~
A few weeks have passed since my conversation with Doctor Rosemary, and I still haven't found a way to tell Roxy what I have discovered. Fear of rejection was preventing me from asking her to accept me as her mate. Even though our relationship had been growing stronger and more loving every day, I still wasn't sure exactly how she felt about me.
Thankfully she hadn't had another episode in the passing weeks, I don't know if I could have handled it if she started slipping away from me again. She had spent a lot of her time catching up on missed assignments from both her online course and regular school. Our teachers had been emailing us the work we needed, under the instructions of our Alpha, although I don't think they knew the real reason why we were unable to attend classes.
The rest of the time she divided between me, making friends with members of Alpha Davies’ pack (we had been made unofficial pack members), and making her contribution to the pack society. Roxy had elected to watch all the younger children of the pack from the time they finished school until one of their parents arrived home from work. She read them stories, helped them with their homework and conducted a half hour fitness class every afternoon. She claimed it was for practical knowledge for her teaching course, but I knew it was something personally important to her from the way her eyes sparkled when the kids started arriving home from school.
On the weekends we had been out exploring the area, finding some truly fascinating locations. Although this pack was considered small in number, their territory expanded over quite a large space. There was a small cinema in town as well as a gaming arcade that we frequented almost every Friday with the rest of the teens in the pack. The weekends though, that was when we were in our element. Saturday's we would head out for a run, usually competing with each other, before we went swimming in a river than ran through the land. When we returned to the pack house in the afternoons we would usually start some kind of ball game that everyone would eventually join in on.
Yesterday it had been football and somehow it had managed to end up as girls versus boys. Shamefully, the girls had won, although they had played dirty. Anytime a mated male would get the ball his mate would walk up to him, flutter her eyelashes, pout and ask in a seductive tone, 'Baby, can I have that please?' Every time the male would crumble and hand over the ball with a goofy grin on his face. The unmated mates were targeted by the single females as well. The girls would stand in front of the guys and rub their hands up and down their bodies lustfully, the guys would be so distracted they just let the females run straight past them and score.
Roxy had been gloating about it all day, especially because whenever she asked me for the ball, I would always hand it over. Even though I tried not to, one look into her beautiful green eyes and I would crumble, swearing to move heaven and earth to get her what she wanted.
Today though rather than us being out exploring the wilderness, like we usually do on Sunday's, we were both getting ready for our date. Actually it was more like a pack outing seeing how everyone was going, but I was choosing to look at it like a date. A travelling circus had arrived in town overnight and the whole pack had been so excited that we immediately booked out half of the big top for the main show.
The pack had decided to meet outside at noon to head out to the circus. This was a huge event, with freak shows, circus acts, win-a-prize games, a petting zoo and rides. We were all pretty excited for a big day out. I checked the watch I was wearing, seeing it was five minutes until noon, I guided my sunglasses onto my face and headed outside to wait for everyone.
Once everyone was collected outside, we split up into groups and climbed into our various vehicles. I was driving my car and had Roxy, Doctor Evelyn, Izzy and Damon with me. Izzy and Damon are Alpha Davies' kids and they had both taken a real shine to Roxy. Izzy talked to Roxy about boys, a lot, as I supposed any fifteen year old girl would. I usually found it difficult to be around Izzy as she stirred up emotions in me that I didn't want to feel, but it was getting easier. Damon, I think, has a bit of a crush on my Roxy. The ten year old was always around her whenever he could be, and he looked at her like she was a mountain of the world's best lollies.
The chatter in the car was hard to follow so I just tuned it out as best I could until we arrived at the grounds the circus had set up on. The car had barely stopped and already Izzy, Damon and Roxy were out of the car, jumping around and clapping.
"Baydon, hurry up. Come on, you're so slow. What's taking so long? I wanna go on the dodgem cars. Come on Baydon." Izzy was practically screaming at me while I climbed out of the car and waited for Doctor Evelyn to hop out as well so I could lock the doors.
