Pixies and wolves

CHAPTER 14: A WOLF RITUAL

JOSHUA'S POV

So after a while of school and hanging around with the guys from the pack tonight is a night that is sacred for all wolves. Not only is it a full moon but it is an orange full moon. The strongest of moon colours that result in the transformation of wolf pups into grown wolves and grown wolves into ancients after a few years. With me being a small runt of a wolf it is now my turn to have the chance to become a full wolf and choose a mate from the girls. I have my eyes set on another girl, a wolf that has no clue she is one, Xenia. She will be my mate and she will be the one that I will love, protect and cherish, but for now I have to finish these rituals and let the fairies do their magic on her.

We all gather in a great field with packs from all over in a ceremonious meet called the tribal council. The ancients are chosen from among all the wolves to stand as council to decide on laws and pack boundaries and who should be alphas, betas, and other pack members. I just hope I'm not called, I'm not ready for it especially after what I was told by Alexia. I still remember it clearly.

"You have a gift of power that no other wolves have, your fur will no longer be brown but silver and white, your mate will have white like mine and all ancients will praise you as you step forward before them and take the throne of guardian. It is your destiny and has been decided since the time of wolves began. Your mate doesn't know she is a wolf simply because her family turned their backs on the ways of wolves and turned to the ways of the humans. Be patient and wait for her to turn of age and all she wishes to have will be changed, then you must be there for her as she will need your every guidance and help."

I hope Alexia is wrong, that I did something to not deserve this role of guardian. A guardian is a wolf that oversees all ancients and all packs in the land, and gather all in ceremonies only whispered about in tales and stories as no guardian has been around in centuries. Guardians meet with the deceased wolves in the hall of spirits where they receive vast inputs of council, training, knowledge, and power.

"Wolves gather round, it is now time for the council to begin," my Dad snapped me out of my thoughts with his booming call to all the wolves.

Girls and guys alike gather together all shuffled and mixed in with every pack squashed tightly together, a few shoves, bites and scratches take place as wolves transform to find their spot only to morph back to human form with a grunt.

I take my place at the back of the crowd of wolves, nervous about what will happen today. Slowly wolves one by one are called and receive their new responsibilities and pack roles by the ancients.

I look up at my Dad's frail form despite him trying to be strong we all know he is ill and this will be his last council meeting. I catch his eye and he just nods in approval of me being here and standing to the back waiting for the rest to be called and praised with shouts of joy and elation. Some get boos and snarls but those are often ignored as they are from rival packs.

Eventually everyone is done except me, and as I approach the council Alexia appears and I stop dead in my tracks as I see more wolf forms of wolves past. The ancients beckon for me to approach as I'm the last wolf. I guess I'll have to disrespect the wolves past and take my place at the table of ancients. The ground begins to shake as I approach closer to the wolves past and suddenly I feel a tingle on my back and I know I must not scratch. I walk past Alexia, and I do so all the wolves past envelop me and walk or fly around me changing me into my wolf form, but this time I'm white, silver and have a crimson stripe tattooed on my face that I can barely see it yet I know it is there from what Alexia told me.

The ancients begin to bow as do all the packs many astonished at the sight of a guardian wolf.

I step up past the ancients following Alexia onto the podium of guardian and walk over the rust coloured leaves and creepers that encase the white marble hewn from the white mountains in the background. Turning to face the wolves the marble shines white and all debris, cracks and ruin of the podium vanish and a glinting white slab rests beneath my white paws.

I howl once at the moon almost by instinct, I howl a second and a third time. By now all the wolves are bowed low to the ground in respect. Why do I have to be so young and called as a guardian, I'm so not ready for it. These thoughts escape in a whisper to Alexia where she nips my ear and encourages for a fourth and fifth howl which I do obediently.

The orange moon turns white and glistens in the night sky lighting all the forest up. The ceremonies are over for another three years, just one thing remains, Xenia my mate.