The deeper I went into the dark green forest, the more ghosts appeared. The howling winds became more robust, too, almost drowning out the voices of the dead, leaving me to bask in the melody it produced. It was like the random wolf chorus; sometimes Silverant broke out during the full moons.
When my brothers were pups, they could barely handle the stimuli before joining.
Ah… Those two can be cute if they want to be.
To ignore the plague of spirits, I put on my headphones and blast music to drown out their commentary, which got rowdier thanks to the gusts. I was faster and more robust than a human but significantly weaker than a Lycan. Dad had trained me all my life to control my strength, but that didn't make me safe enough to be in public.
My father's name is Fenris, a blood moon lycan, a variant of other lycans.
Although the title of being the first belonged to someone else, blood moons caused this phenomenon, but Dad wasn't the true first of his kind. No, that belonged to the mad Lycan everyone was trying to stop.
The one I had a destined meeting with. Thanks to my training, I could handle myself somewhat. My brothers, who were like Dad, beat me terribly in combat. However, after the accident, they all went softer on me.
Aiden was even more overbearing, and Caden, who usually pushed me forward, also became overprotective of me.
I just need to prove to them that I'm not dangerous, can make my own decisions, and deserve to be heard!
After running for a while, I found myself in a clearing near a lake in the middle of the forest.
Crap… Did I take a wrong turn? Mom said Alijah would probably appear back in that temple we were born in, but why did this feeling take me here instead?
Sadly, it was too dark for me to try and find myself in it. Even though the moon shined over the scenery that faced me, it was eerie to gaze at, especially with all the shimmering robs floating around.
Ah… Just how many died here…
Kneeling by the lake, I washed my hands in its water, revealing that the wound Shade had inflicted was gone. It was like it had never happened. However, I was out of breath from all the running. My stamina wasn't the same as a Lycan, but it would recover soon enough.
Thanks to my diluted blood, I couldn't shift to my beast form at will.
Well, I can't shift at all consciously. So, I can't find you by scent. Eh… What can I do?
Needing a quick rest, I lay against an old tree after finally relieving myself.
I never thought I'd be so glad to empty my bladder.
More orbs gathered around me, triggering me to blast my music to drown the stupid ghosts that threatened my sanity. The accident that allowed me to hear them finally happened because I was awakening to my magic.
I am a late bloomer, but heck, what a way to start.
Mom tried to find a way for me not to hear them, but Dad was the one who gave me the device that saved me from their constant nagging. I usually spent most of the day with my headphones on, only taking them off when someone wanted to speak with me.
Uncle Ben, another silver Lycan like Dad, possessed the typical wolf trait of amber eyes. He and his girlfriend, Tania, a vampire beauty with black hair and red eyes, would take me to get different music to listen to when they were available.
Yeah, it was rare for me to leave the Silver Manor, but what can I do? I did kill two people by accident when I went berserk. I can't remember anything about it, but it did happen.
This was rare, though, as Tania traveled constantly. Last year, for my birthday, Dad gifted me a solar-powered headset and MP3 made by Sun Elves so I could always have them, even if the power went out, which usually happened whenever shadow beasts (demons) attacked.
They were creatures from the soul cairn, much like Shade, but the ones that randomly popped around our world were of lower ranking. These beasts came from the same source as Vera's, Mom's, and my magical power.
After the events that led to my birth, the realm of the dead gods, Soul Cairn, was merged into our world. This allowed them to spawn into our world at random times and places. Each time they did, their energy caused a power outage while carnage ensued.
It was similar to what an electrical, magnetic pulse can do to electricity humans love to rely on. However, in this case, it caused a malfunction in all our magical objects, including our power. That wasn't the only worry, as these beasts were ruthless to whoever they found in their path.
The only saving grace was that these encounters were timed battles of endurance. A beast couldn't be in our world for long without a summoner, which helped us escape ruin most of the time.
Shade and Ruzgard were the only two familiars from that realm that existed without fading. They used to be residents of the soul cairn themselves before being bound to their summoners. After a brief rest, my stamina was replenished, and the music consumed me.
Anything with jazz usually made me break out dancing. With the crescent moon out and shining up above, I couldn't help but bust out some moves.
