5

Marco had received a letter of invitation to the gathering of the Alpha's a few days prior to Frederick's death. He stared at the invitation as he pondered on how to represent Frederick in his absence. 

He knew just how important such a gathering was for their pack as it would not only be a means of economic growth and stability but also a means of creating a reasonable and necessary alliance that would be very helpful in future especially during an unexpected and unforeseen war with the Silvermoon pack. 

Marco knew Kira would have to eventually take over as the next Alpha but he didn't think she was ready enough to take such a bold step of attending such an event. He knew just how difficult it would be for her to get over her father's death and making her do something like this would only be cruel of him. 

Not only was she still grieving but she has also never been in such a situation and putting her out there like that could completely discourage her so early on especially since they won't be that many female Alphas around and the misogynistic Alphas in attendance may try to burden her and look down on her for being not only female but also very young. 

Himself and Layla had made the decision to keep the Alpha's death a secret for now until Kira is finally able to take over her position fully. The death of an Alpha usually brings about other Alphas or their representatives to share their condolences and also meet with the new Alpha for the purpose of familiarity and he highly doubted his dear Kira was ready for such a big step and pushing her into it would be the last thing he would do. 

  Kira had run off into the forest in an attempt to clear her head off. She sat tiredly on the nearest stone she could find, burying herself in the wonderful memories she had with her late father. No one in this world understood her the way her father did and she doubted anyone ever would. 

He was everything she had and depended on her. He gave her strength whenever she felt tired and burdened with the fact that she'd one day have to take over the pack. Nothing scared her more than the thought of having so much power. She may be young but she knew just how dangerous power could be and how terribly it changes people and she didn't want to have to change. 

She loved being the carefree, happy and wild teenager that she has always been and the thought of being the head over thousands of other werewolves felt like a huge burden to her. It's almost like she had no other choice from the very beginning and now that her father's dead, she would have to immediately take over as the next in line even when she didn't think she was ready enough. 

It's not that she was complaining though cause at the end of the day, it's nobody's fault. Her father didn't choose to die so quickly and he also didn't choose to be the Alpha's son. She knew the moon goddess knew best and that no matter how tiring the thought of being in power sounded, she had no other choice but to live with it and make sure she didn't disappoint her late father. 

She lets out a tired sigh, looking around the quiet forest and taking in the sight of beautiful nature. If there's one thing she absolutely loved, it was being among the trees and around any environment that screamed nature. She loved the intoxicating scent of leaves, flowers, trees and even that of the muddy and messy ground. Weird but she couldn't help it.

"Kira dear?" A voice calls out her name and when she turned to see who it was, she saw no one. 

"Is anybody there?" Kira asked, getting ready to shift in case anyone would attack her but then the voice didn't seem like the voice of a dangerous person. 

"Over here." The voice teased and when Kira turned towards the direction of the voice, she's met with the presence of a beautiful young girl, who didn't seem that much older than she was. 

"Who are you?" She asked. 

"Me? I'm nobody dear. Just someone whose face you won't remember seeing in the next ten minutes." The young girl replied, taking Kira by surprise. 

"What do you mean by that? Who the hell are you?" Kira fired back at her impatiently and as much as she wanted to be even more aggressive, she couldn't bring herself to be. Something about the lady in front of her made her feel a strange sense of peace and calm and she couldn't bring herself to feel otherwise. 

"Do you not recognise me dear?" The young girl asked, moving closer to where Kira stood and with her came an elevating feeling of freedom, happiness and calmness and immediately Kira realized who she was. The moon goddess herself! 

"No, she can't possibly be her. I mean, why would the moon goddess ever grace me with her presence? What could she possibly have to say to her?" Kira unknowingly wondered out loud to herself. 

"Kira dear, listen to me." The nook goddess said as she placed her hands on Kira's jaw so her eyes would meet hers.

"Kira, you are much stronger and braver than you think and the sooner you realise that, the much better it would be for you and for your pack. Your fate has been decided and you must live up to it if you ever wish to have a true purpose in life."

Kira looked into the eyes of the moon goddess, trying to decipher all what she had said and what she meant. 

"There are two doors in your path, one with death and the other with life. As you may know, death comes easy but life doesn't. If you wish to achieve great things in life, accept your fate as soon as it hits you. Move forward and listen to your inner self." The moon goddess, who had chosen to appear, advised the young girl, hoping that she was wise enough to understand every word she said. 

"W...wait, wait, wait. Are you really the moon goddess? Seriously? By the way, what door are you talking about? What exactly is my purpose in life? Is that why you took my father away so unexpectedly? What in the world is all this about?" Kira blurted out without thinking, causing the moon goddess to chuckle a little. 

She wanted the moon goddess to speak to her in a way and manner she would understand. She didn't understand any of the words the moon goddess had just uttered to her.

"My dear child, you have so much more to learn and there is so much you do not know. Open your heart and be observant. Always listen to your heart and most importantly, let go of every hate and anger in your heart that doesn't belong to you. Remember, to make a great leader, you need to be wise and you need to know when and who to attack. A greater force is on it's way and you must be prepared. Take care of yourself, my child." And with that said, the moon goddess turns her back on Kira, immediately disappearing and taking with her the sense of peace that had overwhelmed Kira.

