QUEEN OF ROGUES BECOMES THE PROPHESIED LUNA

WHO IS GARRICK?

LEXIE'S POV

Morning comes, and today we are going to choose another leader for our pack.

Now that I am going to leave soon, the pack needs someone to lead them once I go. For the moment, the leader will be temporary because I will only stop being Queen once I establish myself as Luna at Stormridge.

Three men have shown interest in the leadership position: Rowan, my Beta, Kellan and Darius.

Darius is strong and tall, with bulging muscles. He has gained this physique after years of hard training. Everyone in this pack has gone through his training sessions. He is loyal to the pack, and during the recent invasion, he inflicted heavy losses on the enemy.

Kellan is the head of the guards, the men responsible for protecting the pack from our enemies. He is in charge of the scouts and spies as well. He gathers intelligence that we later use to secure the pack.

Like the others, he is loyal to Dark Forest.

My favorite for the position is Rowan.

He is very wise and very loyal. More importantly, I trust him with my life and the lives of my people.

But as is the custom in this pack, leadership must be fought for.

It is never inherited or simply given.

Even though it is morning, I feel sleepy because I barely slept last night. The events of yesterday didn't allow me to rest, especially after my strange encounter with Elder Garrick.

I still can't get the image out of my mind.

The strange light, his moving shadow, his whispered words.

The chosen one must heal before she can unite.

Then there was his reaction when I asked him about what happened to me in the forest seven years ago.

He was hiding something.

I know it.

After our brief conversation, I interviewed the guards who were on duty last night. They told me they had seen nothing unusual.

That only makes the mystery more disturbing.

I have promised myself that I will get to the bottom of it.

But first, we need to get through today.

After breakfast, I walk to the arena.

Everything is planned to happen just as it did the last time we chose a leader. The contestants will choose their weapons, and then they will fight.

Whoever wins will become the temporary leader of Dark Forest.

There are rules.

Elder Garrick will be here, as usual, to ensure fairness. Nobody will be allowed to use magic, treachery or cheating.

Anyone who breaks the rules will be disqualified and will never be allowed to contest for leadership again should another vacancy arise.

As I enter the arena, scores of wolves are already gathered.

The noise is deafening.

Some are cheering for Rowan while others are supporting Darius.

A smaller group is behind Kellan.

I take my seat at the front of the arena and look toward the three contestants.

Rowan catches my eye.

He smiles.

I smile back.

Then my eyes move to Elder Garrick.

He is standing at the edge of the arena. For a moment, our eyes meet.

Something changes in his expression.

It is so brief that I almost miss it.

Fear.

I narrow my eyes.

What is he afraid of?

Before I can think about it any further, he steps into the center of the arena.

“Let the contest begin.” He then reads the rules and introduces the contestants.

The crowd falls silent.

The three men step forward to choose their weapons.

And suddenly, I forget about my tiredness.

Today, one of these men will take responsibility for the people I have sworn to protect.

I just hope I have chosen the right man.

Weapons clash.

The sound echoes across the arena as the three men display their expertise. I watch them with pride. My smile grows wider as I see how talented my pack is.

After a few minutes Kellan and Darius discover that they cannot defeat Rowan individually. They exchange a quick look.

I know what they are thinking.

They have decided to join forces.

They attack Rowan at the same time but Rowan sees it coming. Clever chap.

He ducks under Kellan's sword, rolls across the ground and quickly gets back on his feet. Darius swings at him, but Rowan blocks the attack before kicking him backward.

The crowd roars.

Rowan is badly outnumbered, but he refuses to surrender.

He keeps moving.

He ducks, rolls and blocks.

Sometimes he attacks.

The two men are becoming frustrated and I smile.

My Beta is proving exactly why I trusted him.

Then, for some reason, my eyes move toward Garrick.

He is standing exactly where I left him, his eyes fixed on the three fighters.

Then I see it and I freeze.

There is something around his head, a faint golden light.

It is much brighter than it was earlier.

A halo?

My heart begins to pound.

Who is this old man?

I blink, hoping that what I am seeing is only a trick of the morning light, an optical illusion.

But it is still there.

Garrick doesn't seem to notice it.

Or perhaps he knows exactly what is happening.

His eyes never leave the fighters.

I turn back toward the battle.

At that very moment, Kellan loses his grip on his sword.

It falls to the ground and before he can retrieve it, Rowan kicks it away. In one swift movement, Rowan has two daggers pressed against Kellan's neck.

Kellan raises his hands.

“I concede.”

The crowd erupts.

I breathe out in relief.

But my eyes immediately return to Garrick. The light around his head has disappeared.

My heart skips. I know what I saw.

But before I can make sense of it, Rowan and Darius take their positions. Now it is just the two of them. The final battle begins.

Darius is stronger than Rowan. His muscles give him an advantage, and every time their swords collide, the sound is deafening.

But Rowan has something Darius doesn't, experience.

He knows how to use his weapons. He knows when to attack and, more importantly, when to retreat.

I watch them exchange blow after blow.

Deep down, I already know how this will end.

Rowan is Garrick's favorite.

And perhaps that is why I won the leadership contest myself.

The thought makes me uncomfortable.

Could Elder Garrick really have influenced those contests?

If he did, how? And why?

I push the thought away, I need to concentrate.

Darius swings his sword with all his strength but Rowan steps aside.

The blade strikes the ground.

Darius tries to pull it free, but it is stuck.

Rowan doesn't waste the opportunity. He moves forward and knocks Darius away from the sword, then he points his own blade at him.