I'm alone out here, so why not?
Dancing was a hobby for me—a perfect way to work out my energy while being cooped up, thanks to my condition. I closed my eyes before dancing the night away, forgetting why I was there in the first place.
Ah… when was the last time I danced like this? It's always so freeing.
This was one thing I could do that wouldn't be taken away from me.
It's just me doing my thing.
My peaceful place, even though I was in a crazy forest. While I danced the night away, someone grabbed my headset from my head, suddenly interrupting me from my grove.
Crap! It can't be!
For a moment, I thought it was Dad, or maybe one of my brothers, who had caught on to me. There was no way anyone else would have gotten there so fast.
Shade, you betrayer!
I almost pouted for a moment before…
"What the fuck is this?" A stranger's voice said from behind.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
My heart stopped upon feeling those words rumble in my eardrums. It wasn't Dad or my brothers, but someone I knew well.
Girl, I tried to warn you. One ghost sassed at me.
I was frozen in place, unable to turn. This was the moment I had been waiting for, yet I couldn't move fast enough.
Why am I… hesitating?
You're so screwed. Another one followed.
I could picture their expressions of amusement even without seeing their faces. I slowly turned around to face the stranger—one in a picture in my mom's workshop. She had drawn the mad lycan once, long ago, yet the resemblance was uncanny.
Mom… You really are good at remembering details.
The only thing her drawing couldn't capture was his beauty, which was incomparable to the real thing. The Lycan that stood in front of me hadn't aged a day even though he had been thousands of years in.
The last time he was in this world was twenty years ago before Mom sent him away again. His fiery crimson eyes scrunched, inspecting the weird device that created music. It mystified him since he probably had never seen one like it before.
His black hair was silky smooth under the moonlight, along with his sole braid that reached his waist. The way the moon shined off his fair skin left me in awe and allowed me to see a small mole by his right eye.
A wolf I had only seen in my dreams stood before me. Dropping the headset on the ground, Alijah glanced back at me, his lips curled downward and his eyes twitching. However, when his gaze met mine, lightning struck me right where I stood.
My heart raced, not out of fear, but something else, as every fiber of my being knew this man was my fated one.
Ah… you really are my…
Unable to utter a single word, I could only stare in utter awe at the majestic wolf.
Your voice, your appearance… It's all the same as every one of my fantasies with you. Ah… I am so screwed! You're so much more than I thought you'd be!
Before I could say a thing, his expression changed when he flashed his fangs at me. By the time I realized it, he pinned me against a tree behind us as he held me up from my throat.
"Girl... where... No, when am I?" Alijah tightened his grip on my neck.
I struggled to grab his hands as the air became hard to breathe. He was too strong and way too rough, too.
Why wasn't I paying attention? I had only one shot, and I lost it! Good fucking job, Rem!
Although I had previously been randomly looking, I had no way of knowing if I would find him.
Damn it! I should've been paying attention instead of dancing!
"I... c-can't... speak... l-like this!" I tried to sway the angered Lycan to let me go.
He growled in response to my answer, but I was right. Though there was no doubt in my mind, he thought of ripping my head off before he approached me. Luckily, he needed the potential information only I could offer.
"Fine, speak luma." Alijah, let me go, allowing me to gasp for air before coughing.
How do you… Ah, my scent probably gives me away!
Reaching for my neck, I winced, knowing I would have a bruise for a week from the strength he used if I were an average human. He wasn't a gentle soul.
You're nothing like how you behaved in my dreams. However, it didn't start like that either. You were…
Catching my breath, I readied myself for what came next.
"It has been twenty years since you were last seen," I informed, grabbing my secret weapon, a shadowy neck collar I had made especially for him, from my pouch while pretending to catch my breath.
"Has it really been twenty years?" Alijah growled. "Fuck, I'm going to kill him. I'm sure he made her do this."
I didn't know what he was saying or why, but I was set to do what I needed to succeed.
"Hah... that sounds like an excellent plan." I tried to butter him up a bit.
He gazed at me, narrowing his eyes before raising his eyebrows.
Yes! My disguise is working! It seems you haven't recognized me as the silver blood you hate, or I'd be a pancake right now!
