Chapter 29 - Soul Touching

***Hopes pov***

“Hello girls, what a pleasant surprise!” Zandra says when she opens the door.
“When has anything ever surprised you?” Cathy snickers and plants a kiss her on the cheek before she sneaks pass her in to the house.
“She has surprised me a couple of times” Zandra chuckles and winks at me before we follow Cathy.
We sit down at the dinner table.
“Coffee? Tea? Maybe something stronger? “ She asks
“Coffee would be great” I answer thinking maybe I will need something stronger later.
My meetings with Zandra have so far been very intense.
She brings us our cups and a plate with homemade cookies and Cathy immediately munches away.
“Always had a sweet tooth that one.” Zandra says with a warm smile before turning to me.
“So, I guess you want to talk about the unbinding? What do you want to know?”
“Everything I suppose but most of all, will I change? Callum says I will still be me.”
“You will, and so much more..but I think you noticed that in the mall earlier?”
A low chuckle left her lips and I feel a blush on my face.
“How was that possible?” Cathy asks while chewing on yet another cookie.
“I will try to explain..” Zandra clears her throat and begins.
“ If lucky, every pack has a Luna, the mate to the Alpha, the highest ranked female in the pack. The Luna of today is only the name of a position, not the wolf itself. You can be born with Alpha blood but not with Luna blood.
Aayla was the original Luna, her wolf named by her children, but she is an Alpha...actually, more then an Alpha..she can do things the Goddess her self can not do..atleast not without her siblings help” she snickered
“She was the strongest wolf ever to have walked this earth, and she was the firstborn and the creator of the first generation. Her soul is immortal and it lives on in her descendants, that’s why every firstborn of her bloodline is a girl. You Hope, are a descendant of Aayla, so her soul, her wolf’s spirit, is living in you. Even bound, others can feel her power and if she is awake, she can be quite frightening as you know.” She speaks with admiration in her voice.
“But if she is scary, should I let her lose? I dont want people to be afraid of me” I say.
“Luna is only scary to those who are a threat to her or her kind. She would never hurt a silly shewolf just because she can. All wolves are her children of sort, she created them and she will protect them even if it means putting them in their place from time to time” She winks at me.
“Does that mean my mother passed on Luna to me?”
“It does.”
“Do you think she felt it? Not having her anymore?”
“I can't say for sure but I don’t think so. Luna has been deep asleep for a very long time” Zandra answers
“I know she wakes when Ambrogio becomes a threat and I know our blood hurts him, but how long does he needs to recover?”
“It depends..when Aayla hurt him, their last fight before she died, she forced so much blood in him..he didn’t return for a couple of hundred years. Other times he returned sooner.”
“Aayla..Luna..they could turn humans into werewolves with their bite, right?”
“Thats a simplification, but yes, she could.” She nods.
“Can I?..Will I be able to do that?”
A sad dark shadow passes through Zandra’s eyes.
“You will..but it’s not as easy as it sounds, and the cost is high. No descendant of Aayla has ever done that.”
“How many has there been? Unbound I mean?
“A few before you, each with their own story”
“Whats the price?”
“To sever of Lunas spirit. To create a wolf it will need a wolfs spirit, and even if her soul recharge she was week for a long time after the big creation when she was building her army.”
My heart felt heavy. I could never do that. I could never hurt Luna.
“So, when we unbind her, what happens then? Will I wolf out?”
“ I think she will want to stretch her legs. Yes, she will probably demand a shift as soon as possible” Another chuckle.
“She will enter her heat as you know..it will last for a couple of days..She will want to meet her children, in this pack of course but in other packs as well. To unite them for the battles”
“ Do they know their history? Lunas history? I ask
“ Not all of them..I tried to keep the stories alive but after a few generations they are simply stories and most stories have a tendency to be changed or forgotten.” She answers with a sad voice
“How will it start?..The war I mean…”
“It has already started and its the same thing every time, only I am the only one old enough to remember..”
“ When Ambrogio gets his strength back, he turns more humans into children of the night. He sends them to taunt the packs with no concern if they make it back or not. Just to learn about the borders and the security.”
“Who is turning the new when he is recovering?”
“His high command, his first or trueborns”
“Trueborns?”
“Yes..I've heard rumors about some being born vampires..just like the wolves.
True love is the most powerful there is and if two people, even if they are children of the night find that magic together, well..a baby born of true love is a powerful being, just look at Aayla..”
“So why isn’t every werewolf that powerful? If one finds its true mate..what can be more than that? That is true love right?” Cathy asked
“Well, a werewolf is a being created by two species already existing, the Goddess pair you..I will not say its true love though as much as a whim of a celestial.. a vampire is an abomination, a mistake made by a God with bad conscience..and if an abomination can find love..well..then I suppose its true” Zandra answered with a spiteful voice.
Cathy recoiled and Zandra immediately put her hand over hers.
“I’m sorry dear, it just gets me sometimes”. She patted Cathy’s hand and I saw my new sister relax and then I remember, Cathy doesn’t know about Zandras past with Ambrogio…she doesn’t know what he did to her..or how she can still be alive even..she has no idea that they are linked and that brings another question to me.
“Zandra..what happens to you if Ambrogio dies?” I could see Cathy stopped chewing and looked at me somewhat confused.
Zandra looked at me, with a melancholy in her eyes.
“Then I finally get to rest and unite with my loved ones,” She answered.
“What? What am I missing?” Cathy asked
“I'll fill you in later” I said, giving her a look not to push it.
“I've lived a long long life my sweet girls..Sure..Ive been angry, filled with hate, broken if you will..but I learned to love again, to embrace life, nature and all the beautiful things it brings.. Do I still want him dead? Sure, its the only way for me to finally rest.. Do I resent and hate him for what he did to me? Of course I do!..But I’ve seen people getting over worse things than that. Look at Antons mother, what she went through.., she is not all there but she is struggling, trying to get back..the crazy part is, as much as I hate him..and I really do..I still remember the beauty I saw when I first met him..” Zandra had a dreamy look in her eyes.
I was expecting Luna to stir, show some anger when she heard his name or talk about what he done in the past..but I felt nothing.
“Somebody better fill me in because I am lost…” Cathy interrupts
“I will…just chill for a moment will ya…” I hiss looking at Zandra, lost in memories and painful feelings.
“Maybe it’s enough for today?”..I asked, watching Zandra
“ We have time, I didn`t want to make this uncomfortable for you…”
“Oh, you’ve done no such thing..I live with my past every day” she gives me one of her warm smiles.
I suddenly feel how much I miss Callum. It’s been hours since I saw him.

