Before the break of dawn, Eon, Briare, and Lina were all awake. They were in the kitchen drinking coffee. None of them were talking.
Lina scooted next to Eon as if she was cold and needed some warmth despite wearing two layers of clothing. “It’s going to be fine.” He said on top of her head, his arms circled around her waist, pulling her into his lap. “We are just going to talk to my father today. The ritual won’t be until the day after tomorrow.”
It was Briare who wanted to do the ritual on that day but he wanted to talk to Alpha Aaron today, hence, they were all huddled in the kitchen so early in the morning to travel on foot. No car or any other kind of vehicle can enter the Deep Forest. It was Lina’s first time going there as well. She pulled the zipper of her hoodie, covering her neck, for Eon told her that the forest can be cold especially for her.
“Your father is waiting for us?” Briare speaks after be
Eon brought them to a tree house. Or what seemed to be a tree house because the tree house was just an entrance because they had to enter another door and crossed a garden and entered a metal gate covered with some vines that if you don’t know where the gate was, you’ll never find it. Also, it seemed that for the gate to be opened, you had to have the password to it. In Eon’s case, the gate asked for his thumbmark. A camera also swirred and focused on their faces before the metal gate swung open with a loud thud. Lina realized how thick and heavy the metal gate was with how loud the noise it produced when it opened. “Is your father hiding from the government or something?” She whispered, gripping Eon’s arm. Eon chuckled. “This world is different from what you think, Lina. The security of the Alpha is everything to a pack.” He slid her hand off his arm and held her instead. Lina didn’t reply because she remembered the security that they had to pass thr
“That’s how the ritual goes.” Masaya—the healer of the pack explained to them. “It wasn’t too complicated and it won’t be too intrusive,” she smiled reassuringly at Lina.Lina nodded. It does seem easy. All she has to do is drink some medicine that the healer will prepare. The medicine would bring her to a dream-like state where Masaya would help her look for her wolf.“I need to see all the ingredients that you’re going to give her,” Briare said in a serious tone of voice.She snapped her head to look at her uncle. Since they’ve arrived, Briare has remained quiet and just listened to the explanation of the healer. She was a bit bothered that Briare's tone of voice sounded harsh.“We apologize. But the medicine that we use to do this ritual is something that is considered as an important secret of our pack.”Briare looked at Alpha Aaron. “You must also underst
They were sitting down side by side, soaking their feet on the stream as they ate some watermelon. The birds were singing gaily, jumping on the tree branches. Lina felt sleepy from listening to their voices or maybe it was because she ate so many watermelons her stomach feels like bursting. “I still can't understand how things are…”She broke the silence between them. Eon didn’t answer but took her hands to his. “There are still many unanswered questions but one thing is for sure, you are a she-wolf—a guardian.” She scrunched up her nose. “I don’t understand what is so special about being a guardian.” “From the story that I heard when I was young, a guardian can be a substitute for someone’s Luna.” He looked at Lina and watched her expression carefully. He doesn’t want her to misunderstand the bond between them. It’s one of the reasons why he didn’t tell her this story. He doesn't want her to think that she was being used as a substitute for Elara.
“Do you remember Elara? The girl that you saw in my wallet?”‘How can I forget?’ She thought to herself but held her tongue. She doesn’t want to say something that she would regret. And she’s quite sure that any words that would come out of her mouth right now, is something that she will end up asking for an apology later on.“She’s my Luna. I guess you already knew that since you asked Larissa.” He watched the dilemma dance in Lina’s eyes. He could clearly see that she had a lot of questions but she chose to be mute. “She’s buried here,” he gently said, pointing to the mold of soil, covered with grass under the tree.A soft gush of wind blew and Lina was transfixed. Her eyes glazed over to Eon then painfully followed Eon’s finger and it seemed like the world stopped spinning on its axis. The wind whistles in the distance, shaking the branches of the tree. She looked up and scoff
The wind blows and whistles. And once more the leaves of the tree fell around them like confetti, but this time, Lina felt that the tree was congratulating them as it gently swayed in the soft breeze of the wind. “You chose me?” Eon dropped a chaste kiss on her lips. “Yes,” he answered. “For always and forever.” Lina’s chin trembled as she stared at Eon’s eyes staring deeply straight to her soul, soothing all the insecurities and doubts that she had in her heart. “I chose you, two.” She laughed a bit shakily. The love word was being avoided but she felt that it wasn’t the word they need to hear today. The arms that were circling her frame, the eyes that were staring right back at her, and those lips that were about to descend into her waiting lips were more than enough. Eon, bringing her and introducing her to Elara—his Luna is more than enough. The rest, they could slowly uncover them as they go through their life together. A sudden thrill ca
Eon listened to the howling and looked at Lina. “It’s time for us to leave.” “Who was howling?” She didn’t wait for Eon to get up. She was wiping her arms when Eon pulled her to face him. “What?” Her brows creased. “You can hear that?” The surprise in his voice was evident. It’s the first time that Lina heard a howling. She heard them before but couldn’t recognize them. She used to think that it was just a random wild animal in the forest. “Yes. Why?” She stared at Eon for a moment before understanding dawned upon her. “I can recognize it,” her voice was full of excitement. “I can now!” She pulled Eon’s sleeve and tugged it as if he couldn't hear her and needed to get his full attention. He reached for her head and caressed her hair. “Yes, you can now.” Her grin was so big and wide. She was about to jump on Eon’s arms when he said. “I have to shift because we are going to meet Briare halfway and then we are on the way home.” “W
She was submerged in the warm water with a jazz song playing in the background, and her eyelashes fluttered as she closed her eyes. The water was so good in her skin, it was pulling her to sleep. And something she had already thought of as something that won’t happen again happened.She recognized the murky water as soon as she opened her eyes. The cold seeped in her skin as she shivered from being in the water for so long. Darting her gaze left and right, she hurried to get out of the water. She had been in this dream so many times already that she knew what would happen next.When she reached the bank, she whispered. “Galan…Galan?” An eerie silence replied to her call. The chill of terror ran through her cold body when Galan was nowhere in sight. She grabbed a dried twig and pulled herself up. Her knees were trembling but she did not dare stop. A voice kept on screaming inside her head, “run! Run!” Sobbing she crawled on her four
‘Babe, breaking your heart is like suicide because my heart is the first one to break when you are hurting.’Eon’s words echoed in her mind, melting her heart. Her hands moved as she smirked at him who arched his brow with the naughtiness playing on her face. He let Lina push him to bed and straddled him.“You better finish what you’re gonna do.” He smirked, putting his clasped hands behind his head, using them as his pillow. He watched Lina slowly pop the buttons of his polo shirt.“Why do you think I won’t finish what I’m about to do?” A devilish smile curved her lips that made Eon groan. He was so effing aroused. She looks so alluring with her hair falling over her shoulders, and the way her long fingers take her time unbuttoning his shirt while running her tongue over her lower lip that she would bite every time a button would be released from its buttonhole. Once she finished popping the buttons of