Darius looks at Rowan for several seconds, then he lowers his head.

“I concede.”

For a moment, the arena is silent, then the entire crowd erupts in celebration.

“ROWAN!”

“ROWAN!”

“ROWAN!”

I stand and applaud with the rest of them. My Beta has won.

The temporary leadership of Dark Forest now belongs to Rowan.

But while everyone celebrates, I find myself looking at Garrick. He too is watching me and our eyes meet.

There is something in his expression that I cannot understand. It almost looks like he knows exactly what I am thinking.

Then he turns and walks away.

My smile disappears.

What exactly are you hiding, Elder Garrick?

I walk away immediately. I will congratulate Rowan later. Right now I must investigate this matter. I know someone who can shed some light into it.

When I joined this pack I was taken to a family that took care of me. They brought me up like their own child until I was big enough to venture out.

Gerald is now an old man and he never leaves his cabin after his mate Maria died some years ago. I sneak out without anyone seeing me and walk into Gerald's cabin.

I find him tending to his garden. Though in his nineties, he is still strong. His handshake has never lost the grip and his laughter is still loud.

After greetings I tell him why I am here and why I can't stay.

“I need to ask you a few questions, but promise me that it will remain between us.” I start. There are mugs of steaming coffee on the table. Gerald drinks coffee every other minute.

“Anything my daughter. Anything.”

“Tell me, how long have you known elder Garrick?” The question gets him off guard. It's as if he was expecting something else but not this.

“Why? Has he done something wrong?”

“No. Far from it. I am only digging for information.”

“Well, my daughter, as you can see, I am already an old man. When I came to this pack forty years ago, he was here. And he was still an old man.” I am puzzled.

“Did he have any family?”

“No.”

“Where did he come from?”

“My daughter, no one knows this. Everyone in this pack found him here. He was here with the grandfathers of the current generation. He is older than the oldest person here.”

“Anything else you know?”

“Yes. He has helped this pack to defeat intruders so many times. He knows how to call upon nature to fight for him. These trees can become his weapons if he wishes. During some attack years ago, he blinded the enemy by blowing soil into their eyes.”

“I have seen that myself. I thought it was magic.”

“No. It is something close to devine intervention.”

Divine intervention?

The words echo in my mind.

Could Garrick be the prophet?

I have heard stories about prophets. That they are said to receive messages from the Moon Goddess and sometimes possess abilities beyond ordinary wolves.

But I have never seen one.

I look at Gerald.

“Are you saying Elder Garrick has divine powers?”

Gerald takes another sip of his coffee and slowly shakes his head.

“I didn't say that.”

“But you just called what he does divine intervention.”

“I said it is something close to it.”

“What does that mean?”

Gerald puts down his mug. “My daughter, there are things in this world that even old men like me don't understand.”

I lean forward.

“Then tell me what you do understand.”

He looks at me for a long moment.

“Garrick is different.”

“How?”

“He doesn't age like the rest of us.”

My heart skips. I already knew that, but hearing it from someone who has known him for decades makes it more frightening.

“How old do you think he is?”

Gerald laughs softly.

“That is the problem. Nobody knows.”

“Forty years ago you said he was already old.”

“Yes.”

“And he looks exactly the same today?”

“Not exactly.”

I frown.

“What do you mean?”

“He looks older now.”

I almost smile.

“Gerald, everyone looks older after forty years.”

He shakes his head.

“Not like Garrick.”

His voice becomes serious.

“When I first came here, he looked like a man in his sixties. Today he looks like a man in his seventies or perhaps eighties. But forty years have passed, Lexie. By now, he should be dead.”

A chill runs through me. I suddenly remember the golden light around Garrick's head, his strange shadow, his whispered words.

The chosen one must heal before she can unite.

“Gerald…”

“Yes?”

“Has Garrick ever spoken about the Moon Goddess?”

Gerald becomes quiet, too quiet. It's like he is remembering something.

“Why are you asking me this?”

“I told you. I'm only trying to understand him.”

He studies my face.

“You saw something, didn't you?”

I hesitate.

“I saw him doing something strange last night.”

“What?”

I explain in detail what I saw last night.

Gerald's expression changes.

“What kind of light?”

“Golden.”

He doesn't answer.

“Gerald?”

He stands and walks toward the window. For several seconds, he looks outside, then he speaks quietly.

“When I came here, there was an old story about Garrick.”

My heart begins beating faster.

“What story?”

“Nobody tells it anymore.”

“Why?”

“Because the people who knew it are dead.”

I rise from my chair. I sip my coffee. It's now Luke warm.

“What did the story say?”

Gerald turns toward me.

“It said Garrick wasn't sent here to become one of us.”

I stare at him.

“Then why was he sent here?”

Gerald shakes his head.

“That part of the story was never clear.”

I take a step toward him.

“Who sent him?”

He looks directly into my eyes.

“The Moon Goddess.”

I stop breathing for a moment.

The room suddenly feels too small.

The Moon Goddess, Garrick, the prophecy, my dreams and the scar on my face.

Everything seems to be connected somehow.

“Gerald,” I whisper, “do you think Garrick is the prophet?”

He looks at me for a long moment. He fills his mug with more coffee. Then he gives me the most disturbing answer of all.

“I think, my daughter, that you're asking the wrong question.”

“What should I be asking?”

“You should be asking what Garrick was sent here to do.”

I stare at him.

But before I can ask another question, a strange feeling suddenly runs through me.

The same feeling I had beneath the tree.

Someone is watching me.