When we left Zandras, we took another route back. We passed an area of low apartment buildings. Cathy explained that mostly warriors lived there but also unmated omegas.
“Normally when one finds a mate they will probably want to move to a place of their own” Cathy explains while wiggling her eyebrows.
The area is very nice and well maintained. Green lawns, trimmed hedges and raked gravel paths.
There was a small park with a few picnic tables, an outdoor gym and an obstacle course. Again I feel a longing to exercise.
After we passed another housing area we arrived at what I suspect is a kind of church. It is a beautiful building.
“What is this place?” I ask Cathy
“Its our moon temple, this is where we go to pray to the Goddess” She answer and hold up the big door for me to walk in.
Inside was a large hall, the floor was of white marble, tall leaded windows and the walls between them painted in different motifs. The ceiling is large and vaulted with a large round skylight perfect for letting the moonlight in.
“Its beautiful” I say and walk up to the wall closest to me.
I feel a lump form in my throat when I look at the painting that adorned it.
It was a girl and a wolf, playing in a forest.
“What is this?..”
Cathy came up behind me
“Its our history..Lunas history..” She answered
I walked along the wall, watching all the different paintings and it was all right there.
A white wolf on a hill, howling at the moon, surrounded by hundreds of other wolves.
A black wolf with stars in its fur, looking down on earth
A battlefield with so much blood and dead bodies
A sleeping wolf
A witch
A vampire
A girl with almond shaped green eyes and just a speckle of blue, freckled nose and light brown hair.
The room started spinning and I fought for air. The painting on the wall was a spitting image of myself.
“Hey hey, relax, breathe!” Cathy grabbed my shoulders and pulled me against her chest.
“I’m sorry Hope, I wasn’t thinking..so so sorry, I’m so stupid..come on, lets get you out of here”
I held on to her and and concentrated on stilling the room and being able to breathe again.
“No..its ok..I’m ok..”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah..Ill be ok, just give me a minute..”
She kept stroking my back while I calmed down.
So many thoughts runs through my mind. ..one stands out
*How the fuck am I going to do this?*
I let go of Cathy and turn to look at the painting of Aayla again.
I can feel Luna stirring and my throat itching..does she wants to howl?
I understand you miss her..I promise I will try to live up to her..I say in my mind
I keep on walking and at the front of the hall is a statue, it reminds me of the one at the mall but this one is bigger, older and more detailed.
“Selene..” I whisper

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*Author Note: Thank you for reading!
This is my first book and English is not my native language so please leave a kind comment to point out mistakes.
* Make sure to like and comment the chapter if you enjoyed it!
* Se ya tomorrow!