When the mountain cracked open and that creature emerged from the ground… everything I thought I understood about myself fell apart.
I was shocked because it didn't attack, instead it bowed to me.
This creature was massive—almost as tall as the trees, with strong bones like armor and eyes that shone like moons. But its voice? It wasn't loud or growling. It was calm. Deep. Like it had been waiting for this day for ages.
"The Vessel has been found. Command me." It said
I could barely hold myself up. My hands trembled. Aether rushed to my side, sword ready, prepared to fight.
"Maybel," he called out to me, "tell it to leave."
"How do I? I don't know how to," I managed to whisper with a trembling voice.
Ceryn stood across us, just in front of the shattered altar, she was frowning, her face as pale as a ghost. This wasn't what she had in mind. Not at all.
"You… you weren't supposed to wake it," she hissed.
"You stabbed the seal," I shot back. "What did you think would happen?"
"I thought it would obey me!" she yelled.
But the creature didn't even glance at her, its gaze stayed fixed on me.
As I stepped closer, I felt a surge of energy, the force in the air was surreal and uncommon. It was as though I had extraordinary powers and I could feel my wolf strengthened, forcefully woken up from its slumber.
"Why me?" I asked.
The creature bowed again. "Because you carry the Moon's mark. You are the bridge. Light and shadow. Life and death."
I didn't fully get what that meant. But deep down, something stirred within me. Then I remembered the mark with a silver lining on my chest, and I immediately understood what it meant by the 'moon's mark.
A strange warmth filled my chest. A throb, a pulse. And before I realized it, I lifted my hand— And the creature knelt.
The whole chamber fell silent, and even Ceryn took a step back. The whole warriors were shocked to their veins and Aether and Seer Aria couldn't help but stare in utmost confusion.
But that silence didn't last long. Nyra suddenly ran forward, very fast and deadly. I didn't see her raise her sword until it flashed in the moonlight. She was aiming directly for my throat.
"May!" Aether shouted, rushing in—but he was too slow. Nyra was already close to me, and she took me unaware
But the creature was quicker.
It blocked her with one massive claw and with another it tossed her across the chamber. She hit her head on the wall and screamed. Immediately she went silent, alive but broken.
Ceryn yelled out her name and dashed to her, but I hardly heard her voice, it was certain that she was severely wounded.
Now I understood it all, this creature was bound to me. It would protect me, fight for me, and maybe… destroy for me.
Aether pulled me back from the edge of the altar. "You need to send it back," he said seriously. "Before it does something we can't fix."
"I don't know how."
"You have to learn," he insisted. "Because Ceryn won't stop. If you keep that thing around without control… We'll end up just like her."
That hit hard, and he was certain.
"I never wanted all this," I just wanted to live a simple life like every other she-wolf, I whispered.
"But it's yours," he replied. "You're no ordinary girl, so you either use it—or lose everything."
–––
Two hours later, as I sat on the edge of the cliff thinking about everything that had happened within these past couple of days, I sighted Beta Nelson. I saw him asking a guard for direction and I could tell he was either asking to see me or to see Alpha Castillo and yes! I was right.
I watch him walk shamefully in my direction. He came close and greeted me, but I chose not to reply.
"Are you going to neglect me like I'm nobody?" He asked
"You're nobody to me, and I don't think we have any business. Your Alpha is at the Northwood infirmary. Go to him, I'm sure that's why you're here."
"I will see him later, but now I need to talk to you"
"Two months ago, would you have come to me to talk?" I turned to face him, staring directly at his eyes. "You sent me away into the lonely forest on a cold snowy morning to go die, If I were dead would you be talking to my corpse?"
"I was only following orders…. I" he tried to explain
"Now keep on following orders and leave me the hell alone!" I yelled at him boldly, and you could tell I was really angry
"You heard the lady, leave her alone!" I turned and it was Aether, I didn't know he stood there all these while, watching me and listening to our conversation.
That night, Northwood went into full lockdown. Ceryn's wolves had fallen back, but not far. Everyone knew she'd try again.
I still sat on the cliff's edge, mulling over everything.
Alpha Castillo is still unconscious, the creature resting beneath the mountain. Ceryn and Nyra are still alive and Alpha Aether beside me, silent.
I felt like I was holding a match… and the whole world was soaked in fuel.
"I don't know who I'm becoming," I said quietly, breaking the silence
Aether turned to me. "Maybe someone powerful enough to rewrite everything."
Immediately, we felt footsteps coming close. I stood up quickly. From the woods, someone stumbled into view. She was bleeding and limping. A young girl in Northwood colors.
"A messenger?" Aether asked, frowning.
But when she looked up at us, panic filled her face. "Northwood has been infiltrated!" she gasped. "Someone let Ceryn's wolves inside the wall!"
Aether's eyes widened. "What? Who?"
The girl looked straight at me, trembling.
"I—I saw her. She gave them the key. One of your guards."
I grabbed her shoulders. "Who? What did she look like?"
The girl's voice quivered. "Red hair. Dark eyes. She said you trusted her."
My blood ran cold because I knew exactly who that was. Melina! The girl I didn't mind calling my friend here in Northwood. She has been nice and friendly to me, even when everyone else treated me coldly and that made us get so close.
Was she a traitor? Why would she betray her pack?