24. The Mysterious Wolf

**MAEVE **

My life was not atypical anymore; it was bizarre now. I have stopped being surprised and only waited for stranger things to happen to me. And I have fully embraced everything in my way.
A fortnight ago, I wouldn’t have agreed to many things, and yet here I was. Falling in love with a werewolf every day like it was the most ‘normal’ thing. Two intimate weeks with Xander taught me a couple of things. One, his world was intricately different than mine, governed by some Council, and has a set of laws beyond the realm of my understanding. And second, werewolves were old-fashioned.
On one of my off days, Xander took out for a long drive out of the city. We drove for about two hours before stopping near a scenic park known for beautiful and rare trees.
We walked hand in hand for some time, soaking in the mild sun while the wind whipped through my air. “When did you first…” I trailed off. I have been gathering a little bit of information about him and his kind.
“I was eleven.”
“How does it feels? I mean, did it hurt?”
Xander smiled into the memory. “The first time is the most painful one,” he recalled. “You have no control over the situation as your bones break and begin to mould into a beast, but it was incredible. The first time when you see the world through the eyes of a wolf, it feels different…like you have found your unique identity.”
I listened to him in rapt attention and finally mouthing. “Wow. I could never imagine experiencing that.” It almost gave me a chill.
Xander pulled me to the nearest wooden bench and dripped an arm over my shoulder. “What about you? When did the first vision appeared?”
He had sensed early on that I barely spoke about my visions and ventured very cautiously. “I don’t remember the particular age,” I shrugged. “but I saw some of the thing my school friends go through when I was around seven or eight. I even told the teacher once, but no one took much notice. Things started to get intense when I hit puberty and there were repeated episodes of visions. I told my foster parents and they thought that I was consuming illegal substance.”
I still wondered what if they had believed in me a little more than they assumed.
“I am sorry baby you had to go through that.”
I pushed away from the past with a sad smile. “I stopped mingling with people eventually. I took the help of various psychiatrist but nothing helped. Ultimately I gave up. Fighting your own self wasn’t really easy.”
A long finger traced the side of my lovingly. “I wish I had met you sooner.”
I looked him in the eye, narrating the irony. “I thought that if I’d move to Prescott, the small, quiet town with low population, I would be able to cope up better. I just didn’t know I’d end up meeting a werewolf.”
We were both chuckling now.
“Fates, I almost gave up when I didn’t find a mate. I was almost ready to declare that to the pack.”
“A pack?”
I almost forgot how different his world was from mine.
“Yes, The Night Pride,” he acquiesced. “We are pack oriented. For us, no individual is above the pack and every one of us have to sworn to the authority of an alpha. In our case, my father is the present alpha, and after him, I will assume the position.”
Why did this felt concerning a little?
Shifting a little, I demanded to know more about him and his…pack. “Okay, but what if someone else wants to be an alpha. Is there a voting system?” Right off the bat, I knew it was a stupid question. But my brain-to-mouth filter seemed invisible.
Xander laughed and shook his head. “Not a vote, but a challenge,” he corrected. “To replace an alpha, one has to throw an open challenge and accordingly The Council will fix the fight. Whoever wins, becomes the alpha while the other one is reduced to the rank of Krasar. A low ranking person in the pack. And any other punishment deemed necessary.”
“That’s a little harsh,” I frowned.
Wolves were so old-fashioned, they completely disregarded democracy.
“Our spirit is of a wolf, that means, we are animals of power, strength and loyalty,” Xander said with a little bit of pride in his voice. “After we were created centuries ago, we had to fend for ourselves. If we didn’t adhere to the rules, we would have been extinct like the bloodsuckers.”
Another new term. “Bloodsuckers?”
“Vampires – the second creation of the witches from the spirits dead men.”
I gasped and gaped for the most prolonged moment. “Is there anything else that I don’t know of? I mean wolves, vampires, witches…it’s like the whole mythological world in a parallel universe.”
“Humans, animals…everyone has comes from the nature and nature always finds a way to balance things,” he said. “If our pack needed to survive, we needed to be discipline and protect our existence.”
“What if someone came to know? I mean, a human?”
Xander averted his eyes, looking anywhere but at me. “I don’t think you want to hear the answer,” he mumbled softly.
Cupping the side of his face, I looked him straight in the eyes. “I am also…a human, Xander.” Psychic or not, I was very much human.
“You are my mate,” he said as if there was any contradiction to my humanity. “I would challenge the entire pack and bring down the wrath of the Holy Goddess if need be. Not a single harm will come in your way, I promise you that, Maeve.”
“Thank you,” I said with utmost sincerity. And it was true that his presence did feel calm. “But what about the pack? You once told that a human can never be welcomed in a pack.”
He quickly dismissed the notion. “Not if the human is the mate of an alpha and the Luna. They can either choose to respect you or leave the pack. But I will never tolerate anything against you, not until I am the alpha ruling them.”
“That’s…assuring,” I muttered under the breath.
“You leave that to me.” His warm lips pressed over mine, drawing it out until the worries melted inside my head. “You are just not a human or my mate, you have your own powers, Maeve. Those visions are your strength and one day you will realize that. And so will the pack.”

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On the next full moon night, I was assigned an evening shift that stretched into the night. As a result, I couldn’t meet Xander when he shifted, although I did promise to venture into the woods before the breaking of the dawn. His wolf was well-acquainted with my scent, strong enough to pick up from miles away.
As promised, I did join him after my shift, trudging through the dark woods and finally meeting him deep into the forest land.
“Sorry, I think I missed the party a little,” I smiled, ruffling and nuzzling into the brown fur. A few meters away, Blaize was perched on a small rock. Xander’s wolf growled low, his head lowered into the crook of my elbow.
But all of a sudden, his amber eyes flashed open and glowed fire. In a second, he nudged me behind himself, shielding with his body. Blaize jumped around to stand before us.
A low snarl, not Xander’s or Blaize’s, flowed in from the black of the night. Another wolf? As if to confirm my thought, a reasonably large animal came out of the shadow. It was a wolf with pitch black fur, stalking closer with confident strides.
*Wait, what’s going on*?
The wolf’s silvery eyes were perfectly trained on Xander as if Blaize and I were invisible to it. When it was sufficiently closer, it transformed into a human.
*A woman*.
She stood under the faint moonlight in nothing but naked skin and her lush mane, as black as night, strewn over her shoulders. A small smirk curved at her lips, her eyes still on Xander’s. A man appeared behind her, handing over a coat of sorts as she took the piece and covered her body.
Xander and Blaize exchanged a look before transforming back to human form and clothed themselves, all the while keeping me at arm’s length.
“Who are you?” Xander growled.
The woman closed whatever little distance they had, walking with lethal grace and charming smile. “It took a long time, but I have finally found you. The Goddess has been kind,” her voice chirped, slicing through the approaching dawn.
Xander’s brows pulled together, noting a design on her left arm. “The tattoo…you are a northern wolf,” he recognized with a bit of contempt.
“And your mate.” The woman revealed with a much delightful grin. “My name is Janelle,” she announced. “It is finally nice to meet you, Xander of the Night Pride.”

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***Well, did you see that coming?**