"God, shut up Izzy. I need to lock the car you don't have to wait for me you know."
Before I even finished speaking Izzy and Damon had taken off. Izzy yelling a 'goodbye' to Roxy and calling me a 'loser old man' while she ran. Damon was laughing hysterically at the insult, so much so that he tripped over his own feet and went flying through the air. Luckily Sampson was walking by and plucked him out of the air, like a football, before placing him on the ground to continue on his way to the fun.
Roxy was standing next to the car, her shiny black hair blowing around in the slight breeze. "You ready yet slow arse? I wanna go play." Whining already, really? This was going to be a hell of a long day.
"Yeah, yeah. Stop with the insults and let's go." I moved to grab her hand but she leapt out of the way and pointed frantically behind me while covering her shocked face with her other hand. I spun around on my heel, prepared to attack if I need be, but there was nothing there. Quickly turning around I was greeted with the view of Roxy running away from me, backwards.
"Catch me if you can, big boy," she shouted before turning around and sprinting into the crowd, with me following as quickly as I could.
After playing every game we could find, and winning more prizes than we could carry, we were sitting in the big top waiting for the main show to begin. The tent was huge and filled to the seams with people anxiously waiting for the main attraction.
A man dressed in a bright blue suit entered the performance ring and held out his arms wide. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. Prepare yourselves to be amazed. We have some of the finest performers in the country here to entertain you this afternoon. So sit back and enjoy the show." Three fire breathers entered the ring at that moment and began blowing streams of fire around the room as the ringmaster left the arena. From the make-shift door he had just walked out of came six women dressed in leotards and short tutu skirts, doing cartwheels, backflips and all kinds of gymnastic tricks. Sparing a glance at Roxy, I could see her eyes shining with happiness and excitement as she took in the scene before her.
Roxy
I could barely believe what I was seeing. Baydon and I had been watching the big top show for an hour and a half and had barely muttered a word to one another, the show before us was truly mesmerizing. At the moment there were four acrobats swinging from beams on the roof, performing gravity defying stunts as they leapt from beam to beam. This was the last act of the show and I had been mesmerized by the whole thing. The clowns, acrobats, stunt riders, lion tamers, everything. This had been such an amazing day and it still wasn’t finished. Baydon and I had planned to hit the petting zoo and rides after the show, so I was pretty excited.
All the circus performers were doing a farewell walk around the ring as my mind wandered off to thoughts of the fantastic guy sitting next to me. Baydon has been exceptionally caring and thoughtful towards me, especially since I had woken up a few weeks ago. He always made time for me, never complained when I wanted to hang with the girls and he never tried to push me into any kind of intimacy until I was ready. He was treating me like I was his mate; even though we both knew it not to be true. I wished he were my mate, but it was quite rare for wolves to be with someone other than their destined mate. 'But you love him anyway.' Whoa, where did that come from? Sometimes that wolf of mine has some crazy ideas. I cared about Baydon a lot,
adored his company and personality and lusted after his touch, but did I love him?
Fingers snapping in front of my face tore my attention away from my thoughts as I looked at a concerned looking Baydon.
"You kay babe? You zoned out big time there. Do you want me to get Doctor Evelyn to check you over?" The worried and partially fearful look on his face gave away what he must have been thinking.
"I'm fine sweetie, just got caught up in my thoughts is all. I promise if I start to feel faint I'll let you know." Relief filled his beautiful features as I grabbed his hand and we both stood up to make our exit from the big top.
"I just worry about you is all. Did you enjoy the show?" He sounded so happy and light-hearted now, which eased the guilt I was feeling. Whenever he worried about me passing out I was always overcome by guilt that my condition was something I could prevent, but I just couldn't bring myself to accept Blaze.
Even before I knew we were mates, I could never have envisioned myself with someone like him. While I had no doubt he would make a superb Alpha and was generally a nice guy, he just wasn't what appealed to me. He always came off as overly-possessive, needy and too much on the straight and narrow. In my dreams, my soul mate was always fun, competitive, sweet, independent, he loved me for everything I was and allowed me my own independence and freedom while still keeping a protective watch over me.
