Dáinn' POV
"Dáinn, you like him, don't you?! I mean, you don't even bother giving a second eye to strangers, and here you went all the way out to protect Cassiel", a snobbish voice called out to me. Ignoring the curious bunny, I walked over to the kitchen. Just as I picked up the utensils another voice chimed in,
"Dáinn, I know you like him. Your face says it all. At least try to hide it if you don't want to confess." he murmured by the end of his words.
"If you both add another word to your nonsensical questions, watch me leave you starving." I paused before continuing, "And better prepare yourselves. Favian is coming back."
Hearing the words, Keanu yelled, "FINALLY! I have been waiting for so long!!" as he rushed towards his room. Marcel on the other hand had instantly got up in excitement to dash into his room, giggling cutely. Seeing the exhilarated younger ones, I shook my head and went on with preparing dinner.
Around an hour later, the bell to the house rang, alarming the younger ones. The little tiger pounced at the door as the bunny followed behind. Opening the door, without giving the man before them a chance to enter or greet them, Marcel embraced him in a tight hug, as if his life depended on it.
"Hey! Move already. I have been waiting longer than you." Keanu whined, pushing the tiger aside, as Favian still standing at the entrance chuckled deeply.
"Okay! That's too much. At least let him enter." I scolded the two eager men acting like complete toddlers in front of Favian.
They dawdled away disappointedly from the tall man whose face was still covered in a mask and sunglasses.
"Have you still not been able to control your abilities?" I asked, a little worried for him.
"Mhm. Not yet, Father has been trying his best. However, they say my abilities are too strong to be controlled so easily. It is really getting frustrating now." Favian sighed, as he took off his mask and glasses to reveal his heterochronic eyes of Turquoise and Gold, slumping down on the couch as soon as he entered.
Favian Earp was the most unique of the Earp line of sorcerers. Inheriting the strongest celestial powers of the Moon Goddess, Favian had both, prophesizing and mind-reading abilities, becoming an obvious prodigy of his family.
However, one thing that he was not able to do like his family was to control the strength of these powers. Due to this, he was able to read the minds of people he never intended to, by making simple yet direct eye contact.
Naturally, to avoid this from happening, he began wearing his signature thick, black sunglasses, while avoiding too much contact with others. Though, due to our superior bloodline and control over our consciousness, Favian has not been able to use his abilities without meaning to, on us three.
"Favian, how are things back home? Did you talk with the seniors?" Keanu asked, his voice laced with a hint of nostalgia.
"Did the higher-ups have anything to say about the situation? Are things going to be, okay?" Marcel joined in on the inquiry.
"Well, let's have dinner first and talk later. I am really starving right now." Favian casually replied, shuffling his eyes towards me, hoping I'd take the hint.
Catching up, I called out quickly, "You guys have been bombarding him with hugs and questions since he arrived. Let him relax for a moment, will you? We can always keep talking later. I made everyone's favourite stew today!"
I was easily able to brush the topic off their minds as the boys got distracted by the aroma of the scrumptious stew.
"Ahh, I wonder how I survived all these months without your cooking. I really missed this!" Favian spoke with his mouth full.
Keanu, in a similar fashion, agreed and so did Marcel.
"Don't speak with your mouths full, please" I just sighed at how they were eating so desperately. Smiling at the sight, I was simply full by just looking at how the three ate to their heart's content.
"Anyways, how have you been?" Directing my question towards Favian, I handed Marcel a wipe to clean off the mess he was causing while eating.
"Better, things are working at a rather slower pace and along with all that mess, I also have to handle a new case given by my father of a boy almost our age" he replied taking another mouthful of the stew.
"I see. Things must have been really hard on you. I am sorry to have left you to handle these matters all alone." Sympathizing with the younger was the only thing I could do at the moment.
"Dáinn, one of us had to look after the pack and to be very honest, paperwork is better than handling humans!" Favian replied apathetically and walked over to the TV, joining the other two.
I felt extremely sorry for leaving him all alone in the midst of all the mess and moving to live in town. But again, Favian was right, someone had to look after the pack and being the leader, it eventually became my responsibility.
That night, on the 29th of February, when the Moon Goddess had finally answered all our prayers, many things had changed. That night, lightning struck and the clouds roared loudly as thunder echoed through the whole night sky.
