us and the humans who killed us like dogs. We were perhaps much worse than them for doing what we did to one of our own, who welcomed us in his own home, so the council was disbanded, and we swore never to talk about it ever again. Now, over these years, we realize that, just like us, humans are different. Not all are bad, and not all are good. And that one shouldn't pass judgment based on past experiences. I have betrayed you, and all that you believe in. I'm sorry, but now I am tired. I can not live with the pain of what I have caused. I've run away from it for a long while, but now it is time. I miss your mother, so please let me take responsibility the Greywolf way, otherwise I will be too ashamed to face your mother in the next world.” Elias looked longingly at his daughter before falling to the ground on his knees. He turned his gaze towards Kieran and spoke one last time. “Kieran Northstar, you do not know how happy I am, to see you alive and well, knowing that the lineage of the great Santora will leave on is enough for me, I have wondered many times what could have become of you, a brilliant, brave man who took a step towards love and not fear, they say it is only a coward who passes judgment on others that they themselves cannot undertake if tables are turned. I, Elias Greywolf, will now take responsibility for my actions, so I may live peacefully in the next life, ending this cycle of war and bloodshed. Do not hold it on my daughter, let it end with me.” unsheathing his own sword, Elias Greywolf went down with the setting sun. Blood dripped from his chest, the bloody sword protruding from the other side of his body. His arms lay limply at his side.

Lumina froze, her eyes bulged out in shock, she opened her mouth, screaming, but no voice came out. She watched her father, in his kneeling position, and hesitantly made her way towards him. Her hands shook as she touched the sharp bloody edge of the sword that now penetrated her father's body. She had played with the sword many times, and used it to practice several times. She pictured the father she knew, the happy, generous and kind mind who always smiled, the strong man, who could handle every problem that came his way, not that stature of a man that now knelt dead in front of her. “Papa.” She whispered.

Kieran Northstar watched on with an impartial expression, as Lumina wept over her father. His mind went over to his own father, who he watched slaughtered in his own eyes. As he lay paralyzed. It was all repeating itself. All coming back to him.

Vaste, Ironfang, Derrek, all on bended knees, begging for their lives, did not bring any satisfaction to him. Watching Morrok talk to himself did not make Kieran the slightest bit happy. “For years I have thought about this day. I have watched all of you, relishing in the imagination of your deaths, as you growl miserably beneath my feet begging for your pathetic lives. I must admit the feeling I get now is not exactly how I pictured it. I feel pity for you, instead of hatred and satisfaction. Watching a daughter moan for her dead father as I did mine, gives me no joy. Teach your children and their children about Santora Northstar and the new lives he gave you. Be honest with them, and teach values that you yourselves practice. Let it end.” Kieran Northstar turned around and disappeared into the woods, with Rhea Silverclaw by her side. Packs were left in a state of confusion, relief and a sense of unbearable guilt.

The Alphas had no faces to face their members, neither the voice to call them back as they watched them disperse and disappear into the forest. So they filed out, one by one. In the huge clearing in the Greywolf territory, only the Greywolf pack members were left standing. A young warrior reached out and placed his hand on Lumina's shoulder. “Alpha. We will stand by you. You had no part in this. We can begin again.” He said faithfully. And the other members chorused in unison. Lumina forcefully pulled out the sharp sword from her father's body, and took a step back. Carden signaled for the warriors, and Elias' body was lifted and led to rest next to Erica, where the wild flowers grew and danced in the gentle breeze of the wind feeling the air with sweet scent, oblivious of the treacherous acts that took place in the world of the humans and werewolves.

“We shall begin anew.” Lumina said, closing her eyes, holding her father's sword tight in her hands.

“Together. You and I.” Carden pulled her into his embrace. And she leaned in, holding him tight

. “Together.” She whispered.