The days seemed to pass quickly. I talked with May and Retsuko, we had fun and sparred, we explored the areas around the pack until one day we came upon the mountain that always seemed to loom in the background.
I came to a stop and looked. "...May, you never answered me about this mountain."
I heard her come up beside me and change back to her werewolf form. "Well, I suppose now is as good as any."
She walked to a fallen tree that had lots of hanging moss on it, parting the moss I could see into a cave that had been hidden. "After you."
I nod and go in, feeling something I couldn't name. As I got deeper, I started to hear running water like a river.
"Have you heard of how Werewolves came to be?" May followed beside me.
"Wasn't it that the first werewolves were a village that dedicated itself to the moon goddess? Famine and disease struck at the same time, and the moon goddess took pity on them and merged their souls with the wolves that had become friendly with the village?"
"You are correct, and as time went on, more joined us, and we started to form a city, slowly growing into what history called an empire, long ago, but well." She stopped talking as we exited the pathway into a large cavern that looked like a ruined city.
I stood there, shocked. They had a city? But that doesn't fit the werewolves I know, and how did this happen?
"I can tell what your thinking, and we don't know what happened; we just know that it fell, and we divided into the packs we are now, with the mountain and these ruins being a reminder."
"A reminder for what?" I look at her, confused by all of this. I could never imagine the werewolves having a city and seeing one in ruins like this. It reminded me of the old kingdoms and empires from history, except the werewolf didn't entirely fall apart but changed.
May sat on the edge of the bank, on a fallen pillar, and let her feet dangle above the river. "I choose to see this as a reminder...Werewolves aren't meant to have kingdoms or empires. We are servants of the moon goddess; it's why she saved us."
I sat beside her and looked at the city. "And what about dragons? We are both connected to the moon, but dragons have a kingdom."
"Dragons have always forged their path, and it's not like you ever forgot about nature or your responsibilities; just look at how you operate or your land in cleaning up the great war. Dragons are protectors of the world, and you never seem to forget that."
I look at the city, contemplating what she said. "May...do you think dragons will face their reckoning eventually? Ever since the tribes were united, we never had any problems; if anything, we kept getting stronger."
"I can't say, we don't even know why this city fell...only you can answer that Sendria." She put a hand on my shoulder. "Trust in yourself and those closest to you, but most importantly, never forget yourself, ok?"
I nod, and May starts to leave. "I will leave you here; head back when you're ready."
I nod and sit on the edge, and look at the ruined city.
"...I must have these powers for a reason? Are we coming to that reckoning? If so...then I need to be ready, but ready for what?" I sigh and lay down. "I wish my Father were here; he always knows what to do." I close my eyes and listen to the water and just let my mind wander, allowing my senses and mind to expand outward.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As I walk back to the cabin, I see my Father talking with Delco and May. She sees me and motions me over. I go over and stand by my Father.
"So you will have a room near May Delco, and May. You and Retsuko will have your room next to Dylan; I had already planned it since he started living with us."
They nod, and then May spoke up. "Sir Drake, I also have something to tell you."
He nods and seems very respectful to Mya, but then again, she is the beta to the next Alpha King.
"Yes? The accommodations are ok, right?"
"Yes, sir, It's just that Alpha Aaron and I have been seeing each other lately, and well, if the room can be made accommodating for two, that would be great." May was respectful, but I could tell that Talking about this Aaron person made her nervous and happy simultaneously, which I found strange since she always was confident and never seemed anxious about anything.
He nods. "I understand, and I hope it turns out well between you two, now Sendria." He turns to me, "Dylan will be teleporting us home because of everyone coming with us so that we will be home earlier than expected, but we leave on the same day as planned."
I nodded and understood why. I let Dylan ride on my back because we were almost as close as siblings, but for anyone else to ride on my back or my parents would feel weird, this was a better option since Dylan knows where to take us.
My father nods, then heads off to his cabin, and I look at May. "OK, spill, who is Aaron?"
