11. Bloodstain, part 2
THE BOOK
Exactly thirty minutes after the sun rose, only to remain hidden behind the dense, gray clouds. The sounds of strides echo through the stone floor in the long hallway and soon the genuine couple appeared. At the entrance to the room, two slaves were responsible for opening and closing the heavy doors. When the couple positioned themselves in front of the door, the slaves opened them and the noise caught everyone’s attention.
“Is everyone already here?” The genuine alpha asked as he entered the meeting room.
“Yes, the seven alphas, sir,” the omega replied with his head down.
“All right. You can leave now.”
“Excuse me.”
The omega bowes to all the alphas and left the large room, closing the door behind him. The genuine alpha sits at the head of the great table and the genuine lunam sits at his right side.
“Have you found an heir yet?” Kratos questioned Rolf, the alpha of the Rising pack.
“No, I’m still in mourning,” he replied without looking at the other alpha.
“You should leave soon. After all it was you who ordered the execution of your velut luna,” he said impatiently. The other alpha’s mourning had lasted for five years, it was more than enough. “And to this day you still refuse to kill that abomination of yours.”
Rolf closed his eyes and his hands in fists tightly. Remembering that he wasn’t able to keep his female in line makes him feel ashamed of himself. A show of weakness, and because of that, the honor of his pack is below all, thus losing the name of his star of honor.
“I know,” he replied with effort. “I’ve tried to mate with the lunae of my pack, but just smelling their scents made me angry and I was afraid I was going to kill them, so I stopped and…”
“That doesn’t matter,” Kratos interrupted him. “I want to take care of another matter.”
“And what would it be?” asked the alpha of the Diphda pack.
“Surely it must be of the utmost importance, to gather everyone here,” the alpha of the Acrab pack concluded.
“Did the witches and the vampires attacked us again?” the alpha of the Markab pack questioned.
The Lycan race, to that very moment, contained seven packs, apart from the one ruled directly by the genuine. The others were:
• The Diphda pack, having Lucan as its current pack alpha.
• The Rising pack, having as current pack alpha Rolf.
• The Acrab pack, having as current pack alpha Dário.
• The Markab pack, having as current pack alpha Sebastian.
• The Nebula pack, with Raphael as the current pack alpha.
• The Merak pack, having as current pack alpha Apollonis.
And the Sonstellation pack, having Nicollas as its current pack alpha.
The second generation Lycanthropian of history, the stars and constellations formed the familiar branches of the wolves, their pack and their names millenia ago. While the moon represented the genuine alpha’s family.
“As everyone already knows, something unusual has happened and in place of an heir, I have a female offspring,” Kratos stopped and observed the attentive gazes coming from all the wolves present.
Everyone was silent. No one understood what actually happened, no one even knew that the moon goddess herself had direct contact with the genuine alpha. And no one had the courage to question any of that. The genuine alpha was not someone known for being kind. If he didn’t like something, he didn’t even stop to think before killing someone.
“That female shouldn’t exist, because of her my heir died, but I can’t change the facts,” said the alpha. “And since she shouldn’t exist, I’m sure her mate doesn’t exist either. So her uterus should be fertile for any male.”
Everyone listened attentively, but no one could say why the genuine alpha chose to gather all the alphas in his castle.
“Five years from now, she’ll be at an appropriate age to mate. I want to create a competition and whoever wins will have the right to mate with her and father my heir.”
Everyone in the room was taken by surprise, but they managed to disguise it well. “Will this be possible?” they whispered between themselves.
While the meeting was taking place, Bloodstain gained permission to be able to stroll through the forest, being accompanied by Guila. The white floor and the fresh air, the warm rays of sunshine, all that put a beautiful smile on her face.
“Shall we go for a run? Please?” she pleaded, clasping her hands together.
“Come!” Guila smiled. She didn’t want to run. She was no longer young; seven hundred years have passed already and she only had three hundred more at most.
They both removed their dresses and tucked them under a tree, in a root that lay above the ground.
They both transformed and for anyone who saw them from the outside, they would think Bloodstain was the oldest of the two because she was much bigger than Guila, but those who knew her better knew that the big wolf was still a puppy.
