LOGIN-THIRD PERSON'S POV-
"Bless me, Father, for I have sinned."
"Indeed, child." Dymian retorted in the confessional as he swiped the viewing slot to glare at her with his garnet-red eyes blazing. "You went against my wishes."
Angrily, he glared at her on the other side of the booth. Farrah gulped nervously and pried her gaze from him. He wasn’t wearing the ceremonial mitre hat today. Instead, he managed to let his short curly pearl-white hair fall over his forehead to cover his guardian mark of three small purple squares that formed triangular vertices.
"I had good reason. She was in my hands until another showed up." Farrah lowered her head in shame as she related the earlier events as a sacrament of penance.
The sun was still up when she entered the Renaissance chapel. Briskly she rushed through the nave and bypassed the waiting line of five people. With urgency, she entered the reconciliation room to report to Dymian.
Cruelly, she opened the door of the confessional and invaded the privacy of an old woman with a cane by dragging her out and pushing her from the room. Seff noticed what had transpired and proceeded over to calm the cursing senior. Subsequently, Farrah went inside the confessional and her actions riled the Abrasive Abner of the bogus priest.
They had to minimize the use of their debilitating powers to keep hidden in the meantime. The synagogue was a deliberate choice because, in the Middle Ages, fugitives could claim sanctuary in churches from the offered protection.
On the other hand, Farrah had not expected to miss the presented opportunity to capture Raina. She did not have a laundry list of sins like the regulars in the queue. The single failure was heavy with a lingering grief.
It crushed her mantle of pride when she examined her conscience. She had been monitoring the red wolf. Raina was right in her grasp. All she had to do was drain the red wolf and absorb enough so that her power would increase and the agenda could get moving.
"Naturally, the Alpha King Junior will protect his mate. Had he not been blessed with his two guardians, we would have already gotten the red wolf and achieved all our goals." Dymian reminded her, flatly.
"No, Dymian. Before Valen showed up, another woman who resembled us interfered." Farrah clarified.
Their eyes connected. His garnet-red orbs were mystified. He wondered why she stopped talking right there. The opposing four Worgen Guardians were not buried in the same place that they were. And they were all men.
Questioningly, Dymian narrowed his gaze on her for want of more information. "Another like us?"
"Yes. The bitch….."
He sent her scolding eyes and cut her off in exasperation, "Language Farrah. This is a church and while we are here we must do as the Romans do."
Farrah forgot that they had to blend him. These parts were a neutral area where mixed species lived. People were doing mass. Plus, other clergy and church folks were around.
"Sorry, Dymian," she apologized and asked worriedly, "Do you think that it could be her? Selene?"
"If she was a reincarnation of the moon goddess, wouldn't you easily recognize her?" He analyzed, since they carried the pure blood of the moon goddess. He sensed the panic in her radical heartbeat.
"History has shown that the moon goddess has taken different forms each time that she is reborn on earth." Farrah pointed out cautiously.
Dymian might have taken her as his lover, but it did not mean that she wanted to agitate him. His cruel side was quite monstrous.
"Then you of all people should be able to sense the deity in her. You are a part of her for god’s sake!" He gritted, with garnet eyes that could kill hundreds of people in its path.
Farrah defended, "That would be difficult if she was marked and mated. Besides, she can also cloak her true self. Dymian, you know this."
"She's marked?" Dymian sought confirmation. His eyes penetrated hers. It was hard to believe. Farrah nodded and he clenched his fists. He snarled a bit too loudly, "The fucking whore!"
The shortest strangling silence passed as he mastered his anger. The thought of Selene jumping from one mate to another because of the different eras of which she was reincarnated into, enraged him. Farrah was aware of his continued love for Selene. While she was his backup option. Quite desperate, actually.
Farrah's eyes widened that the same man who reprimanded her for cursing in the synagogue was the same man who had just uttered profanity. Sometimes leadership depicted double standards.
"Shh." She placed her forefinger over her shell-pink cupid bow lips to remind him that they had to keep a low profile.
Several murmurs erupted around them from the disgruntled confessors on the other side of the door. Pretending to be a part of the clergy had been so damn annoying. Oddly, the guardians were built for war.
