Call of the Wolves

11. Lupi Understood

Separating my hand from the mirror, the thick, moonlit forest transforms back into my familiar and comforting bedroom.

"My eyes," the burning sun within them dims, fading until the gold shifts until they're once again forest green. "How?" How are they normal again?

"With the beginning of acceptance comes control. Your control over the wolf inside until you are no longer separate beings at odds, but one creature in complete unison," he pauses as I take in seeing myself in the mirror again. My normal self. "You have lived your life oblivious to the truth. A truth that everyone else refuses," Caesar speaks with a normal voice. "People have stopped believing in us. To them, we are fairy tales, but the wolves are real. The beasts are real. You are one of them."

My chest constricts as I hear his words, but locking eyes with Caesar's, his stare steadies my racing heart.

"How does no one know? How did I not know? All this time..." I stammer, the words flowing out of me.

"You may have heard of 'werewolves,'" he begins and I nod. "That's not what we are. We call ourselves Nocte Venandi, or Night Hunters. Lupi works too. 'Night Hunters' is our particular pack, but Lupi is what we are. For as bright as the moon shines, the wolves shall shadow."

Spoken words fail, but my thoughts journey all across my brain. And my mother knew about them? My father?

Caesar, as if reading my thoughts, responds. "Yes, your mother knew. And yes, your father is one. That is why you can never be normal. You are part Lupi and part human."

"Did my dad... is he?" My voice shakes as I speak. Is he dead? My thoughts finish my question.

"No," Caesar answers in a swift moment. "Your father, Serelia, he is our Alpha. Our leader. He left only because it was his duty, but his heart showed his true desires. Your mother. You. Nonetheless, he did what he had to and now he is growing in age. Soon the wolf will leave him and his reign will come to an end. Because you are the daughter of an alpha, it is you who must take his place."

"What does that mean?" I ask, trying to register what he tells me. "The wolf is leaving him?"

"Quite literally as it sounds. The spirit of the wolf will no longer reside in him. He won't have the power to continue leading our pack. Though he can still transform, he won't have the abilities to be a leader. And when he falls, so shall the rest of our pack. That is why it is up to you to save us. You are, or at least will be, our alpha."

Unable to process all of this information, more questions are all that I can form. "Meg, she mentioned a spell..." I trail off, narrowing my eyes at Caesar.

"Meg," Caesar lets out a soft simper. "Do you know she is one of the oldest of our kind? One of the originals of our pack in this town," he pauses. "She has been watching over you, Serelia, longer than you can ever imagine. You have never been alone. She is why no one has been able to harm you. Until now."

"How come now, then? Why are they getting close now, the other wolves?"

"For as long as she could, Meg has covered your scent," Caesar continues to answer my questions with ease, as if this was the most standard topic in the human race. Though, I guess if this is all true, he isn't human. "She made you appear as a mere human to any mystical beast so they were unable to locate you. Now, your transformation, it is unstoppable and that scent can no longer be concealed."

"The spell..." my words once again trail out unfinished. "She told me it prevented my transformation, but who placed it in the first place? My parents? Why? Why would they put it on me in the first place?" If it wasn't for Caesar placing his hands up to interrupt me, I would have spouted out the million other questions rummaging my brain.