Chapter Twenty-five: The destroyed line

Lukas looks at me looking just as defeated as I was. He took one step and circled his arms around me, pulling me closer to his chest, where I start to slightly relax.

“Don’t worry baby, we’ll find out what’s going on.” He says as he hugs me tighter. I think about our intimacy earlier and I can feel my cheeks getting warm.

I pull away from him to look into his eyes. “I know. I’d like to go to the library at some point though….maybe tomorrow?” I ask hopeful.

He looks at me, as if he’s hiding something, then he changes his expression and gives me a loving smile. “Sure thing.” He hesitates for a moment and looks towards the direction of the pack house, then looks back into my eyes.

“Are you sure you want to meet my family just now? You didn’t seem so keen yesterday and I don’t want to see you stressed. I’m happy to go slow for you. I know this is all new to you and I don’t want to overwhelm you.” He says with love in his eyes.

I take in a deep breath and move my eyes towards the direction he was looking. I go through a bunch of thoughts at once, remembering the faces I have met and left, friendships created and then leaving them behind searching for my own story. So far, this place feels more like home than anywhere I’ve been over the last five years. It seems most likely to be what I’ve been looking for.

I nod my head slightly, content with my answer. “Yes, I would like to meet them, no doubt about it.” I stop for a second, trying to compose my thoughts. “I’m just exhausted when it comes to meeting people, because usually it is only for a short period and then I leave to move on to somewhere new.”

Just as I said that Lukas’ face fell. Before he could say something, I put my finger up to his mouth in a swift movement. “I think though, I will see how I get on here.” I say with a smile rising on my face.

He gives me his brilliant smile, and he turns and leans his arm out to me, and I take it with my own. We then start to head down the stairs away from the Elders house. I take one last look back and swear I just saw one of them poking their head out as the curtain moves slightly after catching a hand at the window. I shake my head forgetting it. Lukas guides me down the street we came down, turning right at the end of it instead of heading back the way we came.

Since coming out of the Elders house, it’s gotten dark and the fair and few street lights are now on, laminating the streets. The streets are quiet and we walk together in silence, whilst I am admiring the views of the Werewolf city. I start to wonder about the Werewolf existence and why no one has seen them in years.

As we walk, I decide to just broach the subject with Lukas. “How come I’ve not seen or heard much about werewolves till now?” I wanted a plain and simple answer, so I asked a plain and simple question.

“It’s not a simple question.” He says to me with a hint of sadness as if he understood my intention of getting information from him. I look at him, and he seems to be deep in thought. I let him have a couple of moments to think about his response.

“A long time ago, before me or my Father’s lifetime, werewolves nearly died out.” My mouth opens slightly, a bit confused, before I realise and closed it. Extinct? I think for a few moments. I know how this feels, as all of my family, my species I had thought anyway, had died out. I wonder what caused it. But werewolves seem to be a strong set of people, so I’m confused as to what could possibly kill them off. Before I think on it longer, he carries on.

“This was before we had a council of Elders, and was more when instead of an Alpha, we had a king….one of my ancestors. This was back when we used to trade with other civilisations, and had more outposts and towns all over the world rather than just being secluded to this city.” He stops for a moment and turns his head to me, slowing down slightly.

“There used to be some corrupted individuals in this world, and one of which wanted to take something from our kind. Whatever it was, we didn’t have what they wanted, so they destroyed our pack, a few of us luckily survived and they went onto rebuild and move on. Since then, we stopped all outgoing and incoming trade, closed off our borders, commanded all of our kin to come back and made do with what we have on our own soil. As you can see, we’ve worked past that and have thrived.”

I understood what they did, but I didn’t agree with it. Other species have died out and there are plenty of those who are starving whilst in this bubble there is electricity, no hunger and warm homes, they even have a shopping centre.

“Do you not wonder what’s going on in the outside world…outside of this bubble? There are plenty struggling to make ends meet, many of which would appreciate any help that can be spared.” I ask.

“We’ve not sent anyone out since before my Father became Alpha.” He admits, but his expression doesn’t show any sadness. “Our priority is our pack, for a long time we’ve not needed anything from the outside world, and if I’m being honest, no one has come to us in a long time. We’ve since vowed to defend our own until the end of time.” He says as if he’s preparing for another fight, which intrigues me.

“Do you get attacked often?” I ask, wondering who would dare try and attack them. This place is bigger than any other colony or community I’ve seen. Not bigger than human civilisation, but I’m certain it’s bigger than any other village, town or city I’ve seen on my travels, and most likely the biggest one currently now that the human civilisation has died out.

“No.” he says, and shakes his head as we continue walking through the streets. “We’ve not been attacked since then. But, we learned our lesson, and decided not to give out trust easily. We know there’s another fight coming, it’s been foretold, passed down from Elder to Elder. Our advocates also heard things from the Elven tribes outside our borders when they used to pass them. They Elves, they’re an older race, and they remember well.”

I think back to my time with Elijah and I feel a slight pang of guilt for not remembering much of our time together since I got here. Athena suddenly perks up, and asks about one of my memories from the last days in the Druida community.

“Ali, remember that book that you read after the ceremony at the Elven community? The one about the monsters of old?” I think about it and I remember the conversation I had with Elder Forlum.

“Yes, I remember, something about the thief of the Gods or something like that?”

“Yeah, that’s the one. Maybe Lukas is referring to this?” I wonder….a lot of it does add up or is very similar.

I sigh, getting a slight feeling that she is right. Too much of this adds up and I suspect that all paths are leading down the same road.

I shake my head slowly and Lukas catches on. “It’s nothing to worry about my sweet. I’m sure this fight will happen long past our lifetime. Best to just enjoy this and forever ensure our descendants are ready for when the time comes.” He says with a slight smile on his face, but obviously not fully convinced about his view on the subject.

I give a small smile and we start to pick up the pace, nearing the pack house which is now looming ahead of us. The near-full Moon is coming up and it catches my attention. It’s shimmering white looks beautiful from where I am and I stare at it in awe. I’ve never seen it so big before.

Lukas catches my view and he puts his arm over my shoulder. “Our city has the best view of the Moon when it becomes full each month. Tomorrow is the new full Moon, so you will see it at its largest.”

I smile at him as he says this, obviously wanting to change the subject. He takes me round another street and before I know it, we’re in plain sight of the big house at the end of the road. The lights on the outside show the beautiful building from the outside.

As we get closer, I can’t help but stare at the pristine white marble the foundations and columns are made of. If I knew any different, I would think this is the house of the Gods. The house was at least an acre wide, and can house several families. I think back to what Lukas said earlier about his family and his Beta and Gammas’ families living here. There sure was plenty of room for it anyway.

As I stare in awe, he shakes me gently to get my attention. “Come on little one, let’s go in. We’ll have something to eat.” As if right on cue, my stomach makes a loud noise signalling that food is a need right now. I hadn’t even realised I was hungry, but the thought of food made my mouth water.

We start approaching the mansion and as we get closer, we hear some shouting. Instantly, Lukas puts himself in front of me, a bit wary of the shouting coming from inside the pack house. As we inch closer, we see a figure come to the double front doors, and in an instance Lukas relaxes slightly.

“Here we go.” He says with a slight smirk, as if he knows what’s coming.