Chapter Two: The Revelation

Darius had a little trouble convincing Amira to agree to comply with Zander's request. It was the only way to achieve the long-awaited peace that he wanted for his people.

“And how do you know he'll keep his word not to hurt our child?” Amira replied, with tears in her eyes. His combative and ferocious spirit prevented him from agreeing to offer one of his own, and especially a son, to a sworn enemy like the vampires.

“Times have changed, my love.” Darius gently wiped away her tears with his thumbs. “It’s no longer worth going to war with our enemies just because it’s in our genes. It's been years of fighting and suffering that I want to end once and for all, and if that's the price, I'm willing to pay it. There aren't many of us left anymore; we have always been persecuted by both men and vampires and have brought us to the brink of extinction. It's time to have some peace.”

“I agree with you, my love,” Amira whispered in the middle of the tears that were beginning to die down. “But a son of ours? I think it's too high a price...”

“Vampires can't have children. Even a ruthless and heartless being like Zander once felt the need to have a family of his own. He simply saw the opportunity and wants to take advantage of it. With a son of ours, he would have a guarantee that we won’t attack him in the future...”

“What if he attacks us? You have recognized that they have become very powerful beings and with a decisive attack they could defeat us.”

“If Zander has honor, he'll keep his word. We have no choice but to accept his proposal. It’s time to achieve peace. What do you say?”

Amira hugged Darius tightly. He had accepted. Some months later she became pregnant and an emissary was sent with the message to Zander, who was pleased. Certainly he had experienced on more than one occasion in his life the desire to be a father and to have a family, but because of his condition he had never been able to. Easily, if he had proposed it, he could have kidnapped a newborn from a maternity or from any family, but the fact that it would be a normal and fragile human did not please him very much, discarding the idea. Now, with the son of a werewolf, a powerful enemy of his caste, things were different and he was really excited. He would have and raise a strong son in his own way, even though it wasn't a vampire.”

He waited impatiently for the creature to be delivered to him, and when the day came, he was alone with Darius in a remote spot in the woods outside the city. Sad but determined, Darius handed over the baby, a boy, and watched as for a few seconds Zander's grim face lit up, drawing just a smile.

“You have my word that from now on we will live in peace,” Zander said without taking his eyes off the creature, who curiously wasn't crying.

“And I'll give you mine.”

Without saying more, the pact was sealed. They both turned their backs and took different directions. Zander hoping to fulfill his dream of having a family, and Darius with mixed feelings of sadness and happiness, but pleased to have achieved peace.

A peace that would have lasted over time, if an unfortunate incident had not occurred twenty years later.

Already twenty-five years old, Daniel, Darius's son, had achieved a university degree in administration and joined his father's business to work. When he turned eighteen, his identity as a lycanthrope was revealed to him, since he had never become a wolf, thanks to Christopher's successful experiments, managing to control the gene that transformed them. He still remembered that day his father revealed his condition to him, and that changed his life forever, since he had always considered himself a normal human being until that moment.

“First of all, you must forget everything you've seen or heard about werewolves,” Darius told him as he began the conversation where he revealed his true identity. “All that you have read in books or seen in movies is pure rubbish. None of that has anything to do with what we lycanthropes truly are.”

“Werewolves?” Daniel was confused to hear his father talk about it. “What are you talking about, dad? You call me to have a conversation that, according to you, is very important, and you come up with this? What do werewolves have to do with this conversation?”

Darius looked at him blankly for a few seconds.

“It has to do with it because you are one of them,” he finally told him, reclining on the sofa in the living room of his house. Daniel had already managed to become independent, living in his own apartment, and the conversation they now had was at his father's house.

Daniel looked at him strangely, and was about to laugh thinking that his father was playing a joke on him, but from his face he saw that it wasn't.

“Your mother and I are werewolves, and therefore you are too,” Darius told him calmly, watching his son pale at his words.

“But... the werewolves... the moon... why...?”

“I'll explain everything to you,” Christopher said behind him. Daniel was startled.