Actually, now that I think about it, my dream guy sounded a lot like Baydon. We seemed like a perfect match, we were like two peas in a pod. I snuck a glance at Baydon walking beside me, watching as his muscles rippled underneath his bright green shirt. He looks like a pea, I giggled internally as I squinted my eyes at him, judging his pea-likeliness. A very sexy pea, but a pea none the less. The giggles exploded out of me and a shocked and confused Baydon turned to look at me, raising an eyebrow in a puzzling manner.
"You look like a pea," I answered his unspoken question. This just caused him more confusion as he scrunched up his face in disgust at my analogy.
"Are you trying to say this shirt makes me look fat?" He fake pouted, forcing more laughter to explode from my mouth.
"You're a sexy pea, if that helps?" His face right now was priceless as he stood there staring at me as though I had just sprouted wings.
"I worry about your sanity sometimes," he shook his head at me as I continued laughing. "How the hell did you decide that I look like a pea?"
His question stopped my hysterics instantly. I really didn't want to explain how I came up with my theory. "Look Baydon, the petting zoo." I took off at a slow jog towards the petting zoo, not waiting to see if he was following. He caught up at the ticket booth and paid for both of us to enter. Just before I walked through the gate he wrapped his arms around my waist and placed a kiss on my neck.
"This isn't over. I want to know why I'm a pea," he breathed in my ear before letting me go and opening the petting zoo gate for me.
I didn't even have time to take in what he had said as the animals before me took my breath away. This was no ordinary petting zoo. There were lion and tiger cubs, baby zebra's and giraffe's, a kangaroo's joey and even an elephant calf. Of course there were also rabbits, puppies, foals, and all the usual, but this had to be the most exotic petting zoo I had ever even heard of, let alone seen.
Baydon must have had the same thought as me because I’m pretty sure I heard him mumble 'Holy shit,' as we walked through the gates.
We must have spent at least an hour playing with the animals before we decided to move on. The cubs were all so cute, made me a little clucky in wanting my own wolf cubs to love and play with.
"You having a good time Rox? You seemed to love the petting zoo. I thought I would need a crowbar to pry you away from there."
"You were just as bad as I was mister."
Baydon look down sheepishly at his feet and blushed slightly as he muttered, "They were cute."
"They definitely are cute, not as cute as you though." I tweaked him on the nose and made a cooing sound.
"Right, that's it. Haunted house next. I need to redeem some of my manliness." Baydon took off running like a bat out of hell as I sprinted to keep up with him. He was so full of life and so much fun, that's why I love him. Dammit, there's that L word invading my thoughts again.
"Come on Roxy, I already paid for the haunted house. Hurry up; I need to get my macho on." He flexed at me as I approached, throwing me over his shoulder and charging into the set-up haunted house.
A few punches to the back and he put me down just inside the doorway, grabbing my hand and leading me into the dark maze of rooms. Each room had a theme with a bunch of props set up everywhere. So far we had been through the alien room, ghost room, zombie den, the masked killer’s lair and the vampire coven. Of course the next room we entered was the werewolf house, where half a dozen mannequins were displayed around the room in various stages of transformation; although they were so wrong it was almost beyond hilarious.
"Do we look like that?" I whispered to Baydon, choking back a giggle.
"You might, but me, well, I look like a pea. A sexy pea apparently." I couldn't stop the laugh this time as he tried, and failed, to keep a serious face as he spoke.
Baydon started to stalk towards me with an unreadable glint in his eyes. I backed up until I came into contact with the wall behind me. Putting his hands on the wall beside my shoulders, he leaned down and started nuzzling my neck.
"Tell me why I'm a pea," he whispered in my ear. I shook my head and Baydon started to lay soft butterfly kisses up and down my neck. Not stopping the motion until I let out a throaty moan.
