Erasthais Across Time

3 - And so it begins

Once out of the shower, I went to the ends of my closet and pulled out a dress I hadn't worn in a long time. It was a beautiful floor-length, V-Neck silk-chiffon dark green dress, with a lace pattern over the front and back of the torso. There was a slit open on the left side of the leg and the ½ sleeves had "drapes" that made me feel like if I twirled them enough, I had ribbons at the ready. I slipped on these gorgeous black sandal-wrap heels I bought last summer that had only seen one outing, which had a 5 ½ in block-heel that made walking so much more comfortable due to their sturdiness – and also made ass kicking much more satisfying. And then for the "pièce de résistance"....this 14k white gold locket Damien gave to me when he came up with enough money (or so he said) that had my birth stone, an emerald, in the image of a star next to a crescent moon made of diamonds, and on the reverse side of the locket inscribed in script was "to the Moon and back". On the inside of the locket were faded photos of both Damien and Zeus, cut to size to fit. They were so young back then weren't they? Xena said with a gentle sigh. I smiled, knowing what she meant. At better times, they were the loves of our lives, our best friends, our partners in crimes, and our biggest nuisance. But we'd never thought we'd be in the predicament we were in now...estranged lovers. I closed the locket and looked at myself in the mirror, letting the power flow from my toes to my fingers, watching as my hazel eyes lit up brighter than they had in a while. I missed this feeling D, Xena said confidently. I know what you mean Xe, I said as I opened and closed my fists by my side. I dashed on some light makeup and took a swig of the amber liquor I kept and made my way towards Konrad's office on the first floor.

I arrived at his office at 4:15p and gave Celeste a polite nod, indicating I was here when Alpha Konrad was ready. Celeste offered a little twinkle of her wrinkly fingers and paged into the meeting to let him know I was here. "How are you, dearie?" she asked. A wolf of English descent, a little older than Mrs. Meyers but pleasant as ever. "Oh, I'm alright. How are you Ms. Celeste?" I asked. I always tried to speak to the older pack women with respect, even though to me they were just children in comparison. "Oh, just peachy. Those highbrows on the other side just love paperwork. Fancy a cuppa?" she asked as she joyfully threw some papers in a shredder. "I'd love some, please," I replied, knowing I'd get a scowl if I refused. "Wonderful! Honey and milk, yes?" she said, as she was already adding some honey and milk to mine. "Yes, correct. Thank you," I said, standing up to accept the tea. "You look absolutely stunning, my dear. What trouble are you stirring up today?" she said with a wink. "Oh, you'll find out soon enough," I said, with a charming smile. She sipped her tea and nodded. We heard the scuffing of chairs across the floor and in another moment a mass exodus of humans walked out of the office, with jaunty conversation floating between them to break up the bleakness of a long business meeting. The interns, or so they seemed, were in such a rush they didn't notice me and ran out as quickly as they could. I chuckled in between sips of tea. It seemed that the higher the rank, the more glances and winks I got. Until this one fairly handsome man came up to me and put on his best brazen smile and sat down next to me on the couch. I gave him a polite smile and went back to my people watching. "You know I haven't seen you in Meyer's office before. Are you applying for the grouch's position?" he said with a chuckle. I turned my head to look over at Celeste who was pretending not to hear our conversation but let out a distinct "hmph" that fell on less keen ears. "You mean dear Ms. Celeste? No, she is the best at what she does. And I've been here plenty of times and your face doesn't look familiar at all. Are you new or something?" I said condescendingly. The man let out a scoff and tried again for a smile. "No dove, I'm actually a rather important man. You see all the people here? I pay their salaries," he said with another brazen smile. "Ah, I see. Well then to put up with you, I would pay them triple what they're getting now," I said with my own brazen smile. He dropped his smile and shifted for a scowl. "Listen here you little bi–" "Malcolm!" Ahh our knight in shining armor appears, Xena said with sarcastic approval. Konrad aggressively walked over to us and stood next to me. "Meyer! Good meeting, no?" as the man stood up to offer a handshake to Konrad. Konrad looked at his extended hand and offered me a hand instead to help me up. "Sorry I took long, sweetheart," he said. "No worries. I had Malcolm keeping me busy," I said with a dismissive grin, taking Konrad's hand and standing up. "Ah, so you two know each other?" Malcolm said dejectedly. "Yes, very well," I said, and started to turn away from the men. I was maybe three feet away when I heard Malcolm mumble something in German. "Watch out for this one Konrad. She's only interested in your money," he said. I laughed