VERBOTEN MATES

CHAPTER 7*THE HOUR IS COME*

Different pheromones and aura from Alphas, Beta’s, Deltas and Omegas drifted through the air as they gathered on the haze ground, waiting for the ceremonial diviner to show up to begin the rituals of the night. 

It was mostly a thing that didn’t need to be told for members of different, pack on the haze ground to interact before the haze began.

Most werewolves did this because they had no potential partner in mind, but interaction with the other wolves on the haze ground sometimes helped them place interest on a certain wolf, which usually made their chase a lot easier. 

While some just interacted for the fun of meeting, others like themselves from another pack because they might not get another opportunity to interact or know anything about another pack once the haze is over. 

“Have you seen your lover?”

Jamal asks Torak as they stand leaning against a tree at the far edge of the forest surrounding the haze ground. 

“Not yet, but she should be here. I can’t sniff out her scent with all the different pheromones playing in the air right now.”

Torak says, and Jamal nods as his eyes scan the multitude of werewolves on the haze grounds.

“The distinct scents mixed is in the air are unsettling, which makes me wonder how it’s always easier for us to sniff out a wolf we desire to claim once the haze begins.”

Jamal comments, and Torak nods, while scanning the gathering for any sign of his girlfriend. It surprised him that not once the thought of Crina crossed his mind since they got here until Jamal brought it up and even now that he saw no sign of her, Torak remained calm and his wolf silver unbothered. 

“It has something to do the with rituals the diviner does before the beginning of the haze. I think it beckons to the moon to guide us in choosing our claims.”

Torak responds, frowning as his eyes settle on Aztec not too far from where he and Jamal stood, and Torak’s frown turned into a silent snarl as Aztec winked at him. 

“Have you ever sensed the scent of any she wolf during the haze, like after the ritual and the haze begins have you sensed any female distinctly in the past years?”

Torak asks Jamal, his eyes still focused on Aztec, whose attention was now on a; she-wolf locked around his waist. 

“Yes, but it happened once during the first haze I took part in, after the ritual my senses lingered on a particular she-wolf that I chased through the haze, she ran so good and fast that I didn’t realise she was leading me out of the haze ground and into the common land. When I finally caught up with her, the binding of the haze and lust had diminished in my body. Although I wanted to proceed with claiming her, she pleaded with me, saying she wasn’t ready. It was disappointing but I couldn’t force so l left the haze.”

Jamal explained, and Torak nods, paying attention to the details and he felt sorry for his best friend and beta because the guy sounded sound whilst narrating his first hazing experience. 

“That’s weird. I have never smelled out any she-wolf distinctly before. The first time I had a girlfriend, so I thought would be the one I claim, but I was wrong. The second time I didn’t sense the distinct scent of any female either, I just ran and ran round the ground and then gave up.”

Torak explained.

“That’s weird, its only naturally to smell she-wolfs after the ritual, I heard your senses can catch on the scent of three or six she-wolves at a time which gives you an open option for you to choose who to chase and claim. “

Jamal’s explanation caused Torak to pulse his lips.

 If what Jamal just said is true, that means something had to be wrong with him somehow for not sensing the scent of any she-wolf during the two haze he’s taken part in. 

“What about before the haze? For example, right now, is it possible to distinguish the scent of any she-wolf and be able to tell where she is or who she is?”

Torak questions, scrunching up his nose and the wind carried that distinct scent to him again, and he tried his possible best not to the look in the person’s direction. 

“I don’t know why you’re asking such questions out of the blue, anyway. You can’t. That’s impossible: the seductive pheromones released by most Omegas here are enough to cloud your senses even as Alpha. Lets not talk about the domineering ones from the other Alphas and the Betas pheromones ass well. Why do you think are our wolves recede during this time on the haze day? Because all the scents here are overwhelming even without our wolves, it would only be more heighten and cause the wolf to go berserk on an Omega or challenge an Alpha.”

Jamal explains the best way he could, and Torak’s frowns deepened, his lips pursing aggressively as thoughts ran through his mind. 