"Tell me," he commanded this time. Again, I shook my head. Without warning he planted his soft lips on mine and passionately attacked my lips with his heated kiss. His hands were roaming my body as were mine on his. His tongue, hot and wet, licked my upper lip, seeking entrance.
Rather than give him the entrance he was asking, I broke the kiss and managed to breathe out, "I'll tell, just stop messing with my hormones."
A smug looking grin crossed over his face as he stood in front of me, still pinning my body to wall with his. This was not helping my hormones at all.
"I was thinking about my dream guy and how he has all the qualities you possess and how we are so alike, like peas in a pod. You’re wearing a green shirt and when I looked at you it just caused me to lose it." One breath was all it took for me to spill it all out, as quickly as I could so I didn't have to think about what I was saying.
A puzzled look crossed Baydon's face as he deciphered my ramblings. Suddenly his lips were, again, on mine, his tongue demanding entry again, which I eagerly gave. I was feeling all hot and bothered which I was sure he could smell as I felt him pressing against my core with his excitement.
The frenzied kiss continued until we were both breathless and just as Baydon pulled away to nibble on my ear lobe, my mouth opened up and betrayed me.
"I love you." It muttered against my better judgement. Baydon froze instantly, pulling back slowly, his eyes flickering from left to right rapidly as he tried to look into both my eyes at once.
"Baydon. I, I..." Baydon pressed his finger against my stuttering lips, successfully stopping me from embarrassing myself further. Why did I say that, I mentally face-palmed myself. 'You said it cause it's true. You love him, just like I'm growing to love his wolf.' My wolf, forever the logical smart arse, had a point. I wouldn't have blurted it out if I didn't feel it.
Baydon's gruff voice broke my concentration, "Do you mean that?" The look on his face made me feel weak in the knees as I slowly nodded my answer to him. A grin split his face as his eyes filled with happiness.
"You know I love you right?" I was flabbergasted, he loved me? Like really loved me, not just like or lust, but love?
"You do?"
"I really do. Roxy, I can save you. If we both truly love each other, I can save you." Excitement filled his voice as he looked at me, almost bouncing on the spot in joy.
"What are you talking about
Baydon? You're not really making any sense." Lack of oxygen to the brain from excessive kissing had to be the cause of his random babbling.
"Long story short, I spoke to a doctor who specialises in your condition. She told me that if we are truly in love and accept one another, then I can mark you and stop the shutting down process. Although we can't reveal that information to anyone else if they ask, that was Doctor Rosemary's only request."
"Holy shit, are you serious? I don't have to mate Blaze to stay alive?" This was the best news I think I had ever heard. But was I ready to mate someone? I had only just come to terms that I was probably in love with the gorgeous specimen in front of me. I don't think I was ready to make the life time commitment just yet.
Baydon looked at me, hope emanating from every pore on his manly body. This boy, no, this man whom I cared for deeply and possibly loved, was waiting for me to say something. As I stared into his dreamy blue eyes, the hope and happiness in his eyes diminished with every minute of my silence.
"Baydon, I care about you so much, and I'm almost definitely sure that I love you, but I'm not ready for that kind of commitment. I've only been eighteen for a couple of months. I know that right now, I don't want anyone except you, but I need to be sure before we commit to each other in such a permanent way. I hope you understand." A tear trickled down his left cheek and I lifted my hand to wipe it away.
"I understand Rox. I really do, and I'll wait until you feel you are ready. Just know that I'm positive when I say I love you. Just please don't wait too long, I don't know what I'll do if it becomes too late to save you." He planted a soft, tender kiss on my forehead before wiping away the tears I wasn't aware I had cried.
"Now let's get back to the fun. I believe there are still a dozen more rides we need to go on. I bet you feel sick before I do." I let out a sobbed giggle at his disguised challenge, holding out my hand for him to shake. When he grabbed it I muttered, 'game on,' before running for the exit of the haunted house, Baydon hot on my heels.
