Aunt Kate looked delighted today.

Why won't she be? It was her last class as from the next day, Mom would be giving further lectures.

A smile was there on the glowing face of the pregnant lady. Caressing her barely-round belly, Aunt Kate observed the girls sitting in the hall.

"So, where were we?"

I blinked hurriedly. The Beta Morris part. Where he promises Alpha Rucus' that he will burn his body and of his pack members too.

A she-wolf sitting in the first row reminded or more like answered because Aunt Kate knew from where she had to start. "Beta Morris promises Alpha Rucus' about burning his land if he won't return. Alpha Rucus leaves for the mountain peak."

I fist bump in the air, mentally.

Though, everyone else too remembered the stop as there were prompting and murmuring in the hall.

"Okay, then." Aunt Kate yelled a little, making the noise stop.

I was amazed by the way the wave of silence flied around the room so quickly and perfectly. I could hear my own heartbeats going up in eagerness of knowing what was next. Though, all the wolves around me could hear that too.

The good thing was that none of them won't show it to me. Not even Natalie who took a seat on my left. I still couldn't believe it. Keira was sitting ahead of me while Eva was absent like usual.

I took a long breathe before Aunt Kate finally began, her face turning serious.

"Alpha Rucus' took his farewell and moved towards the Northern mountains. He didn't look back, not even thought of it. He breathed and crawled. Both the actions were giving him immense pain. But the real pain throbbing in his mind had overpowered. Nothing could stop him. Not even his own blood. Not even his own pain."

"The struggles repeated as it was a cold night and full of winds, he was crawling."

Aunt Kate rubbed her neck softly while saying, "It is harder than any of us can imagine."

I still couldn't understand how he was able to crawl when he was almost dead. But this was a fantasy world where I was surrounded by wolves. Or should I have said, a dark world where the fear of Lycans was supreme. Those ancient wolves must be so powerful.

Since the moment, Natalie had mentioned them to me while we had visited those forests, I couldn't keep the information at the back of my mind. I just felt that Lycans might be able to hear us from here too.

Unbelievable.

So was the Alpha Rucus' journey. But just like every mythology, faith makes us believe in everything. So, I kept on listening further.

Plus, it was a real story.

Aunt Kate blinked slowly, her face dulling with each word escaping her mouth.

"He kept crawling and fought the pain. But do you know, what happened ahead," she looked at us with wide eyes in excitement or was it remorse, I couldn't differ. "The chilly winds froze the blood on his wounds. They couldn't heal but they weren't getting worse either. So, his inner wolf woke up and pushed him to keep continuing."

I listened to her, all mesmerized as she explained, "Snowflakes fell on his side so, he tried to get up. Because you know, his heart could freeze if he'll keep crawling on the cold ground and worse, if there's snow decorating the way. Also, that it's mountain. He'll be going at the path with a slope."

I nodded while she pushed the strands behind her ear.

"He kept going with the aim of getting his answers. He was terrified to go to the moon and face his father. He was horrified at the thought of seeing his pack members there. He couldn't let that happen. With all the fight that was left in him, with enough tries, he got up with the help of a big rock and rested his head against the tree roots which had decorated the sides of the path. He breathed and looked around."

"His eyes observed everything like a hawk. The night had turned darker and only moonlight was showing him the way. He muttered a prayer in his heart to find the elders sooner. The wolves who had passed all desires and wishes, and now only wanted peace. Their only purpose left was to worship their moon and look over her followers who were in need of help. Especially those who wanted to reach her."

"Alpha Rucus' thought to himself how he had just started the mountain. But already he wasn't sure if he could do it or not."

I put my elbow on the table attached to this chair and rested my chin on my palm.

Aunt Kate smiled. "This is my favorite part."

The she-wolves smiled and exchanged glances before they all listened quietly.

"Alpha Rucus' picked up a long branch. With the help of it, he got up and started trekking. His legs were healing but the wound on the throat was aching. Howling in pain was just a sad dream. His throat was feeling indescribable sensations. His stomach churned at feeling all the uneasiness, the pain and the loss.