Before my eyes, helplessly I could see my people being murdered mercilessly and our houses being burned down to ashes. They didn't care if they were attacking kids or women, all that mattered to them was to somehow finish our whole existence. Standing beside my burned-down home and now shattered belongings, I prayed for help.
Suddenly a very sharp pain in my chest caused me to bend down making me lose my balance. Kneeling down on the floor, I kept hold of my chest with my hands and tried easing my breathing, but to no avail. At that very moment, lightning struck before my eyes and all I could hear were faint voices of someone calling my name over and over again until darkness engulfed me.
'Opening my eyes, I found myself sitting on wet grass. I quickly looked around to see where I was. Standing in the middle of a forest, my eyes caught sight of a small figure shining brightly that sat under one of the trees. His surrounding was lit up so bright that it was difficult to see the path.
Curious, I walked towards the figure only to come to a halt when the person suddenly stood up and started walking towards me. I stood still at my place, not being able to move as the beauty of this person had captivated my mind. His features were not so clear but his aura was very mesmerizing. I found myself staring at his figure and quickly looked away, flustered.
"Where am I?" I questioned to which he simply reached out his hands to hold mine. Just as his skin touched mine, a spark of what felt like lightning hit me.
"Follow me!" He said in a melodious voice. Though not being able to see his face, I was still sure this person looked extremely beautiful. Just by the look of it, one could say he was nothing less than an angel. His white robe covered his figure beautifully. The thing that caught my eye was the pendant around his neck. It was half a sun with a connecting other half to it, it looked as if someone had deliberately divided it into two pieces.
"Where are you taking me?" Curious, I asked again, and this time the person stopped, turning around to face me once again. I looked around to see that we had stopped outside a small hut.
"I am going to answer your prayers Dáinn. I am Lunar the Moon Goddess and I am going to help you" the person named Lunar responded, entering the hut and quickly started looking around for something in the piles of books stacked all over the place
"Huh? You are the Moon Goddess? Umm... What are you looking for?" Still perplexed, I questioned once again. He paused for a second and again faced my direction.
"I am trying to help you, Dáinn Barlow." That was all Lunar said before he got back to searching for whatever he was again.
I simply stood behind him and looked at his every move. Being an observer, I looked at how he swiftly moved his hands to turn pages or moved from one shelf to the other taking out books and placing them on the table.
Lunar suddenly walked over to the table with a book in hand, pressed a few buttons and stood back. After a while, a door opened through the shelves. He walked inside leaving me alone and even more puzzled than before. After 20 minutes or so, he came back with a small flask-like bottle in hand and a silver string that had a half moon, crescent hanging from it.
"Drink this and also keep this around you always. When the time comes, you will have to use it for a good cause." Lunar said as he handed me both the flask and bracelet. Though I had just met him, he had a sense of calmness around him. I felt so safe around him which I had never felt in these 7 months.
"What are you thinking? You don't have much time, drink it" he urged me to drink the potion that was in the flask. By the look of it, the bluish-purple substance looked pretty but I was not confident enough to drink it yet.
"Dáinn, you have to believe me, if you don't drink it now it will be difficult for you to return. You need to hurry up and drink." Lunar explained as concern laced his voice.
"Is it safe?" Still not convinced, I asked him again. He walked a step forward and took hold of my hand causing me to look down at how perfectly they fit together.
He took the bracelet from my hand and placed it on my right wrist. Looking up I could only see the powerful light that he emitted.
"Thank you! It is really beautiful!" I thanked him for the sweet gift and gesture and quickly took my hands out of his grip. Something about his touch made my mind go bonkers.
"You're welcome. You will need it later on, now drink the potion you only have a minute left to spare" he hurried me towards the gate of the hut. Befuddled, I walked out the gate and stared at it for a couple of seconds before Lunar walked out of it as well.
Looking at the bluish-purple potion in my hand and the person in front of me, I took one last breath and gulped down the content of the bottle completely till its last drop. I stood there staring at him blankly. Suddenly, a sharp pain in my chest caused me to collapse on the floor. Before I closed my eyes lightning struck, making the sky roar and then darkness took over me all over again.'
I woke up to faint voices of people talking. Opening my eyes, I was greeted by the strong lights that caused me to shut them again. I groaned in pain and slowly opened my eyes again, adjusting to the lights in the room.