‘It doesn’t explain why I can smell him. How is it possible that I can distinguish his scent right now and can even note smell his arousal?’

Torak thinks to himself. 

He turns towards where Aztec once stood and it surprised Torak to see the young Alpha’s attention on him. 

Aztec stared at Torak with so much intensity that caused his insides to flip and Torak’s knee almost go jelly and bend. 

The Alpha stumbled back as a thick wave of Aztec’s arousal crashed into him, causing Torak to wobble on his knees, and Jamal quickly caught him before the Alpha hits the ground. 

“Omule! Are you okay?”

Jamal asks, pushing Torak’s weight on him and the Alpha blinked a few times, shaking his head to get his bearings straight. 

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Torak comments after taking a minute to pull himself together, subconsciously the Alpha spares a glance towards Aztec and a deep growl rumbled down Torak’s throat when Aztec smirked and winked at him. 

That enough gave Torak the assurance that Aztec felt whatever it was he just felt. Perhaps the young Alpha was doing it on purpose, Torak thinks to himself.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t look good.”

Jamal comments worrying over his friend and Torak sighs, taking his eyes away from Aztec 

“I’m fine, Jal, I just want to get this haze done with.”

Torak replies, although Jamal didn’t believe that was the only thing troubling his friend. Jamal nods, deciding not to push the topic further.

“Oh, here comes our future luna.”

Jamal says, calling Torak’s attention to the figure of Crina, weaving her way through the crowd with her friends. 

“Have you moment with her, while I go talk to the girls over there.”

Jamal informs Torak, shooting his head to the group of friends talking a few feet away from them and Torak nods, giving Jamal a gentle pat on the back as the beta walked away.

“Hi.”

Crina chirps as she reaches Torak and immediately clings to her harm.

“Welcome.”

Torak didn’t understand why he wasn’t happy to see her or how the place on his skin where Crina contacted irritated him to no end. 

If not for the fresh eyes around the Alpha had almost removed her from himself immediately, she clung onto him. 

“You came earlier than I expected. I thought we would journey together, and I waited for you at home.”

Crina says and pouting at Torak and the Alpha rolled his eyes mentally. 

‘I don’t like her and we are not claiming her.’

Silver speaks stirring up in Torak and the Alpha groaned inwardly.

‘Guy? can you stay away for the time being? You know, you can’t be out yet the pheromones aren’t joking.’

Torak complains to his wolf, who seemed unaffected by what the human was saying.

‘I’m fine, not affected by the pheromones. I don’t know why, but that aside. We are not claiming or chasing her tonight.’

‘Silver, I am not doing that with you tonight. Crina is the only one I know capable enough to serve as luna for the pack. I am not chasing and claiming a woman I know nothing of. Not happening.’

Torak replies, totally forgetting that said Crina was still beside him waiting for a response to her earlier complaint.

‘You are only concerned about her being a good luna. What about being a suitable partner? If you make me claim her tonight, there is no going back, and I don’t want to spend the rest of my years with a woman I do not care for. And forget about not knowing who else to claim. We are on sacred ground. Mother goddess would give to us the perfect woman to claim. Half the crowd here are strangers hoping to go back home with their partner, eighty out of them might end up with strangers, doesn’t mean they won’t be happy.’ 

Silver poured his heart out as he spoke with Torak, already fed up at the foolery his human had been playing at with Crina. 

‘Fine, you have a point. I have nothing to say but as you said, the goddess would bless us with a suitable partner so we’ll let goddess guide and senses and lead us towards the right chase.’

Torak responds, and Silver agrees. 

‘You should recede now when_____’

“Torak! Torak!!.”

The Alpha flinched at the high-pitched voice that rang through his eardrum and he turned to see Crina frowning at him 

“Did you not hear what I said just now.?”

Crina asks, eyes blazing with anger. 

“I heard you and I plan to reply. Why did you screech in my ears?”

“You planned to reply? Does saying four or five words to make a simple sentence take an entire decade?”

Crina asks, clearly displeased at Torak’s silence towards her.

“Like I said, I would have answered. It doesn’t concern you how long I take, as long as you get an answer from me.”

