3. Prophecy

MARCELLO

Her outburst had been disturbing my mind for a while now. And as my feet dangled from the tree branch, I began to recall everything that happened. How she had, somehow, realized that I was a werewolf.

I was only trying to warn her. Bran had decided that we would now be two at every station, meaning I was no longer going to be alone at the tree. It was already three o'clock in the morning, around the time that she usually came to the river. And I was restless for her sake.

Jay was with me today. And if there was anything I knew about him, it was that he hated vampires more than anybody that I knew. He had a huge scar on his left cheek and he claimed that he had gotten it from a vampire when he had unknowingly run into one in the mountains that were on the outskirts of town.

I vividly remembered the day that he came home bleeding, holding his face that was covered in blood as he screamed. That night, his father dispatched about fifty wolves to go and comb the area but they had returned empty handed. They had not found any vampire there. But still, Jay stood on his claim of having being attacked by a vampire and he has carried that undying hatred for them to this day.

It was that thought that made me think of her immediately and how nasty it would be for her if Jay were ever to lay eyes on her. So, with the flimsy excuse of feeling cold and wanting to light a fire, I told Jay that I was going into the woods to get some firewood. He had looked at me weird, but he did not say anything. Most likely because manning the border was the last thing he wanted to be doing. He preferred hunting, or something that had him running or, at least, challenged him.

Panicking, I ran into the woods, running down the paths to her tent. Luckily I sighted her coming from a distance and increased my speed. It had taken a while to even get her to listen to me. But once she realized that I was a werewolf, she distanced herself from me, looking distraught. And then she ran away, faster than I had ever seen any lady run.

I wanted to follow her, I really did. But I knew I would only cause more trouble for myself and her if I did, so I let her be. It was a good thing that she was now back to her tent after all, away from Jay.

When she was out of sight, I quickly gathered a few large sticks and headed back to the tree. But I did not light them. Instead, I had given Jay the excuse of getting warm as I moved around for wood. Again, he said nothing more to me, just looked ahead with a straight face.

But all through my time there, I still thought of her. What was wrong with her? I was aware that vampires and werewolves did not get along most times, but her reaction to realizing that I was one still surprised me. I mean, I was alone with her at some point and I did not harm her. So the fact that she thought I was capable of doing that shook me a little bit.

Even as I had breakfast with my family after daybreak, I still thought of it. And I was doing my best to not let my worry show on my face. But still, my mother being my mother, noticed and asked,

"What's wrong?" Her eyes were full of concern when I looked at her. "You're not eating. You're just playing with your food."

"I'm fine, Mom." I mustered a small smile for her. "I just don't have an appetite this morning."

"Well, that's new." My father chuckled.

And he was right. Usually, by now, I would have cleared my plate and even asked for more. It was funny how a girl that I barely knew had me losing my appetite over her running away from me. Heck, I did not even know her name.

"Do you feel sick?" My mother was still not satisfied. "Is that it?"

"No, Mom." I shook my head. "I'm alright."

"But—"

"The boy said he's fine." My father interrupted her. "Let him be."

At that, my mom went quiet. My father was neither violent nor loud, but nobody ever questioned his authority, not even his Luna.

"As for more important news," he continued. "I'll be announcing Bran as the new Alpha during the night of the full moon, which is on Friday—"

A gust of wind immediately blew past us, cutting off his speech. Him and my mother exchanged a knowing glance with each other but he shook his head and she nodded. Still, she looked a little bit worried.

"I'm an old wolf so I want to pass this responsibility down to youthful hands already." My father said to us. "So, on Friday, Bran will become the new Alpha."

"Thank you, Father." Bran bowed a little.

"Oh Son, it's your birthright." Father told him. "And you have shown that you deserve it."

"He really has." Mom smiled proudly.

And I was proud of my brother too. We were going to be passed from one good hand to another. Over the years, Bran had been a great support for our father, handling things that my father was sometimes too weak to handle. He did everything with great valor and attention to detail. So he really had shown that he was deserving of the position of Alpha.

Friday was only two days away and I just could not wait. The news has really helped to brighten my mood, even though she was still at the back of my mind.

"Marcello?" Father called out to me.

"You will be in charge of picking out your brother's attire and making him look his best for the occasion." He said. "You know he's a simple person and he's not really the best in that area."

All of us at the table laughed at that, even Bran. And now, I had somewhat of an appetite so I ate a little bit and went ahead to start arranging for the perfect attire for my brother's coronation.

