Ancora Imparo

-16- What Lies Ahead

Shortly after we left our meeting with Ezra's dad, Ezra and I were sitting in Ezra's office. It was very similar to his father's clean, with some clutter on the desk, and the same seating for guests. However, bookshelves lined the walls of the room and filing cabinets lined the back wall near us.

"He doesn't stay in the pack house?"

Ezra shook his head, "No, the pack elders have their own properties, but they come in to see me for updates or to give me information... In hindsight, it makes sense Mr. Grange has connections with psychics," He gazed at me fondly. "I mean he's the main reason I found you, both times."

I blush, averting my gaze from his intense one. "So," I change the subject, maintaining a playfulness to my tone. "What Alpha responsibilities have you been ignoring since I stumbled into your life?"

I braved a glance at him and he was rolling his eyes, "It's more paperwork than you'd expect. I have to approve a lot of things involve relations in the pack and between our pack and others. And then I have to talk to people, if you are able to make a phone call without spending 2 hours rehearsing beforehand, you are braver than I'll ever be-"

"Are you serious?" I actually laugh at him.

"Deadly," He grins. "And then of course, I lead training sessions, for the time being Clay has taken over training. Mainly to keep our pack in shape, we usually don't have impending danger, but it's always good to be prepared."

"Is Clay okay with that?" I ask.

Ezra laughs, "Of course, training is his favorite thing at least until he finds his mate."

"When was the last time you got to see him or any of your friends?"

"Well, Clay and I are best friends. I saw him... I guess I saw him the night- the night you told me you might be asexual."

"Oh... does he know?" I could feel my face turning pink.

"Not much, I haven't seen him to follow up after that. We'll see him at the meeting tomorrow. Other than Clay, you haven't met Leo yet. He's my Gamma and he mainly works with the pack doctors so I don't see him as often."

There was a knock at the door causing both of us to look up: Mr. Grange was dressed formally, as I remembered seeing him when he came in for observations when I was a student teacher. He cleared his throat before speaking, "Alpha Ezra, Luna Maelle," I could feel my wolf's pride at the title. Mr. Grange closed the door behind him and took a seat. "Where to begin..."

"What happened this morning... d-did that actually happened?" I asked.

Mr. Grange nodded, "You are to be the next vessel for the Moon Goddess... and of course, this was known from before you were born. The hunters, however, do not know this, and we must keep it that way."

"Did you know when you first met me?"

Mr. Grange shook his head, "The psychics kept the information to themselves, up until you were freed from those hunters. However - upon meeting you at the school for the first time - I could sense your inner strength. It took a lot of courage from you to go against your parents to pursue your own vision."

I only nodded in response, it was nice to hear something like that after the constant bereavement from my parents.

"And what about her control? Especially regarding these foreign hunters?" Ezra asks.

"Aurora can provide her with some idea of what to expect, but each person is different with how they tap into their powers. Particularly with divine intervention, there are only a handful of people that have been in Maelle's shoes."

"What about the current vessel... d-didn't Aurora say it skips a generation?"

"We don't know much about the current vessel, we are concerned the hunters may know more about that than we do at the moment. You see, the current vessel would be 4 generations removed from you."

Ezra takes my hand, "And you think this is a lineage thing? Is the vessel passed down the family tree?"

My breathing stops as I watch Mr. Grange consider the answer to this question. My father's family tree was pretty clearly all hunters, the chances seem slim. But my mother's family...

"That is our concern right now. Maelle, your mother, as you know, was adopted into the hunter's base and the mystery remains of who her biological family is. If true, your grandmother, the next vessel inline, may still be alive..."

"But it's not likely she came from hunters, right?"

"No," Mr. Grange frowned. "But that's not the best case... if those hunters do, in fact, know who your maternal biological family is it may not be for a good reason. We know your parents were in correspondence with a large group before they died. From what we've been able to see, they seem to have a particular interest in tracking you down."

Ezra wrapped his arms around me to the point that I was practically sitting in his chair. "So what do we know about this group? Are we preparing for them to come here?"

"That would be best explained by Aurora," Mr. Grange looked over to chair beside him.

I could feel Ezra tense, "Aur-?" We both gasped, noticing the older woman's presence in the room.

"Hello again, Maelle. It's an honor to meet you, Alpha," Aurora spoke as if her entrance was not odd at all.

"How did she- When- What just happened?" Ezra held me even tighter to him if that was possible. You're not complaining, my wolf shot back at me.

"This is one of the psychic powers Maelle honed this morning, the ability to project ones consciousness for others to view," Aurora grinned. "Where were we before I came in?"

"The hunter group... our plans for our next move," Mr. Grange recounted.

"Ah, yes. We know this hunter group is moving our way. They are aware of Maelle's existence when her desperate parents tried to recapture her. First reaching out to the hunters - who feigned disinterest, when their real plan was to come here for an ambush. And then to me."

"Why to you?" I ask.

"They knew about my visions... it was my prophecy to Marcel that caused them to separate from the base. I figure they had acted from desperation."

Something's not adding up, my wolf mused. I thought on that for a moment, I knew that Aurora had had the vision of me, but as far as my parents knew, I was fated to die. Why would they look for Aurora? Odd... there must me something she's leaving out.

"... As far as I know they made the decision ambush when they heard about the werewolf involvement. They will be highly skilled and prepared, you'll need to either get more wolves or outsmart them."

"How long do we have?" Ezra asked.

"I estimate they will be here within the next 5 days. Elle we will begin our training at night."

"Where?"

"Don't worry about it, I'll come to you."

I had a odd feeling about this woman, who was she, my wolf was cautious. And I fully agreed with her.