Wolf History

Addy

We’re suddenly swept downwards, the room morphing into a tunnel of swirling rainbow lights. Pinks, purples, blues, and greens envelop us as we traverse the lengthy tube. I press my face into Drake’s chest, his arms tightening around me, his hand soothingly rubbing my back. I’ve never been a fan of fast rides, and this one is making my stomach do flips. Soon enough, it halts, depositing us in a coliseum.

Myra, clutching Tate tightly, asks, “Are we in Rome?”

They shake their heads. “No. Welcome to Urnika. This is where our species began millions of years ago. This planet is light years away from where we are now,” he says, pointing to the two suns.

Drake steps forward, my hand in his. “This is where we come from?”

Tate moves to stand beside him. “Yes. The males in the arena are older, unmated wolves who desire the same chosen mate. They would fight until one submitted to the winner. No killing was allowed, but things could get ugly if the weaker one refused to give up.”

A young man in royal robes rises, lifting his hands. “Welcome everyone to the fight for Genna’s hand as their mate. This fight will continue until one of you submits to the other. Now, let the fight begin.”

My gaze locks onto a stunning woman seated next to the man. Mystic’s voice echoes in my head, “Oh, my goddess. It’s Malcolm. I haven’t seen him in so long I forgot how handsome he was.”

Tate points to the pair. “That’s right, Mystic. That’s your mate, along with you. He was crowned King of this world shortly after finding you, and this world lived in peace for a long time before a woman named Girtha ruined it.”

Soloman snaps his fingers, and we’re pulled back into the rainbow tunnel, whisked away to a grand castle. A young woman with light brown hair stands outside the gates, draped in a hooded cape. She paces back and forth, peering into the forest. A man emerges from the trees, heading her way. His eyes shimmer silver, his hair as black as night.

“Girtha and Ewart,” I growl, surprising myself.

“He is the prince of darkness. We live with the moon goddess, but some wolves who surrender their souls to him reside in his realm, which we call ‘The Outlands.’ His followers wreak havoc on packs, decimating them. She was so desperate to have what she could never possess that she made a deal with him to destroy Mystic at all costs. She stripped away everything Mystic stood for, all the joy and peace she brought. Phebe is always born of a low-ranking member, Omega or Gamma, but she believes she is above that. In this scene, Girtha targets Mystic’s soon-to-be mate when she was brought back five hundred years later to restore what the place needed.”

Soloman snaps his fingers again, and we’re transported into a bedroom, watching a couple making love beneath the covers of a massive bed. As the covers are pulled back, I see Girtha beneath a man as he fucks her.

“This is Axton, who is supposed to be Mystic’s mate. She seduced him one night, which led to disaster.” The tunnel reappears, and we’re whisked to a throne room. Both sit on golden thrones, her belly rounded. A petite young woman stands at the base of the steps, weeping.

“Do it,” Girtha commands.

Axton rises, tears in his eyes as he looks at the woman below. “I am sorry, Feronia. I didn’t know it would end like this. I, Axton Huntly, reject you, Feronia Massin, as my mate.”

The woman collapses, clutching her chest as their bond snaps. She flees the place, heading towards the cliffs a short distance from the castle. Shifting into her wolf, she leaps off the ledge, disappearing into the waves below. We’re once again transported down the road where Girtha stands in the woods with a girl about eight years old. Dead wolves litter the ground as they walk over to Axton, who lies lifeless. A grin spreads across her face as she turns to the young girl. “You will become queen now since he is dead. This is the moment we have waited for.”

Dozens of wolves emerge from the woods, snarling at the two and forming a circle around them. They slowly close in as one person shifts, glancing at the dead King before looking back at her.

“You have no heart for him. He is dead, and you will join him soon. This kingdom has never known happiness since he rejected his true mate because of you. He made me promise to destroy you if he was ever killed,” the man’s eyes blaze like fire.

She scoffs at him. “I am the Queen, and she is your future ruler; you can’t do that.”

He smirks. “The King is dead, so yes, we can. You are nothing now without him at your side.”

He flicks his wrist, and the wolves close in on the two, tearing them apart as their growls drown out their screams. Once again, the tunnel appears, and a white-haired woman is being held against a man’s chest, screaming and struggling to escape.

“Please, let me go. I need to say goodbye to him,” she begs.

“Don’t do anything foolish, woman. I have killed the Beta and chosen you as my mate. It is my right to become the next Beta of this pack, choosing who I want,” he growls.

He releases her, and she scrambles to his side, gently lifting the limp head into her lap. They’re both young, and his breaths are ragged and short, but he manages a sad smile. “I have always loved you. I hope you know that. Live a long life without me, Mystic. I will see you again.”