"The cold had made his body numb but the wound of a Lycan irks the soul until it vanishes." She told me with a hidden horror in her eyes.

"I can't even imagine how he dealt with it," murmured a she-wolf behind me. I gulped and glanced at Natalie whose whole face had turned pale.

To be honest, I couldn't feel fear of uncertainty. I had seen wolves for real, thanks to Eva. But Lycan was a parallel world for me. I only wished, that they were just fictional characters whom these wolves had made up to teach themselves their religion.

But she-wolves all around seemed genuinely upset by Aunt Kate's words.

"He healed slowly but his wound kept killing his soul. He went up, covered in snow and fell on the ground. He had reached the peak. Now no one could stop him from getting his answers."

Aunt Kate sat on a desk of a she-wolf as she told us, "Turning on his back, the Alpha laughed mentally. The moon was so big, he ended up smiling that gave him a lot of pain. He feels the closest to the Goddess his pack used to worship. He stared at the moon and the stars. Could they all already be the previous victims of Lycans? He couldn't comprehend. He feels as if she had stolen his pack members. He called her mean. He called her partial."

I bit my lip, listening carefully.

"He cried and pointed at her with his broken hand. He called her murderer. She isn't the mother he has worshiped from his childhood. She is a witch who pets monsters. He didn't know that listening to him were also the elder wolves who are spending the last of their lives, worshiping the Moon Goddess. They followed the sounds. The struggled breathing and groans that wanted to sound as words. But it wasn't possible with his throat all slit. He cried in front of them and begged the answer to his question."

Aunt Kate stopped right away and waited for us.

I was so engrossed in the story I didn't realize that she was wanting to see some suspense. And she did. Because Natalie beside me immediately asked with a frown on her face.

"Why are the Lycans so powerful and he was not?"

All the she-wolves glanced at her while Aunt Kate smiled sadly and nodded. Natalie closed her eyes and lowered her head. I looked back at Aunt Kate, noticing some hidden emotion being exchanged between them.

"What did they answer?" asked Nina who was sitting far right on the second row, today.

Aunt Kate bit her lip, the familiar emotion of passionately remembering this tale spread on her face. Maybe, it was pregnancy hormones working. But all the she-wolves too looked sad.

"The elders told him to calm down. That if he needed peace, he would have to be calm. Not cursing the Moon Goddess. He cried and felt an enormous pain in his neck. He felt as if he didn't have much time. His eyes widened and he begged the elders to call the Moon Goddess. They told him that this wasn't some joke."

Aunt Kate smiled sadly.

"Gods reside in us and if we want to say anything, the Gods will hear us and give response in their own way."

I gulped hard.

"Alpha Rucus' stared at them, letting out a loud laughter," said Natalie. "He kept laughing until he felt the final blow. The bone of his neck completely broke off. He had barely left a breathe, laying on the snow bed. He stared up at the moon, his eyes filling up in the lack of answers. He was losing his belief. His eyes were turning heavy. He felt as if he was truly dying. When all of a sudden, he heard the voice from within his heart."

I gasped, looking at her in shock. Natalie smiled at Aunt Kate and so did all other she-wolves.

"This is my favorite part of the tale," a she-wolf behind me said. She must be as older as Eva for she already knew the tale.

"A female voice calling his name. 'Rucus. Rucus', she says. 'I have heard you. I know you are upset and so is the world. With the fate, with the destiny. Your wolves are with me safe. But you are not."

Aunt Kate looked overwhelmed as she gave us an enthusiastic look. "He cried again as he replied her with his thoughts. 'I am never safe because I am not a Lycan. My enemies are."

"A chuckles can be heard from within his mind. He heard the voice asking him if he wants to be a Lycan. She will make him one. He can have another chance of life."

I gaped at the woman who was now in the middle of the class, looking at all of us momentarily.

"I will go where my pack went. I will take care of them even in the moon. I don't want to become a Lycan. I don't want to become my own enemy. The monsters who call themselves your sons, your followers. We worship you too. Then why this prejudice, mother? Why?"