and turned back around and stared at Malcolm dead in the face and repeated back his own words. "Watch out for this one Konrad. He's only interested in your money," I said and walked back towards the office. "She speaks German?!" Malcolm asked Konrad. "Ja. Fluently. And many other languages as well. Have a good day Malcolm," Konrad said, and followed behind me. "Sorry about him. He's a prick," he said, as he closed the frosted glass office doors behind him. "Nah, don't be. He was amusing at first," I said, waving my hand to brush off what happened as if it were nothing. "Have you eaten today?" he asked, turning his laptop over to me with a list of food options laid out. "Uhh, I had a shot. Does that count?" I said with a chuckle. Konrad let out a growl of disapproval. "No. It doesn't. How have you lived this long and eat as little as you do?" My point exactly! It's like you like to starve us! Xena agreed. "Oh hush, both of you," I said, rolling my eyes, "Pick something and I'll eat. And let's ask Celeste since Malcolm was a dick to her too. Sounds good?" Konrad nodded and picked Greek. Once the food came we gave Celeste her's and finished it rather quickly. "So, tell me about this plan before I'm blind-sighted in front of my pack," he said, clearing off the garbage. "Ugh, fine. We agreed to hear Damien out and to discuss things first, and then, if he shows any signs of threat or aggression, would we act on it," I said with my hands folded. "So....basically you have nothing, is what you're telling me?" Konrad said with a frown. "Such an Alpha thing to say. Okay, in simplistic terms, yes. We have nothing," I said, getting up to walk around. There was silence for a moment as I looked out the window, onto the glow of the setting sun. "It's not an easy thing to plan here, kid. He's my erasthai. When it comes to your mate, they're your everything. They become the first thing you think about when you wake up and the very last thing you want to see before you go to sleep. Their voice becomes like a lullaby that plays in your mind constantly. When they feel joy – it's the best thing in the world. When they're hurt – you would do anything, destroy anything or anyone just to ensure they are never hurt again. For me, for my kind, my erasthai is my soulmate – my other half. I know for your kind it's similar but just a little different – the intensity is just a little less. You see, with my kind – my bond is stronger, more intense, more painful. If one were to die, the other either goes mad and kills everyone in sight and must be put down, or...has their heart broken so badly they can die right there. With werewolves like yourself, you find your mate and mark them but if they die, you have a chance to go on living without them or, if Selene the Moon Goddess herself lets you, you have a chance at a second mate. With my kind, we never have a second chance – that's why we live so long. We are descendents straight from the Goddess herself, her children, and she splits our souls in two so that we would have to go through trials just to find one another. With our kind, if we find a werewolf that's already mated and they are our erasthai, it does not matter. We take what is ours – claim our erasthai and override the mark from the previous mating with our own and let the werewolf's transformation begin. That – is how strong this bond, this connection is. We would do anything in the known world just for them, and we would never hurt them. We would hurt ourselves first if we could – if it wouldn't hurt them of course. Do you understand Konrad? When I asked Mama Estelle to perform the blood spell, do you understand what I was doing? What I was giving up? What I was sacrificing so that there was a chance Damien or I could live separate lives without destruction in our future? It was the hardest, most painful, selfless, selfish, thing I've ever had to do in my 300 years of roaming this earth," I said, with flashbacks dancing across my mind at the things I said. I sat back down at my chair and folded my hands together on the table. He reached across and put his hand over both of mine. "It – it hasn't been easy, you know? I tried to forgive him. I considered making it work after what happened but the pain...the images...were too unbearable. And then I killed...I couldn't live like that any longer. So I told him that night, if he loved me, if he wanted me to be happy, he would let me go to New Orleans and come find me in 3 days. When everything was set, she – she told us how the spell worked. That it had to be a complete and utter voluntary sacrifice on all of our parts, Xena and Zeus included, and then she would perform the spell. She told us due to our connection, we had to give each other a vial of our blood in case the other was injured, this would save their life and thus it needed to be kept in a safe spot. The vials were blessed with some magic that kept the blood from spoiling. The last part was that we needed to mix our blood in another blessed vial that I have, and need to perform the spell once yearly in order to keep it working. Otherwise, the longer the spell went without "recharging", the faster it