The Wolf Within (Book 1 of Wolf Within Series)

The Reading

** Lia's POV **

"Goddess of the Moon, we call you forth to shed your silvery light upon us and protect us as we proceed. Ancestors of ours, of the pack and of the Alpha's beloved mate; come forth and grant us your wisdom! Speak to us through the cards!" Strega Tali called out to the universe. She waited for a moment with her eyes closed, and inhaled slowly.

Her eyes opened and fell to me, "The spirits of our ancestors surround us. They are ready. Are you?" She did not bother to ask Al or Frankie.

"Yes Strega, I am ready to hear what they have to tell me." I was more than ready, I needed to know.

With that she began.

Her frail fingers picked up the tarot deck and gently pulled the string, placing it neatly in front of Al. The cloth was unwrapped, then folded gently and placed in front of Frankie. Her practiced hands shuffled the deck, as her eyes remained closed, waiting for the ancestors to tell her when enough was enough. As she did this, she murmured under her breath, "Tell us what we need to know, I'll shuffle the cards, you make it so," and after a few moments she straightened the deck out and laid it flat on the table.

In the process of doing so the top card stuck between her fingertips as the rest of the deck produced a small 'thud' as it fell to the table. "My, my, the cards are certainly charged today."

She examined the card briefly before laying it on the table next to the candle for us all to see. "This is the Two of Wands," She stated, her eyes back on mine. "You can see how the maiden in the picture looks pained and sad. This is because your beloved is suffering from a kind of injury or an illness of the soul. She will never progress in our world if she is to continue without belief. Belief in her wolf and in lycanthropy. My dear Alpha, you and your friends here are destined to help her find that belief."

Her eyes were glued to mine, emphasizing the importance of this task. It was certainly up to us to show her that she was a wolf, but not only would we have to find a way to do that; we needed to find a way to make her believe in wolves as a whole before we could begin to convince her she was one of us.

Frankie spoke, asking "What could have caused such a strong denial of herself, this injury or illness I mean?"

Strega Tali again reached for the cards, though this time she did not shuffle. She guided her fingers upward, along the sides of the deck until the ancestors stopped her. She cut the deck where her fingers landed and drew the top card from each.

"This answer requires the voices of two," she stated. As she laid them down in front of us, atop the previous card, we saw both the Five of Swords and Queen of Pentacles, both drawn upside-down. The Five of Swords held a picture of two women, both sad and downtrodden. The Queen of Pentacles held a generous goddess resting before a full moon and giving gifts of charity to those around her.

"I see a battle," Strega Tali started as she touched the Five of Swords, "warriors fighting hard but beaten back, made to submit. They bow their heads in shame, they have lost their lands and in turn, their freedom and power. Utterly defeated, the people lose the will to continue the fight, the war is over; they have lost."

She then touched the Queen of pentacles and began, "What has been given, has too been taken. The Moon Goddess has rescinded her gift from her once faithful warriors, who in their failure to remain true to her and continue a united fight, lost their blessing. My dear, I believe this is referring to the Native Wolves of this land. I've often wondered what had happened to them. Their lore is rich and in it, the wolves were many, but still we have never seen one. Perhaps it is they that the cards speak of."

This time Al turned to Strega Tali and asked, "If that is so, how can Dakota still have a wolf spirit inside of her if the Moon Goddess stripped that from her bloodline?"