Wearing that hot nun's gown was uncomfortable. Farrah believed that she was walking around looking like a penguin. Today, luck was on her side to be in normal clothes when she went on the mission to abduct Raina for a second time. It was a drastic adjustment from the corset and chemise dresses that she was accustomed to in her medieval lifestyle.
Dymian would be furious if Selene was reborn in this life. He despised mates. Even after years of being his lover, he wouldn't mark Farrah.
The moon goddess had been the second woman to reject Dymian’s affections after his human mate could not accept a shifter as her lifelong partner. He harbored a hatred for being shunned and discarded.
Centuries ago, all species were divided and Selene aimed to unite them all. Humans had a hunters association that strived to obliterate all supernatural beings. Therefore, Dymian's human fated-mate rejected him.
Selene gave him consolation in an affair they had and his broken heart healed. Until she ended up being mated to Phobos, another Worgen Guardian whom she abandoned Dymian for. Phobos died at the hands of Dymian and that’s when the others took sides.
From that day on, Dymian hated both humans and our creator. He no longer believed in the same dream that Selene had. He opposed her. They were the superior wolves because they were Worgen Guardians who were created from her own flesh to protect the werewolf realm.
They were the invincible nine. Lycans were below them. Then all the other werewolves followed. Without the guardians, Selene's dream would be difficult to achieve because she shared her essence with them. The line of the oxblood red wolf began in their era.
Witches were the strongest. They had no weakness except for over-exertion of their power. However, in a coven, they replenish strength from each other rather quickly. They could attack us from a distance using spells and elements, while shifters and vampires required close contact. And they were great in numbers, despite the amount of them that humans burnt at the stake. They made sure to breed like rabbits.
Vampires, those disgusting germs, were hellbent on wiping out werewolves. Similarly to wolves, they always kept in the shadows. It was an endless era of wars among species. And humans saw everything as a threat which was different.
Freaks of nature, they called them. Cursed. The damned. Spawns of the devil.
The mutiny against Selene divided the nine Worgen Guardians making it five against four. Even though Dymian’s group outnumbered them, Selene and the others managed to seal them away. It took a lot of power to break out of that prismatic Mallimbo Prison.
All thanks to the little red wolf. She freed us without knowing she had done it.
In this century, apparently, Selene has achieved her goal. They were surprised to find that peace was among the species. A Lycan shifter was the Alpha King, though he did not show his true heritage. Now they had incarcerated his youngest son.
With this freedom from the realm came the intent to ensure that their goal was achieved. Take over the werewolf kingdom. Eventually, they'll wipe out the vampires and later, witches. Their agenda was big, but they'd start with the easiest. Capture the red wolf and obliterate the Wolversons.
Nothing will obstruct their plans. The sacramental world as they knew it was about to be shaken, shattered, and sorrowful.
Dymian rubbed his right temple, thoughtfully annoyed, "How could it be Selene? She left this world centuries ago after she sealed us in the Oakven Realm. She got the false peace that she wanted. Her work was completed."
"Yeah, but we came back," Farrah highlighted a second point, refusing to hail any triumph to their deity. "And no one can truly attest when or where Selene died. If we came back to this era, why can't she?"