Hours of fun later and we were back in the car, heading towards the pack house. Damon and Izzy were both asleep in the back seat and Doctor Evelyn had gone home early. Surprisingly the silence between Baydon and I was a comfortable one. There had been no mention of our previous conversation, everything had just returned to normal.
My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out with a great amount of difficulty, only to let out a shriek of happiness. Baydon gave me a strange look, but I was too excited to pay him much attention at the moment.
"Anna! Baby! I'm so excited to hear from you."
"Rox, it's been too long. I only just got your new number from your mum. Tell me everything that's been happening." A groan came from the background, followed by a slap and Anna hissing at Frankie to 'shut the hell up and go play one of your game things or something.'
"You alright over there Anna?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing my muscular self can't handle." I let out a giggle before bursting into a very detailed explanation of what has happened since Baydon and I left. I didn't leave out one little thing, much to the embarrassment of a very red faced Baydon, sitting there trying to act as though he wasn’t listening in.
"Hmmmm, sounds like you've been getting your groove on," Anna giggled at herself while I sighed in agreement.
"So what's news over there?" Aside from the need-to-know information my parents gave me, I hadn't heard anything about the members of my pack.
"Well, Mrs Sapphy gave birth to twins. One boy and one girl. She named them Theo and Eliza, little cherubs are only a month old and they are already starting to shift when they get really cranky. It's so adorable. Ummm, Jordan found his mate when one of the nearby schools came to visit our school for some interstate thingy. He works fast, they are already fully mated and all. Bloody horn dogs."
"You mated Frankie after two days missy," I reminded her.
"Shut-up, who asked you anyway?" I giggled as she continued filling me in on all the gossip from the pack.
"And Blaze, well hasn't he changed since you left." My mouth went dry as fear consumed me. What was Blaze doing? He wasn't looking for me, was he? Anna, unaware of my panic, continued on with her story. "He was suspended last week when he and Susie got caught in the janitor's closet for the third time that week. In a very compromising position too, I might add. The man-whore has been sleeping with any girl that looks his way. The only single girl he hasn't looked at is Emily. The girl his dad has arranged for him to mate. She is lovely; you would really like her Rox." I was still silent; my heart felt like it had stopped beating.
"Rox? Shit, Rox are you okay? Did I say too much?"
"No Anna, it's fine. Thanks for telling me. Does that mean he isn't still looking for me?" My blood was cooling and I was starting to feel numb. Sensing my discomfort, Baydon pulled the car over to the side of the road and wrapped me up in his arms.
"Frankie says that he still wants you. Bad. But after the way he lost control and attacked you when he escaped, he wants to wait for you to return to him. So, no, he isn't out looking for you, but he still wants you as his."
I let out a sigh as I felt Baydon stiffen around me. He could hear Anna's side of the conversation now and I'm guessing he didn't like what he heard.
"That's a relief. Poor Emily, it must he awful to be moved to a new pack for an arranged mating, just to have your betrothed treating you that way."
"Yeah, but she seems to be managing. She isn't letting it get to her; she is just doing her own thing. Anyway, I gotta go. Mum is calling me for dinner. I miss you so much; actually we all miss you both. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"Anna, there is nothing you won't do."
"I know, right." Anna was cackling down the line at herself.
"Love you Rox. Tell Baydon we love him too. Bye."
"Love you too, Anna. Send my love to everyone else. Talk to you later."
We ended the call and I looked up into the loving eyes of Baydon.
"Well, that was interesting." Baydon just nodded and waited for me to continue. As I thought about what Anna had said a weird feeling came over me. It took me a moment to realise what it was. It was relief, like a weight had been lifted from off of my shoulders.
Blaze was going to be mated to another; I didn't have to mate him. He was eventually going to stop wanting me and then Baydon and I could go home.
The new found relief and happiness invaded me as I turned to Baydon and filled him in on everything I had been told. As I finished telling him about Blaze and Emily, my wolf piped up and whispered in my mind, 'Now we can mate Baydon.' You’re just a frisky wolf. 'Maybe.'