"Who are you, and why are you here?" he questioned with a soft smirk.
Turning to him, I grinned in response to his question, triggering his eyes to fly open as I slowly approached him.
"Well... I'm here because fates want me here." I started as he scoffed, prompting me to frown.
"What?" He shook his head.
I probably appeared like a crazy Luma to him, yet I didn't care. All I needed was a second to get the best of him.
"And I'm also your worst nightmare, I guess," I mumbled rapidly.
He brought his face closer to mine, his ears somewhat perked up.
Mom's right. You're always full of yourself and think you are invincible. Hm… What can a little luma like me do to a big bad wolf like you?
"What did you say?" Alijah snickered, seeing me like a little luma who knew no better.
I took the opportunity. He was so close to jabbing my hand up to his neck. The collar snapped automatically upon contact with his skin. In an instant, it sunk into his body, leaving behind a black mark on his neck where it once was.
Instinctively, he grabbed onto it as pulses rushed through him. My neck also had the same marking. I had already been wearing mine since I got into the airship.
"Sorry, but this is the only way." I apologized, feeling all the adrenaline rush that came from pissing off the most dangerous man alive.
"What the fuck did you do, wench?" Alijah snapped, gripping his neck to find nothing to hold onto.
Unfortunately for this wolf, what I did was irreversible unless I wanted to.
Well, with Vera's help, too. Without her, I can't eliminate it, but that's just a minor detail!
My magic could even affect a red-eye Lycan with our combined efforts since I was half-one. Wolves were usually magic-proof unless they overwhelmed their resistances with immense power, but mine worked differently.
I had the blood moon's essence within me, mutating the magic from the soul cairn into something else. Thanks to that, it would even affect the strongest Lycans, which was why my brothers were sometimes wary of me.
However, thanks to that change, mine was unstable compared to my mom's or sister's power.
I guess we can call it a symbiotic relationship.
"Just a little thing to bind you to me." I tried to play it off as a no big deal.
Sadly, Alijah wasn't following my flow. Instead, he radiated a crimson aura brighter than I had ever seen. Even in all these years, his power still exceeded Dad's.
Crap, Mom, you were right to worry. Your plan to subdue this wolf would've certainly failed. You all would've died if I hadn't done this! If it works… No, it'll work!
"Ah! It was a mistake to let you live. I am going to kill you now." His eyes shimmered brightly as he launched at me.
This is the moment of truth—I'll see if it works or die at your hands!
"Sit down!" I ordered, causing the bond to resonate within us.
Instantly, he was on the ground, on his bum, eyes wide open, visibly shocked at what had happened. My first soul-binding spell ever worked. The joy that gushed out of me was hard to hold on to as I fist bumped towards the sky.
"Heck, yeah!" I raved about my victory.
"What the actual fuck?" Alijah muttered, shifting his eyes to see if anyone else had done this.
Aw, you're sitting down like the good boy I want you to be! Good... this is amazing!!!
"It works. Woot! It works!" I celebrated by jumping around happily, unable to help myself.
This was much to Alijah's horror as his pupils dilated and his lips curled downward.
"Crazy fucking luma! What the fuck did you do to me?!" He cursed loudly.
I gazed around, remembering where we were.
Oh crap, right! We don't have time for this! It won't be long until they find us!
They already knew he was back thanks to the energy wave his arrival must've caused, which meant my family probably was searching the forest for him.
Or perhaps they are waiting for you to come to them. Either way, we have to move!
"Oh, we should really get out of here!" I announced, picking up my headset from the floor and stuffing it in my bag.
Once my hype came down, I could hear the surrounding ghosts warning me about who was coming our way. They spoke about three silver wolves heading in this direction.
No! No! Just no! I didn't get this far to get caught!
Alijah appeared distressed about something entirely different. In a second, his life was twisted upside down because of me.
"What?!" he spat, "What the fuck is going on?!"
"Alijah, come with me if you want to live!" I declared, reaching my hand to him.
For a moment, he seemed flabbergasted entirely by me. His expression made me wonder what was going on in that chaotic little mind of his, but this was the only choice. I could only hope he would grab onto my hand.
Our freedom and our future depended on his following action.
But knowing your past, will you trust me?