diminished and we could find each other and the attraction to each other would grow instantaneously. The need, the want, the lust, to be with each other would be so overpowering and we would stop at nothing to find one another. Which is why I don't understand how he found us..." I said, finally ending my monologue. "Did you speak with Mama Estelle?" Konrad spoke after a pause. "Yes, I did. When I had a moment this morning. She said there is no way he could have broken the spell because since I've been performing it correctly, then the suppression magic is still intact, and she also would've noticed it breaking. And, other than myself, she's the only one who could have broken the spell and she would've needed both of our blood to do it," I said with a huff. "Well, what about him?" Konrad asked. "What do you mean?" I said with curiosity. "Well you said that the spell needed both of your blood to be broken, and only you and Mama Estelle could do that but – but since he has a vial of your blood – couldn't he have figured out a way to do something without breaking the spell?" he said. Shit! Do you think that's a possibility? Xena said. "I never thought about that. I don't know to be honest...I wouldn't have thought he would do something like that. I guess I have to ask Mama Estelle if that's possible," I said as I threw my hands up in defeat. "Well that's why we're here, right? To figure this out, together," Konrad said sweetly. I looked at him and saw a glimpse of the boy he used to be and the leader he was destined to be all rolled into one. I put my hand on his forearm and smiled. "Konrad, whomever your mate is – I hope they make you so happy," I said with the greatest sincerity. "Thanks," he said with a sheepish smile, and looked away. Just then Celeste buzzed on the intercom. "Sorry to interrupt sir, but it's 5:45p and the Council of Elders has shown up." "Thank you Celeste. We'll be out in just a moment," Konrad said standing. "Ready?" he said, reaching for my hand again. "Ready," I said, as I stood up. We headed out of his office and into the lobby where we would walk with the Elders to the large conference room for the pack member only meeting.

"Alpha Konrad," the Elder in the middle met us halfway, and bowed her head towards Konrad, while the other Elders hung behind her. "Elder Clara, thank you and the others for coming out tonight," Konrad said, with a bow towards Elder Clara and the others. "We are here to serve you and offer guidance and advice when called upon. Of course we would have come," she said with a sincere smile. I stood off to the side watching as the pack members made their way into the conference hall, when I heard a deep belly-laugh near the lobby doors. "D, are you coming?" Konrad called from my side. "Hmm? Yes, I'll be there in just a moment," I said, walking towards the laughter. I danced through the crowd of pack members and guests through the lobby to get to the doors. I could see the tall, wavy auburn hair bouncing as his laughing died down. As he wiped the tears from his light brown eyes and looked over in my direction, I wiggled my fingers at him letting him know I was heading towards him. "Well now ain't that the bonniest lass I ever laid my eyes on!" Gregor said in his Scottish accent. Gregor was a druid and the third doorman of the group. Xena started to purr as we got closer to him. I know you have a crush on him, but keep it together, will ya? I scolded her. "Good evening Bear. Haven't seen you in a while," I said, reaching up to give him a hug when he swept me off my feet and swung me in a circle to give me a big bear hug. "Ayee, you're right! Well, according to Adam and Jun, it's because you go out so late at night and come back so early in the mornin' that I never see you, ehh?" Gregor said with a cheeky smile. "Yes, yes, alright. I'm sorry. How have you been?" I asked. "Ehh, can't complain too much. What about you though? Jun mentioned you had a flash from the past in the last day, aye?" he said, nudging me with his elbow. "Do you three have nothing better to do than to talk about my personal life?" I chided him. "Hahaha, noo. You just happen to be the prettiest thing we talk about...and the oldest," he said with a chuckle and a wink. "Dickwad," I said, while watching the last of the pack file into the conference hall. "Soo, does this meetin' have anythin' to do with him?" he asked more seriously. I took a breath in and nodded, "Yes, and my past. Alpha Konrad and I agreed to inform the pack of who I am in case his being here is more than just for me," I said, staring off now. "Aye, I understand. Well, I'll be listening. You better get in there before they seal the door," he said with a nod towards the conference hall. "Yea, I know," I said with a sigh. " 'Ey, remember, your true friends will always be by your side, alright? We won't leave you, no matter what," Gregor said, taking me into his arms again for a big hug. "I know, thanks again Bear," I said, as Xena started to purr again. Gregor started to chuckle since he could feel and "hear" Xena's purrs. I rolled my eyes at him as I made my way over to the last open door of the conference room.