By moonlight's shadow

Chapter 10

Both of them walked back in silence and found that everyone was back to their normal schedules. Some were working, children were laughing and playing and no one even remembered what was the whole fiasco about which had been going on for the past day. The children moved about like they did not have a care in the world. The tree hunkered low to the windswept hill as if it wanted nothing more than to be sheltered by the tall grasses that waved golden in the late autumn wind. Its branches fanned out wide, separating from each other like the petals of a blossom only a metre or so from the ground. I think that's why we kids all loved it so much. We could climb it in just minutes and shimmy out along the rough limbs until we could see out over the surrounding fields. It was a secret hideout every kid in the village knew about, plus all the ex-kids, which was pretty much everyone. Even when the village council built a fancy playground it didn't get half as much use tree. It had no safety gravel and no tinny slide that seemed to grip jeans in damp weather. It was ours: adventurous, naughty and, best of all...secret.

Lukas nodded his head at the children and then went towards the cottage where Nina and the new-born babe Aurora were living. He needed to see how the babe was doing and also needed to ask if the child was going to be a part of the pack or not. Rhea knew that his brother was a bit disturbed and upset at the conversation with the Druid and that is the reason that she was disturbed as well but in a good way. She knew for the first time in her life that this was exactly where she belonged.

Lukas entered the cottage where Nina was sitting on her bed with Aurora in her arms. She looked up at him when he entered and smiled at him. The smile was so peaceful and serene that Lukas’s heart filled up to the brim.

“How is the babe doing Nina? And most importantly how are you doing?” asked Rhea as she came closer to the duo and then sat down beside her on the bed. Rhea might be younger than Nina but she was a powerful wolf and Nina knew that she was going to protect both of them to the ends of time.

Lukas just stood there silently without speaking anything at all. He was never good with small babies so he did not know what should be the proper reaction.

Nina said something very cryptic but that was normally how she spoke. Nothing new in that.

“This baby has been born to seek love, to be in that beautiful protective web of emotions that give, nurture and guard one another. She invites us to be the best versions of ourselves, to rewind, to cast away the cynicism that poisons and instead make the loving web their intuition searches for. I see her heart as a compass, the needle spinning until it finds real love, their true north and ours,” she said whose meaning was both the brother and sister were not able to comprehend.

“Nina, we do understand that you have been through a traumatic experience which no mother or no wife should ever have to suffer the consequences of but have some mercy on us dear. We are not versed in riddles like you. We speak English, so can you elaborate whatever you said in normal language?” asked Rhea, with a soft smile on her face as if she was amused by the entire situation.

Nina smiled shyly but did not say anything more. She stood up with a cooing baby in her arms and went towards where Lukas was standing at one corner of the room and placed the child in his arms. Lukas was a bit skeptical in the beginning because he was not very good with small babies but it was a matter of faith and trust that a new mother was putting in her Alpha, after all he was the one who had kept his words and had given her Aurora.

Her bright blue-green eyes found mine and she laughed, as only a baby can laugh a sweet sound unblemished by the hurts of life. Her little face glowed from a light within, and her miniature fingers grasped mine, and held tight. She knew! Somehow it felt like she knew I needed comfort in the dead silence of night, she knew I needed joy in the midst of my pain. I held her to my chest tightly, I would never let this precious bundle go no matter what came I would protect him. Even to the point of death.

This was what Lukas thought as he took Aurora in his arms. He looked up at Nina with his mouth open in shock and with his breath raged and trembling. His heart was beating so fast that everyone in the vicinity could probably hear that.

“What is happening to me?” asked Lukas with his eyes wide with amazement and baby Aurora still looking at him and softly cooing.

“She is recognizing you as her Alpha. She is taking you to be her kin. You were the first one who found her outside that desecrated church and touched her at the time when she needed human support t the maximum extent. She knows what you have risked for her sake and that is the reason that she is taking you to be the closest to her even before me. And no no…don’t look at me like that, heaven knows that I am not capable enough of protecting my own child. So this time she understands whose protection she can count upon. I just hope that Credence is happy wherever he is,” said Nina, her eyes watering up once more.