Due to my shuffling, Keanu ran towards where I was lying and engulfed me in a tight embrace causing me to hiss in pain. He quickly let go and looked at me with puffy eyes and tears streaming down his face.
"Dáinn!!! You scared me so much" he cried like a child whose candy had been stolen from him. Looking at his state I hugged him and lightly patted his back
"See, I am fine. It's okay! Calm down! I am alright" I tried consoling the little one and let him cry on my shoulder for as long as he pleased. After what seemed like hours Keanu finally calmed down and broke the hug. He stood up wiping his tears from his face and walked towards the door.
"I'll let the others know you are okay" he spoke before walking out the door and closing it behind him. I sat on the bed and recalled everything that happened in the past few hours. Everything I saw felt so realistic that I could not bring myself to accept that it was just a dream.
I stood up from the wooden bed and looked at my reflection in the close by the mirror. Startled at my reflection, I backed away from the mirror. What I was seeing was nothing else but my Wolf in all his might. He looked stronger than before and healthier than any other wolf I had ever seen. He was huge, crossing the size of an average human standing. His eyes shone bright red, not just any red but blood red as if it were hungry for something.
"Lykouros?" I asked still looking at my reflection. The wolf inside the mirror nodded slowly and growled showing that he was angry. Just as he growled, I felt a light tug in my chest. I looked down to see a tattoo peaking out from underneath my shirt that was definitely not there before. I took off my shirt and noticed that a huge open lotus tattoo was marked in the middle of my chest.
I quickly put on my shirt and walked out the door towards the nearby library. It was already morning and everything around was completely destroyed. I speed-walked to the closest library and went to the section that had books related to flowers. Searching through the thousands of books for a minute straight, I finally came across what I was looking for.
I opened the book and flipped through the pages until I reached the one that read Lotus on it. I read through the lines loudly to understand what they said.
'The lotus flower has long been seen as a symbol of purity among the supernatural, but also of spirituality and the elusiveness of enlightenment. Many cultures have used the lotus as an emblem of a personal, spiritual journey that one has undergone.
While their trials may be over, the lotus represents that accumulation of time and energy spent getting to where they want to be. The flowering open lotus is at once pure and powerful, with a sort of transparent emotional state that only someone comfortable with their emotions can share.'
Leaving the library, I walked back to the hut I was in.
"Dáinn where did you go? You should be resting!!" Marcel complained. I looked at him and smiled which didn't seem to change his mood one bit.
"Dáinn does anything hurt? Are you okay?" A concerned Favian spoke. Maybe he would know what this means. After all, he was aware of half the things that happened around usually.
I walked towards the bed and looked at the three concerned faces looking intently at me for an explanation. Sighing heavily, I unbuttoned my shirt to reveal the tattoo. All three of them gasped at the sight and looked even more addled than before.
"Dáinn what happened when you were unconscious??" Favian finally asked coming out of his state of shock.
I told them everything that happened about how I met a person who said he was the Moon Goddess and how they said they were helping me by making me drink a potion he had handed me in a flask.
"Oh yeah! He also gave me this bracelet" I showed them the bracelet he had tied around my wrist. "Also, his name was Lu... something like, Lun... Aha Lunar." I added.
"What did you say his name was again?" Favian questioned looking aghast.
"Lunar! Why? Is everything okay? Do you know him?" To which Favian simply shook his head lightly. By the way Favian was flabbergasted upon hearing the name Lunar, I was sure he knew something about the person I met. What I could not understand was why was he not telling me about it.
The younger two in the room were silently looking between me and Favian not quite sure about what to say. The whole situation was quite overwhelming for all of us.
"If you-" before I could complete my sentence a loud growl was heard outside. Being on alert, we all started leaving the hut
"Dáinn stay! We'll take care, you need rest!" Favian voiced his thoughts to which the other two immediately nodded their heads.
"We can take care of it Dáinn" Marcel said as his once innocent brown eyes had now turned into a shade of emerald green.
"You guys, I am more than okay" I smirked and transformed into my wolf form leaving everyone in the room bewildered.
Recalling that day seemed as though it was just yesterday. After all, we had all been through a ride to hell. Now that I look at my packs people smiling happily and living peacefully, it assures me that back then I had taken the right decision and as an Alpha I will always keep making such commitments for them without hesitation.