Bloodstain’s paws sank over the fluffy ground through the snow, and that gave her, even for a few wee moments, the feeling of freedom. Feeling the icy wind blowing against her snout made her eyes sparkle with joy. It was so rare for her to be allowed to walk outside the castle, it only happened when people came from outside, like that day. No one wanted to have the displeasure of being in the same room as the killer.
Excited, Bloodstain forces her legs to work faster, running into the white forest. Guila no longer had such strength, and because she was a luna cimex, it was like she was a normal wolf. She tried her best not to lose sight of the girl, but it was very difficult to keep up with her.
With the icy wind blowing softly on her snout, with the cold she could feel on her bones, with the fluffy snow all around her and with the illusion of being free, Bloodstain was feeling like she was in the clouds. But it was only an illusion. Freedom was something she’d probably never have.
Upon arriving at a frozen lake, the girl finally stopped running and waited for Guila. The both of them decided to rest by the river.
Lycanthropes had the power to communicate through the mind with one another, but that wasn’t for everyone. That power was restricted and only the members of the same pack could hear each other with their minds. There was only one being able to listen to all lycanthropes and also be heard, and that was the genuine alpha. Guila always wondered if Bloodstain would inherit that power when the genuine died.
“Guila?” Bloodstain said without lifting her head from the fluffy ground.
“Yes?”
“Tell me more about her. The goodness. Why did she create us?”
“She wanted to save her beloved’s life.”
“What do you mean?” Bloodstain raised her head and looked at Guila intently. Guila in turn sniffed the air to make sure they were alone.
“The goddess was in love with a man, a king, his name was Lycaon. Her brother found out and blackmailed her. He tricked her and made her almost kill her beloved. Then, to save him, she turned him into a werewolf.”
“I want more details, Guila! Who was her brother? What’s her name? How was this man that she fell in love with? After she turned him, they stayed together? What happened to the brother? Where is she now, the goddess? Who were her parents? What…”
Bloodstain stopped to regain her breath. Guila was stunned.
“I really wish I could answer all these questions,” Guila said. “But this could put us in danger.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.
So…” “But then how can I know more about her if you don’t tell me?” Bloodstain put her head on the ground again and stared at the frozen lake.
“I’ll figure it out. But we’d better go back now.”
They got up and made the way back slowly. They arrived at the castle around noon and the genuine alpha’s guests had already left. The castle was empty.
“Where is everybody?” Bloodstain asked as she entered the patio.
“Hunting. They must be in the woods. It’s a good thing we didn’t crash into them, they would definitely want to fight.”
Bloodstain agreed. She hoped that she could have dinner too. But what she really wanted was to learn how to hunt. However, if the omegas didn’t have that privilege, a killer shouldn’t either.
“I’m going to my den,” Bloodstain said and turned around, leaving the room.
Guila nodded and also started walking toward her den.
The castle has six floors; the top floor was only for the genuine alpha and his mate; the fifth was for the betas and their mates; the fourth floor had the conference room and a large library. The kitchen and the dining room were on the third floor. The second floor was for the omegas’ and their mates. The first floor had guest rooms. There was also an alcova, where the slaves and the torture room where.. There were no doors in that part of the castle, only an enclosed corridor that led to the basement. It was like a box, with only one window with a ladder for the transportation of the slaves. Further down the corridor was a cellar, which is where Bloodstain’s den was.
Guila walked to her bed and pulled out a black-covered book. It wasn’t heavy or too thick. That was the only book she could save from being destroyed. The last book about the story of the first lycanthropist. It tells how it all happened and gives details about the moon goddess and her history with him.
Guilla thanked the goddess for not having anyone else around and with the little book in hand, she walked quickly to Bloodstain’s den. Guila hated going through the slave wing, she felt very sorry for these humans, but she couldn’t help them even if she tried. She couldn’t even defend herself. Even though she had a mate, if he had a guest and they wanted to have her, he would allow them, even though he knew that almost killed her.. But nobody cared.
Bloodstain was sitting in a corner of her den. Guila saw the sadness in her eyes.
“I brought something for you. Don’t let anyone see you reading it,” Guila said as she approached. “Read this and you will know everything.”
Guila handed the book to the girl and kissed her forehead.
“Now I have to go,” she said and made for the door.
“Thank you, Guila.”
Bloodstain whispered and smiled as she opened the cover of the little book in her hands.