"The elders smiled at him, seeing the glassed look of his eyes. They weren't moving. He looked dead but only he wasn't. They knew, their Goddess was blessing her wolf."

I was stunned when Aunt Kate continued, "Every creature is equal to this universe. What he gets, must have been given to someone else by him in previous life. What he losses, must have been snatched by him from someone in previous lives."

"The elders watched the saliva and blood leaking from Alpha Rucus' mouth," she described. "In his heart, he found himself thinking of that voice again, listening to it."

"I see your pain, I see your love. I see your shame. I see your blood. Ask me Rucus. What do you want?"

The voice was as light as a feather.

The elders looked at each other, exchanging frequent glances. They knew this was the time because Rucus' was writhing.

"Ask her for the welfare, Rucus. Ask her for new life."

Aunt Kate smiled while flaring her nostrils.

"Bless me with a power, my Goddess that will protect me from the cruel fate. That will save me from my bad deeds of previous lives. That will help me fight the beasts who slaughtered my wolves. They will all have to leave one day. No one is here forever."

The sudden footsteps stopped Aunt Kate from speaking. She looked back as the footsteps echoed in the hall room. In between the back of she-wolves heads, finally came the face of my elder half-sister.

She-wolves groaned while Aunt Kate shook her head as Eva stubbornly took the empty seat in the first row.

"She is healing," Natalie whispered while sniffing hard.

I looked properly at Eva's neck which was the only skin of her visible to me for now. And it was red. Could it be that she was on the grounds cleaning just like Natalie and Keira had told me?

Aunt Kate took a breathe before continuing.

"Lycan have become what they deserve. They are powerful because they suffered. Giving him the power to beat Lycans will be unfair for the universe. Rucus' heard in his heart," she explained.

"But you have reached me, Rucus'. I will not disappoint you. You want to break the Lycan's arrogance. Stars have already started moving according to their destinies. Their arrogance will break."

Aunt Kate smiled.

"You and your descendants will be free while Lycans and their descendants will be caged."

My eyebrows furrowed, "What?"

All the she-wolves looked at me strangely while I gaped and immediately closed my mouth. I was too much into the story.

Aunt Kate smiled when everyone looked in the front.

"Alpha Rucus' felt a sudden satisfaction spreading on his chest by the mere thought. Those arrogant Lycans will be caged? Oh! How their arrogance will break! Now, he could die peacefully because he secured the lives of other wolves from getting diminished by Lycans."

Aunt Kate smiled. "Do you want this advantage, Rucus? He asked himself."

"The elders looked terrified when the stars above started hiding behind the clouds. Something was not right."

I glanced at Eva who was listening carefully everything while looking at her lap.

"But there is something you need to know before deciding to have this blessing, the voice said."

"The gust of winds surrounded them, the elders encircled the Alpha watching his face turning blue. 'Your mate is the daughter of a Lycan. The Lycans who killed your pack are her brothers. She is a Lycan herself.' The voice reached Alpha Rucus' heart."

Oh my fucking-I covered by mouth with my hand.

"Alpha Rucus' soul was horrified by the fact. He couldn't believe his fate. He wanted to scream." She smiled while saying, "If you want her, you will bring her to your motherland. You will mark her. You will mate her, Rucus. She will be yours but she is a Lycan. This will ruin the very wish of yours."

Natalie breathed heavily beside me, making me glance at her sideways. Her eyes were filled with tears already.

"Tell me, Rucus. What your heart says. Because you will have to choose one of them. Your mate or the protection from Lycans,' the voice asks him. He though hard and closed his eyes. A she-wolf as big as a male running around the forests, looking for him. He imagined himself going after her, tackling her and listening to her laughter. He imagined making love to her and saw their pups playing."

I stared at her in a dreamy state. I wanted to sleep because of sitting on my ass continuously. But it was all mesmerizing. This moment.

"But Alpha Rucus' suddenly remembered what had happened to his pack members. His eyes had filled up with tears. The elders worriedly looked above at the moon fighting with the clouds. The stars were all hidden as if scared to hear the Alpha's wish."