She shakes her head, tears streaming down her face onto him. Then a smile crosses her face as her hands slam onto his chest, fusing into it. The other man tries to pull her off, but it’s futile. Her hands are embedded in his chest as light flows from her to him. It grows brighter the longer she stays against him until the light fades, and she collapses to the ground. She touches her mark, making it disappear as a whisper escapes her lips. “Find another mate. You deserve it.”

The man stands, cradling her in his arms as a howl echoes through the land so powerfully that it shatters the ground, splitting it open and causing the other man to fall into the crater. He rocks the lifeless body in his arms before taking off through the woods, howling in agony.

“This was Mystic and me. We were only mates briefly, but she healed me while freeing us from our mark. I resented her for many years for saving me like that and didn’t look for my next mate until I stumbled upon her ten years later. This was the only other time her offspring wasn’t brought into this world. Magic was dealing with another pack when this happened. The man trying to claim her as his mate was from another pack that attacked, trying to take ours over. We annihilated that pack when they returned, restoring balance to the world. That pack had been slowly destroying smaller packs, killing all the males and taking the females, turning them into breeders. That’s when that practice was invented, but we thought it had been eradicated. We were wrong; their pack had hidden them away while the females were forced to bear pups for years without our knowledge. We vowed to seek out and destroy every pack that adopted this new way of expanding their packs. We eliminated the high leaders who allowed this to happen and freed the packs to live as we were meant to. The moon goddess brings these two down whenever something like this catches her attention. I also come back to watch over the two of them, usually as Magic’s Beta, as we slowly search for Mystic to allow me to protect her, ensuring she doesn’t sacrifice her life for another wolf. She’s done that a few times; once was with me, and another time was when a good friend of hers was injured and the pack doctor couldn’t help him. She healed him of his severe injuries that should have killed him, but it killed her instead,” he gives me a stern look.

Drake and Myra stand there, mouths agape. “You’re saying she’s going to die?” she asks.

He shakes his head. “No, if she doesn’t try to heal someone with injuries that should be fatal, she will live a long life. The problem is when Mystic feels sadness, she feels compelled to alleviate it. Addy must learn to walk away from people no matter how hard Mystic fights to get back to them.”

Soloman snaps his fingers again, and we’re deposited in a dungeon where a thin woman is chained to the walls. A man enters, keys jingling, unlocks the chains, and drags her up the steps. We trail them down a long hallway into a bedroom where a woman lies in a frail state.

“Heal her,” the man orders.

Her eyes are hollow, her body frail from hunger. Yet, she manages to drag herself over to the woman, placing her small hands on her. The glow isn’t as bright as we’ve seen before, but it seems to do the trick as the woman inhales deeply. The smaller woman collapses, curling into herself on the floor.

He scoops her up, carrying her back to the wall and chaining her up again. Her body trembles as he leaves, her eyes slowly closing.

“He did this to her once before, when she was taken from us. We couldn’t find her. They used her to heal the sick until she was so weak, she died. I’m here to prevent that from happening again,” he says, snapping his fingers.

We find ourselves back in the office where it all began. Drake wraps an arm around me as we sit, my stomach churning from all the travel.

“Where’s Phebe? Who’s her human this time?” Tate asks.

I look up at him. “Macie. She’s the human who carries the wolf.”

He turns to Drake. “Did you ever have a relationship with her?”

Drake growls, “I’d rather not revisit the past.”

Soloman sits down. “It’s important, Drake. We need to know.”

Drake nods. “We’ve been together for the past three months. She always claimed she was the next Luna. It makes more sense now, knowing what I do and seeing her ambition for power.”

They exchange a glance. “That sounds about right. We need to know, did you ever have unprotected sex with her?”

Drake shakes his head. “No, I made sure of it. She tried to seduce me this morning, but she didn’t succeed.”

Tate exhales deeply. “Good. If she had, it would have been disastrous. She’d be carrying your child. It only takes once with her; that was part of her deal. Mate or not, she can conceive whenever she wants, ensuring the male impregnates her. That’s how packs are destroyed; she gains power and slowly tears the pack apart. She must have sensed your change when she tried harder to get you in bed.”

“I ended things with her yesterday after I found out Addy was my mate and saw how she treated her. She planned attacks that left Addy badly beaten and bruised,” Drake says, rubbing his neck.

“Does she know who Addy is?” Soloman asks.

I nod. “She was in the back of the room when the announcement was made. She stormed out.”

Tate grunts. “She knows that Mystic is here. She hasn’t been around for eight hundred years, but she’s back to see if she can destroy you and this pack.”

Drake looks horrified before clearing his throat. “What do we need to do about her?”

Both men answer at the same time. “Destroy her now. Before it’s too late.”