Daughter of Luka (LGBT+)

Forty 🌑

Once Accalia and I were dressed again (thanks to Kate lending us some clothes), I turned to her with an expression of astonishment. 

Kate also seemed thoroughly mesmerised, but she had just seen another one of her fellow schoolmates turn into a wolf, so that much made sense. 

"I'll be honest- those two are idiots. It's not even the first run in that I've had with them," she said, as her eyes gazed over Kate, caringly. "Are you alright, Kate? I know that this is a lot to take in. I understand if you want us to go, too." 

"No, no," Kate said quickly, as her eyes glanced between the two of us. "Thanks to you, I'm still alive." 

"I doubt those wolves would have killed you," Accalia spoke, her voice seirous, "From what I can understand about the two of them, they just like to scare people who have broken 'wolf law', as if they're the ones that actually monitor it." 

I turned to Accalia with a proud expression, before I voiced my question. 

"Who does monitor wolf law?" I asked. 

"My father," Accalia told me, with a small smile. 

I should have expected as much. 

"As the alpha female, one day that duty will be passed onto me. My mother used to be in charge of it...before she died," she said. The last word looked as though it had left a bad taste in her mouth, but I couldn't blame her for not wanting to speak about it. I didn't want to talk about what had happened to my own mother to most people, either. 

"I love you two, you must know that I would never, ever, give your secret out to anyone," Kate said. 

"I trust you, Kate," Accalia said then, which led me to feel slightly better. I was glad that she trusted Kate, given that I had never exactly obtained her permission to inform Kate of what I truly was. 

"You're awesome, Accalia. And you, too, Ophelia. If you hadn't got here in time, I was planning on using this right here," she said, as she held up the mirror again with a slightly sheepish expression, "But I'm glad that I didn't have to do that. As soon as I saw those two wolves arrive in my back garden- I just remember thinking what the fuck? I wasn't sure what I was going to do...but I knew that I had to do something. My parents are out on date night and those two wolves come in and basically trash the place."

"We can help you clean up," Accalia said then and her generosity seemed to surprise Kate, who smiled back at her with appreciation.  

As we began to clean, Kate turned to look at the two of us with interest shining in her eyes.

"So, I'm curious..." she began to say, which caused the two of us to look at her. "Is there some sort of wolf god out there? How did this even all start?" she asked. 

Accalia thought on the question for a moment. 

"A long time ago, a human was bitten by a silver-haired wolf. Silver-haired wolves are the ones that can pass on the wolf 'virus', and anyone who receives said virus then passes it on to their children, giving them what we refer to as wolf blood," Accalia explained. 

Wolf blood was exactly what my mother had passed onto me and that was how I had been lured to the tribe. I was born to be a wolf. 

"Could I be a wolf?" Kate asked. 

Accalia's eyebrows creased together at the question. 

"I mean...I'm not considering it, I'm just curious," she said. 

"If you were scratched or bitten by a silver-haired wolf, i.e. a wolf like my father, then you could be...but we don't do that. It's sort of against code. There has to be a good reason for it- for instance, in exceptional circumstances where a wolf falls in love with a human, or if we need to turn someone into one of us to save their life," Accalia explained. 

As this information sunk in, Kate's eyes widened slightly with wonder. 

"We worship the moon. It's sort of just a myth- the whole wolf, moon thing, but it does strengthen our abilities," Accalia stated. 

I would have to bear that one in mind. 

"And if you want to give up your wolf blood, is that possible?" I asked. I couldn't imagine it, but my curiosity had peaked. 

"There's something we call a wolf sacrifice...it's what happens if someone doesn't want to be a wolf anymore. They have to be struck by silver while they're in their wolf form. In most cases, that kills them or seriously wounds them...if done properly, with a silver dagger, in particular, then the former wolf can become human," Accalia informed me. "That's how I got my scar," she whispered. It was directed to me. 

"I thought it was a birthmark," I said quietly, as I glanced down at her wrist. 

Accalia gave a subtle shake of her head. She looked ashamed of what she had said, so I stepped forward to take her hand in mine. 

"I was young and naïve and didn't even know how to perform the wolf sacrifice properly. I tried to do it while human and almost ended up killing myself. If uncle Z hadn't walked in on time, I probably would have died," she admitted. 

I owed Mr. Z so many apologies. 

"But you're happier, now, right?" I asked her, as I felt my voice shake a little. "You promise you won't do that again?" I added, eager to know the truth. 

Accalia smiled at me, but her eyes glossed with tears. 

"I'm happier because I've found you, Ophelia," she said, "I was happy as a human...if I hadn't have found you, then I probably still would have wanted to do what I did- or get my uncle to help me perform the wolf sacrifice properly. I couldn't let my father know. It would have broken his heart."