Trinity (A Werewolf Novel) ✔

Chapter Six

I was stirred awake sometime in the night by Cynthia, who hovered over me quiet as a ghost with a candle in one hand. She offered me her other hand and I took it without thinking, something about her presence comforting to me. With quiet determination, she began to lead me through the temple.

I had rested in what appeared to be a housing area on the top floor of the temple across from Cynthia's room. She led me back down to the main level of the temple, where wolves had no doubt previously come to worship the Goddesses and make offerings for their blessings. Now it was forever silent, removed from their culture.

Cynthia led me further down a more secretive set of stairs until we were walking through storage units. I spotted shelves of canned foods and preserves, but wasn't given enough time to see exactly how extensive the food storage was. I was pulled to a rather dusty cupboard and led through the cobwebs until Cynthia stopped to quietly lift an overhead latch.

She climbed the steps that would lead outside first and I looked up after her. I could see the night sky, stars studding it quietly and the waning moon resting among them. As I looked at it, my immediate thought was Cynthia's words whispering about the Crone and her oracles. I followed Cynthia up the steps, looking around briefly.

The exit wasn't too far from the back of the temple, but well into the woods so that there was plenty of cover. The buildings of the lycan village were dark with sleep, though many lights flickered in the distance for those who were restless in the night. I stared only a moment before looking into the woods uncertainly.

"If you wish to return to your village, you'll want to go that direction," Cynthia lifted her candle towards the woods, pointing south with determination before turning those wise eyes on me, "You'll walk straight into a creek. If you follow it east, it will lead to a river. Follow the flow of the river and you will find your village."

I looked from her to the direction she pointed once again, every cell in my body demanding that I abandon my position and return back to my family immediately. How long would it even be before the King Alpha went to check on me at the temple, if ever? If he didn't find me, wouldn't he just assume I died in a wall somewhere? I could hide every Wolf Moon among my people until eventually this entire situation was a bad, distant dream.

But if Cynthia was right... if the Goddesses told her the truth, my people would be facing a horrible doom in the future. They would perish by the month of my birth this year. I would no doubt go down with them. I reached for the blade, now firmly strapped around my leg once again familiarly.

"And if I wish to follow a different path?" I asked Cynthia, turning my head just enough to look at her with determination. She had been watching me the entire time, waiting for me to make a decision, and satisfaction crossed her features briefly.

"The building you are looking for is there," She informed me, turning around completely to face the lycan village. She used her free hand to point at a taller building, well into the village, but still easy to see. She looked at me once again, "And the room you are looking for will be on the second floor, the last door on the right."

Cynthia stepped to me, lifting her hand to touch my face softly.

"No matter where you go. No matter what path you choose, the moon will always be with you," She told me, her voice hushed and kind. She moved her hand from my face and turned away. I watched as she reentered the hidden path into the temple, gaining a last glance of her hair shining in the darkness before she closed the door above her. The door was nearly invisible among the forest floor. I could understand why it was missed.

I glanced into the forest once more, wanting more than anything to run for it. And then I turned away to begin my hunt for the King Alpha. I hid between buildings, moving as silently as possible. When having to run into the open, I kept low and watched for signs of life warily. As I moved closer to the building Cynthia pointed me to, I spotted a lycan walking out of a separate building. I quickly ducked down, my hand on the hilt of my blade carefully.