*****

Friday arrived quickly. Almost like the days were intentionally rushing by so that the coronation would happen.

I was already adding the finishing touches to my brother's attire when my mother walked in with a smile that stretched from ear to ear. And as soon as she laid eyes on my brother, she gasped, her hand covering her mouth.

"I take that as a sign that I did a good job?" I raised a brow at her.

"You did an excellent job, my love." She walked around Bran and faced him again. Now, tears were brimming her eyes. "I am so happy that I am alive to see this day."

"We all are." Bran chuckled. Then he pulled our mother into a hug.

"Well, that's enough emotions for two minutes." I clapped hurriedly. "But we need to get to the High Balcony in five minutes."

The High Balcony was where my father usually made important announcements like this to the rest of the pack. It was a balcony on the west wing of our house that fed into a hall where the people gathered and listened to him.

Now, we had to be there on time because if there was one the my father hated, it was untimeliness, and he was not going to have that on a day as important as this.

They pulled out of their hug and I guided them out of Bran's room, down the hallway, and into the balcony where our father was already waiting.

"Ah, right on time." He said once he saw us. "The people are already waiting to see their new Alpha." Then he turned and looked down from the balcony. "My people!" His voice echoed in the hall and everyone immediately went silent in order to listen to him. "As you all know, today, I will be crowning my first son — Bran — as your new Alpha."

At that, the crowd went wild with cheers and hoots. And soon enough, they started to collectively cheer, "Alpha Bran! Alpha Bran!"

"But first," Father continued and they went quiet again. "We must follow tradition. He will take an oath. The one I took. And even my fathers before me took the same oath."

Then Father took a scroll from a small tray that a maid near him was holding. That was where he read out the oath from and Bran repeated after him all the way, promising to uphold the integrity of the Crescent pack and to protect us with all his might.

"It is done." Father smiled proudly and rolled scroll, then he put it back on the tray that he had taken it from. Immediately, the maid holding that tray walked away as that part of the coronation was done. "Now, I will crown him."

Father lifted his crown from his head and showed it to the crowd, eliciting screams and cheers from them. But as soon as he was about to put it on Bran's head, the ground began to rumble, causing the crown to fall to the floor.

"Let's go inside!" Mom screamed in panic and we all followed, scurrying inside the house to take shelter. Meanwhile, the screams from outside were deafening. The mass was afraid and they were definitely running helter skelter out there.

"Father, we have to do something!" Bran yelled over the noise. And as soon as he made a move to go downstairs, the quaking stopped.

The building went still like nothing ever happened and it was then that I was in the mental condition to notice that there was not one single crack on the walls. Now, I had never experienced an earthquake before; but as far as I knew, they, at least, usually left cracks where they were felt. Heck, even the pillars of the balcony that we were just standing on were still very much okay when I checked them, without one single crack.

By now, the crowd had already dissipated as everyone had run away to save their lives.

Father sighed and shook his head. "I guess we will have to arrange another time to crown him Alpha." He was speaking to Mom.

"No." She shook her head frantically and I frowned at that.

"What do you mean by no?" Even father was confused. "You know too well that I cannot keep handling the responsibilities of the pack for too long."

"I don't care." Mom's eyes were wide in terror now. "Don't stand there and pretend like you don't know that what just happened was because we went against the prophecy."

"What prophecy?" I blurted out that question before I could even think, looking between both my parents in confusion.

But both of them completely ignored me, like I did not even speak at all.

Instead, Father continued speaking to Mom. "Gather yourself, woman." He commanded in a firm tone. "And do not speak what you are not supposed to."

"But—"

"But nothing." Father cut her off. "Bran will be Alpha and we will pick another auspicious night to crown him. For now, all of you can go and get some rest. It has been a rough few minutes for all of us."

None of us said anything to him after that. We all walked in silence to our various rooms. And that night, I spent hours racking my brain on what the supposed prophecy could be about, but I could not come up with anything that related to causing a freaking earthquake. That too, specifically during the coronation of my brother. What sort of prophecy would lead to such a disaster because they had tried to go against it?

It was difficult to fall asleep but my body eventually succumbed to it. But before I completely dozed off, I decided within me that I was going to pay the seer a visit first thing the following day. Surely, he was going to have an answer for me concerning this situation. Or at least, a clue as to what the prophecy was.