“She knows very well inside her heart and soul that it was really you who has saved her and not me. She might take me as kin but I am never going to take the place that you already have in her life. Nina you need to understand one thing that there are a lot of things which are fated to happen and the coming out of my mother along with the death of Credence might be taken as something bad but it was inevitable. Because if she had not done that then we would not have become aware about the weapons that we already possess within ourselves and learn how to control that. You need to toughen up Nina. I am counting on you to take good care of this little one,” said Lukas as he handed over the sleeping babe to her mother’s arms.

Nina smiled as she took back her baby. “She was born with a hurricane for a soul, that one,” she said. But she said it in a loving way with that soft glow in her eyes that only a mother can have for such difficult offspring.

Rhea laughed softly at her comment. It was true that she had hurricane for her soul otherwise she would not have survived what had been going on for probably days and hours after her birth. She had the heart of a warrior, and the soul of a hurricane and the beauty of the fresh light that dawned upon the horizon. She was definitely going to be a handful once she grew up and Rhea could not wait to teach her how to fight and do other things that a girl would never learn otherwise. Rhea knew that she had claim upon the baby, just like she had claim upon the pack. She was not Alpha yet but she knew in her heart that she would be someday and that time she would be responsible for the protection of every single babe in the entire pack.

“We will leave her and you to have your rest. These few days have been trying for all of us and we all need our rest. Lukas, come on, let’s get out of their hair,” said Rhea, as she tugged his hand who was still reluctant to leave and then he followed her like an obedient child.

Nina started singing softly to Aurora and they could feel the notes of the lullaby lingering back in their ears. When they reached their own house Lukas went inside without a single word and then sat down on the armchair and Rhea came after him and sat near his feet.

“What are you thinking about?” asked Rhea softly and Lukas looked at her with confusion in his eyes. His eyes were clouded and his vision was blurry and it was apparently clear to Rhea that he was not crying or even tearing up.

“What the hell happened just now Lukas? What is going on with you? Tell me, goddammit,” said Rhea, as she started shaking him. Lukas still looked at her with that same confusion in his eyes, he was an Alpha and was trying very hard to whatever had happened to him just now but still something was stopping him from coming out of that typical stupor.

Rhea understood that it was something related to the curse which their mother had placed upon him last day. But she had no idea what to do but then again there must be something which would help her bring her brother out of that condition. Rhea tried very hard to remember which was the place that their mother used to go and do something but she came up with an absolute blank. If she had any hiding place to stash all her books or other things then there must be some kind of magical lock on it which would not open otherwise. What could be the sign of the lock or what was the most unholy thing in any dark magic, goddamnit, she had no idea at all. But to her amazement she did not have to do anything. Lukas did whatever was needed to be done even in the condition that he was in.

He let his fangs out which was absolutely abnormal because they had thicker canines which were made for tearing meat and chunks of flesh so that they could grip on their prey, not like that of the vampires which were thin, sharp and could prick the skin like a pin but still he was able to tear something of his thumb and it was the first layer of skin. Lukas groaned at the pain which he was being made to endure but could not do anything and Rhea on the other hand was feeling absolutely helpless without knowing what she was supposed to do.

Lukas slumped on the floor on his knees which must have hurt again and Rhea winced at the thudding noise that he made on the impact. Then he placed his bloodied thumb on the hardwood floor and drew a pentagram with his blood. And just immediately his hand got healed without anything. It was so immediate that Rhea could swear that it was not possible for wolves to heal that fast.

The place where he had drawn the bloody pentagram was sizzling rapidly and then turned white which made a sound like a lock clicking and a piece of the board of the floor opened up right away and it was quite a big chunk. It looked just like a trap-door. Before Rhea could even think what was happening Lukas stood up and went over to the door and then crouched down and jumped right inside. Rhea ran and screamed behind him and jumped before the door could shut down.

“Welcome to the library of our witchy mother, Sister,” said Lukas in his own voice.