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VALEN’S POVZeus’ monstrous black form lunged for the thick white at Dymian’s savage blue-black wolf’s throat.Dymian twisted, snapping his jaws shut inches from Zeus’ muzzle. Our two beasts slammed together with a bone-rattling force. Our silver and gold claws gouged the earth, fangs flashing as we fought with murderous fury, snapping our jaws inches from each other's necks.Then that scream pulled at my soul.“It’s Raina,” I blurted.Frantic, Zeus swirled around. He snapped his entire focus into finding her.Our eyes narrowed in horror at the ring of furcans closing in on her. Not just her, but all of us were up to our necks with ashy-black furcans.“Something is happening to her,” Zeus prodded with dread.She was in danger. Gustav, Androkles, and Figaro were viciously occupied several feet away with Seth, Rovell, Farrah, and Jarvaldo.My mind raced with fear for Raina. I’ve got to get to her. Her life being threatened made me forget about who I had been fighting, until sharp claws
VALEN’S POVTheo rolled his shoulders and raised his guns. A devious grin tugged at his mouth. “Let’s braise some beasts and fry these furcans.”“Bump-itty-bomp!” Jason whooped, raising his arm high as Theo and Thaines lifted theirs to bump forearms with his, completing their little warrior ritual.I stepped into position beside Raina, fixing my gaze on the approaching army in the distance. Theo, Thaines, Devin, Penn, Gustav, Figaro, Androkles, and Jason lined up beside us at the front. Weapons in our hands flashed in the sunlight.At this time, Dad was giving his final battle speech.“Stand your ground! Fight for the ones beside you and the ones waiting for you at home. Let your howls rattle their bones, and your claws remind them who they’re up against.” Dad’s grim, searing words echoed through the pack-link, getting our adrenaline pumping. “Let them come. We are wolves. We were born to fight, bred to protect, and bound by a loyalty no enemy can break. We are a pack, and we do not k
VALEN’S POVRaina had been watching me and Snow. Gods, there was no doubt. She saw all of it.Her expression was unreadable. What was she thinking? I couldn’t tell.She placed a hand on her stomach, and my worries revved.Remembering instantly all the stomach pain she used to get whenever I was around Jiya, I swiftly moved towards her.After three long strides, I stopped. The way she recoiled halted me, and I stared at the niggling space between us.Always keeping this gap between us scorched my heart like a burning cigar tip pressing down on it.Silence ensued, because I had tuned everything out.Like a dumbo, I panicked and began to explain, “It’s not what it looks like. She was trying to help our wolves.”"It's my mistake,” Raina blurted awkwardly. “You were rather occupied. I shouldn't have interrupted." She smiled apologetically, apparently unbothered. “It’s good that you have her.”“I don’t have anyone.” Slipped out of my mouth, rigid in my belief. My forehead puckered with worr
VALEN’S POVI flicked my eyes to the monitoring screen. “Where?”Jason used a laser pointer to indicate movements on the middle screen. “His group just split. The larger force is still heading north, but another group has broken east.”Raina looked at the map with one finger tapping her lips.“That might be true, but,” Theo updated, pressing the comms in his ear, listening and reporting simultaneously. “Alpha, the warriors at the eastern backwoods have successfully driven Dymian toward the designated terrain. He’ll be there in minutes. There is enough to hold him, but we should get moving.”Jason checked the screen in his hand and nodded. “Confirmed. An entire force is moving in that direction.”I straightened. “Everyone, move out.”Chairs scraped back as everyone rose. Weapons were secured, communication devices were checked, and the room shifted from planning to action.“Stay sharp,” Devin said with slight excitement on his face.“Come back alive,” Jason replied, and Thaines patted h
VALEN’S POV“Dymian?” I gritted.“Who else?” Genocchio coughed, then grimaced. “You destroyed his medallion. He knows, and he’s livid. So he made us pay for it.”My stomach dropped, and the air tensed around us.Genocchio grunted in pain. He looked toward something beyond the camera before forcing his cold eyes back onto the screen. “He slaughtered the pack. Our warriors fought, though. Those weapons you gave us worked.” A bloody grin crossed his face. “We killed some of them.”Devin’s expression hardened, and Theo snorted in disgust.Genocchio chortled again, though it quickly turned into a painful cough. “They were too many. We took down as many as we could, but there were just too damn many.” His breathing became weaker. “They're heading your way now, Alpha. Be ready.”My jaw clenched.“We are ready. Let him come,” Androkles hissed. “His numbers mean nothing to me.”“He will regret coming here,” Theo retorted coldly.“Genocchio, stay with me,” I exhorted firmly. “I can get a bird t
VALEN’S POVAndrokles caught me from behind, locking both arms around my chest in an unwanted bear hug, while Figaro seized my shoulder from the front, forcing me backward. I fought them so hard my bare feet dug into the ground."What the hell are you doing?" My voice thundered through the hearthring. My eyes blazed at Penn. "You said nothing about this! You never told me she had to carve out my mark!"Penn held the back of the open book against her chest, pointing desperately at the pages before me. "I understand how you feel, Alpha, but it says it right here. It’s the final stage."“I dare you to mention that book one more time,” I snapped, growling dangerously low. “That’s the last thing connecting us.”The mark was mine and hers. Our union. How could Raina not have a problem erasing all of us? If that mark vanished, no part of me would be left in her.All my hopes went crashing down.I would give her everything she wanted, even if it would mean heartaches and pain for me. But not t







