Chapter Two

“Jasmine!”

I heard a familiar voice call through the darkness.

“Jasmine, you must wake up”, the voice whispered urgently even as hands jerked me awake, pulling me from the darkness.

I opened my eyes to the face of my mother, a fear in her eyes that mirrored the urgency in her voice.

“Mama?” I called out softly in confusion, still dazed from sleep.

“Get up”, she urged. “Quickly!” Even as she spoke, she moved away from me to rummage through the bag she had sewn for me out of the animal skin father had skinned. “We do not have time”, she said, moving about the room and putting things into the bag before closing it.

“Come”, she said and scooped me up from my bed and into her arms.

She held onto the bag with one hand and hurried through our humble house and out the back door which led into the dark woods.

There, my father stood.

There was a dead wolf a small distance away from me that my mother turned my head away from seeing properly through the darkness.

“That one was just sent ahead”, my father said as we neared him. “More are on the way. We cannot hold them all back”, he told my mother, his tone urgent.

“Papa”, I called out to him with outstretched arms the moment we were close enough and he took me into his arms immediately.

“Do you have the letter?” I heard my mother ask as I wrapped my little arms around my father’s neck and buried my face into his warm shoulder, earning a kiss from him as he tightened his arms around me. “Are you certain he will fulfil his oath?” She asked.

I felt my father nod.

“He is many things but still a man who fulfils his oath”, father said. “At least until she is of age”.

Before my mother could respond to that, we heard a loud howl that had me moving away from my father’s shoulder to look around and several howls immediately accompanying it.

“There are more than we thought”, mother said before turning to grip my arms urgently to bring my eyes to hers. “Listen carefully, Jasmine”, she began. “You must do exactly what I tell you, understand?”

I quickly nodded, realising how serious the situation was when I saw her fear reflected in my father’s eyes.

“You will go with your father and stay where he tells you”, she says. “You will stay there and be quiet and make no sound no matter what you see or hear. Promise me”, she urged.

“I promise, Mama”, I answered quickly.

Her hands on my arm came up to tenderly hold my cheeks. “A man with a scar under his left eye will come for you at dawn but until he does, do not come out of that hole. Do you understand?” She asked.

I nodded once more. “Yes, Mama”.

“And listen closely, my heart”, she said moving our faces closer to each other. “When you come of age, you must find your mate”, she instructed. “Only he can help you unlock your destiny”, she said firmly and I nodded again. “And never forget”, she said as her eyes began to glisten with tears. “that your Papa and I love you eternally. Never forget”, she said and placed a tender kiss on my forehead.

“Be strong, my heart”, she said as tears rolled down her cheeks. “and remember to do everything I just told you. Promise me again”, she urged pressing another kiss to my head.

“I promise, Mama”, I vowed.

She enclosed both me and my father in a tight hug and kissed my father’s lips passionately.

“Go now”, she said just as we heard several barks and howls drawing closer. “Go!”

My father put me on my feet and moved a few paces away before turning into his familiar brown wolf and coming back to me.

My mother put my bag around me then covered me with a thick cloak I hadn’t seen before.

“It will mask your scent”, she said as she secured it around me and placed me on my father’s back. “Hold tight and do not let go”, she said, placing one last kiss on my head before patting my father’s wolf once. “Go”, she ordered just as the wolves came around the side of the house.

My father turned and took off into the forest at such a pace that made me hold on tighter even as whines escaped him. I knew it hurt him to leave my mother behind and I turned to look back at her.

She was still in her human form and was fighting the wolves without a weapon, only her outstretched hands. I didn’t understand why she didn’t just shift into her wolf and run away with us. But even at the young age of five, I knew my mother was no ordinary woman. I didn’t know exactly what she was but there was something different about her. Something powerful.

I watched as she fought of wolf after wolf until one snuck up from behind her and bit her arm. She didn’t stop fighting, not until several deep slashes from claws brought her to her knees.

Even as she knelt, her eyes looked into the forest and found mine. I didn’t know how we could still see each other despite how far my father had taken us deep into the forest but I never questioned it.

From the distance, I heard her voice in my head as we locked eyes.

“Never forget”, it said and her lips stretched into a smile just before her head was ripped off her shoulders.

I screamed.

Even as her body fell to the ground, I continued to scream. Until I noticed how badly my father’s wolf began to tremble and whimper in pain.

He hadn’t seen it, but he had felt the death of his mate.

I stopped screaming when I noticed my father’s pace had began to slow down.

“Papa”, I called out to his wolf, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck and he picked up his pace, running despite the trembling of his body.

I could hear the howls drawing nearer and I knew he heard it too when he ran faster than ever.

We got to a small clearing with a big tree before my father stopped and shifted. He carried me over to the tree and lifted a large root that revealed a small hole just big enough to fit me. He quickly placed me inside and wiped at the tears I didn’t know were running down my cheeks.

“Remember your promise to your mother”, he said, his eyes glistening with his own tears. “Do not make a sound, no matter what you see or hear”, he reminded. “Do you promise?”

I nodded. “Yes, Papa. I promise”, I answered.

“Good girl”, he praised with a kiss on my tear-stained cheek. “Do not come out until the man with a scar under his left eye comes for you”, he reminded then moved the root latch to show me a small hole in it that could allow me see through. “Look through here to know if it is him. Do not come out for anyone else and do not look through the hole until you do not hear any sound after a very long time. Promise?” He requested once more.

I nodded for the last time. “I promise”.

“I love you as the Goddess loves the moon, my Jasmine”, he said as a tear rolled down his cheek.

“I love you more than I love berries, Papa”, I said, bringing a smile to his lips.

“Never forget”, he said as he kissed me one final time, putting a letter into my bag before he pulled the root latch close to shroud me in complete darkness, away from the full moonlight. Only the dull light from the hole on the latch brought the tiniest amount of consolation.

I heard the familiar sound of his breaking bones as he shifted then heard the pounding of his paws fade as he ran in the opposite direction.

Almost immediately, several sounds of pounding paws followed in the direction he went. Soon, I heard a familiar howl of pain that let me know that they had caught up with my father. I heard several growls and snarls from the distance and knew my father was fighting back. After a painful growl, the next thing I heard through the quiet forest was a voice.

“Where is the girl?!” It roared. “Where is she?!”

I was too far way to hear my father’s response but the howl of pain that followed after let me know that his response was not to the roaring werewolf’s liking.

This continued for a while and I covered my ears with my hands and curled into a ball to try to block out the sounds of my father’s pain-filled howls.

After a particular heart wrenching howl, everything went silent and I knew my father was no more.

I bit down on the thick cloak my mother had put around me to muffle my sobs as tears ran down my cheeks.

I heard the pounding of paws come back through where I hid until they all faded away. Then the exhaustion from the many tears I had shed pulled me into yet another darkness.