Kira stood still, watching as everything slowly turned back to normal. She at first thought she may have been dreaming since she had only heard of the moon goddess visiting in dreams but the fact that she wasn't asleep and yet she got a visit from her made her feel both happy and scared at the same time. 

Strangely enough, her memories of everything that just happened started to turn very blue and faded. She could only remember that the moon goddess appeared to her but strangely, she could not recall what she even looked like. She had no idea whether or not she came in from a young lady or an elderly woman. Every memory on how she looked completely disappeared from her memory and the only thing she could remember were her words that still seemed very unclear to her. 

The words of the moon goddess replayed in her head and she tried to understand every word the moon goddess said to her.

Letting go of hate that doesn't belong to her? A greater force on its way? What could all of that mean? As far as she knew, she carried no hate in her heart and even if she did, it most definitely isn't unjustifiable.

Kira began to wonder what exactly the moon goddess meant by her true purpose in life. Wasn't her true purpose becoming the Pack's Alpha and protecting her people at all cost? 

She also recalled the moon goddess talking about death and life and she couldn't help but be confused at exactly what she meant by that. Was someone else going to die? Is there someone she needs to save? What could any of this mean? 

  She knew she couldn't possibly find the answers to her questions all by herself and since she couldn't just discuss meeting the moon goddess with just anyone, she decided that she would keep to herself until the right person to discuss things with comes around. She was aware that only a spiritual mother could help answer her questions to some extent and finding a spiritual mother wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do since they usually hide themselves in the deepest and darkest places and a person could lose his or her life while trying to ever meet them. 

A spiritual mother is usually gifted with the ability to see the future and also interpret divine messages but for this reason, they lived in serious danger. A few years ago, her father told her of how some packs would seek out spiritual mothers for the purpose of using her powers and abilities for their selfish interest and they would even go as far as killing them if they didn't comply with their terrible demands. For this reason, the spiritual mothers live their lives in hiding and according to rumors and supposed legend, only the purest of souls can grace the presence of a spiritual mother. 

Kira didn't think she had what it took to embark on a journey in search of a spiritual mother and since she still had so much to learn about the world, she would keep the words of the moon goddess in her heart and wait to see if she would understand better as time went on.

**********

  "Kira dear, we need to talk, it's important." Layla said to her niece immediately she walked back into her room. 

"Is everything okay Aunt Layla?" Kira asked, surprised to see her aunt in her room this late at night and with that look on her face. 

"All is well my dear. It's just that I have something very important to discuss with you and I know that you may not like it cause it's too soon and all but it is something that must be done because it is important." Layla said to her niece, hoping and praying at the back of her mind that she doesn't end up hurting her feelings by trying to rush her. 

"You don't have to worry auntie. Tell me what it is that's so important." Kira replied. 

"Well, the thing is, there's this gathering to that's happening tomorrow and it's an organised event by the Bluemoon pack where all Alphas from every nook and cranny of the world are invited to come together and mingle for the the purpose of creating business relations, settling disputes and also forming alliances for future sake. It's also a gathering where Alpha's get to know each other and also boast about their achievements and their Pack's greatness." Layla told her niece and Kira frowned. 

"If I'm guessing correctly, you want me to go over there to brag about our Pack's great achievement? I'm not even the inaugurated Alpha yet so I highly doubt I have the right to actually do such a thing when I have never even done anything to benefit the pack." Kira replied, Layla sighed. 

"That isn't what I meant my dear. You are not going over there to brag about our pack, I only mentioned that because it's definitely something you would come across if you went there yourself. I'm letting you know so when you meet such Alpha's whose only purpose of attendance is to brag, you'll walk away from them as they are of no use to us. The only reason we need you to be in attendance is because we need to build our economy by creating stable business relationships and we also need to get friendly with other packs for the purpose of forming an alliance that could greatly help us in the future." Layla corrected and Kira sighed.

She would be lying if she said she was excited about having to take on her role this early but she definitely has no other choice. The moon goddess already advised that she accepts fate as soon as it hits her and for this reason, she can't afford to refuse something so important to them. 

"What time tomorrow is the event?" She asked. 

"It starts by six but you'll be leaving a little earlier so you don't end up arriving late." Layla replied. 

"Who else is coming with me?" Kira asked. 

"Only the Alpha, Luna, Beta and the third in command are allowed to attend and since you're yet to have a Beta, Marco and I will be coming with you." Layla replied and Kira nodded. 

"Okay then auntie, I'll go." Kira said to her aunt who heaved a sigh of relief. 

"Thank you for agreeing my dear. I understand how difficult it is for you but I assure you, you'll do great as a leader. I believe in you completely." Layla assured her and she smiled a little, wrapping her hands around her aunt and hugging her tightly. She'll forever be grateful for her aunt's presence in her life. 

"Thank you for everything auntie." Kira muttered in a low voice and Layla pats her young niece in the back calmly. 

"Always welcome, my dear." She replied before letting her go and heading back to her home. 

  Kira sighed heavily as soon as her aunt left. Tomorrow would not only be her first day as the Alpha but also her first time going out of her pack and into another. Was she nervous? Definitely. Did she have doubts? Of course but lucky for her, the visit from the moon goddess had made her much more confident and no matter how nervous she felt, she wasn't going to let that stop her from being at her absolute best and showing the other Alpha's that wasn't just a weak little girl.