Torak replies, unbothered by the frown on her face or the displeasure Crina showed as she detached herself from his arm.

“Really Torak? You would do this here on the haze ground, ignore me and converse with your wolf while I’m beside you?”

Torak shake’s his head at Crina’s unruly attitude, and he turns to her.

“I should be the one reminding you that, you’re in public. Behave yourself your s**t is spilling on others. Now if you would excuse I have better things to do. You should get yourself prepared for the haze and if you continue like this, don’t forget there are other ladies here who would make good luna.”

Toraks warn her while he tries to keep silver still. 

“Is that a threat?”

Crina asks, growling low at the Alpha, and Torak tried to control himself from lashing at her, despite her disrespect. 

“Advice.”

Torak responds before walking away from her and into the sea of people in search of a place where he could stay that’s closer to the Alter. 

Aztec walked away from his girlfriend and beta far into the forest as he tried to calm his raging boner and immense desire to look for the rival Alpha and have him pinned against any tree to fulfil his crazed lust once and for all. 

The young Alpha had no explanation for his sudden lust over the Torak, given he has seen the Alpha more times than he could count before he left for Alpha camp and never felt the least attracted to him. 

Aztec couldn’t make sense of the sudden attraction he was having towards the Alpha, ones that prove extremely hard for him to control every time he’s had an encounter with the Alpha. 

Just hours ago, Torak had to stop at the Alpha mansion looking for his father. Aztec thanked the goddess that Torak hadn’t come alone because nothing would have stopped him from mounting the Alpha, and that bothered him. 

The uncontrolled urge he had around the Alpha, knowing a little slip up can expose him to his family and pack. 

The thought of how he could lose everything he’s worked for and deserves in the blink of an eye because he can’t control his s****l urge for another male. 

Aztec hated how he was running at high risk of loosing everything. 

“Fvck,”

 Aztec cursed, pressing his palm against his bulge as he rests his forehead on the tree before him and willed for the boner to go down. 

“What the fvck is wrong with me?”

The Alpha groaned, hitting the tree as the image of Torak kept invading his thought and the young Alpha’s mind raced back to the scene just minutes ago on the haze ground where he winked at the older Alpha. 

The way his wolf clawed to go to the other Alpha and how his insides burned just from his refusal to grant his lust. 

Aztec only smirked at the other Alpha to hide the weakness in his eyes and how his knees trembled. He peeled his girlfriend off his body before walking into the woods, and now he still couldn’t get the Alpha out of his head, despite distancing himself from the ground. 

“Just f*****g calm down. Stop thinking about him.”

Aztec growled, punching the tree continuously as the risks of his sudden lust did a once over in his head. 

Thier packs are at each other’s throats already. Sleeping with the son of a rival would do him no good. Aztec knows that and he knew the consequences if anyone finds out his attraction to men. 

The pain his brain registered from continuously punching the tree helped calm his boner a few minutes past and Aztec slumped against the tree with uneven breathing, waiting for the cut on his hand incurred from the tree to heal.

“THE TIME IS HERE. ASSEMBLE BEFORE ME SON’S AND DAUGHTER’S OF THE MOON.”

The voice of the diviner reached Aztec ears where he rested, and the Alpha stands up with a grunt tracing his steps back unto the haze ground. 

One mystery about the diviner was how no one knows how he or she arrives at the haze ground or when they depart. 

For centuries, no one could tell the gender of the diviner or what they look like. The only visible description of the diviner was the overflowing white hair and one cannot tell a person’s gender by their hair or height.

Werewolves have made guesses every haze period, but no one can say, ‘oh I saw the face of the diviner’ nor say ‘The diviner is a beautiful maiden or man.’

The diviner's identity and arrival has remained an unsolved mystery, even their voice gave no way for guesses and their departure forever remains an unsolved mystery for the diviner to move with the wind. 

“În genunchi și dă-ți respect față de lună.”

[On your knees and pay your respect to the moon.]

The diviner commands as the night wind carried the power in her voice through the field and the woods echoes the power in her command. 