And I could have sworn while I was arguing with my wolf there was another voice in my mind. A soft, wispy, angelic voice quietly murmuring, "The way it was always meant to be."
Blaze
"Match the correct two and you will see;
Things are not as they appear to be.
Heirs born of power will win the war;
Bloodshed the likes not seen before.
An incorrect match with bring dark times;
Evil's power climbs and climbs.
Bringing the battle of blood and gore;
Until our race exists no more.
Choose wisely my son, fate lies with you;
Light or Dark, what will you do?"
A blinding light exploded before my eyes, jerking me awake as it had done so many times before. My body coated in a cold sweat and my heart was racing as I ran a hand through my hair in frustration. This dream had been haunting me every time I closed my eyes this past week. It was always the same, I was in a field of wildflowers and there were two girls standing a few metres away from me, their backs turned. They both wore floating white dresses with their hair billowing in the breeze around their heads. One blonde and one black, and no matter how hard I tried to reach them something always held me back. Then this chillingly sweet voice would come drifting in the breeze, always repeating the same message before the whole scene wo
uld explode into the white light and I would wake up feeling as though I was having a heart attack.
I really didn't know what to make of the obvious message, parts of it made sense but when I thought about the whole lot together I just couldn't figure out what it all meant. The first few times I just tried to ignore it but it was getting increasing difficult to do that now. I hadn't had a good sleep for days and the lack of it was really starting to affect me. People were starting to notice, how could they not when I had deep purple bags under my bloodshot eyes, my skin was getting paler every day and I had been having extreme difficulty concentrating on anything. Just last night my parents had asked me what was wrong but I brushed them off, I was worried they would think I had lost my mind. Now, though, I wasn't so sure. All the mention of blood and war made me start thinking that perhaps I should mention it to my father and see what he makes of it all. Yes, that's what I'll do, I'll tell him this morning.
With my mind made up I threw the bed covers off me and climbed out, halfway to my wardrobe I realised I wasn't alone in my room. A butt-naked girl was still sleeping in my bed, Susie. Literally face-palming myself because I had forgotten I called her over last night, I dragged my hand down my face before shrugging my shoulders and collecting clothes to take to the bathroom with me. She would leave when she got up we had had this arrangement of friends with benefits for around a month now, so I wasn't too worried about her clinging on me.
A quick shower and basic morning ritual completed and I was on my way to dad's office. I lightly knocked on the door and gingerly moved into the room when I heard him grunt for his visitor to enter. Gently pushing the door shut, I attempted to collect my thoughts before turning to face him. Dad was sitting in his black leather chair behind his deep brown, large, wooden desk with a mountain of paperwork in front of him.
"Morning Blaze, you look like shit this morning." Gee thanks dad, like I didn't already know.
"Thanks dad. Actually I came to talk to you about why I haven't been sleeping if you have some spare time?" Even though I had decided to tell him what was going on, I was secretly hoping he would say he was busy and I could keep it to myself.
"I've always got time, what's going on?" A serious and concerned look was pasted on his face as he spoke, indicating for me to sit on the chair opposite him at the same time.
"Well Dad. Ummmm. It's just that -" I trailed off unsure how to explain that fact that I was sure I was going crazy.
"It can't be that bad, just spit it out and think later."
"I've been having this re-occurring dream for a week now and there is a message in there, something about bloodshed, war and the end of our race. It's every time I close my eyes to sleep Dad and it's really getting to me. What do I do about this?" Blurting it all out in a big jumbled rush I actually felt a little better that I wasn't carrying this information all on my own now.
A few moments passed as I watched Dad's face change from confused, to puzzled, back to confused before settling on disbelief. Great, he thinks I'm crazy, guess I'll be getting locked away again.
"Do you remember the message in your dream? Tell me everything about it, this could be nothing or it could be something serious." Dad was fumbling around with a pen and notepad as though he was preparing himself to take notes on what I was about to tell him.
