Soulmate

Chapter 21

Watching her husband from the dry spot grass, Della felt familiar metallic taste of blood on her tongue. She had been nervously gnawing at her cheeks, when one of her teeth bit too far and pierced the soft skin inside her mouth. The Luna wasn't able to see the blue snakes, nor the face of the furious lady, but she was able to feel Louis' pain through their mate bond. Nicholas gave a worried look to his whimpering mother. He placed a soft hand on her shoulder.

"He will make it. Father is a fighter." He whispered to her ear. With tears in her eyes from the pain, Della smiles and nods slowly.

Suddenly, Louis' eyes start to glow with the same glowing blue of the snakes. As if pulled from the front of his collar, his head fell back limply and his arms swayed loosely to his side, his palms opened towards the sky. His mouth fell open, and the same blue light exited from it, like a ray of sunlight. The water around Louis' stomach started to glow and a slow round ripple grew to spread into the musky waters. As the ring ripples grew bigger, the water cleared itself, rendering the brown water completely transparent. Klaus held back a loud gasp as the filthy bog revealed its dark secret.

Skeletons decorated the soft ground. Bones of animals, as big as a moose and as small as a mouse. Most of them were the bones of humans, or perhaps humanoids. There was no way to tell. Seaweed covered the white corpses, swaying with the current, sometimes revealing some stubborn flesh, blue and bruised. Some of the humans still had shreds of clothing, swaying along to the seaweed.

Della fell to her knees in another flow of tears, certain that this was to be the end of her husband. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." Whispered the Luna in a broken voice. Tears flowed down her cheeks and words erupted from her throat, in a hoarse and heartbroken voice. It was in a strange language, one that Maria never heard before in her life. From the mouth of the Silver Luna, the words and prayer itself had morphed in a cry into guttural sounds rolling off her tongue. Maria lifted a curious eye toward Nicholas and he leaned to her ear.

"It's the language of the Elders. She must be praying to Selene." Explained the man.

"Selene?"

"Yes, our Goddess. The Goddess of the Moon." Maria slowly nodded, a grim expression still on her face. The culture of the Werewolves was much more complex than she imagined. Grunts of pain brought back the attention on to Louis, who was struggling to regain control of his lower jaw. Moans and sudden cries of pain emanated from his mouth, and Della started weeping once again, unable to watch her husband in such pain.

"Fine!" The shout from Louis startled the whole group. The Alpha seemed to relax a little as he stopped struggling.

"My name is Louis of the Shadow Pack. To all mythical creatures, I'm known as the Alpha of Alphas. To the humans, I'm named as Louis Browne." The Alpha's voice was monotone and lifeless. His eyes still glowed from the bright blue rays and his whole body stayed tense and as still as a stone, except for his chest rising and falling rapidly from his heavy breathing. The rest of the group kept their eyes glued on the Alpha, staring at him with confusion and disbelief.

"No, we mean no harm." Louis winced and grunted as his body started convulsing again for a few seconds. "I-I mean no harm." He specified. The curious and suspenseful interrogation lasted for many minutes. Della shook her head and mumbled under her breath. "Louis Browne... I guess I'm Della Browne then..." She spat her words. Werewolves never had a last name. All they ever needed was their pack, and if necessary they could use the name of their parents. For Louis to adopt a last name, like a human, it was too strange and not in a good way. Browne. The more she repeated that word, the more it tasted bitter on her tongue, like blood.

The rest of them waited silently on the patch of dry grass, for what else could they possibly do? Kurog was turning his thumbs and leaning against a tree, while Jenna stood to the side, her blue eyes silently watching her leader and her back straight, like a soldier. Maria and Nicholas surrounded Della, who was starting to grow more and more hysteric. Klaus sat on a fallen log, nervously gnawing at his nails.