"What did he choose?" asked a she-wolf in a soft voice from the far left corner in my row.

"I want the protection from Lycans," Aunt Kate announced, her nostrils flaring. "I want them caged in their own land. They'll be the royals but in their own home. Not in the world of wolves."

My mouth parted in shock.

"Moon Goddess plays fair," said Aunt Kaye. "She warned him, 'You'll lose your mate. She has been waiting for you all her life. You will be the kindest Alpha by doing this, but not the kindest mate, Rucus'. Think of her."

The thick silence of the afternoon was cut by Aunt Kate voice for nth time.

"If she loves me, as much as I love her, she will understand why I did this. What if we couldn't meet on the ground, we will meet in the sky,' he whispered to his heart. He can't imagine it all and his heart bleeds at the loss of not spending a lifetime with his mate. He never saw her but he knows wherever she is, she already loves him."

Would it be called overreacting if I said I was feeling sad for his mate?

Natalie's face had fallen too beside me. She had a thing for romantic movies, she had told me, yesterday.

"The Moon Goddess agrees to his wish and blesses him. She blesses all his descendants and finally leaves his mind. The elders looked above to see all the stars twinkling. The clouds had disappeared and the moon was shining beautifully."

I shook my head because it had started to ache. Natalie kept looking at me as if understanding my reactions.

"No!" The she-wolf beside Eva spoke up. "That is ridiculous. He can't do that. His mate. . ."

Aunt Kate closed her eyes, wiping a tear from the corner and opening them to nod at the girl. 

"The cage is their pack territory. Lycans can't cross the borders," she told all the girls who were listening to this tale for the first time.

As much as I was shocked, Natalie and Keira didn't seem much. They must have known some of it from Eva or in talks. After all they were living here. But they seemed too sad about it. I could see Natalie's glossy eyes.

"His mate would never be able to cross the borders or she will die. And if she kills herself, she will never go to the sky. She will never see the stars and reach the moon," Aunt Kate said softly.

"That's tragic," I muttered, my mood going down. "So, how will the legacy go on? I mean, he can't be with his mate and do the bond. . ." I said it a little loud, enough for everyone to hear.

Who was I joking? They were all werewolves. Aunt Kate didn't waste a second to clear my doubt.

"He won't be having his pups without the Luna," she said while nodding at me. "He was an Alpha of honor. He respected his inner wolf. He wouldn't want to upset his soulmate. He would want to see her above with all love and no regret."

"How will he have descendants when he can't have his Luna?" I asked further. Eva turned her head to look at me, her jaw clenched when our eyes at me.

Keira ahead of me waved her hand off. "He could marry any other wolf. That happens in packs. . ."

Aunt Kate shook her head, turning more serious. "Only if the situation demands it and it's good for the wolves."

More little Misties would be born, I scoffed mentally.

Aunt Kate caressed her belly while smiling at us softly.

"Alpha Rucus got himself treated from the elders. He spent the days with them, living in the cave temples and eating fruits. Learning from their rituals to stay connected to his roots. But inside, he stayed blank because of the pain he received from the loss of not ever meeting his mate."

"The elders' wisdom kept him sane, they showed him the path when he asked them, 'I will never be able to touch my mate. I have lost her. Coming to me, will bring her death. Her death will bring my death. But I must not die before finding my heir. For an heir, I will not betray my love. I will not betray my mate. I will not mate with another female if not my Luna."

I blinked, while Aunt Kate breathed heavily, drinking the water she had kept on the table near the front wall.

Getting back in the middle, she smiled.

"The most senior elder showed him the path by saying, 'The first human you'll see on your journey to achieve your purpose will be your heir. From him, will rise your descendants. From them will rise your pack. The Lycan's shall remain caged and your wolves, always protected."

The bell rang while I blinked in disbelief.

"Wow!"

________

"What do you guys think?"

Please vote and comment.

___

From here, the actual story of Misty begins.
The plot thickens.