She looks at me like she s going not to tell me then Delco speaks up. "He's the Alpha of the Ultima pack and about the same age as May, a year older, I believe."
She tries to knee Delco, but he avoids it and puts me between himself and May. "they have been dating for almost a year."
I nod, understanding, then look at May. "So when do I get to meet him?"
She looked away and didn't respond.
Delco laughed and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's ok, May; you don't need to be so closed off about your personal life."
"I don't like talking about who I'm dating." She glared at him, any other werewolf would probably cower from her look, but it didn't even phase him.
"Hey, no need to fight; besides, I'll meet him anyways, one way or another." I tried to get between them but then saw May glare at me before Dylan walked up.
"Hey, what's all this? Can't save the fun for me?" May looked at Dylan like she was annoyed by him being here. I ignored Dylan.
"May, I meant that as the Draconis Daughter, I would probably meet this Aaron later, and if he's going to be your mate, then shouldn't you introduce him to Dylan and me?"
This seemed to calm her as she ignored Dylan and looked at me, not friendly, but not hostile anymore. "I understand what your saying; sorry for almost snapping. I understand that you'll meet him eventually, but I want to enjoy this...vacation for a bit before diving into my personal life.
I nod, understanding as Dylan just seems confused. "so...When are we leaving, and whos all coming?"
Delco looks at Dylan. "So your Mays brother, I'm Delco, and in total, seven of us, including your and me."
Dylan nods. "Ok, and judging by your Aura, your Guias son? The next Alpha king?" I looked at Dylan, surprised that he could read Delco's aura.
Delco nods. "I am Delco King, and May is going to be my beta when I become the Alpha king."
"Dylan, since when can you read Auras?" I looked at him, annoyed that he had been able to learn before I did.
"I have been training to do it for some time; the books in the library are helpful."
I look away annoyed, and here Dylan and Delco chuckled. I felt May's hand on my shoulder. "They don't intend to be mean sendria; you'll get there."
"Let's just get ready to go." I head inside to my room. Once in my room, I start to pack the few things I had brought with me."
I felt a hug from behind from a familiar shorty; I turn around and hug Retsuko back. "So what earned me this hug?"
"I could see you were upset, so you get a hug," she said it like anyone upset gets a hug, making me smile as I sit on my bed and she sits on my lap.
"So, May has someone; Dylan is a flirt...do you have anyone you interested in." She looked at me with almost puppy dog eyes. I looked away, both wondering where this came from and why she was interested.
"I...um." how do I answer this?
"So you do?" she seemed to cuddle against me.
"Yes, his name is Grey; he's an elf."
She looks up at me. "An elf? What's he like?"
"Well, he's about as tall as May, and he could is good at fighting; he's also very kind and always there for me."
"Sounds like how May talks about Aaron, so I guess I'll just need to see him."
As she said that, sounding almost upset, it clicked for me. "Retsuko, are you jealous?"
She looked away, blushing. "N..no..jsut curious."
"You are wondering when you'll find someone like that. Arent you?"
She looks away and sighs. "Maybe, but I am nearly of age, and May keeps scaring them away."
"It's ok; you will find someone; after all, my father kept scaring them all away till my mother and grandmother stepped in with Grey, probably planning it."
She giggled and nods. "I bet you and Dylan can help me."
I lay down, and she lays down on top of me. "You're a cuddler, huh?"
She nods and cuddles with me as Dylan walks in.
"Well, this matches what May says happens, and nice to see my sisters are getting along."
"I am not your sister" I look away, annoyed.
They both laugh. "You sure act like it." Retsuko said cheekily.
"Now, Sendria, are you ready? We will be leaving at sunset." I could tell by his tone that he remembered the times I would wait till the last minute to do things.
I nod and cuddle with Retsuko as he leaves.
As the sun goes down, I join them for dinner; my parents are there with us as we talk a bit about home and how May and Retsuko thought of coming to the dragon kingdom. After dinner, my mother pulled me aside, and we sat on the porch outside.