All werewolves presently obliged as they went on their knee, and heads raised to the moon. It was tradition and not one Alpha can go against the commands of the diviner. 

A minute of silence went by as each person silently said their respects to the moon, eyes closed and hearts opened for the goddess to dwell in just for the night. 

“Pregătește-te pentru ceasul a venit. Alertă-ți lupii pentru că așa este sezonul pe care toată lumea îl dorește. Anotimpul de a pretinde și de a fi, revendicat. Anotimpul pentru a crea primii tăi descendenți. Timpul lunii și împlinirea legământului ei copii.”

[Prepare yourself for the hour has come. Alert your wolves for thus is the season everyone desires. The season to claim, season to create thy first offspring. The time of the moon and its fulfilment of her covenant which her children.]

As the voice of the diviner echoed in the woods, everyone present slowly got out of their clothing, one after the other. Everyone knows what to do. They needed not to be told their next action as they bind their clothes together and tied it around their legs for them not to lose it after the haze. 

Both male and female stood before the diviner in only their underwear as the moon shone on them. Torak, however, stood a little apart from the others to hide the recent scars on his back. 

“IN GENUNCHI. PREGĂTIȚI-VĂ LUPII ȘI SPUNEȚI DUPĂ MINE. “

[ON YOUR KNEES. PREPARE YOUR WOLVES AND SAY AFTER ME.]

They did as told and everyone went on their knees, their wolves howling in their own space as the moon moved for their sake.

“CU O MINTE, ÎI APELĂM. CU O INIMĂ, TÂNEM LA TINE.”

“COPILUL DE PĂMÂNT, VÂNT, INCENDIU, MARE ȘI LUNĂ ÎN VIAȚA NOASTRĂ,”

“ÎL BUNTEM SUNT,”

“FIE ZEICA ȘI DUMNEZEUL LUMINII, IUBIRII ȘI FERTILITĂȚII ACORDĂ DORINȚA ȘI LINIȘTE INIMA MEA.”

“Îmi plasez dorința în mâinile tale pentru ca tu să faci așa c*m vei vrea și așa c*m merit atât de mult.”

[WITH ONE MIND, WE CALL TO THEE. WITH ONE HEART, WE LONG FOR THEE. CHILD OF EARTH, WIND, FIRE, SEA AND MOON INTO OUR LIVES, WE WELCOME THEE. MAY THE GODDESS AND THE GOD OF LIGHT, LOVE AND FERTILITY GRANT MY WISH AND QUIET MY HEART. I PLACE MY DESIRE IN YOUR HANDS FOR YOU TO DO AS YOU WILL AND AS I DESERVE SO MOTE IT BE.]

Chorus of voices filled the open space as everyone recited the spell word for word after the diviner, heads raised to the sky and their voices reached the moon.

As they chanted the spell for the seventh time, the moon stopped right above the centre of the field and the ancient markings that the ancestors put in place around the hazing ground to demarcate it from other lands lit up at the seventh call. 

Eyes closed and senses dazed as lust took over everyone on the haze ground. The sound of bones breaking and flesh stretching echoed through the thick of the woods and earth quiet as they shifted into their wolf forms. 

The Alphas present were the first to howl into the night sky and the other wolf followed, calling unto the moon to guide them as their senses heightened their human part, pushed to the corner of their minds as the wolves took over for only them can follow the through guidance of the moon.

One word was all they needed to hear for the lust filled night to set in motion. The diviner smiled, giving her praises to the moon as she gave the command. 

“VÂNZĂ ȘI FII VÂNZĂ DUPĂ. NEBUNUL DE ORA ESTE ACUM. ÎNDEȘTEȘTE-ȚI DORINȚELE ȘI ÎȚI SATI PUTEREA. RECLAMAȚI-VĂ PREMIUL, NEBUNĂ COPII DE LUNĂ.”

[CHASE AND BE CHASE AFTER. HAZE FOR THE HOUR IS NOW. FULFIL YOUR DESIRES AND SATIATE YOUR LUST. CLAIM YOUR PRIZE, HAZE CHILDREN OF THE MOON.]