She led me to him (Werewolf story)

Chapter 121: Privacy

Serah POV

Before I could feel the comfort of her furniture, her words twisted in my head.

"It was a week?"

Was she referring to that man's last words? Could she hear it?

Was she referring to that man's last words? Could she hear it?
"How?"
"Serah, it's not an inner conflict among the werewolf community. It's something way bigger and you might be the last piece, a piece that would need to be sacrificed."
...
All the new information was playing ping pong in my head, they rebounded from all the corners of my skull, growing a migraine I thought I couldn't have.
I tried to not focus on the bumps but the arising questions were of no help.

"Could you hear him? And could you be so sure about the sacrifice thing?"

I brought my finger to my scalp, lightly massaging my temples, but the hammer like sensation wasn't any close to subside.
The woman came in closer, and brought my hands in hers so I had no choice but to look at her straight in her eyes.

"Serah, after the marking your body will have one week to accept your new genetic identity. You'll have needs, your habits will change as well as your cravings. So it is one week, a week where you need to be in complete peace of mind to achieve your higher form."

It would make sense, the man gave a stressfree week so I would be at the pick of my capacities. Great.

"Then, we can still stop the process."

Her lips and her eyes came together to say it wasn't the solution.

"Serah, we don't want to know the consequences."

I sighed, left out of options, what was I supposed to do?

"You have to be in complete control of your capacities when you'll be facing that man, that is our only chance."

Her voice was firm, and negotiating wasn't a choice.
She broke contact, making the warm sensation dissipate, and my eyes were glued to her movements.
Like each time she'd look for an item, she remodeled her entire space, books piled into another form, towers were broken to be rebuilt, papers flying in the process, until she held what she was looking for.
The exact same book from last time, when I heard for the first time the prophecy.
She came to me, our thighs touching, the scriptures under my gaze and here were our to the page announcing my existence. The words resonated in my head, each weighing its weight but here came the unfamiliar end.
Before I could read it, the former Luna took the assignment to voice out loud.

God gift to us mortal:
A blessing for the virtuous,
An instrument for the wicked.
Her given mate will awaken her given beast.
At that time, it will be the end or the beginning.
The downfall of our world,
Or the salvation of our species,
Only her choices could decide.
Lost or won, the battle will be a slaughter.
Death will welcome evil as well as good at its home.

She fully reminded me of a fate that took my shoulders as its abode. And quietly added an ending I wasn't aware of.

"It doesn't say that it is me that death will go to."

The book closed noisily and dust sparkled around it.

"The moment you are called an instrument your only purpose is to die for your fate, that is how unfair it is for children of prophecies. The price for your power is your life, a lifespan meant to be shortened so the imbalance among our ecosystem wouldn't create chaos.
The world needs you now but after your mission is completed or failed, your existence would be a burden for the world.
Hence, the Moon Goddess would choose to call you back to her side."

Her story didn't make sense at all.

"Then what about Jay? or the kids of Ice Moon?"

"Serah, it's only hypothetical. However, it is undeniable that the prophecy is hanging death over your head. And each time the scythe missed you, other lives compensated yours."

She was right. Whenever I escaped the disaster some paid with their souls.
Moreover, I couldn't even feel grateful, why didn't I have a choice.
I felt like being some deity's puppet, whose existence lost its meaning day by day.
The strings became harder to resist, and my will slowly melted away, slipping through my fingers.

"Then what am I to do?"

"Rest, rest plenty of rest. The battle has a date, and it is our duty to protect you, just as much as it is for you to protect us."

For the first time, I felt the pressure leave the room, as I was free to breathe as I wanted.

"Dont' we need reinforce the border and ask our allies if they could join-"

"We indeed need to do exactly what you said but it won't be your job."

She pulled me outside as if the emotional turmoil never even existed.

"If I heard right now I'm the Luna of the pack, I would need to be in the front row of the preparations..."

We were already scurrying through the corridors as if we were late.
Our steps hurried and my expectation burned to the ground. My mind was sure we were going back to Olsen and that other thing but their scent that came in closer was only fading.
I was led into an isolated part of the house. The walls were perfectly clean, the faint smell of detergent was still sticking.
The canvases were decorated with golden frames, polished and untouched.
As if their existence was a secret passed down from generation to generation.
If I focused on the scenes, these were from the middle age, wolves wearing ornaments and clothes.
My lips curved slightly as I imagined my clothes shape-shifter into these attire.
The heavy doors opened, my creativity decided it would be dusty but I couldn't be any more wrong.
The scent was undistinguishable here. My senses were playing tricks on my mind.
My heart was alert, beating faster by the second almost making my respiratory system uncomfortable.
The hall was overly shiny but the interior seemed more modest, heavy dark ebony everywhere, the bed carved in its wood, the sheets blinding with its red silk.
Light wasn't welcomed in here, if it wasn't for the ceiling high mirrors even our heightened vision would lose itself here.

"The wood work is crazy..."

Real flowers were put to shame the craft I was witnessing.

"It was a room made by one of our ancestors, he had gold in his hands, one of the few recorded Alpha craftsmen, if not the only one.
His story is quite simple, he had four daughters, his treasures. Even when they grew up they stayed kids in his mind.
When the eldest found her mate, the coupling week was dreadful, the Alpha would have murdered the man who would later become the next Alpha.
The sounds, the odors, the mating was a hard phase for the man.
So he decided to create a room so beautiful yet sober; soundproof and with mixed scent so he would never know about the mating."

Jenna's explanation only diced in one direction.
My thoughts were confirmed when I turned around and I was met with eyes I've been looking at the whole time, but these were mine. A blue ready to become storm grey.
His wretched breath and his hurried steps towards me were enough to assume that history will repeat.
The former Luna exited quietly while the wooden doors were less discreet.

Jay didn't budge.

His hands to my cheek slowly caressing away a few strands.

"You heard right. I think we may have some privacy."

His words were enough to burn me alive, what would happen next would be out of my control.