“Damn, Uncle Christopher! You have given me scared to death!”

Christopher sat next to his brother on the sofa, ready to tell his nephew all about his condition, and answer any questions he might have.

“How can I be a…werewolf?” Daniel asked, still a little confused. “Werewolves transform… I don't know, with the full moon, right? And I've never... nothing strange has ever happened to me...”

"That's why your father told you to forget everything you've seen or heard about us,” Christopher said. “Things aren’t like in the movies or the books. Our reality is different. First of all, let me tell you that our caste is very old. We come from generations of werewolves who have done a lot for this world, despite the bad reputation we've been given, and still do. Look at your father, he’s the owner of a large corporation dedicated to producing mass consumer goods, all for the benefit of society, and nobody knows that he is a werewolf.”

“But if they're werewolves, why haven't I ever seen them...? You already know…”

“Transform us into a giant, hairy and reckless wolf? A wild animal with big claws and teeth?” Darius asked back. “As I told you, son, our reality is different.”

“I cannot deny that many years ago that may have been our reality”, Christopher continued, “but societies advance, science advances, and great progress is obtained. I have dedicated my whole life to researching and carrying out studies on our condition as werewolves, and I have had good results, including controlling the gene that makes us transform and be very dangerous. Controlling the gene allows us not to succumb to the influence of the moon, and therefore we don’t transform into supernatural beings, but when we want to.”

“It's time you began your training to control the gene as well,” Darius said. “A gene that can be said to be "asleep" in you. You must learn to master it.”

Daniel thought for a few minutes about the last thing his father said to him.

“I've led a life up to now that could be called 'normal,'” he said. “What if I don't want that training? If I decide to continue living as before? What would happen?”

“You won't be able to defend yourself against your enemies, should they attack you,” Darius replied.

“Enemies?”

“Yes, the humans have hunted us for a long time and wiped us out when they learned of our existence,” Christopher replied. “We have been living among them for a long time without them suspecting what we are, that’s why we have been able to progress and lead a life, if you can say, calm. There are also the vampires, our lethal enemies to the death.”

“Vampires? Do they also exist? The same as us?”

“They're as real as we are,” Darius said. “They are ruthless, bloodthirsty and very strong; so much so that we have been on the verge of extinction because of them, in a war that has lasted hundreds of years and many generations.”

“War? But…”

“You haven't seen any fighting so far because I made a peace deal with them thirteen years ago, if that's what you're wondering,” Darius said as Daniel looked confused.

Daniel frowned at the floor, apparently thinking.

“Thirteen years ago I was five, I remember once we went in your car to see a person... There were many cars and men, and I remember a tall man, dressed in black and with very pale skin...”

“It was them,” Christopher said. “The day of the peace agreement.”

“But don't vampires die with the sun? That day didn’t seem to affect them at all. Are you sure they were vampires?”

“Like us, they have made great strides in ensuring their survival,” Christopher replied. “Evading the effects of the sun is one of them, just like garlic. They have yet to survive the holy water and the bite of a lycanthrope, fortunately for us, just as we cannot survive their poison. Contrary to what is said in the books and movies, we are not completely immune to its venom, so we have to watch out for a bite.”

“But, then, if we have peace, why would I need that training you say?”

“First, you must know how to control the gene, even if you don't need it,” Darius replied. “It’s necessary in case at some point and due to a stressful situation for you, the gene wakes up and the people who are with you get an unpleasant surprise. Second, by controlling the gene, you can defend yourself against your enemies, whether they are vampires or not. It’s important for your survival. It’s true that we have a peace pact with the vampires, but no one ever knows how long it will last.”

After some more discussion of the situation, Daniel accepted the training to control the gene, which he achieved less than six months later. With his first at-will transformation he felt powerful, full of energy and vitality, something different than he had ever felt before. He thought that being like that could also be a very dangerous weapon, because he felt the supernatural strength and agility of his body with the tests to which he was subjected.

He agreed with his father and his uncle that he would only assume this transformation when necessary, and in case of a strict emergency.