Mates and Missing Kids

VII : Wings and Why He Has Them

"Smile in the mirror.
Do that every morning and you'll start to see a big difference in your life."
-Mark Twain

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LANCE WILSON

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"I didn't know you had a tattoo."

Ian turned around and smiled. "I don't," he replied. Seeing my confused look, he said, "My wings aren't a tattoo."

"Then what are they?"

He came over and sat next to me on my bed. "Well," he began. "It's kind of hard to explain. Besides, we have to get to school."

"I already called Lance in sick, since we don't know if it's safe to go outside yet," Dad said, sticking his head in the door. "Are you staying here too, Ian?"

Ian nodded his head and replied, "Yes, if that's okay with you."

"Of course it is. Now I'm going grocery shopping and I won't be back until around one, so make yourself some lunch," Dad said, then retreated down the stairs. I turned to Ian and stared at him expectantly.

He sighed. "It's kind of a long story," he said.

"We've got all day," I replied, reclining back into my pillows.

Ian crawled over and leaned against the headboard beside me. "Aaric is a lot better at telling this story than I am," he muttered before clearing his throat. "It all began hundreds of years ago..."

***

"Before werewolves began to run in packs, fights broke out between individuals over things as small as a scrap of meat. Brothers killed sisters, fathers killed their children. It was an all around blood bath.

In the midst of all this chaos, one wolf got lost in the woods and found an old pendant hanging on a vine. It seemed to call to him, begging to be close to someone who actually cared about the well being of others. He plucked it from the vine, and it immediately started to glow. It floated out of his hand and guided him to others just as lost as he was. When they found each person, the pendant touched them, creating a pattern on their skin. These markings infused part of the pendant's power with the person it appeared on. After it's work was done, the pendant formed itself a silver chain and hung itself around the wolf's neck.

Most of these lost in the woods were werewolves, but one was the son of the head of the Council of Vampires. He led them all out of he woods and to the Council headquarters. When the wolf saw the order and system of the Council and covens, he decided to make his own group, starting with those the pendant chose. They became not only his most trusted advisors and strongest warriors, but also became his family. This pack became known as the Silver Blood pack.

His pack grew and grew, and soon, groups broke off and formed their own packs. It had gotten difficult to hide their community from the humans. They had began to hunt shifters of every race, and still do to this day. Bear shifters are now almost extinct, and rabbit shifters have taken to staying in their warrens. The Council and the Silver Blood pack became very close allies, closing the rift between vampires and werewolves.

The pendant was passed down from generation to generation, picking the next Alpha itself. It gave markings to those it foresaw would do great things. Today, five are marked, not including the soon-to-be Alpha."

I took a moment to process Ian's words. "What power does your marking give you?" I asked.

"I can manipulate the air, and sometimes, if I panic or get angry, my marking turns into actual wings made of air," he replied.

"So, who else has a marking?"

"Every one of our friends except Amber. She does have something special, though."

I was about to ask what it was, when I remembered the necklace she always wore. "The pendant," I murmured.

"Yeah, she has it," Ian confirmed. "Another thing about the pendant. It always stays in the same family. The markings don't always do that, but for some reason, the pendant likes Amber's family."

"Huh. There must be a reason," I said. "Everything happens for a reason."

"If there is, we haven't found it. We searched everywhere and there was absolutely nothing to explain it," Ian responded.

My phone started to ring, so I picked it up. "Hey, Papa."

"Go to the pack house. Now. I'll meet you there," Papa said hurriedly.

"What? Why?"

"I'll tell you when I get there. Now go. Ian will take you there," he said, then hung up.

I looked at Ian, who had a quizzical look on his face. "Papa said to go to the pack house," I told him.

"Let's go then," he replied and hopped up off the bed.

~~~~~~~~~

Sorry for the shorter chapter. Some stuff will go down in the next chapter, so stay tuned. Also, the chapters so far only make up for not even a tenth of stuff I have planned.

What do you think of Ian's wings?

Why do you think the pendant likes to stay in one family?

Stay sparkling, my friends!
     -Star