"The Replacement Luna..."

Crazed...

Glare:

"It was a dark time for the entire magical realm when the moon became our enemy." The Alpha King rested his hands on the balcony railings, his features looked sad with the memories that ran through his mind.

"The second Penumbra was the kindest, most gentle human being I've ever known. She was the perfect example of a caring and generous soul. Being the wife of the then Prime Minister of Canada gave her the clout, and the perfect excuse to reach out to others without raising questions as to why she always had numerous meetings and outreach programs. She was tireless in her pursuit to better the lives of everyone under her care, both magical creatures as well as normal human beings.

"The problem arose when the Whiffs succeeded in messing with her mind, making her think that her Alpha was having numerous affairs behind her back. It was then that she became consumed by anger, hate, and later on rage. She single-handedly wiped out the entire pack of her Alpha, and then attacked everyone who dared speak-up against her.

"No one had the ability to rival her powers, and so she continued to spread fear and death for several long years. She was obsessed with maintaining her hold and control over everyone, and even planned to appoint herself as the supreme ruler of the entire planet.

"Fearing that the magical world would be exposed to the humans, several Vampires, Nephelims, Mages and Lycans bonded together to hatch a plan to put an end to her reign of terror. I lead an army alongside Archibald Barrier, Maximillian Rosewater, and Sylvia DeSanti. We devised a plan to weaken the Penumbra, enough for us to either incapacitate her, or contain her in a magical cell." The Alpha King looked directly at me, trying to decide whether I could be trusted with the information. He took a deep breath, then continued.

"Daniella Desalvo was a close and trusted friend of the second Penumbra. She aided us by stealing the tome where the Penumbra's spells and incantations were contained. The Book of Lament as we now call it, was then ripped apart into four smaller tomes to prevent the Penumbra from ever regaining it in one attempt. We all took one part each and hid it. We vowed to never let anyone possess the said tome in its entirety. We thought it would weaken the Penumbra if we separated her from her book... we didn't expect that she'd still be so powerful without her book of incantations.

"She hunted us down like rabid dogs. One by one, she found us, and punished us along with our individual packs and covens. She did not hold back on inflicting pain on us, and even went as far as killing Daniella who was her closest friend. She cursed both Archibald and I to fall out of love with our mates, thereby causing our respective wives to fall severely ill. She cursed the DeSanti clan to always fall in love with people they'll never end up with. She also punished me by cursing my only heir to never sense nor identify his true mate, and promised that he would forever be hunted down by the Whiffs."

"Still, don't you think you went too far by killing her? Could you not have found a better way to get through to her? To win her trust? To make her realize her mistakes?"

"Don't you see there was no other way? There was no getting through to her! She wouldn't listen to reason. The Whiffs had a hold on her, and they were the only people she listened to."

"So you killed her instead! Did that solve the problem? Did that give you the peace you've been trying to achieve?" I was trying to control my anger, I so wanted to understand their reason for killing a previous incarnation of the moon.

"Yes! It did! We have attained freedom from her torture, from her control, from our fear of her."

"And yet you never really triumphed, have you? The Whiffs grow stronger as we speak. The number of Lycans under their control increases by the minute. Your reign is on the verge of collapse as the Whiffs now outnumber your allies. Your bloodline is cursed to..." And then a sudden realization struck me. I floated closer to the King, wanting to know for certain.

"Ares and Atlas... one of them is your son!" The Alpha King's eyes tried to stare me down, but in the end he had to look away, defeated.

"I was afraid the Whiffs would... I didn't want to take any chances. I had to entrust my only son, Ares to my closest and dearest friend."

"But Atlas also could not sense his mate. He said..."

"That's not true. He was able to identify your sister as his mate. They only made everyone believe he could not, so that it was easier to believe Atlas and Ares both suffered the same curse. It only made sense if they were brothers... another lie to keep Ares protected."

"But he's still in danger. You  bringing him out here to defend..."

"I did not ask him to come here! I was surprised when his pack informed me that they recieved a request from me to help protect Castle Lycanthrope. I sent no such request."

"Then... it's a trap. We've all been lured out here so that they could..."

"Sire! The northern perimeter has been breached. Our men are engaged in battle with a large army of Lycans under the control of the Whiffs!"

"Send reinforcements, ready our troops, alert the entire coven!"

"I'll meet you at the battle ground. Keep your son safe until he reaches me. I must contain the situation before any danger befalls Ares." I hurriedly went through a glowing portal just as Ares arrived running, and calling out my name.

I left him there as I teleported to the northern area of the King's property, hoping that my powers alone would be enough to stop the Whiffs' advances.