"I don't remember the message exactly, but the dream is always the same." I began retelling the dream to him and watched as he actually did take notes on what I was saying. When I mentioned that the message constantly mentioned blood and war his face paled slightly before he held up his hand to stop me continuing.
"Your mother needs to hear this. She will know what to make of it." Dad stood quickly from his chair and walked out of his office, calling for my mother.
Why do I need to tell mum? What would she know about it all? Why would she know what to do? These questions raced through my mind as I waited for my parents to return to the room.
"Sweetie, what's going on?" A hand landed on my shoulder and I jumped, jolted out of my thoughts as I peered up into green eyes full of worry. Mum.
"Tell her what you just told me Blaze."
So I did, I repeated everything about my dream to my mother and watched as she took in every word, not once showing any kind of emotion on her face. When I was finished she sucked in a big breath and slowly exhaled while turning slightly to face my dad, who was leaning against the side of his desk.
"I need to know the exact the message before I can decide. But I think your assumptions are right love." Could she be any more cryptic?
"Mum, what assumptions did Dad have? What's going on?" I didn't know whether to be worried, scared or angry that they were keeping something from me.
"When I know what the voice in your dream is saying I'll fill you in dear but for now I need you to try and remember exactly what it says."
"And how am I supposed to do that mum?" Dah, I had already told them both I didn't remember much of it, certainly not word for word.
"I have something for you to take that will help, I'll be right back." Swiftly Mum was out the door and her footsteps fading fast as I looked at my dad with a calculating expression, hoping he would tell me what the hell was going on. No such luck, he just stood there, arms folded across his chest, ankles crossed, leaning back on his desk. Although he was trying to hide it I could detect a hint of fear in his eyes as he stared back at me almost challengingly.
Mum rushed back into the room with a small glass in her hand, "Here drink this and then lie back on your father's couch over there. It won't take long sweetie and then I can tell you what is going on."
I followed her instructions, and lay on the couch waiting for something to happen. I must be crazy to be doing all of this without asking questions but the urgency in my mother's voice had me not wanting to argue with her about it. After a couple of minutes I still wasn't feeling any different, I could hear my parents whispering, but couldn't understand what they were saying. Their voices became muffled and it sounded as though they were moving away. I was drifting off to sleep; maybe Mum gave me a sedative? Before I dozed off completely a flash of white light flickered through my vision and my mouth opened letting out a soft whispering.
"Match the correct two and you will see;
Things are not as they appear to be.
Heirs born of power will win the war;
Bloodshed the likes not seen before.
An incorrect match with bring dark times;
Evil's power climbs and climbs.
Bringing the battle of blood and gore;
Until our race exists no more.
Choose wisely my son, fate lies with you;
Light or Dark, what will you do?"
Again a light flickered through my vision as the voices of my parents drifted through to my ears, getting louder with every passing second until it was like they were almost shouting. I tried to raise my hands to cover my ears but they wouldn't move. What the hell is going on? Again the whispering voice spoke its message using my mouth, getting louder with every passing line until it too was shouting along with my parents voices. Suddenly it felt like a rubber band had snapped in my arms and my hands flew to cover my ears as I sat up abruptly and began shaking my head until all the voices stopped.
After a silence of a few minutes I opened my eyes and blinked a few times, watching my parents. Mum was sitting on the floor in front of me, a pen and notepad in hand and my dad was now leaning against the door of his office in a protective stance - which had me completely confused.
"What happened Mum? What was that?" My voice came out as barely a mumble as I struggled to piece together what just happened.
"Well, sweetie, you see. The thing is, well, I'm almost one hundred percent sure that you have just had a revelation, sent to you by a higher power." Mum trailed off as she spoke, watching me carefully for any reaction. How could I react though if I didn't fully understand what she had just told me?
"Ummmm what makes you think that?"