"So Sendria, how do you feel?" she put a hand on my shoulder, and I could tell what she meant.
"Excited...and nervous." I look away, starting to think about the ceremony again and that I will need to start looking into an actual job soon.
"It's not all that scary, Sendria, and I am sure you will do wonderful." She gently hugs me, and I hug back.
"Mom, I'm not a child. I don't need you and Dad acting like I am." I knew shy they did, but I was going to be an adult soon.
"Your always our child, and besides, your father is kind of hard to hide anything from, and he'll always be watching you."
I roll my eyes, knowing what she meant. He was the Draconis, after all.
"I also heard the Grey is back from his homeland, so maybe I can expect something else in the future for you."
I blush and look away. Ever since I and Grey I had started getting close, my mother and grandmother teased me almost nonstop. "He said he'd be back for my awakening ceremony."
"I know, and I do wonder how he's doing, especially with that new arm."
I sigh and get up to head inside. "You can ask him when we see him." I go inside, not wanting to talk about him like this.
I find Retsuko trying to get Dylan to tell her about where she and May will be staying, and he seems to be trying to get help from May so he can finish getting his bags from his room. May just smiled and shook her head, so I came up behind Retsuko and whispered in her ear. "So your curious about where you'll be staying? Didn't we already say earlier?"
Retsuko jumped and turned around, looking a bit annoyed by me spooking her. May and Dylan stifled a laugh. "Yes, but what is it like? How do you handle being in a mountain? What are the people there like?"
I sigh and sit down. "Well, first off, the level we live on is pretty high up, so we can have balconies and a few landing pads which Dragons take off from and land on when they wish to go around, and I am sure that Dylan can take you to the forest whenever you want to run around, and don't you have the same powers as him?"
She nods. "Ok, but what is there to do?" She seemed to be acting like a child half her age again, May gave me a knowing look, like she had dealt with this many times before, which she probably had.
"Well, you'll just have to wait and see; I can't tell you everything."
She seemed to pout but didn't say anything else as my Father walked in with my Mother.
"Are we ready?" He had his bag over his shoulder.
I look at May, who nods. "I guess so; we just have to wait for Delco."
"I am here; I just had to get my Mother to stop worrying about if I had everything I needed." He walked in behind my Father; now it seemed like we were all ready.
We all got in a circle, and then I thought. "Hey Dylan, where will we appear? I'm guessing one of the landing pads?"
"Hmmm, I think the training field will be more fun."
I see my father roll his eyes as I sigh. "Well, Dylan, I think I'll let you explain your decision to the elite captains while I show our guests where they will stay." My father said as though it was a casual thought, and I saw Dylan cough.
I smirk as Dylan closes his eyes, and his energy starts to spark off him, connecting to us, but when it reached Retsuko, she just seemed to absorb it. Dylan sighed at this. "Suky, can you hold my hand? You are absorbing my lining, so I need to make physical contact with you."
She nods and holds his hand as he closes his eyes again.
In a moment, we are gone; I open my eyes to see us in the training area; all the royal guards and the elites momentarily take up defensive stances before relaxing as they realize it's just us.
"Wow, this palace reminds me of the sparring rings." Retsuko says with enthusiasm.
"It is our version of it from the elites to higher-skilled fighters like the elites and royal guard." My Father said casually as he motions one of the Elite captains over.
"Huh? Elites? Royal guards?" She seemed lost, but May and Delco nodded understanding.
"I will be showing our guests around; you can have Dylan explaining why he decided to teleport us here." My father said in an emotionless and authoritative voice. I walk away, eager to find Grey. My father takes May, Retsuko, and Delco on a tour, explaining the training room.
I try to sense him and get a slight feeling from my room, so I open the door to see him standing on the balcony looking out. I walk up behind him and then stand beside him. "Miss the view?"
He doesn't look at me as he talks in his rich voice. "I think it might be the best from your room." he looks at me with his vibrant eyes as I look at the vast expanse and nod.