> "Well my great, great, great grandfather was one of the most acclaimed oracles of our kind. His revelations were never wrong and the Elder's would consult him constantly as they felt he had a deep spiritual connection with the higher powers who watch over us all. Although not everyone in our bloodline receive revelations, we are all trained in how to tell the real from the fake. It's in your blood to be more open to them, now what we need to do is figure it out." Well, all this was news to me. Oracles, revelations, predictions, how was I supposed to process all this information. As I was wrapped up in my own thoughts the voice of my wolf invaded my mind, 'it mentioned war, bloodshed and the end of our kind, we need to figure out its meaning, and fast.’
He had a point we needed to figure out this cryptic clue, but how?
"How do we figure this out? It's all jumbled and doesn't really make any sense together?" Arms folded across my chest I queried my parents and anxiously awaited their answer.
"Emily will help." Well that explains a lot. Not.
"So informative Dad, as always. Who the hell is Emily and why will she help?" Didn't he think I had enough puzzles in my head to figure out without throwing that answer my way?
"Idiot. If you paid attention you would know that Emily is the girl who has been living here with us for the past month. The girl who moved here from her own pack at the request of the Elders? She is a descendent of a famous decipherer, the knowledge and skills to figure revelations out is built into her DNA. If she can't help I'm sure her father can, I'll call her in here now." I made to move off the lounge and leave the room. No way was I staying in here with the girl everyone was trying to force me to mate. "Don't you even think about leaving this room Blaze, whatever stupid issue you think you have with Emily needs to be put aside. If she can help us decipher this revelation then maybe we can do what needs to be done to stop the war it talks about. Get over yourself; you need to work together with Emily in order to protect the race. Do you really want to leave and jeopardise the entire werewolf community worldwide?"
I sat back down, not realising straight away exactly how serious this really was. Come to think of it, before today I didn't even know anything at all about any of this shit.
"Why haven't I heard any of this mystic-like shit before?" The question slipped out before I was barely even aware of my thoughts.
"Well Blaze, most people never hear about these things unless they are directly affected by the revelations or possess one of the gifts used to receive them. Of course the Elder's know about them and the Alpha's of large packs also know about it all. That way, enough people have the correct information to give answers when something like this happens, but the majority of the community is left in the dark to prevent mass foolhardiness. Honestly, if we announced to everyone every time a war, some kind of evil or the end of the world was revealed we would all be in a state of panic all the time." Surprisingly it was Mum who answered my question, and what she said actually made a lot of sense.
"So this kind of occurrence happens all the time then? I'm not some weird kind of freak?" Relief was flooding my mind as I thought this through; of course I couldn't be the only person this happened too. Heck, even the humans had their oracles or fortune tellers, even if many of them didn't believe.
"Well, this is the first one in a little while that mentions a war. But yes there are a few of us who have these revelations every so often." Mum couldn't look me in the eyes when she answered which instantly set me on edge.
"Mum, how long is a little while?" She looked over at Dad who gave her a curt nod before she turned to look at me again.
"The last revelation mentioning a war was in nitsvto," she was mumbling. Obviously she didn't want me to know when the last one was.
"What was that I didn't hear you?"
Mum sucked in a big breath before replying on the exhale, "1972."
"1972, are you fucking kidding me? That's not a little while. That’s forty fucking years Mum." No wonder she mumbled it, forty years, you have got to be shitting me. Why do I have to be the first one in forty years to mention a war?
"Watch your mouth Blaze, don't you dare ever speak to your mother like that again." Dad was in my face now, his eyes darkening in rage, his wolf obviously not liking the way I spoke to his mate.
"Sorry Mum," I stuttered out before turning away from both of them when a knock echoed through the room.
Dad answered the door and I watched as, who I assumed was Emily, entered the room. Her long blonde hair was pinned to one side and hanging over her left shoulder. While I couldn't deny that she was stunning, she was also the one trying to replace my mate.
"Alright then Emily, we will tell you the revelation and then we can all try and work it out together." Emily barely even spared me a glance as she nodded in agreement to my father and turned to sit at the desk, seemingly eager to begin work on the enigma in front of her.
Just as I turned my focus away from her and to the window the voice in my head whispered again, 'Light or Dark what will you do?'